2008 Social Teaching Retreat Take Along Tools

2008 Manager Retreat - Catholic Social Teaching

Take Along Tools

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The 2008-09 “VCHS Book Club” will utilize a classic article by William J. Byron, S.J., as its base: “Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching”. The “Book Club on CST” tab outlines the monthly focus for your reading, reflection, and discussion. The Byron article is located behind the tab “Book Club CST Article”. We recommend that you read the whole article through first, and then each month re-read the section(s) pertinent to that month’s focus. Additional resources regarding various core principles within CST are also provided behind the tab “Additional CST Resources”. We encourage you to make use of these resources based on the monthly focus area. If you have questions about Catholic Social Teaching, would like someone to facilitate discussion with your group or help you go more deeply into application of CST, please feel free to contact Lynnette RauvolaBouta, VCHS Senior Vice President, Mission Integration, or Suzanne Dextras, VCHS Director, Ministry Leadership Formation.

Discussions and Reflections on the Principles of

Catholic Social Teaching

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The mission and ministry of healing and health care is built upon Gospel principles. For those who serve in this ministry the internalization of these principles usually leads to something. In other words, once we have knowledge of something we have a responsibility to use it. We are, by our commitment to Catholic health care, responsible for issues related to social justice—both in our respective contexts, and globally. Discussion:

1. Discuss specific activities, plans, strategies and directions from your administrative areas which come out of a consciousness of social justice. (Whom do you help? Why do you do this? What does your budget tell you about your commitment to social justice, other perspectives).

2. Where are you being led in your ministry? How do you know this is the best direction?

May 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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1. Give your insights into this statement and if it applies to your leadership goals: Many do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of the ministry of healing and health care.

Give specific examples of understanding and of the implementation of what you understand about social justice (how do you know you understand it? What can you point to which gives credence to your principles of leadership concerning social justice?)

June 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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1. The Principle of Human Dignity: Discuss why this principle is considered to be the bedrock of Catholic social teaching.

Discuss this statement: “It is not what you do or what you have that gives you a claim on respect; it is simply being human that establishes your dignity. Given that dignity, the human person is, in the Catholic view, never a means, always an end.”

What are some obstacles to achieving this principle in the daily work environment?

July 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life.

Consider the environment for which you are responsible…what are the issues present on a regular basis which revolve around respect for human life? List some of those.

In the same manner, list issues concerning respect for human life which are not usual in the place in which you work or minister.

What are you doing in an active way to bring issues of respect for human life to those in your employ?

August 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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3. The Principle of Association

The person is not only sacred but social…how are you, in your ministry environment, organized to respond to the needs of our day, (social, economic, political, spiritual)? List some concrete ways you attend to the needs of our day.

How are you helping families? Schools, Churches, other social groups?

Are you making choices to contribute to the society in which you live by joining organizations, sitting on boards, serving on committees, and the like?

Are you more or less fulfilled by serving in these various capacities? Explain your response.

September 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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4. The Principle of Participation

How do you promote community and participation in your ministry environment?

What is your approach to those who do not wish to participate in community functions, activities, and other such organizational gatherings?

What benefits are derived by employees as a result of participation in work, social offerings, special events and commemorations, traditional programs and other potentially unifying mission oriented planning?

Is work, only work? Explain your response.

October 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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5. The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable.

Ask each person to define what he or she thinks this principle means. Examples are encouraged.

Who are the poor? Has this changed since the genesis of our healing and health care ministry? Explain.

Why is it that we see the need to take care of the poor and vulnerable, but other more established or financially solvent agencies, etc., do not see the need?

Is what we do as a ministry a sign of being poor? Explain.

November 2008 – Reflection and Discussion

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6. The Principle of Solidarity

Give some specific and current examples of how we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Try not to give the standard examples, endeavor to think about how this is accomplished within and external to your ministry environment. Examples are welcome.

How does “loving our neighbor” in our local environment impact love of neighbor from a global perspective? Give examples.

How is this principle a moral category? (It will lead to choices that will promote and protect the common good).

January 2009 – Reflection and Discussion

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7. The Principle of Stewardship

Ask each person to evaluate him or her self on the following items: • I value my being. • I value my health. • I value my emotional stability. • I value my physical being. • I am in touch with my ambitions in a health way. • I am in touch with my limitations in a healthy way. • I regard others as sacred. • I regard myself as sacred. • I am dedicated to living life in a way that promotes my well being and

the well being of others. • I can challenge others to achieve higher goals. • I can understand the human heart in most cases. • I am puzzled by some behaviors, but I am also confident that problems

can be solved. • I am generally a happy person. • I have short term goals. • I have long term goals. • I am serious about the development of my spiritual life. • I seek those whose judgment I respect. • I am fairly balanced in how I live my life. • I need to be more balanced in these ways: • I have a trusted confidant.

Continued on the next page.

February 2009 – Reflection and Discussion

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How is each person using his or her talents and gifts?

Explain this statement: “A Gift is not a gift unless it is received.” (Are you a giver but not a receiver? How, then, can another person become a giver if you do not receive?)

What is stewardship in these areas: finances, equipment, personnel, personal growth and development, wealth, talent, courage, leadership, vision, competence. (Add your own categories, if you have some).

“The steward is a manager,” not an owner…explain this statement in the context of our mission and ministry.

February 2009 – Reflection and Discussion (cont’d.)

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8. The Principle of Subsidiarity 9. The Principle of Human Equality 10. The Principle of the Common Good

How do you allow people in your employ to reach their full human potential?

How do you define “Common Good?”

Do you believe you treat equals equally? Explain.

What does it mean to “render each person his or her due?” Explain this in the context of patients, residents, participants, co-workers, families, team members, outside contacts and contracts, and the like.

Why is the common good a debatable issue?

Do you have any additional principles that you would add to these ten? Share those if you have one or more.

March 2009 – Reflection and Discussion

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The terms are used interchangeably. The implication for principle is that it leads to something. Values may lead to something once internalized. If principles or values remain in the abstract they will not lead anyone anywhere. Principles and values must be internalized by human persons and carried in human hearts. Catholic social teaching is an essential aspect of faith. When we believe, good things can be done. The ten categories appropriated from the ten principles cited above are:

1. Human person 2. Human life 3. Association 4. Participation 5. Preference for the poor 6. Solidarity 7. Stewardship 8. Subsidiarity 9. Equality

10. Common good.

The ten categories in the article by Byron accommodate every conceivable social issue. Analysis and instruction on these ten can be the foundation for every document, plan, strategy, personal development and growth desire, team checks and balances, ministry forecasting, and faithfulness to mission. These principles and categories portray and evidence the framework for understanding the central issues related to the Catholic faith. This is the end of the ‘Book Club’ for 2008-2009. Please include highlights of discussions in your final survey. We appreciate you and your leadership for our shared Gospel ministry. Thank you for being such dedicated, strong, and principled women and men.

Values v. Principles – 10 Categories

‘Book Club’ CST Article

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Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching William J. Byron [Reprinted from America October 31, 1998 with permission of America Press, Inc., © 1998. All rights reserved. For subscription information, call 1-800-627-9533 or visit www.americamagazine.org.]

PRINCIPLES, ONCE INTERNALIZED, lead to something. They prompt activity, impel motion, direct choices. A principled person always has a place to stand, knows where he or she is coming from and likely to end up. Principles always lead the person who possesses them somewhere, for some purpose, to do something, or choose not to.

In June, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions--Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, a document intended to call the attention of all U.S. Catholics to the existence of Catholic social principles--a body of doctrine with which, the bishops say, "far too many Catholics are not familiar." In fact, they add, "many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith." Strong words.

A companion document, "Summary Report of the Task Force on Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Education," is included in the same booklet that contains the bishops' reflections on this "serious challenge for all Catholics." Along with about 30 others--educators from all levels, scholars, publishers, social ministry professionals--I served on the task force that produced the report.

The task force was convened in 1995 by Archbishop John R. Roach, the retired archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis. Often during our periodic meetings over the course of two years, it occurred to me that one (admittedly only one) reason why the body of Catholic social teaching is underappreciated, under-communicated and not sufficiently understood is that the principles on which the doctrine is based are not clearly articulated and conveniently condensed. They are not "packaged" for catechetical purposes like the Ten Commandments and the seven sacraments. While many Catholics can come up with the eight Beatitudes and some would be willing to take a stab at listing the four cardinal virtues, few, if any, have a ready reply to the catechetical question the bishops want to raise: What are those Catholic social principles that are to be accepted as an essential part of the faith? The next question, of course, looks to how they can best be personally appropriated--internalized--so that they can lead to action.

On the 10th anniversary of their 1986 pastoral letter "Economic Justice for All," the bishops issued a 10-point summary of their teaching on the applicability of Catholic social principles to the economy. We on the task force had that summary in mind as we considered the broader issue of the applicability of Catholic social thought to a range of issues that go beyond the economic to include family, religious, social, political, technological, recreational and cultural considerations. It would be a mistake, of course, to confine Catholic social teaching to the economic sphere.

How many Catholic social principles are there? Combing through the documents mentioned above, I have come up with 10. They are not listed by number in these documents. In one instance, I have split into two principles a single theme articulated by the bishops. There is nothing at all official about my count. Some future Catechism of the Catholic Church may list more or fewer than these 10, if compilers of that future teaching aid find that Catholic social teaching is suitable for framing in such a fashion. In any case, I offer my list of 10 for three reasons: (1) Some reasonably complete list is needed if the ignorance cited by the bishops is going to be addressed; (2) any list can serve to invite the hand of both editors and teachers to smooth out the sentences for clarity and ease of memorization; and (3) any widely circulated list will stimulate further thought on the part of scholars and activists as to what belongs in a set of principles that can serve as a table of contents for the larger body of Catholic social teaching.

So, using these documents as my source, I here present 10 principles of Catholic social teaching, which should not be seen as a rewriting of the documents, but just editing and reformatting.

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1. The Principle of Human Dignity. "Every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family" (Reflections, p. 1).

This is the bedrock principle of Catholic social teaching. Every person--regardless of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, employment or economic status, health, intelligence, achievement or any other differentiating characteristic--is worthy of respect. It is not what you do or what you have that gives you a claim on respect; it is simply being human that establishes your dignity. Given that dignity, the human person is, in the Catholic view, never a means, always an end.

The body of Catholic social teaching opens with the human person, but it does not close there. Individuals have dignity; individualism has no place in Catholic social thought. The principle of human dignity gives the human person a claim on membership in a community, the human family.

2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life. "Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with that dignity" (Reflections, pp. 1-2).

Human life at every stage of development and decline is precious and therefore worthy of protection and respect. It is always wrong directly to attack innocent human life. The Catholic tradition sees the sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a just and good society.

3. The Principle of Association. "[O]ur tradition proclaims that the person is not only sacred but also 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" (Reflections, p. 4).

