Catholic Social Thought Organizations

Database Information

The following are some guidelines for understanding and using the Catholic Social Thought Organizations database, as well as regarding the keywords/categories that were used in constructing this database.

PURPOSE
The main purpose of the Catholic Social Thought Organizations database is to constitute a useful tool for identifying organizations that are active in areas (of the Catholic Social Teaching, geographical, or of activity) of interest for the user, as well as in helping the user learn more about a particular organization.

COVERAGE
Having an all-encompassing, exhaustive list of all the organizations that are active in the various fields of the Catholic Social Teaching, around the world, is a goal towards which we have to aim unceasingly. Nonetheless, we are conscious of the limitations of any such project.
This is why the Catholic Social Thought Organizations database is intended to be an ongoing endeavor, and therefore your recommendations regarding other organizations that are active in CST (and CST-related) fields and which could be included in the database will be welcome at all times.

INFORMATION
The information contained in the Catholic Social Thought Organizations database purposes to offer a synthetic portrait of the featured organizations. The main source of the featured information is constituted by the information a given organization provided on its website at the time of the research.
This is why we will welcome both your observations regarding the accuracy of the featured information and about its actuality, as well as your suggestions for ways of improving the informative value of the displayed data.
(The order in which the keywords are displayed in a specific column does not reflect the specific order of priorities for the particular organization).

HOW TO SEARCH / VIEW
You can search either upon just one criteria, using only one of the drop-down boxes above the table (ex: Country), or by narrowing the scope of your research by using the Advanced Search function and selecting multiple keywords from several (or all) of the drop-down boxes. You can also search for any words or names, using the dedicated field within the Advanced Search option. If you would like a one-look page of information concerning a specific organization, just click on the name of the organization.

CATEGORIES / KEYWORDS
Here are some explanations regarding the type and the format of the information provided in the database, grouped by columns (headers):

1. Name of organization: the original name of the organization, in the original language

2. Name of the organization (translation): the name of the organization, translated in English

3. Website: the website (URL) address(es).

4. Contact persons: the name(s), the position(s) and the titles of the director/president/contact person at the organization

5. Address: the address (or the addresses, if there are several) of the organization, for mailing and /or geographical location (as provided on the organization’s website).

6. Phone: the phone number(s) of the organization, sometimes including the direct phone number of the contact person(s).

7. Fax: the facsimile number(s) of the organization.

8. Email: the email address(es) of the organization and/or of the contact person(s).

9. Type of organization: there are three standard categories/keywords that we are currently using:

Education/ Research of CST: this category includes the institutes/organizations that deal with education (either at academic level or otherwise: continuous education, popular schools etc.) and/or with research in the field of Catholic Social Teaching.
Applied CST: organizations that are involved in field work, applying more or less programmatically the principles of CST: working for peace, development, serving the poor and those in need etc.
Society & Ethics: includes organizations that might not deal directly or specifically with CST, but which work in areas closely related to the main CST issues – especially ethics.

10. Areas of work: Catholic Social Teaching (or CST-related) areas of work, in which a given organization is involved. (NOTE: the order in which the keywords are displayed does NOT reflect the order of priorities for the given organization).

11. Activities: activities that the given organization is currently pursuing in the given Areas of work. (NOTE: the order in which the keywords are displayed does NOT reflect the order of priorities for the given organization).

12. Ecclesiastical Connection: there are three main categories here:

Catholic:(followed by an explanation) - most of the organizations belong to this category, and the explanation refers to the type of link with the Catholic Church; (when possible, we provide the name of a particular contact person).
Ecumenical: (followed by an explanation): ecumenical organizations or organizations that have an ecumenical identity, while nevertheless maintaining an important Catholic dimension.
Secular: (followed by an explanation): organizations that do not declare themselves as Catholic or Ecumenical, but which do relevant work in CST (or CST-related areas).

13. Publications: the names (in quotes) or the types of publications edited by the organization (series, pamphlets etc).

14. Coverage: indicates the geographical extension of the work - it can be Local, Regional, National and/or International.

15. Countries Where Active: according to the Coverage field, the name(s) of the country(es) or of the continents (or Global – for worldwide activity), covered by the work of the organization.

16. Additional Information: contains information not described in the other fields, which could be relevant for getting a better picture of the organization and its activities.