Catholic social teaching facts for kids

Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and wealth distribution. CST's foundations are considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, Rerum novarum, which advocated distributism. Its roots can be traced to Catholic theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo. CST is also derived from the Bible and cultures of the ancient Near East.

According to Pope John Paul II, the foundation of social justice "rests on the threefold cornerstones of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity". According to Pope Benedict XVI, its purpose "is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just ... [The church] has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice ... cannot prevail and prosper." Pope Francis, according to Cardinal Walter Kasper, has made mercy "the key word of his pontificate ... (while) Scholastic theology has neglected this topic and turned it into a mere subordinate theme of justice."

Catholic social teaching is critical of modern social and political ideologies of the left and of the right, such as liberalism, communism, anarchism, feminism, atheism, socialism, fascism, capitalism, and Nazism, which have been condemned by several popes since the late nineteenth century. It has tried to strike a balance between respect for human liberty (including the right to private property and subsidiarity) and concern for society, including the weakest and poorest. It is explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-socialist, with John Paul II stressing the incompatibility of Catholic doctrine with capitalism:

Catholic social doctrine is not a surrogate for capitalism. In fact, although decisively condemning "socialism", the church, since Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, has always distanced itself from capitalistic ideology, holding it responsible for grave social injustices. In Quadragesimo Anno Pius XI, for his part, used clear and strong words to stigmatize the international imperialism of money.

History

Catholic social doctrine is rooted in the social teachings of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, the Old Testament, and Hebrew scriptures. The church responded to historical conditions in medieval and early modern Europe with philosophical and theological teachings on social justice which considered the nature of humanity, society, economy, and politics. During the era of mass politics and industrialization, Catholic social teaching needed to account for "the social question": the social dislocation, economic suffering, and political turbulence which arose from modernization. Since the early 19th century, a number of Catholic thinkers responded to the revolutionary tide begun by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. A new synthesis of Catholic natural law primarily influenced by the writings of Thomas Aquinas, combined with the new social sciences of politics and economics, was embraced by the Vatican by the middle of the century; however, it took several decades for this synthesis to become established in Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIII, in a series of encyclicals spanning 20 years, formalized the modern approach to Catholic social teaching which combines evangelical teachings on love with natural law and social-scientific arguments about what constitutes human prosperity. These principles have been consistently reiterated by later popes over the subsequent century and more.

Principles

No official canon of principles or documents exists.

Human dignity

Human dignity is a principle of Catholic social thought. According to the church's catechism, "Being in the image of God, the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession, and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give."

Subsidiarity

Subsidiarity in Catholic social thought originated with Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, Bishop of Mainz in the mid-to-late 19th century, and was incorporated into Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo anno:

Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them.

It was written forty years after Rerum novarum – like a number of modern social encyclicals, during the intensifying struggle between communism and capitalism. Promulgated in 1931, Quadragesimo anno is a response to German Nazism, Soviet communism, and Western European and American capitalism. The primary author of the 1931 encyclical's "subsidiarity" section was the German Jesuit and economist Oswald von Nell-Breuning.

Gregory Beabout suggests that subsidiarity also draws upon an older concept: the Roman military term subsidium. Beabout writes, "the role of the subsidium (literally, to sit behind) is to lend help and support in case of need." In Beabout's etymology, subsidiarity indicates that the higher social unit ought to "sit behind" the lower one to lend help and support as needed. According to another etymological interpretation, subsidiarity means "to 'seat' ('sid') a service down ('sub') as close to the need for that service as is feasible". Either interpretation indicates a hermeneutic of subsidiarity, in which the higher social body's rights and responsibilities for action are predicated on their assistance to (and empowerment of) the lower.

Francis McHugh says that in addition to the "vertical" dimension of subsidiarity, there is also a "horizontal" dimension which "calls for a diversity of semi-autonomous social, economic, and cultural spheres". Quadragesimo anno presents these "spheres" as occupying the space between individual and state:

... things have come to such a pass through the evil of what we have termed "individualism" that, following upon the overthrow and near extinction of that rich social life which was once highly developed through associations of various kinds, there remain virtually only individuals and the State. This is to the great harm of the State itself; for, with a structure of social governance lost, and with the taking over of all the burdens which the wrecked associations once bore. the State has been overwhelmed and crushed by almost infinite tasks and duties.

