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During the lead-up to the general election of 2024, CCSTP produced resources to help Catholic groups and parishes take the opportunity to apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to promote justice, peace and human dignity before and during the election campaign, and to lay the foundations for engagement with MPs after the general election.

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This project started in 2021 to bring people together to explore Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Fratelli Tutti.

We commissioned and published a series of blog articles exploring the various facets of the encyclical, and hosted an online panel.

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Dr Richard Finn OP is Director of the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall in the University of Oxford, where he is a member of the faculties of Classics and Theology and Religion. He is the author of ‘Almsgiving in the Late Roman Empire’ (Oxford 2006), ‘Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World’ (Cambridge, 2009) and ‘Dominicans in the British Isles and Beyond (Cambridge 2023). He is currently researching a Lay Dominican woman, Emily Fortey (1866-1946), who championed at Leicester the cause of relieving poverty and advancing the role of women in public life.

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The Revd Dr Ashley Beck is an Associate Professor at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, where he is Course Lead of the MA in Catholic Social Teaching and the Foundation Degree in Pastoral Ministry. He is also Parochial Administrator of the parish of West Wickham in the Archdiocese of Southwark and responsible for the academic formation of permanent deacons in most of the dioceses of SE England and Wales. He also teaches Catholic Social Teaching and other topics in the university’s Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies and at Allen Hall Seminary, part of the Mater Ecclesiae College within St Mary’s.

He has published a large number of articles and monographs relating to Catholic Social teaching and his PhD dissertation was entitled Catholic Social Teaching in the Contemporary Church - towards a Radical and Prophetic Methodology. He represents the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales on the Management Committee of Faith in Europe, a research body linked to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and he is Moderator of the network; and he is also a theological adviser to the Department of Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. He is a trustee of the Oscar Romero Award Trust. He is a past President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and is Editor of the Pastoral Review.

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Raymond has worked in Catholic settings since 1990, mostly in state secondary education, as a teacher of English, head of department, headteacher, National Leader of Education, General Secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools Conference, and CEO of two multi academy trusts. He is currently CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, the agency of the bishops’ conference dedicated to tackling poverty and enhancing social mission capacity in England and Wales. He has written a number of books on education and Catholic life, including How to Survive in Leadership in a Catholic School and Gospel Values for Catholic Schools (both from Redemptorist Publications). His most recent publication is Formation of the Heart: the why and how of being a Catholic today (also from Redemptorist Publications). He was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours List for services to education. He lives in Somerset with his wife Janet, who is an artist and maker. They have three sons.

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Maria Exall has been a trade union representative since 1989. She is a member of the Communication Workers Union National Executive and the Trades Union Congress General Council. She was TUC President 2022-3. Maria has a Phd in Philosophical Theology from King’s College London, is an honorary lecturer at St Mary’s University Twickenham and an associate of the Las Casas Institute. Maria has a particular interest in concepts of the dignity of work in Catholic Social Teaching and how the ethics of CST support economic and social equality.