The centerpiece of society is the family; family stability must always be protected and never undermined. By association with others--in families and in other social institutions that foster growth, protect dignity and promote the common good--human persons achieve their fulfillment.

4. The Principle of Participation. "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" (Reflections, p. 5).

Without participation, the benefits available to an individual through any social institution cannot be realized. The human person has a right not to be shut out from participating in those institutions that are necessary for human fulfillment.

This principle applies in a special way to conditions associated with work. "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" (Reflections, p. 5).

5. The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable.

"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 vulnerable first" (Reflections, p. 5).

Why is this so? Because the common good--the good of society as a whole--requires it. The opposite of rich and powerful is poor and powerless. If the good of all, the common good, is to prevail, preferential protection must move toward those affected adversely by the absence of power and the presence of privation. Otherwise the balance needed to keep society in one piece will be broken to the detriment of the whole.

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6. The Principle of Solidarity. "Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family.... Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that 'loving our neighbor' has global dimensions in an interdependent world" (Reflections, p. 5).

The principle of solidarity functions as a moral category that leads to choices that will promote and protect the common good.

7. The Principle of Stewardship. "The Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation" (Reflections, p. 6).

The steward is a manager, not an owner. In an era of rising consciousness about our physical environment, our tradition is calling us to a sense of moral responsibility for the protection of the environment--croplands, grasslands, woodlands, air, water, minerals and other natural deposits. Stewardship responsibilities also look toward our use of our personal talents, our attention to personal health and our use of personal property.

8. The Principle of Subsidiarity. This principle deals chiefly with "the responsibilities and limits of government, and the essential roles of voluntary associations" (Reflections, p. 6).

The principle of subsidiarity puts a proper limit on government by insisting that no higher level of organization should perform any function that can be handled efficiently and effectively at a lower level of organization by human persons who, individually or in groups, are closer to the problems and closer to the ground. Oppressive governments are always in violation of the principle of subsidiarity; overactive governments frequently violate this principle.

All eight of these principles were culled from the relatively brief "Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops," as the second subtitle of Sharing Catholic Social Teaching describes this published product of the N.C.C.B. As I read on through the summary of the task force report, I found an articulation of two additional principles, which follow.

9. The Principle of Human Equality. "Equality of all persons comes from their essential dignity.... While differences in talents are a part of God's plan, social and cultural discrimination in fundamental rights... are not compatible with God's design" ("Summary," pp. 23-4).

Treating equals equally is one way of defining justice, also understood classically as rendering to each person his or her due. Underlying the notion of equality is the simple principle of fairness; one of the earliest ethical stirrings felt in the developing human person is a sense of what is "fair" and what is not.

10. The Principle of the Common Good. "The common good is understood as the social conditions that allow people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity" ("Summary," p. 25).

The social conditions the bishops have in mind presuppose "respect for the person," "the social well-being and development of the group" and the maintenance by public authority of "peace and security." Today, "in an age of global interdependence," the principle of the common good points to the "need for international structures that can promote the just development of the human family across regional and national lines."

What constitutes the common good is always going to be a matter for debate. The absence of any concern for or sensitivity to the common good is a sure sign of a society in need of help. As a sense of community is eroded, concern for the common good declines. A proper communitarian concern is the antidote to unbridled

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individualism, which, like unrestrained selfishness in personal relations, can destroy balance, harmony and peace within and among groups, neighborhoods, regions and nations.

It would not be inconsistent with either the Reflections or the "Summary" to articulate a separate principle of justice and another principle that affirms both the right to private property and what the "Summary" calls the "universal destination of goods," by which is meant that the goods of this world are intended by God for the benefit of everyone. But these principles are implied in those already listed; I think I'll stop counting at 10. The door remains wide open for additional themes, theses or what I have been calling simply "principles."

I am often asked what the difference is between a value and a principle. The terms are frequently used interchangeably. I like the "leads-to-something" implication of principle, while acknowledging that values, once internalized, will prompt people to act consistently with what they cherish and consider to be valuable--i.e., with what they judge to be worth their time, treasure and talent. Neither principles nor values lead anywhere if they remain abstract, embalmed in print, or are not internalized by human persons and carried in human hearts. Encouraging internalization of these principles is a pedagogical challenge that could be the subject of another article.

By including Catholic social teaching among the essentials of the faith, the bishops are affirming the existence of credenda (things to be believed) that become, in the believer, a basis for the agenda (things to be done) the believer must follow. Thus Catholic social action flows from Catholic social doctrine. How to bring the social portion of the doctrine of the faith to the attention of believers is the challenge the bishops have now put once again before Catholic pastors and educators at every level.

By the arrangement I've attempted here, this agenda rests on 10 building blocks: Human Person, Human Life, Association, Participation, Preference for the Poor, Solidarity, Stewardship, Subsidiarity, Equality, and Common Good

People who enjoy coming up with acronyms could rearrange the order to construct an easily remembered set of capital letters. Whatever the order and regardless of the labels, this set of principles might constitute topics for an adult education lecture series, segments for a semester-long course, chapters in a textbook, offices or sections in a research center or simply 10 "bins" for gathering the collected wisdom drawn from Scripture; patristic literature; Scholastic, conciliar and papal teaching; church history; systematic, moral and pastoral theology, and the ever-developing body of social reflection coming from episcopal conferences and other sources.

Not to be overlooked is the possibility of 10 biographical essays focusing on persons who embodied one or more of these principles in a significant way--Dorothy Day, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Mother Teresa, for instance. Also possible would be a collection of excerpts, organized under these 10 headings, from Chrysostom, Ambrose, Aquinas and other great social voices from the Catholic past. If they are to be taught, the principles need a human face; the lessons have to be conveyed in words and images that move the heart.

These 10 organizational categories can accommodate every conceivable social issue; they can provide any social problem with an analytical home. Analysis and reflection targeted on this material can become the base for moral instruction and formation of conscience. And that, of course, is the whole point of bringing Catholic education and Catholic social teaching together into the new working partnership hoped for by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Meanwhile, the interested inquirer can find references for further reading in the back of the N.C.C.B. booklet, or one could simply consult the index in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church for leads to fuller explanations of Catholic social teaching. And if anyone wonders why the Catholic bishops reflect and write occasionally about war, peace, nuclear weapons, the economy, abortion, euthanasia, health insurance and a wide range of other topics that have a clear social and moral dimension, these principles provide the necessary interpretative framework for understanding the significance of the bishops' pastoral letters. They cannot be dismissed out of hand as political tracts; they must be held in respect as important instruments for teaching the Catholic faith.

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Additional CST

Resources

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Catholic Social Teaching: Additional Resources This packet contains additional material regarding Catholic Social Teaching (CST) that we believe will be of assistance to you in deepening your understanding of and ability to apply CST in your daily work life with Via Christi Health System. Contents: Page Bibliography (partial) 2 Catholic Social Teaching: An Overview

A succinct introduction to Catholic Social Teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching: Theological Context: Reading the Signs of the Times

An overview of the foundational belief which underpins Catholic social teaching – God is active in human history - and the resulting call to “read the signs of the times”.

Catholic Social Teaching: An Evolving Social Message

A review of modern Catholic social teaching, starting with Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical On the Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum) and continuing through the Second Vatican Council and significant developments following the Council.

Catholic Social Teaching: Human Dignity Catholic Social Teaching: Dignity of Work Catholic Social Teaching: Common Good Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable Catholic Social Teaching: Stewardship of Creation

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Bibliography:

An easy-to-use tool for accessing documents pertinent to Catholic social teaching: Office for Social Justice, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis http://www.osjspm.org/catholic_social_teaching.aspx

On the Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum). Encyclical Letter of Pope Leo XIII, 1891. After Forty Years (Quadragesimo Anno). Encyclical Letter of Pope Pius XI, 1931. Christianity and Social Progress [Mother and Teacher] (Mater et Magistra). Encyclical Letter of Pope John XXIII, 1961. Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris). Encyclical Letter of Pope John XXIII, 1963. The Church and the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes). Second Vatican Council, 1965. On the Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio). Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI, 1971. A Call to Action (Octogesima Adveniens). Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul XI, 1971. Justice in the World. World Synod of Bishops, 1971. On Human Work (Laborem Exercens). Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1981. On Social Concern (Solicitudo Rei Socialis). Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1987. The Hundredth Year (Centesimus Annus). Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1991. The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae). Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1995. The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response. Pastoral Letter of the United States Bishops, 1983. Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy. Pastoral Letter of the United States Bishops, 1986. Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good. A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1991. A Justice Prayer Book with Biblical Reflections. Faith and Human Development Series. Publication no. 5-231 USCCB Publishing, Washington D.C. Catholic Social Teaching and Movements. By Marvin L. Krier Mich. Twenty-Third Publications. Mystic, CT, 06355. Sixth Printing 2006. Catholic Social Teaching. Our Best Kept Secret. By Edward P. BeBerri, James E. Hug et al. Orbis Books. Maryknoll, New York, 10545. Fourth Edition. 2003. Doing Faithjustice. An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought. By Fred Kammer, S.J. Paulist Press. Mahwah, New Jersey, 07430 Revised Edition. 2004. Living Justice, Catholic Social Teaching in Action. By Thomas Massaro, S.J. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham, Maryland, 20706. 2000. Novena for Justice and Peace. Faith and Human Development Series. Publication no. 5-237, USCCB Publishing, Washington, D.C. Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching. By Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M. Paulist Press. Mahwah, New Jersey, 07430. 2001. Scripture Guide. Faith and Human Development Series. Publication no. 5-229. USCCB. Washington, D.C. (This is included in your packet). Sharing the Tradition, Shaping the Future (series) Books I – V. Catholic Campaign for Human Development United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Publication no. 5-451

o The Call to Family,Community and Participation. Book II o Dignity of the Human Person. Empowerment and Life. Book III. Publication no. 5-190 o Preferential Option for and with the Poor. Book IV. Publication no. 5-191. o Solidarity with the Poor. Book V. Publication no. 5-192

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Catholic Social Teaching: An Overview

What is Catholic Social Teaching?

Catholic Social Teaching strives to foster a living faith that leads to loving action in the world today by raising up a social vision that is transformative, thereby making visible the reign of God.

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is the church’s presentation and articulation of its reflection upon human beings in society. It sets about naming the realities (at a given point in time), highlighting the dangers to full human flourishing and critiquing them from the point of view of the Catholic faith.

It embodies core themes and responses to challenges facing human beings in a complex and changing world. This body of teaching is not a fixed body of writings or doctrine but grows, develops and changes over time in order to respond to the complexities of any given age and in order to speak with relevance to the world as it exists.

Where does Catholic Social Teaching Come From?

Biblical resources - the revealed and living word of God.

Moral resources - it grows out of scripture and engages human reason, knowing, experience.