These associations, or "lesser societies", are encouraged because they are the vehicle by which society functions most effectively and corresponds most closely with human dignity. Examples of these associations include the family, unions, nonprofit organizations, religious congregations, and corporations of all sizes.

Subsidiarity charts a course between individualism and collectivism by locating the responsibilities and privileges of social life in the smallest unit of organization at which they will function. Larger social bodies (the state or others) are permitted and required to intervene only when smaller ones cannot carry out the tasks themselves. Such intervention must be temporary, empowering the smaller social body to carry out such functions on its own.

Solidarity and the common good

Solidarity is a firm, persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good, not merely "vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others". Flowing from faith, it is fundamental to the Christian view of social and political organization. Each person is connected to (and dependent on) all humanity, collectively and individually.

Charity

According to Caritas in veritate, "charity is at the heart of the Church". Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is derived from charity, which according to Jesus is the synthesis of the entire Law (Matthew 22:36–40). It gives substance to the relationship with God and neighbour, and is the principle of micro-relationships and relationships with friends, family members and small groups.

The church chose the concept of "charity in truth" to avoid a degeneration into sentimentality in which love becomes empty. In a culture without truth, there is a risk of losing love. Prey to subjective emotions and opinions, the word love is abused and distorted to the point where it means its opposite. Truth frees charity from an emotionalism which deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing space. In truth, charity reflects the personal and public dimensions of faith in God and the Bible.

Distributism and social justice

Distributism is a school of economic and social thought developed by the Catholic thinkers G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. It holds that social and economic structures should promote social justice, which is best served by a broad distribution of ownership. Distributists cite Rerum novarum:

We have seen that this great labour question cannot be solved save by assuming as a principle that private ownership must be held sacred and inviolable. The law, therefore, should favour ownership, and its policy should be to induce as many as possible of the people to become owners.

This principle is used as a basis for progressive tax rates, anti-monopoly laws and economic cooperatives, including credit unions. Rerum novarum, Quadragesimo anno and Centesimus annus advocate a just distribution of income and wealth. In Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI used the term "redistribution" eight times (all positively).

Key themes

Although there is no official list of key themes, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has identified the seven key themes of Catholic social teaching. Other sources identify more (or fewer) themes, based on their reading of key documents of the social magisterium.

Sanctity of human life and dignity of the person

The foundation of Catholic social teaching is the sanctity of human life. Catholics believe in an inherent human dignity, from conception to death, and human life must be valued above material possessions. Pope John Paul II wrote and spoke on the inviolability of human life and dignity in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, ("The Gospel of Life").

Catholics oppose acts considered attacks and affronts to human life, including capital punishment, genocide, the direct and intentional targeting of noncombatants in war, and every deliberate taking of innocent human life.

Believing that men and women are made in the image and likeness of God, Catholic doctrine teaches respect for all humans based on an inherent dignity.

A belief in the inherent dignity of the human person requires basic human needs to be adequately met, including food, health care, and shelter. The bishops have seen this as a basis for supporting social-welfare programmes and governmental economic policies which promote the equitable distribution of income and access to essential goods and services.

Call to families and communities and pursuing the common good

According to the Book of Genesis, God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone". The church teaches that man is a sacred and a social person, and families are the basic units of society. It advocates a complementarian view of marriage, family life, and religious leadership. Full human development takes place in relationship to others. The family is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of children. Families form communities, communities form states, and each person is part of the human family. How these communities organize themselves politically, economically and socially is of the utmost importance. Each institution must be judged by how much it enhances, or detracts from, the life and dignity of humanity.

Rights and responsibilities about social justice

Every person has a fundamental right to life and to the necessities of life. The right to exercise religious freedom publicly and privately by individuals and institutions and freedom of conscience need to be defended. The right to freely express religious beliefs protects all other rights.

