Religious Studies 2.3 - AS 90822
Explain how a contemporary social action derives from the ethical principles of a
religious tradition
Level 2
Credits: 6
Version 2
Achievement Criteria
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with
Excellence
 Explain how a contemporary
social action derives from
the ethical principles of a
religious tradition.
 Explain in detail how a
contemporary social action
derives from the ethical
principles of a religious
tradition.
 Comprehensively explain
how a contemporary social
action derives from the
ethical principles of a
religious tradition.
Assessment Conditions:
Written Assignment
Please hand in your assignment to your RS teacher on ______________________________
Task:
1. Give a scientific explanation of how human beings are contributing to climate
change, and the effects of climate change on people throughout the world.
2. Outline the ethical principles of the Catholic Church that are related to this issue.
3. What action is Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand taking to support those badly affected
by climate change in the Pacific?
4. How is the action of Caritas derived from its ethical principles?
5. Draw conclusions and evaluate the effectiveness of the action Caritas has taken.
6. What are the wider implications of this action?
Glossary of terms in the standard
Social Justice is an outcome of social action taken to develop fair treatment and equity for all, eg.
equal opportunity and employment laws.
Catholic social teaching is a body of writing from the Popes on social issues. The themes of
Catholic social teaching are derived from Scripture and the natural law.
Some of the principles of Catholic social teaching are outlined here:
Solidarity means recognising others as our brothers and sisters and actively working with
them for their good. We are invited to build relationships – whakawhanaungatanga – to
understand what life is like for others who are different from us.
Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable means protecting those most in need.
Common Good means the good of each and all. Commitment to the common good means
respecting the rights and responsibilities of all people.
Subsidiarity is about empowering communities to take action for themselves. It means
ensuring that decision-making happens at the most appropriate level, so all those affected
can contribute.
Human dignity means that every human being is made in God’s image and, as such, is
deserving of the utmost respect.
Universal destination of goods means that the resources of the natural world are meant
for everyone, not just the rich.
Contemporary social action is an action carried out by a person or a group of people in response
to a perceived injustice. Social actions include writing petitions, raising awareness of an issue,
boycotting a product or going on a protest march. There are many other forms of contemporary
social action.
Climate Change refers to the global phenomenon which is seeing permanent changes in climate
patterns and an overall rise in global temperatures. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
defines climate change as, ‘a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (eg. using
statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties, and that persists for an
extended period, typically decades or longer’.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Agency for justice, peace and
development. It is part of a confederation of over 165 member organisations called Caritas
Internationalis. The motto of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is ‘We work for a world free of poverty
and injustice.’
Climate Change Adaptation refers to actions taken to help communities and ecosystems cope with
changing climate conditions.
1. Task One: Give a scientific explanation of how human beings are contributing to
climate change, and the effects of climate change on people throughout the world.
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Task Two: Outline the ethical principles of the Catholic Church that are related to this
issue.
In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of
people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the
common good immediately becomes... a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for
the poorest of our brothers and sisters.
Laudato Si’, # 158
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Task Three: What action or actions is Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand taking to support
those badly affected by climate change in the Pacific?
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Task Four: How is the action/actions of Caritas derived from its ethical principles?
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Task Five: Draw conclusions and evaluate the effectiveness of the action Caritas has taken.
The following sentence starters may be helpful.
(eg) Caritas values the principle of ____________. Because they follow this principle the
local people feel ____________. They benefit from this approach because ____________.
If Caritas did not follow this principle, the people they work with might feel
______________, or the work might be less effective because ___________________.
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Task Six: What are the wider implications of this action? (excellence requirement)
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Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising
above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start...
Laudato Si’, # 205
Just Water: Climate Change in the Pacific
Lessons to Accompany AS90822
LESSON ONE
What is climate change?
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Recount research from the IPCC which demonstrates the human contribution to
climate change.
 Identify the Church’s position on the causes of climate change as outlined in
Laudato Si’.
LESSON TWO
Climate change and Catholic social teaching
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Recall the principles of Catholic social teaching and link the principles to their
biblical source.
 Identify the Catholic social teaching principles which apply to the issue of climate
change.
Activity
Direct students to the website of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change at
www.ipcc.ch.
Students to click on the tab ‘About’ and then on ‘About IPCC’ for a good summary of
the work of this research organisation.
Then go to www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/ and look under Quick Links for video. Click
on this for a 14-minute video presentation which summarises the IPCC’s fifth
assessment report published in 2014.
This is also available on YouTube. Search for IPCC fifth assessment report synthesis.
Discussion
How are human beings contributing to climate change?
Who are the people who are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change?
How can people adapt to climate change?
What are other changes that we need to make to mitigate against the effects of
climate change? (e.g. carbon capture storage).
Activity
What does the Catholic Church say about climate change?
Read Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, published in 2015. Read paragraphs #23#26. Instruct students to copy down some quotes they can use in their assessment.
