History

· Social justice in the Bible

· Social justice in the Fathers of the Church

· Social justice in St Augustine

· Social justice in St Thomas Aquinas

· Social justice in the Scholastics

Praxis

· How best to incorporate social justice teaching and action in the parish?

· You are asked to give a course on Catholic Social Teaching. How would you go about it?

Justice

· Social justice is achieved through participation. Discuss.

· Justice and forgiveness / mercy

· Forget charity. Let’s talk about justice. Discuss.

· What is so distinctive about catholic social teaching?

· Write a modern-day ‘encyclical’ on social justice today. Identify the ‘new things’ of our time and address their problems.

· If the common good is not “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”, then what is it?

· What is the function of government?

Economics

· Capitalism, Socialism, or is there a third way?

· The evolution of the Church’s evaluation of liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism.

· Is economic justice for all possible?

· A Christian view of property

· Should workers be allowed to participate in the profits of their company? How could this be done?

· Globalisation. Threat or asset?

The environment

· What’s so wrong about hunting, anyway?

· flimkien mal-hlejjaq kollha ta’ l-art, li b’lehinna jfahhruk, nistqarru u nfahhru ismek …

Particular issues

· Usury and the new forms it might take …

· Copyright? Is it right to copy?

· Is there a limit to the amount of profit one may do?

Life and human dignity

· How best to promote a culture of life?

The poor

· Why a preferential option for the poor?

· Will Bill Gates be saved? Or rather, is it ok to be Very rich?

· Does a preferential option for the poor encourage the poor to remain poor?

· Does a welfare state encourage the poor to remain poor?

Children’s rights

· Children have rights too. Which rights?

· Allowing children to participate fully in society.

Immigration

· Illegal immigrant, or irregular immigrant?

· We abolished slavery, turning to illegal immigrants instead.

War

· What makes a war just?

· The ethics of a pre-emptive war

· Guatanamo Bay. An ethical reflection.

· How best to fight terrorism?

International issues

· The role of the church in the international political arena.

· The work of the Holy See as a permanent observer at the United Nations

· International Food Aid. Should we be doing it, and should it be done the way it is being done?

· International Debt

Local issues

· The teaching of the Maltese bishops on social justice (themes, etc)

· Should stay-at-home mums be compensated for the rearing of their children. How could this be done?

· Should the government create incentives to lure women who are still rearing children into joining the workforce?