Janet Kent, senior manager at Caritas, was invited to facilitate a workshop at the conference Catholic Social Teaching on the Streets at Oxford University on 2 September, the event was organised by the Charles Plater Trust.
Janet worked alongside Dr Amy Daughton Associate Professor in Practical Theology to explore the relationship between Catholic Social Teaching and the work of the Carmel Care Centre in Sheffield.
Janet said ‘ It was a joy and a privilege to take part in such an interesting and inspiring event.
Please see below a summary of the workshop.
Cultures of Encounter at Carmel Care:
Rejecting the isolation of abuse
This session focused on the work of the Carmel Care Centre, a team who work with people who’ve experienced coercion and abuse, to help them in recovery and regrowth.
This case study offered an example of a culture of encounter where encounter becomes the culture: “a project that includes everyone” (Fratelli Tutti, §216).
By discussing the activities and experiences of those who work and learn at Carmel Care, this session aimed to explore a culture of encounter and how it is sustained: where dignity goes beyond mere subsistence; where flourishing means giving as well as receiving; and where this project of the common good becomes a path to hope. Carmel Care illuminates the hope of what a culture of encounter can be like, and how it can be built.- Janet Kent for Caritas
