Catholic Social Teaching

A Key to Catholic Identity

The Problem
Far too many Catholics are unfamiliar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More
fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social mission of the Church is an
essential part of Catholic faith.
This poses a serious challenge for all Catholics, since it weakens our capacity to be a Church that is true to
the demands of the Gospel. We need to do more to share the social mission and message of our Church.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
A Key to Catholic Identity
The central message is simple: our faith is profoundly social. We cannot be called truly Catholic unless
we hear and heed the Church's call to serve those in need and work for justice
and peace.
Communities of Salt and Light, U.S. Bishops, 1993
Vatican IIs Ecclesiology
The Church is a sign and a safeguard
of the dignity of the human person.

A religious organization whose purpose it is to help bring about the reign of God in history.

The social mission is constitutive

not extra-curricular or optional.
The Church carries out its religious mission by engaging in concrete struggles of society. To work for social
justice and human dignity, therefore, is a religious act.

Justice in the World, 1971 Synod

Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a
constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the
redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.
Constitutive Elements of Church

Scripture
-- hearing the Good News

Sacraments

-- worship, prayer life, etc.

Social Mission

-- action for social justice

Word Scriptures, tradition, religious ed, etc.

Worship Sacraments, prayer, etc.
World -- social mission, action for social justice
Catholic Social Teaching

Rooted in the Bible

Continually developed in Catholic Social Teaching

-- Observe, judge, act

Biblical themes of justice

God is active in human history

Creation

Covenant relationship

Community

Anawim -- "the widows, orphans and aliens

The example of Jesus reign of God, healing

Creation is good. The goods of the earth are meant for all.
Special sacredness, human dignity of the person
Whatever does violence to humans, does violence to God not just individuals, but
institutions, laws, systems, policies.
Humans are given dominion (not domination, but stewardship)
This is the basis of idea of co-creation.
We are not owners but caretakers, stewards.
No dimension of human life lies beyond Gods care - engagement with Gods handiwork
is itself reverence for God.
Covenant
Exodus story - I will be your God and you will be my people.
God intervenes in history to maintain their freedom and establish justice
The people were to be part of the covenant by directing their lives toward God - eg. in
their treatment of the poor
Community
-- God dwelled in the community. This is a far cry from the me and Jesus
spirituality of today.
Our Biblical heritage is communal
Cf. Zulu saying, A person is a person because of other people.
Interdependence - We are not only sacred; we are social.
The Poor

Widows, orphans, aliens

Isaiah 58
Economic Justice for All: #38
Central to the biblical presentation of justice is that the justice
of a community is measured by its treatment of the powerless in society. the least, the left out, the
lonely

New Testament
Mt. 25
Lk 4:16
Lk 15:1-3

Jesus associated with the outcasts of society.

Jn 10:1-18

Jesus is the Good Shephard

Lk 6:20-26

Beatitudes

1 Cor. 12:24-26 If one member suffers, all suffer as one.

Cycle of Baal
The "Cycle of Baal, and is explained in a 1991 book entitled Doing Faithjustice by Fred Kammer, SJ. I
find it to be a helpful tool in understanding the ups and downs of Yahwehs relationship with the people of
Israel. Also, it just might have something to say to Americans in the 1990's.
The Cycle of Baal begins when the people are in a right relationship with Yahweh. They are a
healthy community, characterized by a sense of shared goods and of caring for the anawim in their midst:
the widows, the orphans, and the strangers.
In the next phase of the cycle, the people prosper and become owners. They begin to place more
emphasis on things than on people. They value having rather than being. They turn the order of creation on
its head, as their possessions come to have dominion over them, and not vice versa.
This growing emphasis on "having produces a dangerous self-centeredness. As a result, the
people forget the anawim, the poor. Moreover, forgetting the poor is the critical sign of a more profound
memory loss: forgetting Yahweh. It is a fundamental form of atheism, not knowing who God is and what
God expects from the people. Yahweh repeatedly warns the people about the seductions of prosperity and
about the tendency to this kind of forgetfulness.
In the next phase, the people create their own gods, gods who are more convenient and more like
themselves. The Hebrews often turned to the fertility gods of Canaan, some of which were called the
"Baals. The Baals were gods that were satisfied with a few ritual sacrifices. Not only did they assure
fertility, but they could also be counted on to not interfere with ownership. Thus the Israelites wree free to
ignore the poor and forget the web of relationships that originally defined their community.
The result was self-destruction. The Scriptures repeatedly tell the story of the Israelites being
overcome by their enemies. God raises up some neighboring nation which invades the promised land,
destroys Jerusalem, demolishes the temple, kills many of the people, and takes the rest into exile.
Then Yahweh would send the prophets deliver a message to the Israelites. The essence of the
message was not "You have forgotten the rituals or the ceremonies. Rather, the central message from
Yahweh was "You have forgotten the poor. The prophets came with one basic lesson: Yahwehs test of the
peoples faith was how well justice was implemented in the land, and the test of justice was how the poor -the widows, the orphans, and the strangers -- were treated.
Isaiahs message is one good example. He proclaimed that God does not want merely sackcloth
and ashes, holy days and sacrifices. What God wants is that the oppressed be freed, the hungry fed, the
naked clothed, and the poor restored to their rightful place in the midst of the community.
The message of the prophets was not a particularly popular one. Therefore, what most prophets
received was not the respect and reverence that one would expect for those who are sent by God, but rather
the usual treatment of prophets: banishment or death.
The next stage of the cycle is repentance. The people cry out for mercy and deliverance. They beg
to be brought back to the promised land, to be restored to right order and to the community of fidelity to
Yahweh and to one another.
Finally, Yahweh hears the cry of the people and restores them to the land and to the right
relationship with God. The covenant community is restored, the temple is rebuilt, and all rejoice.
And then the cycle begins again. From healthy community to forgetfulness, faithlessness, and selfdestruction. And eventually to forgiveness and restoration.
Could it be that this "Cycle of Baal is not just about the Israelites and how they responded to
Gods word several thousand years ago? What if we were to use the Cycle of Baal to think about our own
time and place, our own history?
How far along on the cycle are we in 1993? Have we become owners? Does "having take
precedence over "being? Has this contributed to our forgetfulness of the poor and of Yahweh? What false
gods have we chosen? Has the process of self-destruction begun?
Vatican II

