Models for applying Catholic Social Teaching to Life Situations: Model 1: See, Judge (Reflect) Act Social action is closely linked to the CST principles. Social action is a call to live out the Gospel through focusing on human dignity and caring for God's creation through opportunities for public advocacy and action. Catholics are called to mission in two distinct and complementary ways: social justice and charitable works. Social justice addresses systemic, root causes of problems that affect many people, and charitable work addresses short-term emergency assistance for individuals. There are a number of methods which can be used to analyse issues related to justice. These methods help us to reflect on what is happening in society, what issues need to be addressed and what action might be taken as a result of our analysis. According to Pope John XXIII (Mater et Magistra, 1961), “There are three stages which should normally be followed in the reduction of social principles into practice. First, one reviews the concrete situation; secondly, one forms a judgment on it in the light of these same principles; thirdly, one decides what in the circumstances can and should be done to implement these principles. ”See, Judge, Act was developed by the Belgian Cardinal Joseph Cardijn (1882: 1967) who founded the Young Christian Workers and the Young Christian Students movements. Cardijn used to say, 'We are always at the beginning' and his method is about continually experiencing a situation; reflecting on and analysing it in the light of the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church; and then having evaluated it, taking non-violent action to restore, alleviate or change the situation. In order to act well, he said, it is necessary to see and judge well. insert The See, Judge/Reflect, Act approach can be approached in the following manner. • See: explore facts of events/facts/situations o Where did it take place? o Who was involved? o What actually happened? o How often does this occur? o How did the situation affect those involved? o What was said? Why did this happen? o Why did people act as they did? o What are the causes and consequences of what happened? • Judge/Reflect: using a Catholic perspective, examine the rights and wrongs relevant to the situation, taking note of what has been examined in 'see' o Should this situation be happening? o Do you think this is right? What makes it right or wrong? o Is there anything that we can do to change the situation?(Sometimes people break this up into a two-step process: social analysis and theological reflection.) • Act: ways of responding and acting individually and as a group o Is there anything you/we can do, no matter how small, to improve the situation? o Is there anything more we need to find out? o How can we do this? o Is there anyone we can influence to improve things? o What action are we going to take? Once you have completed the three-step process, it is helpful to review your actions to see what you have learnt from the process. In reviewing the actions, you might consider: o Did we carry out the action? o Did we achieve the original purpose? Did it change the situation of the person(s) who originally brought the situation to our attention? o What difficulties did we come up against? o What effect did our action have on us and on others? o What did we learn from the action?o How did we feel before? During? After? o Is there anything we would do differently? o Is there any further action we can take?