The church supports private property, and teaches that "every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own." The right to private property is not absolute, however, and is limited by the concepts of "universal destiny of the goods of the earth" and of social mortgage. It is moral and just for Catholics to destroy property used in an evil way by others, or for the state to redistribute wealth from those who have unjustly hoarded it.

Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities to one another, to one's family, and to the larger society. Rights should be understood and exercised in a moral framework rooted in the dignity of the human person and social justice. Those who have more have a greater responsibility to contribute to the common good than those who have less.

According to natural law, freedom is the empowerment of good. Free people have responsibilities; in human relationships, this implies responsibilities towards each other. The right to life means that every person has a responsibility to help sustain and develop the lives of others.

The Ten Commandments reflect natural law as it applies to humanity. The first three are the foundation: the love, worship and sanctity of God, and the building of people around God. The other seven commandments deal with the love of humanity, describing the ways in which people must serve the common good (Exodus 20:3–17). Jesus summarized the commandments with a New Commandment: "Love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34, 15:9–17). The mystery of Jesus is that of love. In a homily to government leaders and politicians, Pope John Paul II said:

Man's relationship with God is not one of fear, of slavery or oppression; rather, it is a relationship of serene trust born of a free choice motivated by love ... By his Law God does not intend to coerce man's will, but rather to set it free it from everything that could compromise its authentic dignity and its full realization.

Human rights according to the catechism

The catechism of the Catholic Church explains that every person is equal to others and has human rights. It lists a number of them, including the right to life, vote, to follow one's conscience, to criticize those in authority, civil disobedience, to enjoy the goods of the earth, to private property, to contribute to society, self-defense, to regulate the production and sale of weapons, to discontinue medical procedures, to immigrate, to choose a job and state of life, to respect and a good reputation, to privacy, to know and live by the truth, to educate one's children, to choose their school, and to freedom of religion and studying the Catholic faith.

According to the church, the right to life is fundamental. Pope John Paul II wrote in Evangelium Vitae: "... the first of the fundamental rights, the right to life ... the fundamental right and source of all other rights which is the right to life, a right belonging to every individual."

Option for the poor

Jesus taught that at the Last Judgement, God will ask each person what they did to help the poor and needy: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." This is reflected in the church's canon law: "The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources."

In words, prayers and deeds, people must demonstrate solidarity and compassion towards the poor; public policy must emphasize the option for the poor. The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members, and the poor have the most urgent moral claim on a nation's conscience.

Pope Benedict XVI taught that "love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel". According to the church, this preferential option for the poor and vulnerable includes all who are marginalized: unborn children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and terminally ill, and victims of injustice and oppression.

Dignity of work

Society must pursue economic justice, and the economy must serve people. Employers must not "look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but ... respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character." Employers contribute to the common good through the goods or services they provide, and by creating jobs which uphold the dignity and rights of workers.

Workers have a right to work, to earn a living wage, and to form trade unions to protect their interests. All workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. Workers also have responsibilities: to provide a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, to treat employers and co-workers with respect, and to work in ways which contribute to the common good. Workers must perform the work they have agreed to do.

In 1933, the Catholic Worker Movement was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. It was committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the marginalized and poorest in society. There are over 185 Catholic Worker communities around the world who advocate against injustice, war, racial prejudice, and violence.

Solidarity and earthly goods

Pope John Paul II wrote in the 1987 encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis, "Solidarity is undoubtedly a Christian virtue. It seeks to go beyond itself to total gratuity, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It leads to a new vision of the unity of humankind, a reflection of God's triune intimate life." A person must be their brother's keeper, although they may be separated by distance, language or culture. Jesus taught that people must love their neighbors as themselves, and the parable of the Good Samaritan shows that compassion should extend to all people. Solidarity includes the scriptural call to welcome the stranger, including immigrants seeking work, a safe home, education for their children, and a decent life for their families.

Solidarity at the international level primarily concerns the Global South, and the church has habitually insisted that loans be forgiven as needed. Charity to individuals or groups must be accompanied by transforming unjust political, economic and social structures. The world and its goods were created for the use and benefit of all God's creatures, as reflected in social justice and limits on private property.

