COVID-19 is one of the leading social challenges of our time. The current pandemic has forced a drastic reconfiguration of life at every level of society - a process which has both exaccerbated existing social problems, while also creating new ones.
In other respects, societies across the globe have come together at all levels to meet the needs of the time. This includes the level of civil society, long privileged as a site of social action by Catholic Social Teaching.
Moreover, this civil response has not been restricted to traditional bodies such as NGOs and Church organisations. Subsidiary initiatives such as the mutual aid groups and informal support networks have also risen up to fill the gaps left by more centralised efforts.
These months, in which the world struggles against the virus, are producing both era-defining challenges, and unique experiences in responding to them. This will continue in the months beyond, during which our societies will have to recover from their ordeal.
This blog project seeks to preserve memories of this time, along with the insights of academics and keyworkers within the Catholic world who address its challenges in their work.
We will be commissioning articles from a wide variety of individuals with a range of expertise and uploading them periodically, as well as collecting other resources (which can be found here) - so make sure to check for new posts!