Ecclesial Resources - Church teaching expressed in the Pope’s Encyclical letters, Apostolic letters, Synod documents, Apostolic exhortations, and the Bishops’ Pastoral letters, which respond to issues of the day.

What is the method of Catholic Social Teaching? It begins with God and recognizes:

God acts in history.

God is present in reality.

God’s revelation is ongoing.

It names reality and its impact upon the person in society:

It reads the signs of the times.

It takes the realities of the world on its terms and looks at them through the eyes of faith.

It looks at social, political, economic, and cultural realities and engages in dialogue with them.

It raises moral and ethical questions.

It focuses on the person in society:

It looks to how the poorest and most vulnerable are faring as an indicator of the degree of justice present and active.

It preserves and defends the dignity and worth of the person because they are made in the image and likeness of God.

It raises questions about the definition and direction of “progress,” and who benefits or suffers.

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It strives to form the Christian community:

It serves as a call to draw one into awareness, analysis, discernment, and action as a Christian in the world.

It teaches in order to form consciences.

It fosters recognition of the gospel call to love of God, neighbor, the earth, and self.

It attempts to break through apathy and blindness so that a preferential option for the poor is possible.

It is a call to embrace one’s true vocation as a Christian disciple in the world.

It sets forth a social vision, which strives to focus the consciousness, reflection and action of the person in community.

It calls for a response that will lead to transformative action:

It presents principles and takes principled stands. It does not offer complete models or ideologies.

Its hope and goal is to work in collaboration with all people of good will to bring about a better world for humankind.

It seeks action which strives for greater symmetry between the reign of God and the social order.

It seeks to close the gap between the reality and the ideal.

It recognizes that this process is ongoing.

It seeks greater peace and greater justice

Source: Human Dignity ‘Backgrounder’ from the Center of Concern www.coc.org. Reprinted with permission for internal VCHS use only. 5

Excerpted from Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, [2003, Orbis Books and the Center of Concern] by Education for Justice, www.educationforjustice.org.

A foundational conviction underlying Catholic social teaching is that God is at work in human history. This was true in biblical times; it is true today. It is true in places the gospel has been embraced; and it is true in places and among people who have never heard of the gospel or of Jesus the Christ. God is at work healing and redeeming human history and inviting all people to participate in that work. Perceiving the historical action of God and discerning God’s invitation are often now referred to as “reading the signs of the times.”

The term “signs of the times” in contemporary Catholic social thought is a term based upon Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 16:4—“You know how to read the face of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times.” Pope John XXIII made the first use of the term in modern Catholic social teaching to refer to the principal characteristics of the age that are emerging from the collective consciousness of the human community in the form of shared understandings and social movements. In Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris), John XXIII identified the women’s movement, the movement for workers’ rights, and the ending of colonialism as important “signs of the times.”

The Second Vatican Council embraced the notion, bringing it to the heart of the church’s mission.

“...the church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment to serve and not to be served. To carry out such a task, the church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the gospel.” (The Church in the Modern World [Gaudium et Spes])

The “signs of the times,” then, embody and reflect the movement of the Holy Spirit in human history working to bring about the redemption of peoples and the fuller realization of the Reign of God. Interpreting the “signs of the times” requires prayerful discernment within the Christian community and in dialogue with all people of good will. The criteria for this discernment involve the coherence of the contemporary “signs of the times” with the gospels, the Christian understanding of human nature, and the common good.

The growing body of Catholic social teaching, beginning with On the Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum), comprises a collection of efforts by the church to read the “signs of the times” since 1891.

Catholic Social Teaching Theological Context: Reading the Signs of the Times


Catholic Social Teaching: An Evolving Social Message

Excerpted from Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret, [2003, Orbis Books and the Center of Concern] by Education for Justice, www.educationforjustice.org.

From Pope Leo XIII to the Second Vatican Council

Reconstructing the Social Order The church’s social teaching in the modern period dates from Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical On the Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum). In it he spoke out against the inhuman conditions which were the normal plight of working people in industrial societies. He recognized that the three key factors underlying economic life are workers, productive property, and the state. He also indicated that their just and equitable interrelationship is the crucial issue of Catholic social teaching. Because of the principles which he set forth to guide the formation of a just society, this document has become known as the Magna Carta for a humane economic and social order.

In 1931, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of On the Condition of Labor, Pope Pius XI published the next major social enyclical, The Reconstruction of the Social Order (Quadragesimo Anno). Writing in the midst of a severe, world-wide economic depression, Pius XI addressed the issue of social injustice and called for the reconstruction of the social order along the lines originally set forth by Leo XIII. He reaffirmed the right and the duty of the church to address social issues.

While condemning capitalism and unregulated competition, Pius XI also condemned communism for its promotion of class struggle and the narrow reliance for leadership on the working class (the so-called “dictatorship of the proletariat”). He stressed the social responsibilities of private property and the rights of working people to a job, to a just wage, and to organize to claim their rights. He also pointed out the positive role of governments in promoting the economic good of all people in society. Economic undertakings should be governed by justice and charity as the principal laws of social life.

During World War II, Pope Pius XII delivered several important “Christmas Messages” in which he outlined the just international order necessary for global peace. He encouraged the cooperation which resulted in the institution of the United Nations. His vision accounts for the long-standing commitment of strong support given to the United Nations by the church’s social teaching.

Thirty years after Pius XI’s The Reconstruction of the Social Order, Pope John XXIII wrote two major social encyclical letters on the central issues of his day. In Christianity and Social Progress (Mater et Magistra, 1961) and Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris, 1963), Pope John XXIII set forth a number of principles to guide Christians and policy makers in addressing the gap between rich and poor nations and the threats to world peace. He called on committed Christians and “all people of good will” to work together to create local, national, and global institutions which would both respect human dignity and promote justice and peace. He emphasized that the growing interdependence among nations in a world community called for an effective world government which would look to the rights of the individual human person and promote the universal common good.

A major contribution of John XXIII was his emphasis in Peace on Earth on social and economic rights and not just on legal and political rights. Among the economic rights were the right to work and the right to a just wage. Reflecting the development of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), this promotion of economic rights finds strong reaffirmation in the U.S. Bishops’ Economic Pastoral.


The Coming of a “World” Church When Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in October 1962, he opened the windows of the church to the fresh air of the modern world. This Twenty- First Ecumenical Council was the first to reflect a truly world church. For three years Cardinals and Bishops from every continent and from nearly every nation on the globe assembled to discuss the nature of the church and its mission in the world.

The Council leaders were acutely sensitive to the problems of a world polarized by Cold War ideologies and threatened by nuclear warfare. They witnessed first hand the effects of a spiraling arms race, environmental destruction, and the growing disparity between rich and poor. They also recognized that the church, by virtue of the mission which Christ had entrusted to it, has a unique responsibility for shaping values and institutions in that world.

In many respects, Vatican II represented the end of one era and the beginning of a new era. The enthusiasm and energies of the Age of Enlightenment had been spent. This philosophical movement of the eighteenth century, marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism, had culminated in the Holocaust in Europe and in a world sharply divided. These events had dashed hopes that secular society, based on human reason severed from religious faith, would lead to unending progress. Instead a misguided rationalism had unleashed forces which threatened to destroy the world.

The church in the industrial nations had turned inward in reaction to a rationalistic age which demeaned religious belief. Religion, more and more defined as a “private” affair between the individual and God, was relegated to a marginal role in secular society. At the same time, the church channeled its outward energies toward evangelizing the “mission lands” of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

During Vatican II, the Council leaders rejected that marginal role in society as inconsistent with the unique religious mission which Christ had given to his church. They disclaimed for the church any unique and proper mission in the political, economic, or social order. But in The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes, 1965), they affirmed that the specifically religious mission of the church did give it “a function, a light, and an energy which can serve to structure and consolidate the human community according to the divine law. As a matter of fact, when circumstances of time and place create the need, it can and indeed should initiate activities on behalf of all people”.

Yet the Council, in relating the church to the wider society, did caution against any disrespect shown toward other views which were religiously founded. This was the message of the great statement On Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae, 1965), a statement strongly influenced by the experience of the church in the United States.

The Church After the Second Vatican Council The Faith That Does Justice

Since Vatican II, statements by Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II, by Synods of Bishops, and by regional and national conferences of Bishops have helped to clarify the role of the church in meeting its new responsibilities in a rapidly changing world. The Popes and the Bishops have been acutely aware that the search for God’s Word in the events of history is not a simple task. They also have recognized that the church has neither immediate nor universally valid solutions to all the complex and pressing problems of society.

Three documents in particular have contributed to the church’s present understanding of its new responsibilities. Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter The Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio, 1967) responded to the cries of the world’s poor and hungry and addressed the structural dimensions of global injustice. Speaking of the right of all to integral human development, he appealed to both rich and poor nations to work together in a spirit of solidarity to establish an order of justice and bring about the renewal of the temporal order. To encourage this important enterprise, he set up the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace.


The second document was the apostolic letter A Call to Action (Octogesima Adveniens, 1971), which Paul VI wrote on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of On the Condition of Labor. Here Paul VI acknowledged the difficulties inherent in establishing a just social order and pointed to the role of local Christian communities in meeting this responsibility.

It is up to the Christian communities to analyze with objectivity the situation which is proper to their own country, to shed on it the light of the Gospel’s unalterable words and to draw principles of reflection, norms of judgment and directives for action from the social teaching of the church. (#4)

In effect Paul VI insisted that God calls Christians and communities to be both hearers and doers of the Word. Christians who are faithful to the Gospel will be engaged in an ongoing “incarnational” process which involves three separate moments:

1. Evaluation and analysis of their contemporary situation.

2. Prayer, discernment, and reflection, bringing the light of the Gospel and the teachings of the church to bear on the situation.

3. Pastoral action which fights injustices and works for the transformation of society, thus laboring to make the “reign” of God a reality.

Also in 1971, representatives of the world’s Bishops gathered in a Synod in Rome and prepared the statement Justice in the World. In this third document, which illustrates the influence of a truly world church, the Bishops identified the dynamism of the Gospel with the hopes of people for a better world. In what has become a well known and frequently cited statement, they asserted:

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. (#6)

This vision of the social mission of the church, of a church that “does” justice as an integral element of its faith, is slowly leavening the universal church. It is manifest in the activities and teachings of regional and national conferences of Bishops, such as those of the U.S. church, of the Latin American church in Medellin (1968) and Puebla (1979), and of the Zambian church (1992). It is being proclaimed in the faith and actions of countless individuals, communities, and local churches throughout the world. Central to this vision, the Synod noted, is that the church which would proclaim justice to the world must itself be seen to be just.

Evangelization and Justice Pope Paul VI advanced the social teaching of the Church further in his Evangelization in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975). Here he emphasized that preaching the Gospel would be incomplete if it did not take into account human rights and the themes of family life, life in society, peace, justice, and development. Liberation— in both its spiritual and its temporal senses—must be proclaimed. The plan of the Redemption includes combating injustice.