This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the
more serious errors of our age.
Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did
Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave punishments.
The full quotation from Church in the Modern World is as follows:
This Council exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties
conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no
abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that they may therefore shirk their earthly responsibilities.
For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these
duties....
Nor are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the
discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in
such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life.
This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the
more serious errors of our age. Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against
this scandal and even more so did Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave
punishments.
Therefore, let there be no false opposition between professional and social activities on the one part, and
religious life on the other. Christians who neglect their temporal duties, jeopardizes their eternal salvation.
(#
Modern Catholic Social Teaching
1891
Rerum Novarum
Leo XIII
1931
Quadragesimo Anno
Pius XI
1961
Mother and Teacher
John XXIII
1963
Peace on Earth
John XXIII
1965
Church in the Modern World
Vatican II
1967
The Development of Peoples
Paul VI
1971
A Call to Action
Paul VI
1971
Justice in the World
Synod of Bishops
1979
Redeemer of Humanity
John Paul II
1981
On Human Work
John Paul II
1988
On Social Concern
John Paul II
1991
The One Hundredth Year
John Paul II
1995
The Gospel of Life
John Paul II
This is not a comprehensive list, but it does include the major official texts.
Note that the teaching changed significantly over its history, because of the changing social, economic, and
political realities. One can break this century into three periods:
1. Industrial Revolution and its aftermath
2. Globalized world in the 60s and 70s the teaching began dealing with issues involving not just
relationships within nations but also between nations.
3. Post Industrial world John Paul IIs writings reflect the dramatic changes in technology, and
communication that have transformed the world.
The lack of documents between 1931 and 1961 is largely a reflection of the fact that Pope Pius XII did not
issue social encyclicals like other Popes. Instead, he addressed social issues and social teaching in a series
of Christmas radio addresses.
Society
Begin by explaining Commutative Justice between individuals as in a one-to-one contract.

Then introduce the concept of society Distributive and Contributive Justice. Each involves the more
complex and less obvious set of relationships and structures that make up society.
Distributive justice how the benefits and burdens of society are distributed.
Examples tax burdens, social security benefits, FHA loans
Contributive justice our duty to contribute to the common good.
Examples voting, paying taxes, etc.
Major Themes from Catholic Social Teaching

Human dignity
Community
Rights and duties
Option for the poor
Participation
Economic Justice
Stewardship of Creation
Solidarity
Role of Government
Promotion of Peace

