The Conciliar- and post-Conciliar documents of the Church regarding social responsibility and human welfare continue to point the minds of the faithful to Our Lord’s commandment of love and the living out of that commandment through our dealings with each other. Take, for example, the very first line of the major document about the Church in today's world: “The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joys and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. For their is a community composed of men, of men who, united in Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, press onwards towards the kingdom of the Father and are bearers of a message of salvation for all men. That is why Christians cherish a feeling of deep solidarity with the human race and its history” (Gaudium et Spes, 1). 

The Department for Social Responsibility is therefore called to enable the local church (in our case, the diocese of Salford) to be aware of the social and welfare needs of those among whom we live and to whom we minister in Christ. We are always aware of his teaching that as we do unto the least of our brethren, we do unto him.

The department’s sharing in the mission of Christ is to recognise and meet the needs of humanity as experienced throughout the diocese and to do so from birth to physical death. Medical, ethical and moral issues and questions are the roots of the diverse and disparate needs the local church is trying to address through her corporal works of mercy, evangelisation of structures and witness to the gospel of salvation.

You will see as you read of the areas of life in which this Department is active, that the local church in Salford responds to the call of the Gospel and the documents of the Church.