Catholic Social Teaching
The Church’s social teaching provides the ethical criteria for advocacy actions and calls us to foster its core values to create a just world. Our US Catholic Bishops have identified 7 themes of Catholic Social Teaching which are found in Scripture, Papal letters, encyclicals and Council documents. These provide us with a means of reflection and criteria for judgment – they give us guidelines for action.
Excerpts from Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions (USCC, 1998)
Life and Dignity of the Human Person
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. In our society, human life is under direct attack from abortion and assisted suicide. The value of human life is being threatened by increasing use of the death penalty. We believe every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
The person is not only sacred but social. How we organize our society – in economics and politics, in law and policy – directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. The family is the central social institution that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Rights and Responsibilities
The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities – to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt. 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and the vulnerable first.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. 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.
Solidarity
We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that "loving our neighbor" has global dimensions in an interdependent world.
Care for God’s Creation
We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
For further reading-
Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1993
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions. United States Catholic Conference, 1998
Crosthwaite, Mia. Go and Do Likewise: Catholic Social Teaching in Action. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2006
Heins, Peggy Prevoznik. Becoming a Community of Salt and Light. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2003
Himes, Kenneth R. OFM (ed.). Modern Catholic Social Teaching. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2004
McKenna, Kevin E. You Did It For Me: Care of your neighbor as a spiritual practice. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2005
McKenna, Kevin E. A Concise Guide to Catholic Social Teaching. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2002
Mich, Marvin L. Krier. The Challenge and Spirituality of Catholic Social Teaching. Louisville, KY: Justfaith, Inc., 2005