Researchers, members of faith communities, and other stakeholders are invited to contribute new written, audio, or video content through an online platform for public scholarship and informed commentary. Contributors are asked to carefully read through the submission guidelines and process before submitting content.
Submissions should address one of the following topics:
- A theology of the child, children’s care, and protection: Is there a theology of the child within the Christian faith? What would it mean to develop child-attentive theologies? How have the care and protection of children been understood within Catholic social teaching? How have these interpretations interacted with growing evidence about the effects of child-family separation on developmental outcomes across the life course and the field of child rights?
- Caring for orphaned and vulnerable children: What is the Catholic Church’s history regarding orphanages and children’s residential care facilities? How have the practices of Christian faith communities changed over time and in response to growing evidence about better care alternatives for children? What does answering God’s call to care for the orphan mean for churches, families, orphanages, and other forms of children’s care today and in the future?
- The Church, children, and human enslavement/trafficking in the Americas: Children who were enslaved were often separated from their families. How did Catholic communities respond to this separation at the time? How is the Catholic Church responding to this history of separation now? Going forward, how should Catholic communities respond to this history of separation?
- The Church, children, and Indigenous communities: Indigenous children in various parts of the world often were removed from their families and placed in residential boarding schools. What role did the Catholic Church play? How are Catholic faith communities responding to this history now? Going forward, how should Catholic communities respond to this history of separation?
- The Church’s response to children-family separation in the context of migration: Children have often been separated from their families due to migration, whether they stayed behind as their parents migrated or were separated during displacement and migration. How have Christian faith communities responded to child-family separation due to migration historically? How is the Catholic Church responding to the alarming number of children traveling alone across borders currently? Going forward, what priorities and possibilities should Catholic communities be attentive to concerning child-family separation in the context of migration?
- Faith that supports families: Catholic faith communities have responded to child-family separation in various ways throughout history, contributing to both the propagation and prevention of child-family separation across time and contexts.
a) Catholic faith communities: How is the Catholic Church supporting vulnerable children, families, and communities and preventing unnecessary child-family separation? Going forward, what role might Catholic faith communities play?
b) Catholic universities and institutes of higher learning: How are Catholic universities / institutions of higher learning supporting vulnerable children, families, and communities and preventing unnecessary child-family separation? What priorities and possibilities should Catholic universities and institutions of higher learning be attentive to moving forward?