From Ancient Philosophy to the Gospel: Exploring How Catholic Social Thought Shaped a Just and Grace-Filled Society
This course introduces Catholic Social Thought through its classical and medieval roots, examining core principles and modern challenges shaping the Church’s social vision.
This course is an introduction to Catholic Social Thought (CST) with a focus on the classical (Plato, Aristotle, Cicero) and medieval (St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas) roots of the fundamental principles that make up Catholic Social Thought.
Students will be exposed to key philosophical, anthropological, and theological texts that inform Catholic Social Thought allowing for a deeper and more holistic understanding of its principles. The course also presents how the principles of Catholic Social Thought are fundamentally challenged by the anthropological turn of modernity which results in the “social question” that prompted Pope Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which kicked off the modern application of Catholic social teaching.
This course will provide today’s Catholic leaders knowledge of long forgotten principles intended to establish a city (polis) and world (cosmopolis) with greater justice and peace.
The first session of the course is:
June 9, 2026 (6:00–7:30 PM PST)
CLASS SCHEDULE TIME AND DATES
- First Session: June 09, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
- Second Session: June 16, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
- Third Session: June 23, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
- Fourth Session: June 30, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
- Fifth Session: July 07, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
- Sixth Session: July 14, 2026 — 6:00 – 7:30 pm (PST)
Rerum Novarum marks the beginning of modern Catholic Social Teaching, addressing economic and social inequality
Rev. Avelino Gonzalez-Ferrer, S.T.L, S.T.D
Rev. Dr. Avelino Gonzalez-Ferrer, is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Washington and former Vatican official for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He earned a licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy, and is currently associate professor of Catholic Social Thought and Synoptic Gospels at Catholic International University.
Before entering seminary Fr. Gonzalez-Ferrer worked as a mechanical engineer for the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, Maryland in the area of submarine silencing.
As a diocesan priest he served as Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Washington and President of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington, the oldest and largest organization of religious leaders in the Washington, D.C., area, working towards greater interfaith dialogue and peace building.
Fr. Gonzalez-Ferrer is author of Leibniz on the Nature of the Church (2025), and has written several articles for L’Osservatore Romano, the daily newspaper of Vatican City State, the National Catholic Register, and other online journals.