Care for God's creation

A Catholic vision of justice is more comprehensive than civil equity, encompassing right relationships among all members of God's creation. Earthly goods are available for humanity to use under a social mortgage which entails responsibility to protect the environment as a gift from God, intended to benefit everyone. Man was given dominion over creation as a steward, rather than an exploiter.

Catholic social teaching recognizes that the poor are the most vulnerable to environmental impact and endure disproportional hardship when natural areas are exploited or damaged. US bishops established an environmental justice programme to assist parishes and dioceses who wanted to conduct education, outreach and advocacy of these issues. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops Environmental Justice Program (EJP) calls Catholics to a deeper respect for God's creation and engages parishes in activities that deal with environmental problems, particularly those affecting the poor.

Encyclicals and other official documents

• Rerum novarum (1891), encyclical of Pope Leo XIII;
• Singulari Quadam (1912), encyclical of Pope Pius X;'
• Quadragesimo anno (1931), encyclical of Pope Pius XI;
• Divini Redemptoris (1937), encyclical of Pope Pius XI;
• Fulgens radiatur (1947), encyclical of Pope Pius XII;
• Exsul Familia (1952), apostolic constitution of Pope Pius XII;
• Mater et magistra (1961), encyclical of Pope John XIII;
• Pacem in terris (1963), encyclical of Pope John XIII;
• Dignitatis humanae (1965), declaration of the Second Council of the Vatican;
• Gaudium et spes (1965), constitution of the Second Council of the Vatican;
• Populorum progressio (1967), encyclical of Pope Paul VI;
• Humanae vitae (1968), encyclical of Pope Paul VI;
• Octogesima adveniens (1971), apostolic letter of Pope Paul VI;
• Laborem exercens (1981), encyclical of Pope John Paul II;
• Sollicitudo rei socialis (1987), encyclical of Pope John Paul II;
• Centesimus annus (1991), encyclical of Pope John Paul II;
• Evangelium vitae (1995), encyclical of Pope John Paul II;
• Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2004);
• Deus caritas est (2005), encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI;
• Caritas in veritate (2009), encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI;
• Evangelii gaudium (2013), apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis;
• Laudato si' (2015), encyclical of Pope Francis;
• Gaudete et exsultate (2018), apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis;
• Fratelli tutti (2020), encyclical of Pope Francis.

Catholic social teaching in action

Holy See

Several teams in the Holy See are dedicated to social issues. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is tasked with promoting "justice and peace in the world, in the light of the Gospel and of the social teaching of the Church." It works to clarify, expand on, and develop new teachings in the areas of peace, justice, and human rights. The council also collaborates with local and international Catholic organizations working in those areas, and with the social welfare organs of the United Nations through the Secretariat of State. The Pontifical Council Cor Unum is the Holy See's primary group devoted to charitable works, and supervises the activities of Caritas Internationalis. It also operates the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel and the Populorum Progressio Foundation. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences promotes the study of the social sciences. The academy works with a number of dicasteries, particularly the Council for Justice and Peace, to develop the church's social teachings. The Holy See has established the World Movement of Christian Workers as the church's organization for working men and women to advance Catholic social initiatives.

Europe and the Americas

Christian democracy (a political movement in a number of European and Latin American countries) is influenced by Catholic social teaching, which has also influenced other political movements worldwide. Subsidiarity (which originated in Rerum novarum) was established in European Union law by the Treaty of Maastricht, which was signed on 7 February 1992 and enacted on 1 November 1993. Progressio Ireland, a nongovernmental development organization based in Dublin, was founded on the principles of Catholic social teaching. It works to achieve sustainable development and the eradication of poverty in the world's underdeveloped nations. Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, a cooperative based in Mondragón, Spain, was also founded on the principles of Catholic social teaching. Pax Romana is active worldwide, particularly in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Choosing the Common Good was published by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales before the 2010 United Kingdom general election.

See also