Ethics in Religion Commons^™

On “And Vulnerable": Catholic Social Thought And The Social Challenges Of Cognitive Disability, Matthew J. Gaudet

General Engineering

In light of the ongoing social challenges facing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our time, I want to highlight some underappreciated aspects of Catholic Social Teaching that we would do well to recall. The discussion proceeds in four parts. First, I identify several key contemporary social challenges that continue to face individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Second, I trace the root of those particular challenges to the social forces of industrialization, urbanization, and social Darwinism in the second half of the nineteenth century. Third, on the basis of that historical framework, I argue that the contemporary Catholic …