Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Novarum" is considered one of the first major works to introduce Catholic social thought on a global level. A key message undergirding "Rerum" is the concept of supporting the needs of others, leading to empowerment and self-sufficiency. The purpose of this study was to create a list of…

This article presents analyses of curricula in religious education (RE) for public schools in Austria, Scotland, and Sweden. A curricula is the plan that outlines the goals, content and outcomes in education. A critical discourse analysis approach (CDA) is used to explore how each national RE curricula constructs (a) the aims, status and purpose…

Augustine's training in pagan rhetoric, his classical education, and the productive tensions he experienced between pagan and Christian exemplars played a formative role in his spiritual journey. An examination of the generative aspects of these encounters with otherness yields insights for our own understanding, not just of the importance to…

What does it mean to teach virtue, or to learn it? We consider this question through an institutional review board (IRB) supported research study attending to student learning experiences in undergraduate ethics courses at a Catholic university with an explicit commitment to social justice. This essay draws on and interprets qualitative data…

This article reports on an innovative empirical research project, using a quasi-experimental trial, in which 9-11-year-olds learned about character and virtues through the exploration of four classic stories. The overall aim of the programme was to enhance virtue literacy. Virtue literacy is defined as the knowledge, understanding and application…

The question explored in this article is whether religious schools can contribute to the formation of the civic virtues in pupils by means of citizenship education. It is commonly agreed that civic virtues are needed in pluriform Western societies to promote social cohesion and reduce hostile attitudes. However, some argue that religious schools…

Historians have long presented France's "civilizing mission" within its colonies in secular terms ignoring women's presence as both actors and subjects. This is particularly true in Algeria where the colonial government's explicitly prohibited proselytism. This article emphasizes women's roles pursuing both secular and religious goals in…

Burundi, like the rest of the Great Lakes region, has been shaken by widespread inter-communal divisions and violent conflict. It is commonly believed that the troubled history of Burundian society has been due to the lack of a consistent moral dimension in school curricula. It is this obvious gap that the Catholic Church, through its Moral…

There are six oversized boxes in the New York Historical Society that contain the remains of the Public School Society (PSS), New York City's first experiment with publicly-funded education. They are filled with the detritus of the Society's nearly fifty years: recommendations for prospective teachers from their clergymen, student certificates of…

The Catholic Church, with deep roots in the history of Latin America, exercises considerable influence on all levels of society. Especially after the Second Vatican Council and the bishops' conference at Medellin (1968) the Church took up the banner of human rights and the cause of the poor. During the dictatorships and in the midst of the…

How is the commitment to social justice sustained over a lifetime? This would seem to be a matter of character, and that calls attention to the Aristotelian tradition in ethics. No one provides as much insight into the challenge of the contemporary appropriation of this tradition as Alasdair MacIntyre. Although a moral philosopher rather than a…

During 1999-2000, the writer carried out a survey of six randomly selected Catholic secondary schools in England to examine the attitudes of stakeholder groups towards Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. Questionnaires were completed by six governors, 12 parents, 139 pupils, 12 teachers and six school leaders, providing insight…