Ideas for Catholic Schools

In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops of the United States remind us: “In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation” (no. 13). The decisions we make as citizens about who leads us and what policies are enacted have important moral and ethical dimensions. The values of our faith should be our guide to public life.

This message is important, not just for adults, but also for young Catholics, as they learn about our faith tradition and its implications for how we live our lives. Catholic schools are important settings for sharing the Church’s teaching on civic responsibility. The following suggestions may prove helpful. A variety of more detailed educational materials, resources, and lesson plans on Faithful Citizenship are also available at faithfulcitizenship.org.

Suggested Activities

School programs on Faithful Citizenship can be as simple or elaborate as the principal or teacher chooses. They can take several class periods, one class period, or part of one, depending on how much time is available.

It is important for students to be familiar with some of the key ideas from Catholic social teaching that shape our approach to issues and campaigns. If you have not done so already, share with students and parents Themes from Catholic Social Teaching, a card summarizing seven key themes of Catholic social teaching, or show the video In the Footsteps of Jesus, which also summarizes these themes (see final section for ordering information).

Specific classroom activities to help younger and older students explore Faithful Citizenship are detailed in the “Parish and School Leaders” section of the Faithful Citizenship Web site. Below are just a few excerpts from the activities you will find there.

For younger children

1. Hold a discussion on faith and political responsibility. Ask the children to think about the upcoming election, and then ask them:
   • How do you think God sees people? How does this help us treat people better?
   • What do people need in order to live a decent life?
   • What makes someone a good leader?
   • Why do you think the Church teaches that voting is an important thing for grown-up Catholics to do?
   • Although you can’t vote yet, what can you do to make the world around you better?
2. Sponsor a poster contest or ask students to draw a picture to illustrate the theme, “Love Your Neighbor: Vote in 2008.” Display the drawings or posters in the parish education center or parish hall.
3. Copy and use the children’s secret code activity page found in the Parish and School Leaders section of the Faithful Citizenship Web site.

For older students

1. Ask the children to read the bulletin insert The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, or show the video found in the Parish and School Leaders section of the Web site. Hold a discussion using the following questions:
2. Name examples of public policies from the past that were harmful to people (e.g., slavery, the Holocaust, and lack of voting rights for women or minorities). What does our Catholic faith tell us about those policies?
3. Name some issues being discussed in this campaign that have moral or ethical dimensions (e.g., abortion, poverty, war and peace, the death penalty, environmental protection, workers’ rights, educational choice, gun control, or accessible and affordable health care). How would you apply Catholic teaching to those issues?
4. Hold a mock election. Encourage students to identify the values of their faith that can help shape their decisions before they cast their ballots. Organize a discussion on how the ideas and issues in Faithful Citizenship apply to these choices.
5. The activities suggested in “Ideas for Youth Ministers” can be adapted for use with older students.

For both younger and older children

1. Ask the class to identify one public issue being discussed in the campaigns or on the news. For younger children, have them draw a picture illustrating how Catholics might respond to the issue in light of our faith. Have older students create a chart that illustrates how this issue relates to each of the themes of Catholic social teaching.
2. Ask each student to identify a public policy issue in which he or she is interested. (Provide newspapers, magazines or access to the web if necessary.) After receiving permission from their parents, ask each student to write a letter to an elected official. Include the letters as an “Offering of Letters” during a school Mass. Younger students can participate by bringing the letters up during the Offertory.
3. Incorporate Catholic social teaching and the message of Faithful Citizenship into a variety of subjects. For example, social studies classes can discuss how Catholic teaching on citizenship relates to our civic understanding of citizenship. Science classes can explore Catholic teaching about our concern for God’s creation. Children’s literature often deals with basic values and social issues.
4. To help parents understand what is being discussed with their children, send home a copy of the bulletin insert The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

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General Suggestions for Teachers and Principals

Promote Citizenship, but Avoid Partisanship: Teachers and principals play an important role in promoting “faithful citizenship.” However, it is not appropriate for Catholic educators to promote partisan positions on candidates or parties. For more information, see the “Do’s and Don’ts for Parishes” resource in the Parish and School Leaders section of faithfulcitizenship.org.

Make Use of Existing Resources: Many resources are available designed to help children and youth understand Catholic social teaching and its implications for public life.

Infuse the Civic Responsibility Message into What You’re Already Doing

Prayers and Liturgies: Morning prayers and school liturgies can include special intentions for those whose lives are at risk, for those suffering from injustice, for political leaders who make important decisions, and, close to the election, for those who will be voting for our leaders. Sample general intercessions are included in the "Ideas for Liturgists and Prayer Leaders" in the Parish and School Leaders section of faithfulcitizenship.org.

Religion Classes: In addition to offering sessions focused specifically on the Church’s teaching on civic responsibility, those who offer religious education can weave this topic into other discussions. For example, a discussion of the Corporal Works of Mercy can explore why people need our mercy, how public policies affect them, and why it is important for us to participate in shaping a society of greater justice and compassion. Classes on the Trinity can recall that we are created as social beings in God’s image and likeness, and can discuss how this leads us to believe it is our right and duty to participate in social, economic, and political life.

