The Director of the Common Good Foundation, Lord Glasman, has urged Catholic Union members and supporters to have confidence in their faith.
Speaking at the Catholic Union’s most recent Pub Talk on 10 June, he said “Have confidence in your faith. Don’t despair, and live your faith in public.”
Lord Glasman, who is a Labour peer and academic, spoke of his “deep gratitude” to the Catholic Church for its social teaching over the past 130 years.
Brought up in the Jewish faith, Lord Glasman said he came across Catholic Social Teaching in the late 1980s while studying for his doctorate. He said that the pillars of Catholic Social Teaching – dignity, subsidiarity, solidarity, and stewardship – were deeply needed in the world today.
He highlighted the landmark papal encyclical of Rerum Novarum and other works including Laborem Exercens as being important in his own thinking and writing on common good politics and economics.
Lord Glasman previously spoke to the Catholic Union in 2019 when he delivered the Craigmyle Lecture. Five years later, he returned to deliver a special General Election Pub Talk.
The Catholic Union’s Pub Talks were launched in 2023 to provide an opportunity for people interested in politics and the common good to meet informally and hear from a guest speaker.
The next Pub Talk will take place after the summer. Information on all future events can be found here.
Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, comments: “This was a very interesting and timely discussion. At a time when many people feel that our political leaders could and should be offering us better solutions to the challenges we face, this was a helpful reminder of what Catholic Social Teaching has to offer our politics. We are extremely grateful to Lord Glasman and to everyone who supported the event. Since our Pub Talks were launched last year, they have provided a valuable space for discussion and networking. I am sure they will go from strength to strength with more exciting speakers to come later this year.”