You could also watch the Caritas animated video about Laudato Si’ which you can
find at www.caritas.org.nz/lent-2017-videos
Activity
Recap knowledge of CST principles. For help remembering the CST principles go to
www.caritas.org.nz/schools/social-justice-week-schools/social-justice-week-schools-2014
Ask students to collaboratively re-write the principles in their own words. How would they
apply these principles in their own lives?
Activity
Read from Understanding Faith 12B: Justice and Peace (pp 7-14) to find out where in
Scripture the CST principles originate from.
Activity
Use Worksheet AS1 to analyse passages from Laudato Si’ and identify where the Pope
refers to CST principles in relation to how we should respond to the challenge of climate
change.
View
Watch a video produced by CAFOD (UK Caritas agency) involving Celia Deane-Drummond on
the Common Good:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKNa29UX1Y
Discussion
Discuss the links made by Celia between the principle of the common good and the issue of
climate change.
Activity
Complete Worksheet C6b that unpacks the material in Celia Deane-Drummond’s video clip.
Discussion
Where do students see ecological conversion taking place in their own communities? How
does living in a more environmentally friendly way promote the principle of the common
good? Who are the people and the organisations you know of that promote the common
good?
LESSON THREE
Caritas in action
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Identify three general ways that Caritas is responding to the needs of Pacific
peoples negatively affected by climate change.
 Explore in detail one particular action that Caritas is undertaking in order to help
a Pacific community adapt to the effects of climate change.
Starter
Direct students to the Caritas website, www.caritas.org.nz and ask them to go to the
‘what we do’ section. Assist students in identifying three of the main ways in which
Caritas works: supporting development which assists Pacific peoples in adapting to
the effects of climate change, education within New Zealand about how climate
change is affecting Pacific peoples, and advocacy on behalf of other Pacific nations in
national and international forums. Students will find definitions of development,
education and advocacy work here.
Research
Direct students to the Caritas in Action pages of all of the modules to find clear
summaries of the work that Caritas is doing to help Pacific nations adapt to climate
change. Also Worksheets P6, F6 and V6 provide a structured way for students to
learn about the work of Caritas in the Pacific. The number 6 refers to lessons for year
11-13 students. These can be found at www.caritas.org.nz/key-resources
Students could be divided into small groups and each group given the Caritas in
Action page for different countries. They could then share their findings with the
whole class.
All of these Caritas in Action pages and worksheets are available online within the
module units that make up the Climate Change in the Pacific series. Web link
www.caritas.org.nz/lent-schools and search under Lent 2017 resources.
LESSON FOUR
Caritas and environmental justice
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Understand that Caritas also works to combat climate change through education
and awareness-raising, and advocacy work.
 Describe specific examples of Caritas education and Caritas advocacy work.
Activity
Direct students to www.caritas.org.nz and to an online copy of the 2017 Pacific
environment report. Read pages 5 -11. According to Caritas, how serious are the
environmental impacts of global warming for Pacific nations?
Read pages 12-13. What are the recommendations made by Caritas?
Discussion
The Pacific environment report is made available to schools, parishes, government agencies
and other community groups.
How effective do you think this report might be in changing attitudes and encouraging
ordinary New Zealanders to act against climate change?
Activity
Go to www.caritas.org.nz/advocacy/submissions to find out about how Caritas writes
submissions to the government to try to influence policies related to social justice.
Read the Caritas submission to the Ministry for the Environment on Climate Change
Contribution Consultation. To find this go to the resource filter page and type in
topic:environment, group:submissions, type:submission, and country: Aotearoa, New
Zealand. Direct students to Worksheet C6c for a more in depth look at this document.
Students might like to have a go at writing their own submission on the need to reduce New
Zealand’s use of fossil fuels.
Discussion
Which method of action do students think is the most effective in terms of combating the
effects of climate change: Education and awareness-raising, national and international
advocacy, or community development projects in specific Pacific communities? Students
can have a debate about what they believe to be the most effective action. They could
provide case studies to back up their positions.
LESSON FIVE
Caritas and Catholic social teaching
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Identify the strategic goals and principles that underpin the work of Caritas.
 Understand how the actions of Caritas are derived from these particular
principles.
LESSON SIX
Living out our faith
HOLY WEEK
Learning Intentions
Students will:
 Discuss the wider implications of the Church’s message on concern for those
negatively affected by climate change.
Activity
Direct students to www.caritas.org.nz/our-mission to learn about the mission, vision,
values and strategic goals of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand.
Discussion
How do these goals link to the CST principles that Caritas follows? See if students can
make links between our environmental justice goal and the CST principle of
stewardship, and our goal to reduce the incidence of poverty and the CST principle
of the preferential option for the poor.
Activity
Students can go back to some of the ‘actions’ of Caritas identified in Lessons 3 and 4
and write an explanation of how the ‘actions’ of Caritas reflect:
a. the vision and goals of the organisation, and
b. the principles of Catholic social teaching. E.g. The publication of the Pacific
Environment report demonstrates Caritas’ commitment to the CST principles
of stewardship and the preferential option for the poor. In the report Caritas
is educating New Zealanders about how the impacts of climate change are
falling most heavily on those with few financial resources, and through this
report, Caritas is ensuring that their voices are heard. Caritas is also
concerned that the natural environment be preserved for future
generations. This is demonstrated in the story about... etc.
