Catholic social teaching has sometimes been described as the Church’s biggest secret, said Father Tony O’Neill, pastor of St. John Neumann in Eagan. To help remedy that, Father O’Neill’s parish is hosting a series of eight monthly sessions starting Oct. 25 called “A Disciple in the World: Catholic Social Teaching.”
He and Robert Kennedy, a professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, recently spoke with “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley about Catholic social teaching and the speaker series. Kennedy, a parishioner of Nativity of our Lord in St. Paul, is also an adjunct professor at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity.
Father Tony O’Neill
Asked about some of the faithful who may get an uneasy feeling when hearing “Catholic social teaching” because they may see it as potentially furthering teachings not “constant with Church teachings,” Kennedy said those planning the monthly sessions hope to acquaint people “with what the Church really teaches about this and how it fits in with a life of Christian discipleship.”
“It’s not an add-on, it’s not a substitute for worship and prayer,” Kennedy said. “It’s really something integral to that life, and we hope to help people understand how that comes about.”
Father O’Neill said he expects the speaker series to impart knowledge of Catholic social teaching, and to “reconnect the social conscience with our theology and our spirituality.”
“Not that they’re necessarily broken,” Father O’Neill said, “but I think sometimes they get a little far apart.”
Robert Kennedy
Kennedy agreed with Father O’Neill’s perspective and added that, as a layman, “it would be great if people could leave events in this series with a much better sense of how, in their ordinary lives, they can be witnesses to the Gospel. It doesn’t have to be something grand and dramatic, but there are lots of opportunities in our ordinary lives, if we’re alive to them, and if we understand what all of this means, that we can be witnesses in significant ways.”
Asked why it is important for Catholics to have an understanding of Catholic social teaching, Father O’Neill recalled Pope Benedict’s reminders that acts of charity, concern for fellow citizens, “building a culture and so on” are just as essential to the life of the Church as worship, education “or anything else.”
“The Second Vatican Council reminded us that the laity participate fully in the mission of the Church,” Father O’Neill said. “And our particular responsibility is to bring the Gospel to the secular world, the world of culture, marriage and family, politics, economics and so on. So it really is key to living a Catholic life to be attentive to these things.”
To review the seven themes of Catholic social teaching, visit usccb.org. To learn more and to register for the monthly speaker series at St. John Neumann, visit sjn.org or archspm.org/events. There is no cost to participate. Free-will offerings will be appreciated.
To hear the full interview, listen to the “Practicing Catholic” show 9 p.m. Oct. 7, which repeats 1 p.m. Oct. 8 and 2 p.m. Oct. 9 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Jeremy Stanbary, who previews Open Window Theatre’s new season; and Father David Blume, director of the Office for Vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who describes upcoming events for young men considering religious life.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired at:
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