Catholic Social Teaching and Restorative Justice [printable]
This PDF resource presents restorative justice through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching principles. It illuminates ways that restorative practices can transform individual relationships, communities, and systems in the spirit of healing and reconciliation.
When crime happens, the U.S. legal system asks three questions: What law was broken? Who is guilty? How should they be punished? By contrast, restorative justice asks a different set of questions that aim to help those impacted by a crime determine how to repair the harm done and live in right relationship moving forward. The questions asked in a restorative justice approach align with principles of Catholic Social Teaching, a guide for living God’s vision of justice, “where we are in right relationship with God, with one another, and with the rest of God’s creation.” (USCCB, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, A Pastoral Letter against Racism)