Every student knows about, and has practiced, charity. Unfortunately they have come to believe that charity (read as the giving of material possessions) is all that is required of them when it comes to responding to the needs of other human beings. “I have so much, I am so blessed, I have more than I need, so I need to give to others,” is the litany. While the practice of charity is perfectly fine, noble and necessary behavior- an act of mercy in fact, teaching young people to give because they have does little to help young people understand and respond to justice. Nor does it honor the true meaning of charity and love of neighbor. The underlying assumption of the have and have not paradigm, one that we promote even if we don’t do so intentionally, is that those who are materially poor do not have anything. Of course we mean that they don’t have the necessary material means to survive, but we insist too readily that they have nothing. We do not teach about the poor and vulnerable in terms of what they have, rather in terms of what they do not have. We often do not take the time to explain that their poverty does not mean that they lack so many of the things we consider to be blessings including family, joy, gifts and talents and love for others. By focusing so narrowly on their need, we dehumanize them and violate the principles of solidarity.

Charity requires that we give to those in need while justice requires that we transform the civil order. In his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI says, “Following the example given in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christian charity is first of all the simple response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in prison, etc.” Justice is, on the other hand, according to Pope Benedict, “Building a just social and civil order, wherein each person receives what is his or her due, [which ] is an essential task … every generation must take up anew.” In discussing the relationship between the two, charity and justice, he says, “charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as ‘social charity’.” Both are essential pieces of a Christian response to the world. Since the fundamental principle of Catholic Social Teaching is the right to life and dignity of the human person, then a shift in language would help young people understand the dual obligation of charity and justice. We do not give to others because we have and they need, rather we give to them because they (and we) are. They are made in the image of God. They are our brothers and sisters. They are unique human beings with God-given gifts and talents. They are contributing members of society, when they are given the same opportunities as everyone else. They are people willing to give the gift of friendship. By making this slight shift in emphasis we begin to connect the work of charity, and the obligation of working toward a just society to their Gospel roots of Christian love. If we are to work toward a more just society, we should take this to heart and become more deliberate in our teaching about justice. First by changing the words, then by learning and living the social teachings of the Church, we offer our young people what Pope Benedict calls “a school of life which offers them a formation in solidarity and in readiness to offer others not simply material aid but their very selves.”

We hope the resources below will aid you in bringing justice to your classroom and to the world.

Principles of Catholic Social Teaching for (Young) Kids - Anne Neuberger

A Catholic Call To Justice: An Activity Book for Raising Awareness of Social Justice Issues

Recommended for Ages 14-22

Religious Education Curricula in Social Justice, Archdiocese of Seattle

Education for Justice, Center of Concern

The Education for Justice Project promotes outreach and education throughout the U.S. on Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and social justice issues. The Project provides resource materials, presentations, training and consultations to Catholic high schools and colleges, to diocesan offices and groups, to parishes, small faith communities, and to a variety of networks and organizations. Our new Education for Justice Web Site offers a wide range of materials that can be used with groups and in classes to provide information and spark discussion. (Fee based, free trial available)

Institute for Peace and Justice

A myriad of resources on peace, non-violence, Catholic Social Teaching and much more!

Catholic Campaign for Human Development Education Center

This section of the Poverty USA Web site presents classroom teachers, community, church and service group leaders, home schoolers and other educators with resources they can use to initiate meaningful discussions about poverty in America today. It is designed to help individuals and groups not only begin to understand the size and scope of the problem but also start them thinking about the ways in which they can take action to help create an awareness about poverty in their community and this nation.

Taking the Human Rights Temperature of Your School

Students evaluate their school's human rights climate using criteria derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The subsequent discussion builds towards identifying areas of particular concern and developing an action plan to begin addressing them.

The Institute For Peace and Justice

The Institute for Peace and Justice, which began in l970, is an independent interfaith not-for-profit corporation promoting peace and justice through education, social action, and prayer.

Teaching Tolerance

Founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance provides educators with free educational materials that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in the classroom and beyond.

Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum On the Holocaust

Echoes and Reflections, developed by the Anti-Defamation League, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, and Yad Vashem, includes everything an educator needs to teach the complex issues of the Holocaust.

Bearing Witness: Anti-Semitism, The Holocaust and Contemporary Issues

Bearing Witness was created in 1996 by the ADL’s Washington, D.C. Regional Office to provide Catholic school teachers with the training and resources necessary to teach their students about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust.  Through Bearing Witness, participants explore the history of anti-Semitism, from biblical times to modern day, including the role of the Church during the Holocaust; recent changes in Catholic teachings on Jews and Judaism; issues of prejudice in contemporary society; and strategies for teaching students about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism Bearing Witness is endorsed by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops .

USCCB Migration and Refugee Services, Ideas for Schools, Religious Education and Youth Programs

Many schools, religious education programs, and youth programs are facing a large influx of young people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds and are attempting to find a faith-inspired response to the changes in their midst. This resource is designed to help parishes and schools in this endeavor.

Choose Life! Unborn Children and the Right to Life: Grades 5-6

This curriculum is designed to assist Catholic school teachers and parish catechists in their efforts to foster a pro-life attitude in students in grades 5 through 12. Following an introduction is the curriculum, which features six lessons. These are: (1) The miracle of life around us; (2) Respect for all life; (3) The miracle of human life; (4) Abortion and the facts; (5) Abortion and the right to life; and (6) Choose life. Student handouts are included in the lessons, and a series of fetal development visuals are appended.

Grades 7-8 and Grades 9-12

Death Penalty Curricula for High School, Death Penalty Information Center

We invite you to visit our balanced, dynamic EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY designed by the award-winning team at the Michigan State Communications Technology Laboratory in conjunction with the Death Penalty Information Center. You will find separate teacher and student sites, flexible lesson plans, teacher overviews, and objectives meeting national educational standards.

Catholic Relief Services Education: Going Global With Youth

CRS Education: Going Global with Youth is a gateway to lesson plans, simulation activities, prayer services, stories, web links and opportunities that looks at global issues through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. Use this resource to invite young people to see the world with new eyes and to challenge them to respond to our faith call to global solidarity.

Fair Trade Uniforms

Fair Trade Uniforms partners with projects that enable economically disadvantaged women to achieve sustainable employment. Our uniforms are created by women at sites in Thailand and Mexico. Buying your school's uniforms from Fair Trade Uniforms enables our partners to lead more dignified lives, feed their families, and send their children to school. This site also includes excellent resources for Fair Trade curricula.

Heifer International (Read to Feed)

Heifer International invites you to join in the fun and excitement, while doing something to make the world a better place! Through Read to Feed®, you can help hungry people all over the world to be better fed, proud and self-reliant. You have the power to be part of hopeful solutions to some very tough global problems!

Oxfam Education

Oxfam Education offers a huge range of ideas, resources and support for developing the global dimension in the classroom and the whole school. All of the resources here support Education for Global Citizenship – education that helps pupils understand their world and make a positive difference in it.

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The links provided on this page, and throughout the website, are solely for the user's convenience. The Office of Peace and Justice and Catholic Charities Community Services assume no responsibility for, and do not necessarily endorse, these websites, their content, or their sponsoring organizations.