There is nothing official about this list. Many people use other lists some have 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, or 12 items.
Fr. Ken Himes, who teaches this material regularly, makes a good point when he says that there are two
overarching themes dignity and community and everything else comes under those two dominant
categories.
The USCC uses a list of 7 items that stems originally from their pastoral letter on the economy in 1986.
Because of this, it is missing some components, such as PEACE.
All of the 7 items on the USCC list are included in this list of 10. The three items that have been added are
#5, #9, #10.
1. Human dignity
The person is sacred, made in the image of God.
The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the
foundation of a moral vision for society. Our belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of
the human person is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching." (National Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, Washington, DC: USCC,
1998, p. 5)
There is no more basic principle in the Catholic social vision than the dignity of the human person. It is the
bedrock theme, the place where the church stands when it addresses the question of justice in the world. In
the words of the Second Vatican, the Church is "the sign and the safeguard of the transcendental dimension
of the human person." (Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World, 1965,
#69.)
This principle is grounded in the idea that the person is sacred, made in the image of God. The human
person is the clearest reflection of God among us. As the bishops said in their 1986 pastoral letter on the
economy, every person "must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other,
we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred." (National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy
(Washington, DC: USCC, 1986), #28.) In other words, when we look into the eyes of the human person, we

see there the greatest manifestation of the grandeur of God, the clearest reflection of the presence of God
among us.
We are asked never to forget this most basic principle: people are more important than things. Every
person, regardless of age, sex, race, gender, religion, or economic status, has the special dignity that comes
from being a child of God. Every person is a reflection of the sacred and is worthy of respect.
2. Community / Common Good
The social nature of the human person
The fact that human beings are social by nature indicates that the betterment of the person and the
improvement of society depend on each other.humanity by its very nature stands completely in need of
life in society.
Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World
In Catholic social thought, the person is not only sacred, but also social. The very nature of human beings is
that they are communal creatures. They live and grow in community. They cannot survive without
community. Therefore, the dignity of the person makes sense only in the context of the person's
relationships to others in the community. Human dignity can only be realized and protected in the context
of relationships with the wider society.
This principle has profound implications not only for individual attitudes and behavior, but also for the
institutions and structures of society. How we organize society -- economically, politically, legally -directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. The obligation to
"love our neighbor," therefore, has an individual dimension, but it also requires a broader social
commitment to the common good. Everyone has an obligation to contribute to the good of the whole
society, to the common good. For, if we are serious about our commitment to the dignity of the human
person, we must be serious about humanizing the social systems in which the person lives.
This is a difficult truth to be taught -- particularly in our culture and our time, when individualism is a
dominant and sometimes rampant cultural force. Contemporary society is characterized by a radical
separation of private life and social life. Far too often American culture promotes an ethic of private interest
and private struggle to the near exclusion of social virtues and social commitments. The nation is
witnessing a loss of commitment to the social order, a declining willingness to sacrifice one's immediate
selfish interests for the good of the wider society. This radically privatized, radically individualized culture
operates on a creed that Charles Dickens once described in the following way: "Every man for himself, said
the elephant, as he danced among the chickens.
In the face of this rampant individualism, Catholic social teaching insists that we are all radically social. It
promotes a vision in which community plays a central role. As the Apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians:
The body is one and has many members, but all the members, many though they are, are one body; and so
it is with Christ. It is in one Spirit that all of us, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, were baptized into one
body.... If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members
share its joy. You, then, are the body of Christ. Every one of you is a member of it. (I Cor 12:12-27)
The notion of the common good plays a central role in the Catholic vision of social life. The common good
grows out of the social nature of the human person and is defined as the sum total of spiritual, material, and
social conditions that are necessary in order that all in society might realize their full human dignity. All of
society is responsible for contributing to the common good, and by doing so, they enhance their own
dignity. In view of the excessive individualism in our culture, it can be argued that restoring a healthy
commitment to the common good is one of the most significant social tasks of our time.
3. Rights and duties

