Summary of Semester 2

Term 3- Change and reform

Philomena (Topic 1)

The film Philomena is about a old woman who tries to connect with her son who got taken from her as she had him when she wasn’t married. A journalist helped her with the journey and wanted to publish her story but she didn’t. 

Themes

  • Faith

  • Justice and Truth

  • Resilience and Hope

  • Relationships

  • Forgiveness and Redemption

  • Sin & shame

  • Power (use, abuse, and cover-up)

Change (Topic 2)

Stages of change

Change: To make something different

Reform: To make an improvement to a system

Revolution: a forcible overthrow of a social order, in favour of a new system

Create urgency

Create a case to understand why change is important and to encourage people to agree

Form a powerful coalition

Create a team of people who can help with the change process

Create a vision for change

Make an easy vision for people to understand the change

Communicate the vision

Embed the vision into every project

Remove obstacles

Listen to obstacles, fears and concerns and fix the,

Create short-term wins

Make it easy to breakdown and achieve little things

Build on the change

Keep on going with embedding the change, and talking about obstacles

Anchor the change

Complete the change

The Protestant Reformation (Topic 3)


The protestant reformation occurred during the 16th century and was aimed to reform the practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. During this time, the Church was encouraging catholics to participate in indulgences they were selling, as a way of doing something good in forgiveness of sins to get into heaven or to prevent purgatory.

Martin Luther- Augustian priest and a scholar who posted a document called “Disputation on the power of Indulgences” that challenged people to debate with him on the catholic church's teaching with the 95 theses. His supporters then started a new Christian denomination.

95 theses included points about- Faith, selling of indulgences, bible, and the Catholic clergy & pope

The Counter Reformation (Topic 4)

The counter reformation was a response to the protestant reformation and was held in the council of trent.

Council of trent

  • 545 to 1563 by Pope Paul III

  • Reaffirmed 3 key teachings, arranged the scripture and disapproved of some beliefs and practices of Protestant Christians

  •  Ignatius of Loyola-  founded the Society of Jesus that focused on:

    • Education

    • Missionary work

    • Vow of Obedience to the Pope

    • Spiritual experiences

The Challenges of Science (Topic 5)

Science and the church have clashed on many things such as:

  • Why are we here? 

    • Church: God created us

    • Science: Cosmic accident

  • What happens when we die?

    • Church: Soul separates from body and God decides if we go to heaven or hell

    • Science: Your body's vital functions stop entirely

Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter written by Pope Francis, issued on May 24, 2015. It stands for “our care for our common home”, focusing on the urgent need to address environmental issues and the ethical responsibilities humanity has toward the planet. This connected science with the churches beliefs.

Second vatican council (Topic 6)

The 21st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It was convened by Saint John XXIII and lasted from 1962 through to 1965. It changed to church to be more up to date with the modern world.

Changes

  • Speak in the local language (instead of latin)

  • Priest faces the crowd (not altar)

  • Lay people are apart of mass

  • Music has been implemented

  • Womens hair can be shown (not covered)

  • Eucharist places in hand (not directly on tongue)

Pope Francis and the church on a mission (Topic 7)

Pope Francis became Pope on March 13, 2013

Popes values:

  • Mercy & compassion

  • Harmony

  • Accompanship

  • Inclusitvity

  • Dialouge

Term 4- Healthy relationships

Introduction to relationships (Topic 1)

Relationships give us a sense of purpose and belonging. Something exciting happens, we tell our friends about it. Feeling upset, go to friends for comfort. Go to participate in somethings, you make friends. Being connected to others is important for our mental and physical well being as they shape our life. 

Relationships can make us:

  • Less likely to have a cold

  • Live longer

  • Recover from surgery faster

  • Reduce chances by 2-5x of a serious medical challenge

Listening to the catholic teachings of love and compassion can lead to better relationships by teaching us:

  • How to listen

  • How to forgive

  • How to have understanding and patience

  • How to show respect

  • How to service

Quality of good relationships (Topic 2)

Morality; principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour

Relationships can affect moral decision making due to certain values, social norms, conflicts, biases and empathy

Catholic social teaching on sexuality (Topic 3)

Sexuality; How people experience and express themselves as sexual beings

Catholic Teachings on sexuality: It is rooted that sexuality is a gift for love and procreation within marriage. There are also values that align with this:

Human dignity- Recognizing the worth of people

Chastity- Express your sexuality properly

Purpose of sexuality- Emphasising with unity, love and openness

Catholic social teachings- 7 principles

Human dignity- We believe every person is created in God's image and that all human life is sacred. We believe in the dignity of each person

Preferential option for the poor- We believe in prioritizing men, women and children most vulnerable to extreme poverty and injustice

Solidarity- We believe we are part of one human family and have a responsibility to help each person achieve their full potential

Subsidiarity- We believe in every person's right to participate in the decisions that affect their own life

The common good- We believe in working towards the common good and looking beyond our personal interests

Participation- We believe that every person can be the architect of change in their own life

Care for our common home- We believe that care for our common home is vital for the common good of all people. We believe a true ecological approach is a social approach. We are the protectors of creation and of one another

Teaching on marriage (Topic 4)

Reasons for marriage in the Catholic church:

  • Openness to life

  • Sacramental nature

  • Indissolubility (together forever)

Similarities

To show love, commitment, mutual support and to start a family/home

Catholic

Secular

Jewish

Seen as an sacrament 

Done legally

Seen as a sacred obligation

Seen as a creation of Gods love (gift)

Done for property, love, inheritance, etc

Part of the mitzvah apart of spiritual strengthening

A lifelong commitment with no divorce

Each spouse has purpose but equal in value

 Our values (Topic 5)

It makes it harder for teenagers to understand the meanings of values when not all adults understand the meanings and what their own values are.

Values in the Gospel:

  • Humility

  • Compassion

  • Justice

  • Forgiveness

  • Courage

Identity (Topic 6)

Identity; the fact of being who or what a person or thing is 

What can impact someone's identity?

  • Society

  • Interests

  • Life experiences

  • Media

  • Culture

  • Friends & Family

Moral issues (Topic 7)

Decision making process

  1. Consider

    • What would the best version of you do? What doubts do you have?

  2. Gather

    • Gather data and information about the situation

  3. Seek

    • Seek advice from experts. Reach god in prayer for advice

  4. Act

    • Do a small act towards this decision

Coming back to a place of love (Topic 8)

Christian love; The kindness and compassion we share to others even if we don’t have the desire to act kind to them

Kingdom of God; God's way of treating everyone the same and well to create harmony