Site MapCatholic ThemesAnchor ConceptsCGETemplatesLeadership Resources

Anchor Concept: Empowerment (PDF File)

EMPOWERMENT

All power comes from God. God shares power with human beings, who remain accountable for their use of power. Empowerment is closely tied to the notion of human dignity and freedom. To empower another human person implies helping them to grow in the freedom to live in God's will - the freedom of the children of God. Empowerment implies supporting peoples' good choices and skills so that they can leave behind disempowering cycles of marginalization and needless dependence on others. Empowerment implies a kind of vision in which persons are neither clients nor consumers, but rather brothers and sisters with an equal God-given dignity, to be supported so that they might freely determine their own needs and build their own futures as individuals, in relationships, and in our social structures. Empowerment respects the human person as subject, who is able to take responsibility for self and others (rather than as object, who is expected to act on orders without reference to freedom, intelligence, and human dignity). This is why empowerment is important.

Related Concepts:

AUTHORITY
POWER
FREEDOM / LIBERATION
OPPRESSION
MARGINALIZATION
DISENFRANCHISEMENT
SOLIDARITY
HUMAN DIGNITY
SUBSIDIARITY
EQUALITY AND EQUITY
COMMON GOOD
DEMOCRACY
POLITICAL VALUE SYSTEM
POLICY
JUSTICE
PEACE
HOPE
Corresponding Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations:
 
CGE1d Develops attitudes and values founded on Catholic social teaching and acts to promote social responsibility, human solidarity and the common good
CGE3a Recognizes there is more grace in our world than sin and that hope is essential in facing all challenges
CGE3b Creates, adapts, evaluates new ideas in light of the common good
CGE3c Thinks reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems
CGE3d Makes decisions in light of gospel values with an informed moral conscience
CGE3f Examines, evaluates and applies knowledge of interdependent systems (physical, political, ethical, socio-economic and ecological) for the development of a just and compassionate society
CGE4b Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability
CGE4c Takes initiative and demonstrates Christian leadership
CGE4e Sets appropriate goals and priorities in school, work and personal life
CGE4f Applies effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, time and resource management skills
CGE4g Examines and reflects on one's personal values, abilities and aspirations influencing life's choices and opportunities
CGE5f Exercises Christian leadership in the achievement of individual and group goals
CGE7b Accepts accountability for one's own actions
CGE7e Witnesses Catholic social teaching by promoting equality, democracy, and solidarity for a just peaceful and compassionate society