Civil/political

Economic/social

Every person has a right to the basic material necessities that are required to live a decent life.
In Catholic social teaching the basic demands of justice are made explicit by a specific set of human rights.
These rights are bestowed on human beings by God and grounded in the nature and dignity of the person.
They are not created by society, but rather, are inherent in the very nature of every person. These
fundamental rights form a kind of baseline, a set of minimum conditions for social justice. They form a
bottom line for judging how well society's institutions are protecting human dignity.
A "right" as presented in Catholic teaching is a moral claim that is based on one's dignity. These moral
claims are of two types. First, are civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of
assembly, and the other rights found in the U.S. Bill of Rights. These rights are a form of immunity from
unjust interference. They imply a moral claim against others in society, preventing them from unnecessarily
limiting one's basic freedoms.
A second category of rights consists of economic rights, such as food and shelter. These are rights that
might be thought of as "empowerments." They are claims made on others in society for specific goods that
enable people to realize full human dignity. In Catholic teaching economic rights include, above all, the
basic material necessities that are required to live decently. As the U.S. bishops state in their pastoral letter
on the economy:
First among these are the rights to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and basic education.
These are indispensable to the protection of human dignity. In order to ensure these necessities, all persons
have a right to earn a living, which for most people in our economy is through remunerative employment.
(26)
Human rights, then, are the minimum conditions for life in community. When people are hungry and
homeless, when they don't have access to health care or employment, they are being denied basic rights.
Society, therefore, must ensure that these rights are protected.
In Catholic teaching the concept of human rights is closely tied to that of responsibilities.
Corresponding to the basic rights enjoyed by all people are fundamental duties and responsibilities -- to one
another, to families, and to the larger society. Thus for example, people have a right to adequate
employment, but they also have a duty to work and a responsibility to provide adequate income for their
families. Moreover, the wider society also has a responsibility to organize its economic structures so that
the right to employment is protected for all. Without this collective social responsibility being fulfilled, an
individual's right to employment would have little practical meaning.
Public debate in our nation is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those
who focus on social responsibilities. As the above discussion points out, the Catholic tradition insists that
both personal and social responsibilities are necessary. As a nation we are challenged to ask a basic
question -- how can we structure society so that we guarantee that no one goes without the basic goods that
are essential to human dignity?
While the concept of human rights may sound rather straightforward and basic, it is one of the more
controversial ideas in Catholic social teaching, especially when the rights in question are economic in
nature. Our society understands civil and political rights, and there is a political consensus that supports
these rights. As a result, the nation has put in place social policies and structures that protect these rights,
and punish those who violate these rights.
In contrast, society has a very different attitude toward rights that are economic in nature. Indeed many
Americans disagree with the very idea of economic rights. The nation does not have a consensus in support
of these rights, nor does it have in place the kinds of policies and structures that are needed to adequately
protect these rights. One of the Church's important educational tasks, therefore, is to help build a broader

consensus that the basic economic conditions of human welfare are essential to human dignity and are due
by right.
4. Option for the Poor

Remember the widows, orphans, and aliens.

A necessary element of the common good

The theme of special care and love for the poor is one that is central to the biblical notion of justice. The
Hebrew Scriptures emphasized that God expects those who are faithful to the covenant to pay special
attention to the "widows, orphans, and aliens." Indeed, the treatment of the poor is one of the bottom-line
tests of the people's faith in Yahweh. In the New Testament, Jesus recalls and carries on this theme. In the
Beatitudes, in the story of the last judgment (Mt 25), and in the whole of Jesus' life and teaching, it is
unmistakably clear that those who seek to follow the way of Jesus must care for the poor in a special way.
In contemporary times the Church has adopted the phrase "option for the poor" to describe this moral
principle. John Paul II has spoken of this special obligation to the poor as "a preferential, but not exclusive,
love of the poor. He has describe this preferential love as a "call to have a special openness with the small
and the weak, those that suffer and weep, those that are humiliated and left on the margin of society, so as
to help them win their dignity as human persons and children of God" (Pope John Paul II, "Address to
Bishops of Brazil," Origin, July 31, 1980 p. 35.)
It is important to note that the word "option" here implies a special preference for the poor and the weak,
but it is not intended to be a theme that is, in any way, divisive. It does not mean that one should opt for the
poor and against those who are not poor. The U.S. bishops make this point in their pastoral letter on the
economy when they write:
The primary purpose of this special commitment to the poor is to enable them to become active participants
in the life of society. It is to enable all persons to share in and contribute to the common good. The "option
for the poor," therefore, is not an adversarial slogan that pits one group or class against another. Rather it
states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. (National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S.
Economy, Washington, DC: USCC, 1986, #88.)
While this moral theme obviously has strong implications for one's individual actions and one's personal
life, it also has great importance at a social and structural level. The bishops' pastoral letter is emphatic on
this point. They declare that, "As individuals and as a nation, we are called to make a fundamental
'option for the poor'. The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the
poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's self. Those who are
marginalized and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all."
(National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S.
Economy, Washington, DC: USCC, 1986, #87.)
The "preference" or "option" for the poor, then, gives Catholics a certain angle of vision, a way of looking
at society that has a bias in favor of the weak and powerless. It is a perspective that examines personal
decisions, policies of private and public bodies, and power relationships in terms of their effects on the poor
- those who lack the minimum necessities of nutrition, housing, education, and health care.
This moral principle is closely tied to the values of human dignity and community. In light of the social
nature of the person, Catholics believe that human dignity can only be fully realized in community. A
healthy community, in turn, can be achieved only if its members give special attention to those with special
needs, to those who are poor and on the margins of society. Just as a family with a handicapped child
cannot function in a healthy and mature way unless its members give special attention to that child, so a
society cannot function well unless the poor get special attention. And just like the family with a
handicapped child, if the members follow this principle, the beneficiaries are not only the handicapped and
the needy, but everyone. All members of the family or the society are better off. It follows, then, that the "

