Christian Responsibility and Citizenship
Welcome to the home page of the Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship. The work of the Department can also be found in Working Nationally.
The Department and its associated agencies assist both Diocesan Bishops and the Bishops' Conference collectively in promoting Catholic social action and in contributing to domestic public policy (excluding international affairs).
The Department has three strategic priorities:
Celebrating Family: Blessed, Broken, Living Love is the national programme of support for marriage and family life within the Catholic community in England and Wales. The three priorities - Everybody's Welcome, Home is a Holy Place and Passing on the Faith - were identified following a major consultation process called Listening 2004: My Family My Church to which 15,000 families across England and Wales responded.
The Marriage and Family Life Project Office provides support, resources and advice to dioceses and parishes as they respond to families' expressed needs within this remit. The Project Office also tries to identify and highlight good practice across dioceses and organisations in supporting marriage and family life.
- SUPPORT OF MARGINALISED AND VULNERABLE PEOPLE
The main way in which this work is carried out is through Caritas Social Action Network and the Catholic Association for Racial Justice. Working groups on specific issues (for example, support for Travellers, or discrimination or urban poverty issues) are convened by the Senior Adviser on Community Relations, Richard Zipfel.
- LIFE ISSUES AND THE DIGNITY OF THE PERSON
Specific issues are dealt with by ad hoc working groups chaired by Archbishop Peter Smith, with specialist support from the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics. Wider healthcare issues are tackled through the Healthcare Reference Group.
Catholic Parliamentary Internship
Now in its fifth year, the scheme provides five recently graduated Catholics with an intensive experience of political and social action in a spiritual context. For more information contact Aminata Kamara.
Catholic Public Policy Digest
The is a round up of the latest public policy work by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and its agencies.
Department Bishops and Staff
Names and contact details for department members
Committees and Working Groups
Names of the working groups and the group members
Press Releases
Current and archived Press Releases relating to Christian Responsibility and Citizenship
External Agencies
Caritas social-action and the Catholic Association for Racial Justice are linked to the Department.
Briefing Papers, Publications and Submissions
Papers, publications and consultation submissions
Topics
Areas of work listed alphabetically
Useful links
A collection of useful and relevant external links to useful websites