This strong link between the Gospel and social justice has been emphasized repeatedly by Pope John Paul II. In his first encyclical letter, Redeemer of Humankind (Redemptor Hominis, 1979), he stated that when we put the human at the center then we see contemporary society in need of redemption. John Paul II challenged disrespect of the environment and an uncritical stance toward technological advance. Rich in Mercy (Dives Misericordiae, 1980) presented mercy as social love, demonstrating its close link to justice.


John Paul II’s next important social teaching came in On Human Work (Laborem Exercens, 1981). “The priority of labor over capital” was enunciated as central to the just society. The Pope criticized an “economism” which would reduce humans to mere instruments of production. He called the workers’ struggle for justice the dynamic element in contemporary society, emphasizing the need for greater “solidarity” around the world. On Human Work also takes up again a common theme in the Church’s social teaching, the critique of liberal capitalism and the warning against collectivist socialism.

The Missionary Activity of the Church (Redemptoris Missio, 1990), John Paul II’s encyclical that emphasizes the church’s mission to non-Christians, confirms these teachings. The Pope highlights the necessity of proclaiming Christ as a means of restoring human dignity. He states the importance of individuals and the Church “taking courageous and prophetic stands in the face of the corruption of political or economic power” in order to “serve the poorest of the poor” (#43). The Missionary Activity of the Church also treats inculturation, liberation, ecumenical activity, human rights, and the value of witnessing to the Gospel. One Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus, 1991). John Paul II’s most recent encyclical, teaches that the spread of Catholic social teaching itself is an “essential” part of the Church’s missionary activity.

Application of this emphasis on the linkage between evangelization and justice has been effectively made by the Latin American bishops. In Medelín (1968) they presented Jesus as liberator from sin in both personal and social dimensions, and showed the consequences for the Church of a mission which promotes peace and justice. The Puebla document (1979) developed further the mission of evangelization and stressed the role of base communities and the laity. Evangelization and liberation were seen as integral.

Other examples of a Third World connection between the Christian vision and the reality of today’s challenges are found in the 1981 statement of the Bishops of the African continent and the 1974 statement of the Bishops of Asia. The African statement presented a pastoral program for the local churches which included a strong emphasis on education for justice. At the national level, the need to speak out for justice was stressed; at the international level, an appeal was made for more just structures. In the Asian statement, the Bishops emphasized that evangelization requires a dialogue with the poor and that this dialogue must include a focus on the situations of injustice and oppression.

Further development in the social teaching of the Church can be found in two statements by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation (1984) and Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation (1986), both were released with the explicit approval of their contents by John Paul II. These statements can be seen as cautions against some strains of liberation theology—not, it should be noted in honesty, the main streams. But even more important, the Ratzinger documents reiterated the more recent emphasis of Catholic social teaching on the need for structural transformation in order to achieve social justice, on the centrality of the liberation theme itself in the biblical message and hence the entire Christian message, and on the preferential option for the poor.

John Paul II’s The Missionary Activity of the Church affirms the importance of liberation to the Church’s mission. The Pope acknowledges that liberation involves activity to alter situations of economic and political oppression. The encyclical notes the value of work for economic development and the promotion of human rights. The Pope cautions, however, that true liberation involves the totality of the human person and communities. He pleads for the complete and integral liberation of all humankind.

Peace, Justice, and Politics The United States Catholic Church has taken seriously Paul VI’s call to apply the social teachings to “the situation which is proper to their own country.” A series of statements have come from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), formerly known as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), and its policy arm, the United States Catholic Conference (USCC). The four most important statements form a “quartet” of pastoral letters, on the topics of racism (1979), peace (1983), economic justice (1986), and


mission (1986). Basic to each pastoral letter is its foundation in the tradition of the social teaching enunciated by the Popes and Vatican II. The U.S. Bishops address racism in Brothers and Sisters to Us (1979). This pastoral letter terms racism an “evil” that violates human dignity. Racism is manifested in contemporary life, the letter suggests, in a sense of indifference to the marginalized and an overemphasis on individualism. The Bishops call the U.S. Church and society to conversion and renewal. The letter advocates domestic and international policies that alleviate the tragic effects of racism.

The arms race and international tensions were addressed in The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response (1983). The pastoral letter came twenty years after John XXIII92s Peace on Earth and reiterated strongly the need to build the structures of peace. It stirred considerable controversy by reason of its challenge to the Reagan administration’s defense policy, including its moral analysis of the stance of nuclear deterrence. While relying primarily on the tradition of the just war theory, the letter also emphasized the importance of the non-violent (pacifist) tradition. One consequence of the letter was that moral considerations have entered more widely into the politics of public debate over military defense policies.

The social justice aspects of topics such as unemployment, poverty, agriculture, and global interdependence were treated in Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy (1986). As they moved into making specific policy recommendations, the U.S. Bishops repeated a significant distinction they had made earlier in the Peace Pastoral by acknowledging that their judgments and recommendations “do not carry the same moral authority as our statements of universal moral principles and formal church teaching” (#135). Their prudential judgments on specific economic issues have direct political consequences: they will, and are designed to, stimulate debate and dialogue. Central to the Economics Pastoral, rooted in its scriptural foundation, was the emphasis on the option for the poor.

The option for the poor came up again in To the Ends of the Earth (1986), when the U.S. Bishops spoke of a holistic approach to mission, one which necessarily includes liberation. A new self-understanding of the Church was stressed in this pastoral letter, with Church being essentially identified with mission in the widest sense. It is a significant commentary on the “seamless garment” character of Catholic social teaching that the Mission Pastoral said that the concern for mission springs from the sense of discipleship which has been articulated in the pastoral letters on peace and on economic justice.

Pope John Paul II, in The Social Concerns of the Church (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1988), pushed the link between peace and justice further by emphasizing the plight of Third World development in terms of the harmful influence of superpower confrontation. Commemorating The Development of Peoples, John Paul II asserted that little or no development actually had occurred since Paul VI’s strong call in 1968. He strongly criticized the desire for profit and the thirst for power, calling them “structures of sin.” The Pope offered a solution in the direction of a politics of solidarity.

The most recent papal social encyclical, One Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus, 1991), advances Catholic social teaching even further. It articulates a “right to progress” which states that all people have the right to acquire and develop the skill and technology which will enable them to participate in the contemporary economy. The Pope states that the stronger nations have a duty to allow the weaker nations to assume their rightful place in the world. The encyclical, more so than any other document in Catholic social teaching, links its prescriptions for reform to the love that springs from belief in Gospel values. The Pope understands the primary role of the Church as one of forming human minds and hearts according to these Gospel values.


Catholic Social Teaching: Human Dignity

The 30 second Summary:

What does the Church say about Human Dignity? Human dignity originates from God and is of God because we are made in God’s own image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27). Human life is sacred because the human person is the most central and clearest reflection of God among us. Human beings have transcendent worth and value that comes from God; this dignity is not based on any human quality, legal mandate, or individual merit or accomplishment. Human dignity is inalienable – that means it is an essential part of every human being and is an intrinsic quality that can never be separated from other essential aspects of the human person.

Human beings are qualitatively different from any other living being in the world because they are capable of knowing and loving God, unlike any other creature. Belief in the dignity of the human person is the foundation of morality. The principle of human dignity is the foundation of all the Catholic social teaching principles.

Where does this teaching on Human Dignity come from? Biblical source: the revealed and living word of God

Moral source: it grows out of scripture and engages human reason, knowing, experience.

Ecclesial source: Church teaching expressed in the Pope’s Encyclical letters, Apostolic letters, Synod documents, Apostolic exhortations, and the Bishops’ Pastoral letters, which respond to issues of the day.


Church Documents and Human Dignity This chart highlights some of the historical developments, or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for human dignity.

What were the signs of the times? Document & Year What was proposed? The inhumane treatment of workers as a result of the Industrial Revolution moved the Church to advocate for the rights of workers though labor unions, and support for the right to private property.

The Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum) Pope Leo XIII 1891

Human dignity became the norm and standard by which the political, social, and economic structures were to be judged. The human person should never be seen or used as a means to an end. Human dignity demands minimum working conditions be met.

Severe economic depression world wide and growing social injustice were making it clear that threats to human dignity could not be contained within political borders. Both capitalism and communism were threatening the dignity of humans.

The Reconstruction of the Social Order [Fortieth Year] (Quadragesimo Anno) Pope Pius XI 1931

An awareness of the common good, the need for appropriate structures of government, a sense of social justice and a just wage were presented in this document. A vision of the common good and protection of human dignity could demand structural changes.

Severe gaps between the rich and the poor in the world were become evident and problematic for the realization of human dignity. The use or misuse of power was a significant reality.

Christianity and Social Progress [Mother and Teacher] (Mater et Magistra) Pope John XXIII 1961

The power to participate in political processes was seen and presented as essential to the preservation and development of human dignity.

The growing threat of nuclear war was extremely problematic. The world was beginning to realize its capacity to destroy itself and that threat was choking off the development of peoples, particularly the poor.

Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris) Pope John XXIII 1963

Asserted a need for social and economic rights, not just political and legal rights. Life in community is the context in which human dignity can be protected and expanded.

The Second Vatican Council was wrestling with articulating a modern” understanding of the role of the Church in the world. Ideological divisions in the world were a threat to human unity.

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) Vatican Council II 1965

Human dignity can be defended only if we recognize that human institutions and human persons are not static, but develop and change in history. Human dignity is presented positively as the right to share in the decisions that structure political, social, and economic life.

Extreme poverty and global hunger were become more widespread. Rapid communication and increased ability to travel were generating unprecedented global awareness.

The Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio) Pope Paul VI 1967

The concept of “integral development” was presented as the notion that human dignity is only protected by promoting the development of the whole human being in every area of life – political, social, and economic.


Church Documents and Human Dignity (cont’d) This chart highlights some of the historical developments, or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for human dignity.

The dehumanizing effects of urbanization were becoming widespread. Growing numbers of poor, especially women and children, the elderly and handicapped were increasingly vulnerable to being ignored or exploited.

A Call to Action (Octogesima Adveniens) Pope Paul VI 1971

A more theological vision of human dignity is presented here. Christian faith was in a unique position to reconcile the claims of the absolute truth and subjective claims in the quest for practical means of promoting human dignity.

The treatment of workers as exploitable factors of production, was posing a threat the human dignity. The rise of technology and its displacement of the worker was also cause for growing concern.

On Human Work (Laborem Exercens) Pope John Paul II 1981

Reasserted the priority of labor (people) over capital. The letter deals specifically with human dignity as present in and enhanced by work. The human being is the “subject” of work and must always be respected.

The question of development has become more pressing. The problem of development exists not only in economically underdeveloped countries but in rich or economically developed ones as well.

On Social Concerns (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis) Pope John Paul II 1987

The significant contribution to the reflection on human dignity lies in the development here of the concept of solidarity.

