Generating faith-based, practical interventions for a more just future

Catholic social tradition (CST) is sometimes called the Church’s best kept secret, but the Center for Social Concerns is changing that. Building on Notre Dame International’s global infrastructure, the network systematically explores ways to apply the Church’s social teaching to concrete social problems that communities face around the world. Then it shares that teaching with practitioners who can implement it.

Connecting scholars and practitioners

The Network was built on one simple but effective idea: if you want to change the world, you have to connect those who are thinking deeply about justice with institutions working for justice in communities around the world. Through the Global CST Network, the center is making Notre Dame the place where the Church’s social teaching becomes widely known and shared as an effective engine for social transformation in the lives of people and communities around the world.

Starting the conversation

During the last five years, the Network has hosted conferences in Rome, London, Jerusalem, and Kylemore Abbey near Galway, Ireland. The first two conferences set the table for those that followed by addressing questions of how best to apply the principles of CST to concrete social problems in communities. The third gathered Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious and environmental leaders together to address shared concerns about environmental degradation. The fourth gathered legal scholars, practicing lawyers, community activists, and CST researchers together to address questions of human dignity and the law from the perspective of CST.