Seize the Opportunities: While elections are the most obvious opportunities to discuss the message of Faithful Citizenship, other events lend themselves to this topic as well. A local right-to-life march or a "lobby day" sponsored by a diocesan or state legislative network can generate both discussion and action on the Catholic tradition of participation in public life.

Expand Advocacy Activities: Many Catholic Schools programs do a good job of involving students in efforts to serve those in need. Students are encouraged—and in some cases required—to collect food for food banks, gather toys for needy children at Christmas, provide clothing and other items for the homeless, and perform many other services. However, too many Catholic educational programs do not effectively involve students and their families in advocacy and political responsibility education. It is important to teach children that advocating for policies that protect human life and promote justice and peace are part of what it means to be an active Catholic. Young people can learn a great deal from attending "lobby days" sponsored by state Catholic conferences or from researching and writing letters to decision-makers about issues of justice and peace. For ongoing information about advocacy opportunities, contact your diocesan social action or pro-life office or your state Catholic conference, or visit the Faithful Citizenship “Take Action” page (faithfulcitizenship.org/resources/take_action). Also visit the “Youth Advocate Directory” which includes ideas for education, advocacy, and action for different age groups.

Connect Our Tradition of Service to Our Tradition of Participation in Public Life

Some of the best starting points for teaching about the Catholic tradition of civic responsibility are the service activities in which students are already involved. Teachers can encourage students to do social analysis, through which they examine the underlying causes of the immediate problems their service efforts address. For example, when students collect food for those who are hungry, teachers can ask why people are hungry and what opportunities our society offers for us to change those conditions. When students donate goods or money to a mission in a developing land, teachers can encourage them to consider how U.S. policies can exacerbate or relieve poverty in other parts of the world. Specific opportunities to act on issues of justice and peace can then be explained.

Do What You Can: Efforts to share the Church’s tradition of civic responsibility can be as simple as asking a couple of questions during a class or as sophisticated as a school-wide voter education campaign. The first step for most principals and teachers is to become familiar with the basic message by reading the bishops’ statement and the brochure that summarizes it. Then decide what is realistic in your unique context, and do as much as you can to weave this message into your school programs.

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Resources for Teachers and Principals

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States (Nos. 7-026 English, 7-802 Spanish; 800-235-8722)
This statement continues a more than thirty-year tradition by the bishops of encouraging Catholics to use the values of their faith to shape their participation in political life. It focuses on helping Catholics form their consciences so they can make sound moral judgments about public choices. Faithful Citizenship highlights four areas of special concern-defending human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice, and practicing global solidarity.

The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (Bulletin Insert) (Nos. 7-027 English, 7-803 Spanish; 800-235-8722)
A brief summary of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.

Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship –DVD (No. 7-038; 800-235-8722)
Three brief segments, two in English for adults and teens, and one in Spanish for adults.

Excerpts from Sharing Catholic Social Teaching (English card, no. 5-315; Spanish card,
no. 5-815; English poster, no. 5-318; Spanish poster, no. 5-818; 800-235-8722)
An easy-to-distribute card summarizing seven key themes from Catholic social teaching. Also available as a poster.

Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions (Nos. 5-281 English, 5-803 Spanish; 800-235-8722)
This statement of the U.S. bishops urges that Catholic social teaching be incorporated into every Catholic educational program and identifies seven key themes of Catholic social teaching.

Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics (Nos. 5-300 English, 5-809 Spanish; 800-235-8722)
This statement calls U.S. Catholics to recover their identity as followers of Jesus Christ and to be leaders in the renewal of U.S. respect for the sanctity of life.

In the Footsteps of Jesus: Catholic Social Teaching at Work Today (No. 5-444; 800-235-8722)
A two-part video. The first part (9 minutes) provides a brief summary of seven key themes from Catholic social teaching. The second part (19 minutes) explores each theme in more detail through the testimony of people who have lived the theme.

Leader’s Guide to Sharing Catholic Social Teaching (No. 5-366; 800-235-8722)
Ideal for religious educators at the diocesan and parish levels, this guide was developed to assist parish ministers and other adults in their study of Catholic social teaching, either individually or in a group setting. It includes prayers and ten study sheets containing themes, quotes, scriptural foundations, and much more.

A Place at the Table: A Catholic Recommitment to Overcome Poverty and to Respect the Dignity of All God’s Children (English: No. 5-519; Spanish: No. 5-880; 800-235-8722)
This pastoral reflection from the bishops will assist pastors, religious educators, teachers, youth ministers, and social justice coordinators to pray, reflect, and take action on the causes of poverty in the United States.

The Call to Family, Community, and Participation (English: No. 5-189; Spanish: No. 5-851; 800-235-8722 or download in English at www.usccb.org/cchd/FamilyBkInternet.pdf)
Chapters 1 and 2, or online Sections 3 and 4, “Call to Community” and “Call to Participation” are helpful resources for reflecting in groups or as an individual on these themes from Catholic social teaching.

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