The rise of atheism, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe (1989), and global uncertainty and instability are creating great change and shifts of political and economic power.

One Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus) Pope John Paul II 1991

A rise of violence, atheism, and instability pose clear threats to human dignity. Here the call is renewed to take seriously the transcendent and social nature of the human person in order to protect human dignity.

The chart was drawn from a summary of key points found in Peter Henriot, Edward DeBerri and Michael J. Schultheis. Catholic Social Teaching, Our Best Kept Secret Washington, DC: Orbis/Center of Concern, 1994, and from The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, by Judith A. Dwyer. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994. For a complete analysis of these documents see, Modern Catholic Social Teaching, by Kenneth Himes, ed. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005.


How has the teaching on Human Dignity developed?

The essential biblical source for this principle is found in the book of Genesis (Gn 1: 26-27) noting that human beings were made in the image and likeness of God.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in drawing on the Genesis account further refined the understanding of the human person being created in God's image by interpreting Genesis to teach that the human person is an "intelligent being endowed with free will and self-movement." [Summa Theologiae, I – II, 1, Prologue]. The human person has a soul which endows him/her with the ability to know and love God freely, thereby having a privileged place in the order of creation.

The era of the Enlightenment placed new emphasis on reason and the rational nature of the human person. New and revolutionary ideas abounded, particularly surrounding the idea of the person, individual rights, and freedom. The French Revolution and the American Revolution found their grounding in these ideas. One key figure from the Enlightenment who spoke the most clearly about human dignity was Immanual Kant (1724-1804). His categorical imperative led to his formation, "Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only." [Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. L.W. Beck (NY: Library of Liberal Arts, 1959), pp.428-9]

The concept of human dignity was based on Natural law in the social teaching up until the Second Vatican Council. The enlightenment notion of “human rights” was slow to be accepted and reflected in the social teaching until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

Pacem in Terris in 1963 was a key document that picked up and embraced fully the language of human rights. The use of “rights” language provided an important framework from which to be able to promote and defend human dignity. By appealing to rights, dignity could be defended and protected.

At Vatican II, the foundation shifted away from a natural law ethic to one based on scriptural revelation and built upon a theological foundation of the human person.

In 1965, Dignitatis Humanae asserted that “the human person has a right to religious freedom.” This was an important development recognizing that no one religious view should be imposed by force, nor should the exercise of religious belief be prohibited in a pluralistic society. This development was an attempt to safeguard human dignity through an appeal to the right to religious freedom, the safeguarding of one’s conscience, and a recognition of the limits of government. The human person should be free from coercion regarding religious matters, while at the same time they must be free to seek God in their search for truth and according to their nature. This was a significant development because the Church’s reflection of human dignity shed light on the nature of human freedom being a political as well as a moral necessity.

John Paul II draws on this and expands the notion of human dignity to say that human life is not only made in God’s image, but has intrinsic worth and is therefore inviolable. This becomes part of his “sanctity of life” teaching.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion regarding Human Dignity

1) What challenges and realities present in the world today pose the most serious threat to human dignity?

2) Think about the news stories you have read and/or heard about over the last week or two. Based on these news stories, what threats can you identify that pose serious harm to the dignity of human persons? Were the events on the local, national or global level?

3) Why is human dignity such a central principle upon which all the other social principles depend? What is its importance for building up the community of faith?

4) How can we as individuals, families, church and/or school communities, and as citizens, creatively live out the gospel call to promote human dignity in the face of the threats identified? Brainstorm, create a list, and discuss the options.

5) Catholic social teaching tells us that our dignity does not come from the work we do, from our social positions, or from what we have, but from the fact that we are all children of God, beloved by our Creator. What structures or values present in the culture prevent us from recognizing the dignity and worth of others in our society?

6) What actions, attitudes or practices can you commit yourself to that will promote respect and reverence for the dignity of those you deal with on a daily basis?


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Human Dignity There is a growing awareness of the sublime dignity of human persons, who stand above all things and whose rights and duties are universal and inviolable. They ought, therefore, to have ready access to all that is necessary for living a genuinely human life: for example, food, clothing, housing, ... the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, …

--The Church and the Modern World, #26 ...Whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where humans are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are supreme dishonor to the Creator.

--The Church and the Modern World, #27 Any well-regulated and productive human society demands the acceptance of one fundamental principle: that every human being is truly a person. That is, his/her nature is endowed with intelligence and free will. As such s/he has rights and duties, which together flow as a direct consequence of her/his very nature. These rights and duties are universal and inviolable, and therefore altogether inalienable.

--Peace on Earth, #9 It is not just a question of eliminating hunger and reducing poverty. It is not just a question of fighting wretched conditions, though this is an urgent and necessary task. It involves building a world where all persons can live truly human lives, free from discrimination on account of race, religion or nationality, free from servitude to other people or to natural forces which they cannot yet control satisfactorily. It involves building a human community where liberty is not an idle word, where the needy Lazarus can sit down with the rich at the same banquet table.

--On the Development of Peoples, #47 Let humanity make all the technical and economic progress they can, there can be no peace nor justice in the world until they return to a sense of their dignity as creatures and children of God.

--Mother and Teacher, #215 Human persons are willed by God; they are imprinted with God’s own image and likeness, conferring upon them an incomparable dignity…beyond the rights which humans acquire by their own work, there exist rights which do not correspond to any work they perform, but which flow from their essential dignity as persons.

--The Hundredth Year #11


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Human Dignity (cont’d.) At the center of the Church’s teaching on peace and at the center of all Catholic social teaching are the transcendence of God and the dignity of the human person. The human person is the clearest reflection of God’s presence in the world; all of the Church’s work in pursuit of both justice and peace is designed to protect and promote the dignity of every person. For each person not only reflects God, but is the expression of God’s creative work and the meaning of Christ’s redemptive ministry.

--The Challenge of Peace, #15 This teaching rests on one basic principle: individual human beings are the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution. That is necessarily so, for people are by nature social beings.

--Mother and Teacher, #219 …life, especially human life, belongs only to God; for this reason whoever attacks human life, in some way attacks God’s very self.

--The Gospel of Life, #9 The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth — the sacredness — of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for more narrowly defined goals. Human personhood 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. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).

--Economic Justice for All, #28 Every perspective on economic life that is human, moral, and Christian must be shaped by three questions: What does the economy do for people? What does it do to people? And how do people participate in it?

--Economic Justice for All, #1

Source: Common Good “Backgrounder” from the Center of Concern www.coc.org. Reprinted with permission for internal VCHS use only. 18

Catholic Social Teaching: The Dignity of Work

The 30 second Summary:

What is the Catholic view regarding the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers? We learn through the Genesis story that God has made the human person in image and likeness of God. Human dignity finds its origin here. The creation of humans takes place only after the creation of heaven and earth, and man and woman are created to be in relationship with their environment. All that human beings need for their survival and well-being is provided by God but requires their creative effort and toil.

Because human beings are social by their very nature, human dignity is not realized in isolation but is realized in community with others. The dignity of the person is lived out in society by the fulfillment of personal responsibilities. Work is one such essential responsibility which shapes and fulfills human dignity by providing for the needs of one’s self and one’s family. Work belongs to the vocation of every person. Work is an essential means by which the goods of the earth and the creative capacities of human beings are engaged to provide for human flourishing and the common good. Human work is the fulfillment of human dignity by engaging in and cooperating with the creative work of God.

Where does this teaching come from? Scripture – Biblical source: rooted in scripture

Tradition – Moral source: located in the Catholic tradition, shaped by the past and the present.

Teaching – Ecclesial source: expressed in the Pope’s Encyclical letters, Apostolic letters, Apostolic exhortations, and the Bishops’ Pastoral letters, which respond to the issues of the day. (This source is often what is referred to as Catholic Social Teaching.)

How does this teaching connect with my life? It provides: Principles for reflection; Criteria for judgment; Guidelines for action; Tools for conscience formation.


Church Documents and The Dignity of Work This chart highlights some of the historical developments, that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call of The Dignity of Work and the Rights or Workers.

What were the signs of the times? Document & Year What was proposed? The industrial revolution is changing the way people work. People are leaving the farms to find steady work in the factories in the city. This new form of work is often dangerous, demanding and degrading. Wealthy owners are exploiting workers. The Church is navigating between capitalism and socialism – critiquing both.

Rerum Novarum (The Condition of Labor), 1891, Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII brings to light the dehumanizing conditions of the masses of workers and spells out the conditions for the proper treatment of workers and the dignity of work. He asserts the right to private property, the right to a just wage and the right to form worker associations (unions) and he spells out rights and duties of workers. He is attempting to safeguard the power of the workers so that they will not be oppressed by the power of the wealthy capitalist owners, or the claims of socialism. Pope Leo XIII asserts the Church’s rightful place to speak on these issues.

The effects of the Great Depression are being felt around the world. For the first time, massive unemployment becomes a startling reality. The system of capitalism is being questioned. Unions are emerging and gaining popularity thanks in large part to ‘labor priests’. The emphasis on private property is moving outward to remind people of its social dimension to serve the common good.

Quadragesimo Anno (Reconstruction of the Social Order), 1931, Pope Pius XI 40th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

The advocacy for the poor workers shifts in this document from critiquing wealthy owners to expanding the critique to include the structures which oppress the workers. There is call for social justice in the economic order. Stress is placed on intermediary association along the vocational lines – influenced by fascism in Italy. The principle of subsidiary is explicitly introduced here for the first time. One key focus in this document is the relationship between employer and employee.

The nuclear age brings new insecurities. The Cuban missile crisis is on the horizon. Global trade continues to expand following post WWII industrialization. Human rights language provides a new way to discuss worker’s rights, and economic rights. The focus is no longer between rich and poor people but between rich and poor nations. The world view is expanded. Corporate colonialism is replacing the void left by de-colonization of the nations.

Mater et Magistra (Chrisitianity and Social Progress), 1961, Pope John XXIII 70th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

The focus is broadened in this document to include workers in the non-industrialized nations. Agricultural workers get extended attention here for the first time in the encyclicals. A living wage is supported and encouraged. Pope John XXIII notes that economic undertakings should be governed by justice and charity and ‘juridical’ order is essential to ensure that economic efforts conform to the common good.


Church Documents and the Dignity of Work This chart highlights some of the historical developments, that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call of The Dignity of Work and the Rights or Workers

What were the signs of the times? Document & Year What was proposed? The nature of work begins to shift from industrialized labor to service related work – financial services, technological services, etc. The rapid movement of global capital is creating a new reality with the swift creation and subsequent elimination of jobs. Instability is a hallmark of this era.

Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), 1981, Pope John Paul II, 90th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

Work is placed at the center of the social question. Pope John Paul II distinguishes between objective work and subjective work,” –this well known phrase regarding the priority of labor over capital is found here. The exploitation of labor is a central focus. Workers have the right to leave their native countries in search of work. Rights and duties regarding employer/employee are also treated.

