Helen Alford is an English Dominican sister who is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas – also known as the ‘Angelicum’ - in Rome. She is a Consultor to the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, and lectures widely in various parts of the world.
Helen addresses the topic ‘Catholic Social Thought and the Financial Crisis’. She begins with a survey of the development of the social teaching of the Catholic Church, from the time of Pope Leo XIII and his 1891 encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’ up to ‘Caritas in Veritate’ of Pope Benedict XVI. There is a process of learning and dialogue, as we seek to understand how human beings develop and how the common good can be promoted. She analyses the deeper reasons for the financial crisis and suggests a new approach, which calls for association, participation, subsidiarity and solidarity.
This study day took place at Brentwood Cathedral Hall on Saturday 4th June 2011.