5. Participation
All people have a right to
a minimum level of participation
in the economic, political, and
cultural life of society.
option for the poor" is an essential part of society's effort to achieve the common good.
Flowing from the principles of dignity and community is the theme of participation. Catholic social
teaching emphasizes the belief that all people have a right to participate in the economic, political, and
cultural life of society. It is a fundamental demand of justice and a requirement for human dignity that all
people be assured a minimum level of participation in the community. Conversely, it is wrong for a person
or a group to be excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate or contribute to society. In the words of the
U.S. bishops, "The ultimate injustice is for a person or group to be treated actively or abandoned passively
as if they were nonmembers of the human race. To treat people this way is effectively to say they simply do
not count as human beings." (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All: Catholic
Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, Washington, DC: USCC, 1986, #77.)
There are both rights and responsibilities associated with this principle. For example, in the political arena,
people have a right to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, but they also have a responsibility
to contribute, to take advantage of the opportunities to participate in the political process. One might use
this principle to reflect on the current state of politics in the United States. Many people are alienated from
the political process and frustrated with a campaign financing system that gives far greater access to
wealthy contributors. The principle of participation would suggest that this system is not just. It needs
reform. At the same time, this moral principle implies that individual citizens have the duty to use the tools
of the democracy, to reform the system, to make it more accountable and responsible to everyone. Thus,
there are not only structural and systemic implications of this principle, but also individual and personal
implications.
The right to participate can also be seriously violated in the economic realm. For example, many
individuals and families fall victim to the downward cycle of poverty that is caused by economic factors
they are powerless to control. The economic forces of the marketplace do not automatically protect
everyone's right to participate. As a result, the poor, the unemployed, the disabled often get left behind.
This pattern of exclusion is also evident at the international level. Entire nations are blocked from fully
participating in the global economy because they lack the economic and political power to change their
disadvantaged position. Some of the poorest nations, for example, are saddled with massive international
debt repayments that make it virtually impossible for them to pursue fundamental economic development
for their own people.
6. Economic Justice

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. People are more important than things;
labor is more important than capital.
All workers have a right to productive work, to decent wages, to safe working conditions; and they
have a right to organize and join unions.

People have a right to economic initiative and private property, but these rights have limits. No
one is allowed
to amass excessive wealth when others lack the
basic necessities of life.

Work has a special significance in the Catholic tradition, because, as the creation ethic in Genesis teaches,
we have a responsibility to carry forward God's creative activity. Work is a primary way in which we do
that. When we work, we are carrying out our role as co-creators with God in the ongoing saga of creation.
As the U.S. bishops have said, "Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing
participation in God's creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers
must be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to

private property, and to economic initiative." (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sharing Catholic
Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions (Washington, DC: USCC, 1998), p. 5.)
Work is a form of participation that is vital to human development, because it is through work that most
people meet their basic material needs and exercise their talents. People who are able and willing to work,
but cannot get a job, are deprived of a chance to participate and to contribute to the economy and to the
good of society.
Catholic encyclical documents have given a great deal of attention to this topic of work and workers rights.
This has been an important theme in many of the papal encyclicals that have been issued over the past
century, and in 1981 Pope John Paul II issued an entire document on this subject, entitle On Human Work.
Pope John Paul emphasized that work has a special dignity because it is performed by the human person. It
is a primary way in which the person becomes fully human and participates in society.
Workers have a right to participate in the decisions that affect them, and the normal way in which they
exercise this right is through collective bargaining. Catholic teaching holds that all workers have a right to
form unions as a means of protecting their rights and participating in decisions that affect the workplace.
Pope John Paul II not only affirms this right in his encyclical letter, but he also says that unions are an
"indispensable" element in the search for social justice. He points out that workers and their unions have
basic rights that must be safeguarded, but they also have a duty to promote the common good.
Private property is an important right, but this right is not unlimited. It is subject to limits imposed by the
common good. This teaching is explained most clearly in Populorum Progressio:
The recent Council (Vatican II)reminded us of this: "God intended the earth and all that it contains for the
use of every human being and people. Thus, as all men follow justice and unite in charity, created goods
should abound for them on a reasnable basis"[20] All other rights whatsoever, including those of property
and of free commerce, are to be subordinated to this principle. They should not hinder but on the contrary
favor its application. It is a grave and urgent social duty to redirect them to their primary finality.
"If someone who has the riches of this world sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does
the love of God abide in him?."[21] It is well known how strong were the words used by the Fathers of the
Church to describe the proper attitude of persons who possess anything towards persons in need. To quote
Saint Ambrose: "You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to
him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The
world is given to all, and not only to the rich".
That is, private property does not constitute for anyone an absolute and unconditioned right. No one is
justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does not need, when others lack necessities. In a word,
"according to the traditional doctrine as found in the Fathers of the Church and the great theologians, the
right to property must never be exercised to the detriment of the common good".
Populorum Progressio, para. 22-23.
This is also a good spot to talk about the role of markets and their limits. Below are some selected
quotations that summarize the teaching:
The Church's teaching opposes collectivist and statist economic approaches. But it also rejects the notion
that a free market automatically produces justice.
Economic Justice for All, #115
There are needs and common goods that cannot be satisfied by the market system. it is the task of the state
and of all society to defend them. An idolatry of the market alone cannot do all that should be done.
The Hundredth Year, John Paul II