The events of Eastern Europe in 1989 are a significant focus in this document. This collapse was significantly influenced by non-violent worker solidarity movements. The fall of communism should not be seen as a victory for capitalism. Workers are facing new displacement and challenges with technology, globalization and corporate mobility. International debt is threatening the very lives of poorer nations.

Centesimus Annus (One Hundred Years), 1991, Pope John Paul II 100th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum

The threats to the dignity of the human person receive a significant focus. New threats to this dignity include technology, social structures, debt and corporate greed. The collapse of socialism is a temptation to assert capitalism as the best organization of an economic system. A key focus here is restoring harmony between various social groups. This document highlights some of the “just reforms” that Pope John Paul II sees as necessary for protecting and promoting the dignity of the human person and the dignity of work.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion regarding the Dignity of Work.

1. What is the nature of the work you do? What gifts and talents of yours does it engage? Are there essential gifts and talents that you possess that remain unused?

2. Would you define the work you do as your vocation? Why or why not?

3. As you look back over your family history, how has the kind of work done by members in your family changed through the years? How has it changed for the men in the family, how has it changed for the women in the family? Discuss the beneficial and detrimental aspects of this change.

4. How does the work you do uphold or promote your human dignity?

5. What trends have you observed over the course of your work history that might highlight the priority of labor over capital? Have you seen or experienced situations where the opposite was true?

6. How would you describe the status of ‘the priority of labor over capital’ today—locally and/or globally. Is there an equal power balance today between labor and capital? Can you site specific examples or cases?

7. The idea of a spirituality of work is gaining a lot of attention today in books and articles. How has this concept been developed in Catholic Social Teaching? How is this concept reflected in your life?


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Work &Workers’ Rights

Work remains a good thing, not only because it is useful and enjoyable, but also because it expresses and increases the worker's dignity. Through work we not only transform the world, we are transformed ourselves, becoming "more a human being."

On Human Work, #9

The obligation to earn one's bread presumes the right to do so. A society that denies this right cannot be justified, nor can it attain social peace.

The Hundredth Year, #43

Human work is the key to the solution ... of the whole "social question." To consider work is of decisive importance when trying to make life "more human."

On Human Work, #3

All work has a threefold moral significance. First, it is a principle way that people exercise the distinctive human capacity for self-expression and self-realization. Second, it is the ordinary way for human beings to fulfill their material needs. Finally, work enables people to contribute to the well-being of the larger community. Work is not only for one's self. It is for one's family, for the nation, and indeed for the benefit of the entire human family.

Economic Justice for All, #97

Yet the workers' rights cannot be doomed to be the mere result of economic systems aimed at maximum profits. The thing that must shape the whole economy is respect for the workers' rights within each country and all through the world's economy.

On Human Work , #17

Created in God's image, we were given the mandate to transform the earth. By their work people share in God's creating activity....Awareness that our work is a sharing in God's work ought to permeate even the most ordinary daily activities. By our labor we are unfolding the Creator's work and contributing to the realization of God's plan on earth. The Christian message does not stop us from building the world or make us neglect our fellow human beings. On the contrary it binds us more firmly to do just that.

On Human Work, #25

We must pay more attention to the one who works than to what the worker does. The self-realization of the human person is the measure of what is right and wrong.

On Human Work, #6

The Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions. This is a specific application of the more general right to associate. In the words of Pope John Paul II, "The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrial societies."


We must consequently continue to study the situation of the worker. There is a need for solidarity movements among and with the workers. The church is firmly committed to this cause, in fidelity to Christ, and to be truly the "church of the poor."

On Human Work, #8


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Work & Workers’ Rights

The varieties of crime are numerous: all offenses against life itself, such as murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and willful suicide; all violations of the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture, undue psychological pressures; all offenses against human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children, degrading working conditions where people are treated as mere tools for profit rather than free and responsible persons: all these and the like are criminal: they poison civilization; and they debase the perpetrators more than the victims and militate against the honor of the creator.

The Church in the Modern World, #27

Workers not only want fair pay, they also want to share in the responsibility and creativity of the very work process. They want to feel that they are working for themselves -- an awareness that is smothered in a bureaucratic system where they only feel themselves to be "cogs" in a huge machine moved from above.

On Human Work, #15

We consider it our duty to reaffirm that the remuneration of work is not something that can be left to the laws of the marketplace; nor should it be a decision left to the will of the more powerful. It must be determined in accordance with justice and equity; which means that workers must be paid a wage which allows them to live a truly human life and to fulfill their family obligations in a worthy manner. Other factors too enter into the assessment of a just wage: namely, the effective contribution which each individual makes to the economic effort, the financial state of the company for which he works, the requirements of the general good of the particular country ... and finally the requirements of the common good of the universal family of nations....

Mother and Teacher, #71

For when people work, they not only alter things and society, they develop themselves as well. They learn much, they cultivate their resources, they go outside of themselves and beyond themselves. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered. People are more precious for what they are than for what they have. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about.


It is in their daily work...that persons become the subjects and creators of the economic life of the nation. Thus, it is primarily through their daily labor that people make their most important contributions to economic justice.


Experience suggests many ways in which the demands of justice can be satisfied. Not to mention other ways, it is especially desirable today that workers gradually come to share in the ownership of their company, by ways and in the manner that seem most suitable. For today, even more than in the time of Our Predecessor, "every effort must be made that at least in future a just share only of the fruits of production be permitted to accumulate in the hands of the wealthy, and that an ample sufficiency be supplied to the workers."


In the first place, the worker must be paid a wage sufficient to support him and his family.

The Fortieth Year, #71

(cont’d)


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Work & Workers’ Rights As the Church solemnly reaffirmed in the recent Council, "the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must be the human person." All people have the right to work, to a chance to develop their qualities and their personalities in the exercise of their professions, to equitable remuneration which will enable them and their families "to lead a worthy life on the material, social, cultural and spiritual level" and to assistance in case of need arising from sickness or age.

A Call to Action, #14

Yet the workers' rights cannot be doomed to be the mere result of economic systems aimed at maximum profits. The thing that must shape the whole economy is respect for the workers' rights within each country and all through the world's economy.

On Human Work, #17

Work is in the first place "for the worker" and not the worker "for work." Work itself can have greater or lesser objective value, but all work should be judged by the measure of dignity given to the person who carries it out.

On Human Work,#6

The government should make similarly effective efforts to see that those who are able to work can find employment in keeping with their aptitudes, and that each worker receives a wage in keeping with the laws of justice and equity. It should be equally the concern of civil authorities to ensure that workers be allowed their proper responsibility in the work undertaken in industrial organization, and to facilitate the establishment of intermediate groups which will make social life richer and more effective.

Peace on Earth, #64

Work is a duty, because our Creator demanded it and because it maintains and develops our humanity. We must work out of regard for others, especially our own families, but also because of the society we belong to and in fact because of the whole of humanity.

On Human Work, #16

Consequently, if the organization and structure of economic life be such that the human dignity of workers is compromised, or their sense of responsibility is weakened, or their freedom of action is removed, then we judge such an economic order to be unjust, even though it produces a vast amount of goods, whose distribution conforms to the norms of justice and equity.


We inherit the work of the generations before us, and we share in the building of the future of all those who will come after us. All this should be kept in mind when considering the rights that come with work or the duty to work.

On Human Work, #16

Humans are the image of God partly through the In our time, the role of human work is becoming increasingly important as the productive factor both of nonmaterial and of material wealth. Moreover, it is becoming clearer how a person’s work is naturally interrelated with the work of others. More than ever, work is work with others and work for others: it is a matter of doing something for someone else. Work becomes ever more fruitful and productive to the extent that people become more knowledgeable of the productive potentialities of the earth and more profoundly cognizant of the needs of those for whom their work is done.

Centesimus Annus, #31

(cont’d)


Catholic Social Teaching: Common Good The 30 second Summary: What does the Church say about the Common Good?

The principle of the Common Good states that the good of each human person is intimately related to the good of the whole community.

The human person, made in God’s image, is both a sacred being and a social being.

The human person can only flourish in community.

The rights and duties of human persons are realized and carried out in community, which includes the community of the family along with the wider society and world.

The good of each individual in society is intimately connected to the good of the wider group or society.

Participation, peace, proper exercise of limited authority and the safeguarding of rights are necessary conditions for the principle of Common Good.

Two Key Understandings:

The principle of common good relies on two central understandings which provide the conditions necessary to achieve the common good.

1. The human person is social by nature (born into a fabric of relationships) and needs others in order to thrive. Life is not lived in isolation but for the formation of social unity. The Common Good recognizes that all persons must contribute to life in society, and all persons must share in the mutual benefits of life in society.

2. The human person must be surrounded by a set of rights and duties that are guaranteed so that there are minimum standards that support life in society .1

Where does this teaching on the Common Good come from?

Biblical source: the revealed and living word of God



Common Good defined in Catholic Social Teaching: “Every day human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good, that is, the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment, today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspiration of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family.”

Gaudium et Spes, #26


Three Essential Elements of the Common Good:

1. Respect for the human person - made in God’s image

2. Social well-being of the group and the development of the group

3. Peace, stability, and the security of a just order

The Common Good:

Is a concern for the welfare of the whole

Recognizes the human person is sacred and social

Is built upon the principle of human dignity and the equality of all people

Recognizes that human beings realize their dignity and achieve their destiny in particular communities, not isolation.

Requires a foundation of basic rights which are minimum standards for life in society

Is personal and communal

Must be active at every level of life

Is directed by a moral concern that each person must participate and share in the benefits of social advances • Is needed to avoid the harmful forces of coercion, domination or exploitation

Is needed for the overall just functioning of a society

Recognizes that governments and political institutions are necessary and have active responsibility for achieving the common good

Must be an increasingly transnational - or global reality encompassing the entire human family

Is not utilitarian in nature: it’s not “the greatest good for the greatest number,” because this can allow for the exclusion of individuals or even segments of society

The Common

Good Extreme individualism

Extreme collectivism (communism, socialism)


Church Documents and the Common Good What are some of the historical developments or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for the common good?

What were the signs of the times? Document & Year What was proposed? 1890’s The rise of the industrial revolution created great social upheaval. The previous protections of the working guilds were gone, leaving an open door for worker exploitation and greater social and financial instability. The common good was threatened by these rapid changes.

The Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum) Pope Leo XIII 1891

The common good is understood as the general welfare of people within a nation state. The Pope calls upon the state to address the needs of the poor because he asserts that the state has the duty of watching over the common good and of ensuring every sector of social life contributes to achieving it.

1930’s The Great Depression was a reality both in the U.S. and abroad. Wealth was becoming more and more concentrated into the hands of a few. This translated into increased political power concentrated into the same hands. Self-interest was protected without a concern for the common good.

