Prayer and Social Justice Calendar October, November, December 2024
A good way to integrate Catholic social teaching into the life of your community is to celebrate some of the exemplary witnesses in humanity’s long struggle for peace and justice, the key documents, or global observance days. Schools, parishes and charities could use liturgies, assemblies, INSET days, fundraising or advocacy campaigns for formation and education.
The list below is not exhaustive, but offers some of the key milestones from the liturgical calendar as well as UN and other international days. You might want to add your own dates from the charism of your community, or themes of particular resonance for you.
3 October 2024
Anniversary of the publication in 2020 of Fratelli tutti by Pope Francis. A good day to revisit some of the key message of this encyclical, perhaps in school assemblies or collective worship? There is so much to reflect on in this rich and inspiring encyclical, but why not have a look at paragraphs 215–221 on a new culture of dialogue and encounter?
4 October 2024
Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, described by Pope Francis as the example ‘par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology, lived out joyfully and authentically’ (Laudato Si’ 10). Today marks the end of the Season of Creation, which started on 1 September.
7–13 October 2024
Challenge Poverty Week. You will find a range of resources and information about the extent and drivers of poverty in our country and how to challenge this unacceptable state of affairs at www.povertyalliance.org/cpw/.
11 October 2024
Feast of St Pope John XXIII, who convened Vatican II and published key social encyclicals, such as Mater et magistra in 1961. Why not have a look at the short paragraphs from 228–237 which deal with the importance of putting CST theory into practice? Mater et magistra can be found at www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_15051961_mater.html.
13 October 2024
Prisoners’ Sunday. On Prisoners’ Sunday, the Catholic Church encourages everyone to reflect on and pray for prisoners and their families. For information about Prisoners’ Sunday and PACT, the leading Catholic charity working in prisons, please visit www.prisonadvice.org.uk/latest/events/prisoners-sunday/.
You may also be interested in looking at the resources for Prisons Week, from 13–19 October 2024, at www.prisonsweek.org/.
18 October 2024
Feast of St Luke, evangelist. In Luke’s Gospel, perhaps more than any other, we find a message of liberation for the poor and warnings about the corrupting effects of wealth. In Chapter 1, Mary the Mother of God sings of the power of God who has ‘lifted up the lowly’ (1.52). In the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah that he has come to bring ‘good news to the poor’ (4.18) and ‘proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’ (4.19), the fulfilment of the ancient promises of the year of Jubilee, when the injustices in society were re-balanced and God’s will restored.
22 October 2024
Feast of St Pope John Paul II, who was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. In that time, he brought the gospel to some 130 countries on his travels abroad and produced a rich body of teaching, including some of the milestone encyclicals in Catholic social teaching. See also 30 December 2024.
3 November 2024
Feast of St Martin de Porres. St Martin is one of the three patron saints of Caritas Internationalis, along with St Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St Oscar Romero. For more information on all three and on the mission of Caritas, see www.caritas.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ServingOutOfLove.pdf.
8 November 2024
Birthday of Dorothy Day in 1897 in New York, Catholic social activist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. For more information, visit catholicworker.org/timeline-of-the-life-of-dorothy-day/.
11 November 2024
Feast of St Martin of Tours, patron saint of chaplains. St Martin is perhaps best known for the story of cutting his military cloak in two to give half to a naked beggar. In a dream that same night, he saw Jesus dressed in the half of his cloak he had cut for the beggar. Jesus said, ‘Martin has covered me with his garment.’
17 November 2024 (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
World Day for the Poor. This is an ideal opportunity to convene all the work of social justice in a diocese for mutual support and inspiration. To read this year’s message from Pope Francis, visit www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/20240613-messaggio-viii-giornatamondiale-poveri-2024.html.
24 November 2024 (Solemnity of Christ the King)
World Youth Day. Pope Francis moved the celebration of World Youth Day, initiated by Pope John Paul II, from Palm Sunday to the Feast of Christ the King. For 2023 and 2024, the Youth Days will have the theme of Hope in preparation for Jubilee of Youth in 2025: www.iubilaeum2025.va/en/notizie/comunicati/2023/Giornate-mondiali-gioventu-Speranza.html#:~:text=The%20theme%20of%20the%2038th,(Isaiah%2040%3A31).
25 November 2024
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This UN day also marks the launch of the UNiTE campaign (25 November – 25 December), an initiative of 16 days of activism concluding on International Human Rights Day on 10 December. This campaign, led by the UN Secretary-General and UN Women since 2008, aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions. For more information, see www.un.org/en/observances/ending-violence-against-women-day.
1 December 2024 (First Sunday in Advent)
Advent 2024 is a time to prepare for the great celebration of the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the love of God made visible among us, on Christmas Day. The readings for the Sundays in Advent urge us to be alert to what is going on around us so we can read the signs of the breaking in of the Kingdom of God and repent, or change our lives in readiness for the invitation of the gospel. This Advent also sees the introduction of the new Lectionary, which will be used in parishes in England, Wales and Scotland. For more information, visit www.cbcew.org.uk/new-lectionary-to-be-launched-in-england-and-wales-for-advent-2024/.
1 December 2024
World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who’ve died of the disease. World AIDS Day is one of the eleven official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), www.who.int/. For more information on AIDS prevention and support in the UK, visit www.caps-uk.org/
7 December 2024
Anniversary of the promulgation by Pope Paul VI in 1965 of Gaudium et spes, the document of Vatican II which is most concerned with social issues. This is the Magisterium (teaching) of the Church at its highest level (Compendium, 96), hence it is the most significant document in Catholic social teaching. To recap on its teaching on the social order and the gospel, why not have a look at paragraph 26?
10 December 2024
Human Rights Day. Anniversary of the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global declaration of human rights. For the full text, see www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.
24 December 2024
The Jubilee Year 2025 is inaugurated on Christmas Eve 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican by Pope Francis. In the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis calls for ‘signs of hope’ for peace in the world, for young people, for people migrating to another country, for the sick and isolated elderly people and for people who experience various forms of poverty. You can read the Bull of Indiction, Spes non confundit, at www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/bulls/documents/20240509_spes-non-confundit_bolla-giubileo2025.html.
In England and Wales, three agencies of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference – the Catholic Education Service, Caritas Social Action Network and CAFOD – will be leading on the Jubilee for Schools. Since the Jubilee Year opens when the schools are on their Christmas break, Jubilee for Schools will be launched on Friday 24 January 2025. To sign up to receive more information, please visit www.jubilee-schools.org.uk/.
25 December 2024
The Nativity of the Lord. The ultimate act of God’s solidarity with the human race. ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us’ (John 1.14).
25 December 2024
Anniversary of the publication in 2005 of Deus caritas est by Pope Benedict XVI. Why not have a look at paragraph 31a, which reflects on the importance of the formation of the heart?
30 December 2024
Anniversary of the publication in 1987 of Sollicitudo rei socialis by Pope John Paul II. Why not have a look at paragraphs 38–40 for an extended reflection on solidarity: www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30121987_sollicitudo-rei-socialis.html.
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Raymond Friel OBE is CEO of Caritas Social Action Network.