But it is unfortunate that on these new conditions of society a system has been constructed which considers
profit as the key motive for economic progress, competition as the supreme law of economics, and private
ownership of the means of production as an absolute right that has no limits and carries no corresponding
social obligation. This unchecked liberalism leads to dictatorship rightly denounced by Pius XI as
producing "the international imperialism of money".[26] One cannot condemn such abuses too strongly by
solemnly recalling once again that the economy is at the service of man.
On the Development of Peoples, Paul VI
First, one may not take as the ultimate criteria in economic life the interests of individuals or organized
groups, nor unregulated competition, nor excessive power on the part of the wealthy, nor the vain honor of
the nation or its desire for domination, nor anything of this sort. Rather, it is necessary that economic
undertaking be governed by justice and charity as the principal laws of social life.
Mother and Teacher, John XXIII
7.Stewardship of Creation
The church's teaching about environmental responsibility and stewardship of natural resources is rooted in
the message of Genesis -- the goods of the earth are gifts from God. We humans are not the ultimate owners
of these goods, but rather, the temporary stewards.
We are entrusted with the responsibility of caring for these gifts and preserving them for future generations.
As the Second Vatican Council stated, "God destined the earth and all it contains for all people and nations
so that all created things would be shared fairly by all humankind under the guidance of justice tempered
by charity." (Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World, 1965, #69.)
How we treat the environment -- the air and water, the woodlands and grasslands, the farm fields and the
mineral deposits -- is a measure of our stewardship, a sign of our respect for the Creator. We are
accountable to the Creator of the universe for how well we preserve and care for the earth and its creatures.
In their statement entitled Renewing the Earth the U.S. bishops describe the kind of attitude that reflects
this principle of stewardship. They write, "Dwelling in the presence of God, we begin to experience
ourselves as part of creation, as stewards within it, not separate from it. As faithful stewards, fullness of live
comes from living responsibly within God's creation." (National Conference of Catholic Bishops,
Renewing the Earth, Washington, DC: USCC, 1991, p. 6.)
8. The Virtue of Solidarity
It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the
good of all ...because we are all really responsible for all.
Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern, 1987
In today's global village, citizens are increasingly aware of the social and economic problems around the
world. Hundreds of millions of children go to bed hungry every night because they live in desperate
poverty. Millions more suffer the effects of war, ethnic conflicts, and natural disasters. The disparities
between poverty and wealth are so extreme as to be almost overwhelming.
In the face of these "signs of the times," people of faith are confronted with a very basic question: "Am I
my brother's keeper?" These words from Genesis have always been troubling, and difficult to answer. To
what extent are we morally and socially responsible for the fate of others, especially those who are in need?
This question is difficult enough when it refers to those who are in one's immediate vicinity. But how does
one answer that question when it refers to people a half a world away? Am I supposed to be the "keeper" of
my brothers and sisters who live in places I've never seen, who speak language I don't understand, and
whose culture is radically foreign to my own?
Church teaching answers this question with a resounding "Yes." In their 1997 statement entitled Called to
Global Solidarity, the U.S. bishops summed up the Church's teaching on solidarity when they pointed out
that American Catholics have a special responsibility. They wrote, "We are members of a universal Church

that transcends national boundaries and calls us to live in solidarity and justice with the peoples of the
world. We are also citizens of a powerful democracy with enormous influence beyond our borders. As
Catholics and Americans we are uniquely called to global solidarity." (National Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Called to Global Solidarity, Washington, DC: USCC, 1997, #1.)
John Paul II has been the Church's leading voice on behalf of global solidarity. In fact, he has called
solidarity a virtue. It is the virtue, he says, by which we demonstrate "a firm and persevering determination
to commit oneself to the common good ... because we are all really responsible for all." (Pope John Paul II,
On Social Concern, 1988, #38.)
John Paul may be using a modern word for this virtue, but he goes back to the Bible to explain the
foundation for this virtue. He writes, "Sacred Scripture continually speaks to us of an active commitment to
our neighbor and demands of us a shared responsibility for all of humanity. This duty is not limited to one's
own family, nation or state, but extends progressively to all . . . so no one can consider himself or herself
extraneous or indifferent to the lot of another member of the human family." (Pope John Paul II, The
Hundredth Year, 1991, #51.)