The Reconstruction of the Social Order [Fortieth year] (Quadragesimo Anno) Pope Pius XI 1931

The government has a legitimate role and responsibility in the pursuit of the common good. The government must contribute rather than undermine the common good.

1960’s The world had been experiencing rapid change. It was the age of the atom, space exploration and the heavy threat of nuclear war. The advances in technical and scientific arenas along with increased efficiency were creating a multiplication of social relationships calling for new forms of cooperation.

Christianity and Social Progress [Mother and Teacher] (Mater et Magistra) Pope John XXIII 1961

The growing complexity of the world is calling for greater recognition of the interdependence of citizens. Concern for the common good must not only be considered within countries, but also across national boundaries. The common good must increasingly be recognized as an international reality.

1960’s The Cold War was underway and the Cuban missile crisis was looming. The fragile and costly nature of peace was a central concern. The role of authority was examined as authoritarian dictatorships and totalitarian regimes posed real threats by their disregard for human rights. Nations must cooperate and disarm in order to promote and protect the common good.

Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris) Pope John XXIII 1963

Pacem in Terris introduces the connection of the common good with the protection of human rights. “The common good is chiefly guaranteed when personal rights and duties are maintained.” (#60) People have to work together for the common good and active collaboration must be facilitated by civil authorities. This was the first document to be addressed to “all people of good will,” and not simply a Catholic audience.


Church Documents and the Common Good (cont’d) What are some of the historical developments or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for the common good?

1960’s This document was one of the last to be issued by Vatican II. It was written to make the case that the right to religious freedom was based on the dignity of the human person. Where previous popes had argued for the union of church and state, after World War II it was clear this was not going to work. This document created a new basis upon which to argue for the right to religious freedom – no matter what the faith.

The Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) Pope Paul VI 1965

The state is responsible for the promotion of justice, public order and public peace. The state has an active but limited role in promoting the common good. It is responsible for the for that part of the common good that enables society to function as a community of citizens, but it must not interfere in other spheres such as family life, religion, etc. where it is incompetent.

Awareness that “development” was not benefiting all peoples or nations equally raised new questions. A closer analysis revealed that large segments of the world were left out of the process of development. As a result, the social teaching called for global cooperation which would focus on the common good of all nations, not just the rich ones.

The Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio) Pope Paul VI 1967

A new treatment and articulation of the meaning of “authentic human development” e merged. It proposed an entirely new foundation for human development—not based on existing Western economic models and realities but centered on the person in community. Here the common good takes into account the development of all of humanity.

The tensions since the Cold war between Eastern bloc communist countries and western blocs distracted efforts to work towards the achievement of an international common good. This rivalry was noted at a “structure of sin.”

On Social Concerns (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis) Pope John Paul II 1987

Endorsement of western democracy had been held at arms length as a model promote but here the understanding of the positive role democracy can play in promoting and protecting the common good is recognized. For the first time the environment is included in an understanding

The events of Eastern Europe in 1989 and the impact of the resulting fall of communism are a central underlying focus. Socialism, atheism, and consumerism are real threats to human flourishing. One theme treated here is the need to create or restore harmony between various social groups for the sake of the common good.

One Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus) Pope John Paul II 1991

For the first time consumerism is treated in some detail noting how it can distort or eclipse a true sense of striving for the common good. Consumerism and ecological devastation are connected and both present obstacles to pursing the common good. The economic market is not capable and is insufficient in achieving the common good. War is a clear and sure threat to the common good.

From www.educationforjustice.org. For a complete analysis of these documents see, Modern Catholic Social Teaching, by Kenneth Himes, ed. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2005.


How has the teaching on the Common Good developed? A vision of the “good life” has been shaped through Western Classical Greek moral philosophy – Aristotle and Plato, Cicero and Socrates, etc. The idea of the “polis” or the Greek city-state was the place where citizens made decisions about self-governance and their life in common for the sake of noble actions, not just companionship. The polis or political society was not necessarily a geographic location, but an association of citizens where the exercise of the public virtue of citizenship was achieved. The common good was understood as seeking the “general welfare” of the polis.

Augustine built on the Greek understanding of polis but insisted that the full and complete common good of the polis exists only partially here in the earthy realm, and only completely with and in God in the eternal realm. The common good takes on a divine understanding in addition to a political one.

Aquinas further clarified that the ultimate good that is sought is not anything to be achieved on earth but is only achieved in the fullness of life in God. Concern for the common good therefore is not merely a political aim, but has a divine aim and therefore transcends the limits of human political rulers.

With the dawn of the Enlightenment in the 18th century a new emphasis was placed on human reason and scientific investigation. Philosophers and thinkers of this era brought ideas of freedom, liberty, equality, and individual rights to the center (among others). These ideas and their influence gradually shaped the social teaching on common good.

An understanding of the linkage between the common good and human rights came largely through the work of Jacques Maritan in the 1940’s recognizing that the person in society needed secure protection to exist and thrive in society.

Modern global realities and contemporary thinking have further expanded the teaching to look at the international scope necessary to achieve a global common good as well as an awareness of new threats that endanger or thwart the common good. Pluralism, war, technological advances, ecological awareness and globalization all create new challenges in seeking the common good of all.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion regarding the Common Good

1) In your own words how would you summarize the principle of the Common Good?

2) Can you describe a time when you made a decision that was for the good of others and not just yourself? What impact did it have on others? On you? What did you learn?

3) What challenges and threats to the common good would you identify as the most significant at this point in time?

4) How are human dignity and human rights related to the common good?

5) Which elements of American culture do you think provide the biggest obstacle to people working together cooperatively to seek and promote the common good?

6) How can technology be used to promote the common good? What kinds of technology can actually work to prevent the work of the common good?


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Common Good

Global climate is by its very nature a part of the planetary commons. The earth's atmosphere encompasses all people, creatures, and habitats. The melting of ice sheets and glaciers, the destruction of rain forests, and the pollution of water in one place can have environmental impacts elsewhere. As Pope John Paul II has said, "We cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well being of future generations."3 Responses to global climate change should reflect our interdependence and common responsibility for the future of our planet. Individual nations must measure their own self-interest against the greater common good and contribute equitably to global solutions.

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCCB 2001 #15

Catholic social teaching calls for bold and generous action on behalf of the common good. Interdependence," as Pope John Paul II has written, "must be transformed into solidarity. . . . Surmounting every type of imperialism and determination to preserve their own hegemony, the stronger and richer nations must have a sense of moral responsibility for the other nations, so that a real international system may be established which will rest on the foundation of the equality of all peoples and on the necessary respect for their legitimate differences."

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCCB, 2001 #29

The common good embraces the sum total of all those conditions of social life which enable individuals, families, and organizations to achieve complete an effective fulfillment.


It is imperative that no one ... would indulge in a merely individualistic morality. The best way to fulfill one's obligations of justice and love is to contribute to the common good according to one's means and the needs of others, and also to promote and help public and private organizations devoted to bettering the conditions of life.

The Church and the Modern World, #30

It is necessary that public authorities have a correct understanding of the common good. This embraces the sum total of those conditions of social living, whereby men are enabled more fully and more readily to achieve their own perfection. Hence, we regard it as necessary that the various intermediary bodies and the numerous social undertaking wherein an expanded social structure primarily finds expression, be ruled by their own laws, and as the common good itself progresses, pursue this objective in a spirit of sincere concord among themselves.



Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Common Good (cont’d.) It is also demanded by the common good that civil authorities should make earnest efforts to bring about a situation in which individual citizens can easily exercise their rights and fulfill their duties as well. For experience has taught us that, unless these authorities take suitable action with regard to economic, political and cultural matters, inequalities between the citizens tend to become more and more widespread, especially in the modern world, and as a result human rights are rendered totally ineffective and the fulfillment of duties is compromised.

Peace on Earth, #63 The obligation to "love our neighbor" has an individual dimension, but it also requires a broader social commitment to the common good. We have many partial ways to measure and debate the health of our economy: Gross National Product, per capita income, stock market prices, and so forth. The Christian vision of economic life looks beyond them all and asks, Does economic life enhance or threaten our life together as a community?

Economic Justice for All, (Pastoral Message) For this reason, it is all the more significant that the teachings of the Church insist that government has a moral function: protecting human rights and securing basic justice for all members of the commonwealth. Society as a whole and in all its diversity is responsible for building up the common good. But it is the government's role to guarantee the minimum conditions that make this rich social activity possible, namely, human rights and justice. This obligation also falls on individual citizens as they choose their representatives and participate in shaping public opinion.

Economic Justice for All, 122 Just freedom of action must ... be left both to individual citizens and to families, yet only on condition that the common good be preserved and wrong to any individual be abolished. The function of the rulers of the State is to watch over the community and its parts; but in protecting private individuals in their rights, chief consideration ought to be given to the weak and the poor.

Fortieth Year, #25 The members of the Church, as members of society, have the same right and duty to promote the common good as do other citizens. Christians ought to fulfill their temporal obligations with fidelity and competence. They should act as a leaven in the world, in their family, professional, social, cultural and political life.

Justice in the World, #38

Christians must be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community; they should be a shining example by their sense of responsibility and their dedication to the common good; they should show in practice how authority can be reconciled with freedom, personal initiative with solidarity and the needs of the social framework as a whole, and the advantages of unity with the benefits of diversity.



Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Common Good (cont’d.)

Furthermore, the state has the duty to prevent people from abusing their private property to the detriment of the common good. By its nature private property has a social dimension which is based on the law of the common destination of earthly goods. Whenever the social aspect is forgotten, ownership can often become the object of greed and a source of serious disorder, and its opponents easily find a pretext for calling the right itself into question.


To this end, a sane view of the common good must be present and operative in men invested with public authority. They must take account of all those social conditions which favor the full development of human personality. Moreover, We consider it altogether vital that the numerous intermediary bodies and corporate enterprises--which are, so to say, the main vehicle of this social growth ' be really autonomous, and loyally collaborate in pursuit of their own specific interests and those of the common good. For these groups must themselves necessarily present the form and substance of a true community, and this will only be the case if they treat their individual members as human persons and encourage them to take an active part in the ordering of their lives.


As for the State, its whole raison d'etre is the realization of the common good in the temporal order. It cannot, therefore, hold aloof from economic matters. On the contrary, it must do all in its power to promote the production of a sufficient supply of material goods, "the use of which is necessary for the practice of virtue."[7] It has also the duty to protect the rights of all its people, and particularly of its weaker members, the workers, women and children. It can never be right for the State to shirk its obligation of working actively for the betterment of the condition of the workingman.


... the whole reason for the existence of civil authorities is the realization of the common good....

Peace on Earth, #54

Individual citizens and intermediate groups are obliged to make their specific contributions to the common welfare. One of the chief consequences of this is that they must bring their own interests into harmony with the needs of the community, and must contribute their goods and their services as civil authorities have prescribed, in accord with the norms of justice and within the limits of their competence.