Read
Direct students to the Vatican website and search for the Pope’s Message for the World
Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation at en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/09/01/
Activity
Worksheet AS2 provides a break-down of key concepts and ideas in the Pope’s message,
and asks students a series of questions related to the concepts.
Activity
Students make their own personal commitments to becoming better stewards of creation.
This commitment can be ritualised during the Holy Week Stations of the Cross liturgy
found at www.caritas.org.nz/
It might work well for students to work in small groups and work on preparing a
short talk on how ONE of the actions of Caritas reflects a particular CST principle.
Students could then feedback to other groups.
NOTE FOR TEACHERS: An assessment schedule has been prepared and is available.
Contact [email protected] if you would like a copy to help the marking process.
Worksheet AS1
Catholic Social Teaching and Laudato Si’
Match the quote from Laudato Si’ with the CST principle that it best describes. Some CST principles have
more than one matching quote.
Human Dignity
Rises in sea level mainly affect impoverished coastal populations who
have nowhere else to go.
We must regain the conviction that we need that we need one another,
that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world.
Preferential option for the poor
A human being is endowed with basic and inalienable rights
The environment is on loan to each generation, which must then hand it
on to the next.
Solidarity
Let us not only keep the poor of the future in mind, but also today’s
poor, whose life on earth is brief and who cannot keep on waiting.
Common Good
(Some) countries place their national interests above the global
common good.
The natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all
humanity and the responsibility of everyone.
Universal Destination of Goods
Stewardship
Every campesino has a natural right to possess a reasonable allotment
of land where he can establish his home, work for subsistence of his
family and a secure life.
The earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to
benefit everyone.
It is not in accord with God’s plan that (the earth) be used in such a way
that its benefits favour only a few.
The rich and the poor have equal dignity, for ‘the Lord is the maker of
them all’.
Worksheet AS2
The Message of Pope Francis on the Care of Creation, 2016
At the beginning of his message the Pope calls on all people to...
...reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation.
What is a personal vocation?
What does it mean to be a ‘steward of creation’?
Corporal Works of Mercy
In his message, the Pope also sets out his idea of extending the corporal and spiritual works of mercy to
include care for, and protection of, creation.
The word ‘corporal’ comes from the Latin word ‘corpus’ which means bodily, or to do with the body.
When we talk about Corporal Works of Mercy we mean actions that human beings can physically do.
As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires ‘simple daily gestures which break with
the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness’, and ‘makes itself felt in every action that seeks to
build a better world.’
What are some simple daily actions that humans can do to show their respect and care for the
environment?
How do these small actions make us less selfish?
Spiritual Works of Mercy
Pope Francis also says, ...
...As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a ‘grateful contemplation of God’s
world’ which allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us.
How does contemplation/reflection on the created world, lead us closer to God?
What do we learn about God by looking at the natural world?
An integral ecology
Pope Francis refers to this phrase, ‘an integral ecology’. This phrase was first used by the Pope before
him, Pope Benedict XVI. It refers to the fact that people and the environment are deeply connected.
Harm to the environment usually also leads to harm to people.
What are some ways that harming the environment can also cause harm to people?
Who are the people who are suffering the most from the environmental damage caused by climate
change?
Ecological Debt
This term refers to what we owe to developing nations in terms of repaying them for the harm that
industrialised nations have done to the planet. Pope Francis is aware that it is the economically ‘richer’
nations that have produced the most greenhouse gases, by running factories and producing large
amounts of energy by burning oil and gas. The smaller nations, who have contributed much less to
climate change, are generally the countries that are suffering the most from climate change.
Why are ‘poorer’, less industrially developed nations, suffering more as a result of climate change?
How can ‘richer’ countries repay these nations for the damage done to the environment?
A Global Political Consensus
Many world leaders, including Pope Francis, are realising that people all around the world need to agree
on what needs to be done to protect our planet and its people from the effects of climate change.
What are the two ‘global’ guidelines for protection of the environment mentioned by Pope Francis in
this message?
How will following these goals and agreements help us to protect the planet?
WORKSHEET
C6b
Climate Change and the Common Good
View The Common Good which is a CAFOD video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKNa29UX1Y
DISCUSS
Define the principle of the Common Good.
Why is climate something that should be protected for the good of all?
What does ecological conversion mean?
What does Celia mean when she says, Ecological conversion is a community event as well as an
individual event?
Describe in your own words how the principle of Common Good can be applied to understanding
why we should assist those who are negatively affected by climate change.
ACTIVITY
To find out more about Pope Francis’ call to Ecological Conversion, go to his Message for the World
Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, 2016 available at the Vatican website here.
READ TOGETHER
The following is a helpful quote from the United States Catholic Bishops Conference (USCBC) on
climate change and the common good. You may find it useful as a summary of the Church’s position.
Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God’s
creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the
resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to
the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the
globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider
the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table
of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.
Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCBC, 2001
CARITAS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND JUST WATER: CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PACIFIC