Role of Government

The state has a positive moral function.

It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect human rights, and build
the common good

Subsidiarity

As small as possible
As big as necessary

One important implication of the principles of solidarity and the social nature of the person has to do with
Catholic teaching regarding the role of government. This teaching says that, because we are social beings,
the state is natural to the person. Therefore, the state has a positive moral function. It is an instrument to
promote human dignity, protect human rights, and build the common good. Its purpose is to assist citizens
in fulfilling their responsibility to others in society. Since, in a large and complex society these
responsibilities cannot adequately be carried out on one-to-one basis, citizens need the help of government
in fulfilling these responsibilities and promoting the common good.
This does not mean that government should do everything, or that everything done by governments is good.
Nor does it imply that public responsibilities should be carried out by a large centralized bureaucracy.
Indeed, Catholic social teaching includes the principle of "subsidiarity." This principle includes two
important dimensions.
First, subsidiarity suggests that the functions of government should be performed at the lowest level
possible, as long as they can be performed adequately. Decision-making and problem solving should be
dealt with as close as possible to the local level of communities and institutions. This principle assumes that
social problems are better understood and better addressed by people who are close to the problems
themselves. In short, this principle starts with a bias towards decentralization in social organization,
because this will generally result in more efficient and more effective outcomes. It suggests that mediating
institutions such as the family, community groups, small businesses, and neighborhood associations should
be fostered as a way to promote more effective problem solving and more local control over decisionmaking.
The second dimension of the principle of subsidiarity is equally important and frequently overlooked. This
part of the principle places an important limiting condition on the first part. It says that, when the social
needs in question cannot adequately be met at the lower level, then it is not only necessary, but imperative

that higher levels of government intervene to ensure that rights are protected and the common good is
advanced.
One shorthand way to summarize the principle of subsidiarity is the phrase, "Small is beautiful, but big
when necessary." In other words, start by going to the lowest level possible, but don't hesitate to go to a
higher level of government when it is necessary.
10. Promotion of Peace

Peace is not just the absence of war

If you want peace, work for justice.

Pope Paul VI, 1972, World Day of Peace Message

Catholic teaching has always understood peace as a positive, action-oriented concept. In the words of Pope
John Paul II, "Peace is not just the absence of war. It involves mutual respect and confidence between
peoples and nations. It involves collaboration and binding agreements. Like a cathedral, peace must be
constructed patiently and with unshakable faith." (Pope John Paul II, "Homily at Bagington Airport,"
Coventry, 2, Origins 12, 1982:55.)
This means that in an increasingly interdependent world, it takes a conscious effort to build peace if we
hope to avoid war.
There is a close relationship in Catholic teaching between peace and justice. Peace is the fruit of justice and
is dependent upon right order among human beings. This traditional concept of peace was described by the
Second Vatican Council in the following way:
Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of
power between enemies. Nor is it brought about by dictatorship. Instead, it is richly and appropriately
called "an enterprise of justice" (Is. 32:17). Peace results from that harmony built into human society by its
divine founder and actualized by human beings as they thirst after ever greater justice. (Vatican Council,
Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World, 1965, #78.)
This vision of peace implies that the building up of peace is a task that requires the commitment of
individuals and institutions in a variety of social sectors -- political, economic, cultural, military, and legal.
The church as an institution and individual Catholics have an important role to play in advancing the goal
of peace through each of these social structures and institutions.
Implications for Catholic Educators
Catholic schools, religious education and faith formation programs are vitally important for sharing the
substance and values of the Catholic social justice heritage.
Just as the social teaching of the Church is integral to Catholic faith, the social justice dimensions of
teaching are integral to Catholic education and catechesis. They are an essential part of Catholic identity
and formation.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
Seven Commandments for Integrating
Catholic Social Teaching into Our Faith

Rooted in prayer and worship.

Integrate, dont isolate.
Content counts study the documents.
Competency really counts.

Charity (social service) is not enough.

Thou shalt observe, judge, act.
Thou shalt have fun!

