ABSTRACT
International research shows that the curricula of Catholic secondary schools are increasingly becoming dominated by the pressures of conforming to the requirements of nation states. These requirements are generally expressed in economic and utilitarian terms and evaluated by criteria of measurable outputs. As a result of these pressures, Catholic secondary schools are in danger of losing a distinctive religious and educational cultural programme expressed in a distinctive Catholic school curriculum. It is suggested in this chapter that a serious permeation of Catholic social teaching is crucial, not only for the intrinsic importance of its subject matter, but also as a means to resist total cultural incorporation into state-mandated curricula. Particular attention is given to the educational potential contained in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (2009).
