Catholic education and social justice in Europe

This article focuses on two major issues in contemporary Catholic social justice: care for the poor and the inclusion of migrants and refugees. The care for the poor is examined in the gospels and in the contemporary articulation of the preferential option for the poor, drawing on the theology of Gustavo Gutiérrez and Jon Sobrino. Pope Francis and his ‘preferential option for the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers’ is examined in some depth through some key writings and homilies. Care for the poor and the inclusion of migrants and refugees are explored in relation to Catholic education, primarily in relation to Catholic schools and Catholic support for other schools. Some key historical and contemporary figures who intervened in their local context and established schools for the poor and marginalised are identified and discussed. The article provides some concrete examples of the Catholic church providing educational support for migrant and refugee children and young people in contemporary Bulgaria and Hungary.