Make sure the teaching

is rooted in prayer and worship.
Cultivate a spirituality that is not just private,
but also public and social.
Integrate, dont isolate
The commitment to human life and dignity, to human rights and solidarity is a calling every Catholic must
share. It is not a vocation for a few, but a challenge for every Catholic educator.
The values of the Church's social teaching must not be treated as tangential or optional. They must be a
core part of teaching and formation.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, U.S. Bishops, 1998
Jut as the social teaching of the Church is integral to our faith as Catholics, the social justice dimensions of
teaching are integral to Catholic faith. They are not fringe, optional, or tangential. They are an essential part
of responsibility as disciples. This is not a vocation for a few, but a challenge for every believer.
Content counts
Study the documents.
There is a universal need to be more explicit in teaching the principles of Catholic social thought and
helping people apply and act on those principles.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
Competency really counts
We strongly urge Catholic to create additional resources and programs that will address the lack of
familiarity with Catholic social teaching among many.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
Charity (social service)
is not enough.
There is a need for Catholic educational and catechetical programs not only to continue offering direct
service experiences, but also to offer opportunities to work for change in the policies and structures that
cause injustice.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
Thou shalt observe, judge, act

Observe the facts; know the reality

Use social analysis and moral values to make judgments about the facts

Plan a realistic and effective strategy

for action

Thou shalt have fun

No one likes a grim do-gooder!

Conclusion
Salt and Light for the World
Church and State Explanation
(based on remarks by Fr. Bryan Hehir)
The separation of church and state is a good place to start the discussion; its not a good place to end it. We
start by saying that we agree fully with the separation of church and state. Catholic teaching fully supports
this concept. It may not have always done so, but it certainly does so in our time and in our nation.
Democracy emerged in the 18th century in the French and American revolutions, and the Church, from the
18th century to the middle of the 20th had a real problem with democracy. For example, consider for a
moment Pope Gregory XVI. When Gregory was first presented with the notion of freedom os speech,
freedom of the press and freedom of conscience, he commented that they were "delerimenta", which
essentially means "utter madness". That was an example of how the Church understood democracy in the
19th century. In the 20th century, John Courtney Murray gave a speech in which he said the Church ought
to look at the positive dimensions of democracy and enter into dialogue and relate to it. For that he was
silenced for ten years.
That is the history, and we need to recognize it, but the significant thing is the way the problem of the past
has been put aside and resolved in the 20th century beginning with the Second Vatican Council. Due in
large part to John Courtney Murray the Council resolved the problem in the Declaration on Religious
Liberty. (Pluralism was the problem to which Murray devoted most of his attention.) In that document the
Catholic Church makes three significant statements about politics:
1.

The Church accepts religious pluralism in a society as a given.

2.
The Church accepts the secularity of the state. We don't expect the state to do the work of the
church.
3.
The only thing the Church asks of the political order is the freedom to function, not favoritism but
the freedom to function. The Church wants neither favoritism nor discrimination in the exercise of its
public social and religious role.
Therefore, we are not excluded from the debate because we are religious. On the other hand, we are not to
be given any special treatment because we are religious.
The separation of church and state can never become the separation of the church from society. It is of the
essence of our political system that the state is not the totality of society. It is of the essence of democracy
that the state is only a part of the larger circle which is society. Those of us in the church, therefore, agree
with the separation of the church from the state. What we cannot accept is the separation of the church
from the society. That would mean a silent church.
The responsibility of society is to work for the common good.
The responsibility of the state is to preserve "public order":
1.
2.
3.
4.

public peace
public morality
basic justice
freedom

The Church is a voluntary association with a particular skill -- that of moral discourse.
--------------------------------One of the gifts of the Vatican Council was that it helped to shift the question from "church and state" to a
deeper, more profound question: the church and the world. This is not a legal or constitutional question but
a social and moral question. The Second Vatican Council said that the task of the church in society is to
protect the transcendent dignity of the person. The reason the church is interested in the political process is
because the church is interested in people. The protection of this dignity is not an extracurricular activity
for the church. It is not optional. It is not marginal or accidental. It is at the heart of the church's mission.
Therefore, the Second Vatican Council said that Catholics are to enter the political order because of what
we believe about the dignity of the human person. The person is not only sacred; the person is also social.
The design of the social context and the social system, therefore, can decisively affect whether or not
persons will have the opportunity to realize the dignity that is inherent in each of them. It is in the political
arena where a society decides how it will treat each and every human person. It is one of the arenas where
the fate and future of the human person are determined.
Three principles for HOW the Church engages in political action:
1. Although the Catholic community and its pastoral leaders have the constitutional right to participate in
public policy debates and in the political process generally, there are self-imposed limits to the way we, as a
church do participate. We do not take positions for or against particular parties or individual candidates.
2.
Catholic voters are expected to "examine the positions of the candidates on the full range of issues
as well as their integrity, philosophy and performance." Consistent ethic is the moral framework the
bishops use.
3.
There is a distinction between moral principles and their application in the political order. It is
possible to agree on a given moral principle and yet disagree, in good conscience, on the mode of its
application.