Shortly after his appointment last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby described Catholic Social Teaching as “one of the greatest treasures that the Churches globally have to offer”, sentiments he has since repeated. Nearly 20 years ago, under Archbishop George Carey, the Church of England gave a warm reception to the statement by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales on “The Common Good and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching”, and this interest has continued to build. It is not altogether surprising that the General Synod is to hold a full-scale debate on the common good at its meeting in York later this month. Anglicans are finding the principle, which derives from classical Greek philosophy and from the Bible, to be a valuable concept in