Peace on Earth, #53

The riches that economic-social developments constantly increase ought to be so distributed among individual persons and classes that the common advantage of all, which Leo XIII had praised, will be safeguarded; in other words, that the common good of all society will be kept inviolate.

The Fortieth Year, #57


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Common Good (cont’d.)

Every day, human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good, that is, the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment, today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family.

Church and the Modern World, #26 The very nature of the common good requires that all members of the state be entitled to share in it, although in different ways according to each one's tasks, merits and circumstances. For this reason, every civil authority must take pains to promote the common good of all, without preference for any single citizen or civic group. As Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, has said: "The civil power must not serve the advantage of any one individual, or of some few persons, inasmuch as it was established for the common good of all." Considerations of justice and equity, however, can at times demand that those involved in civil government give more attention to the less fortunate members of the community, since they are less able to defend their rights and to assert their legitimate claims.

Peace on Earth, #56 Moreover, if we carefully consider the essential nature of the common good on the one hand, and the nature and function of public authority on the other, everyone sees that there is an intrinsic connection between the two. And, indeed, just as the moral order needs public authority to promote the common good in civil society, a likewise demands that public authority actually be able to attain it.

Peace on Earth, #136 We must remember that, of its very nature, civil authority exists, not to confine its people within the boundaries of their nation, but rather to protect, above all else the common good of that particular civil society, which certainly cannot be divorced from the common good of the entire human family.

Peace on Earth, #98 Today the universal common good poses problems of worldwide dimensions, which cannot be adequately tackled or solved except by the efforts of public authority endowed with a wideness of powers, structure and means of the same proportions: that is, of public authority which is in a position to operate in an effective manner on a world-wide basis. The moral order itself, therefore, demands that such a form of public authority be established.

Peace on Earth, #137

Option for the Poor “Basics” and “History & Overview” from the Center of Concern www.coc.org. Reprinted with permission for internal VCHS use only. 35

Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable The 30 second Summary:

What Does The Church Say About The Option For The Poor And Vulnerable? To make an option for the poor and vulnerable is to commit oneself to resisting the injustice, oppression, exploitation, and marginalization of people, problems that permeate so many aspects of public life. The option for the poor and vulnerable is a commitment to transforming society into a place where human rights and the dignity of all are respected. This option, or choice, can be made by individuals or by communities or even by a whole church.1 This “option has theological, social, political and economic dimensions to it. Questions about the interests of those in positions of power and about a culture mired in materialism arise when one seeks to look at the causes of poverty and the reality of the poor and vulnerable.

Where Does This Teaching Come From?





Church Documents and Option for the Poor and Vulnerable This chart highlights some of the historical developments, or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for the Poor and Vulnerable. What was the reality? Document & Year What was presented?

There was a growing mass of urban poor as a result of exploitation from the industrial revolution.

The Condition of Labor (Rerum Novarum), 1891

This document was a cry of protest against the exploitation of poor workers. The Church took a moral stand against the injustices of the times.

Wealth was becoming more and more concentrated into the hands of a few. This translated into increased political power also becoming more concentrated into the same hands.

The Reconstruction of the Social Order (Quadragesimo Anno), 1931

The term “social justice” is affirmed for the first time in this document. The church becomes more aware of its prophetic role in the world, particularly as a voice for the poor and marginalized.

The world had been experiencing rapid economic growth. It was the age of the atom, space exploration and the heavy threat of nuclear war. Many countries were completely left behind in the areas of economic growth and were suffering as a result. The arms race was beginning to be look at as one cause of poverty.

Christianity and Social Progress (Mater et magistra), 1961

It put the weight of the church on the side of a policy of social reforms in favor of the poor and deprived within each country and around the globe. This promoted the concept of the welfare state. This significant shift in direction would lay the foundation for “an option for the poor.”

The Cold War was underway and the Cuban missile crisis was looming. The fragile and costly nature of peace was a central concern. Anew preferential protection of those at the lower end of the social scale – especially the poor – was being called for.

Peace on Earth (Pacem in Terris), 1963

It challenged the advantages of those in positions of power and control who amass wealth while others suffer at their hands. It is calling for unity between faith and action in the world. Peace is best guaranteed when appropriate rights and responsibilities are upheld and adhered to.

An awareness of massive poverty at the global level emerges with an attempt to identify root causes. A new belief that countries could “grow” out of poverty was asserted. A movement from merely a notion of justice centered on the redistribution of existing wealth, to a model of justice centered on new resources from production and growth that could eradicate poverty.

The Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio), 1967

A new treatment and articulation of the meaning of “authentic human development” emerged. It proposed and entirely new foundation for human development – not based on existing Western economic models and realities but centered on the person in community.


Church Documents and Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

This chart highlights some of the historical developments, or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call for the Poor and Vulnerable.

“Development” has not solved the problem of growing poverty. Poverty is beginning to be recognized as structural – having to do with established power patterns (ie. Politics) and not just the functioning of the market.

A Call to Action (Octogesima Adveniens), 1971

The focus in this document shifts from economics to politics. There is a movement towards engagement in the political sphere and a call for new forms of democracy as a way of providing peaceful means of social change in bringing about a more just society

The gap between rich and poor countries is increasing. Workers are increasingly becoming the victims of injustice. The dominance of countries of the North is linked with the exploitation of countries of the South.

On Human Work (Laborem Exercens), 1981

A reflection on the nature of human work and the organization of economic activity is presented. The root causes of the issues are examined. Poverty and exploitation are the result of human action and must not be tolerated. An option for the poor requires alternatives that are just and truly human.

The events of Eastern Europe in 1989 and the impact of the resulting fall of communism are a central underlying focus.

On Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus), 1991

The continuity of the teaching is stressed. The fall of communism is not to be seen as the triumph of capitalism. It holds a challenge to develop caring societies where the state protects the weak but does not destroy their initiative or make them dependent.


How has the teaching on Option for the Poor and Vulnerable developed? This teaching is solidly rooted in scripture. Throughout scripture we can trace God’s action as that which consistently sides with the poor, the suffering, the marginalized. We can turn to scripture and learn from history that God cares distinctly and profoundly for the poor and vulnerable. The Judeo-Christian tradition is marked by a profound concern for the poor, identification with their suffering, and solidarity with their struggles. Over the centuries, this concern, identification and solidarity have taken many different forms. The theologian Gregory Baum suggests five stages in the development of the Christian community’s exercise of solidarity with the poor. While there is clearly an historical progression through these stages, obviously today all five are still in evidence. Five Stages of Development

1. The early Christian community, in continuity with its heritage from Israel, practiced solidarity with the poor. Those who were not poor shared with the poor both through communal living and through alms. We see this in the style of the first community: “Those who believed shared all things in common; they would sell their property and goods, dividing everything on the basis of each one’s needs.” (Acts 2:44-45; see also 4:32-35).

Paul coordinated a special collection for the poor in the church of Jerusalem (see Acts 24:17; I Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8 and 9). And he reminded the community of the bonds of solidarity which their compassion would bring: “Your plenty at the present time should supply their need so that their surplus may one day supply your need, with equality as a result.” (2 Corinthians 8:14).

Today the compassionate option for the poor is present in the numerous collections taken up in churches to assist the less fortunate in North America and around the world. In the U.S. Catholic Church, for example, the Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities and numerous diocesan programs are de-signed to share resources with the poor. Almsgiving is still an exercise in the option for the poor.

2. In the early centuries of Christianity a more spiritualized identification with the poor was practiced by

those women and men who retired to the desert to live lives of prayer and penance. This was an ascetical solidarity with the poor. Simplicity was the rule, with only the bare necessities provided for in an effort to be close to those who were poor. Hospitality was an important mark of this option for the poor.

As this way of life grew, it was the beginning of community life marked by the religious vow of poverty. However, not all interpretations of the life of vowed poverty have led to simplicity and closeness to the poor. For many religious communities, in earlier times and today, vowed poverty has had more to do with the legal title to ownership or with obedience to those in authority, or with an abstract notion of “doing without” rather than actually living close to the poor. But the goal of the ascetical option, however imperfectly practiced, should continue to the an identification with the poor.


3. A missionary solidarity with the poor has marked the Church in its outreach to the poor, both in new evangelization projects in what were formerly called “mission lands” and in efforts to re-evangelize what were once Christian cultures and countries. Jesus claimed as an essential characteristic of his mission “preaching the good news to the poor” (see Luke 4: I 8, and 7: 22).

This task has been carried on in the effort of count-less Christians who have struggled over the years to bring the Gospel to the poor of the world. One thinks immediately of the work of missionaries like St. Peter Claver among the black slaves of Latin America. The more recent Mission de France sent priests into factories and urban slums to be in solidarity with the struggling working poor. The missionary option for the poor has put a special focus on reaching the poor and the outcasts of society.

4. As the church has refined its pastoral practices in the light of changing conditions, both within the structures and personnel of the church itself and within society at large, a pastoral solidarity with the poor has been developed. This approach makes service to the poor a priority within the project of planning for the host uses of church resources. Pastoral service takes many forms, of course. But this particular emphasis on the option for the poor would value operations such as shelters, soup kitchens, family services, etc.

5. Finally, there is what today has come to be called a preferential option with the poor. This speaks not so much to how the Church relates to the poor in terms of com-passion, identification or service, but more to how the church relates to society at large and to the social structures which influence our life. That is, the church joins in solidarity with the poor in the struggle to transform society toward greater justice.

This transformation involves structural change, not simply amelioration of the sufferings of poverty--justice not charity--surgery, not band-aids. This form of the option for the poor involves that “action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world” which the 1971Synod of Bishops declared to be “constitutive of the preaching of the Gospel.” The option for the poor which involves the solidarity with the poor is where most attention has been paid in recent years, in theory if not always in practice.

The Church’s Modern Focus on the Poor

The historical practice of different forms of exercising the option for the poor provides the Christian community with a wonderfully rich experience. This experience is the basis for the modern message which the Church ad-dresses to the larger society about our obligation to be sensitive to the poor and committed to justice. The tradition of the Church’s social teaching is replete with references to the poor and calls to work for justice, declaring that our faithful following of Jesus demands no less.

This truth is beautifully stated in references to the preferential option for the poor in the opening lines of the final statement of the Second Vatican Council, The Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) whose 40th anniversary we celebrate in 2005: The joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the women and men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way oppressed, these are the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties, of the followers of Jesus. Paul VI reemphasized this particular priority of focus on the poor in his 1971 A Call to Action (Qctegesimo Adveniens). There he spoke of the Gospel instruction in the “preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society.”(#23). Earlier, Pope John XXIII, in his introductory speech at the Council, had spoken of the “desire of the church to be the church of all, but in a special way the church of the poor.”


This emphasis developed at greater length in the teaching of the church in Latin America. There the phrase “preferential but non-exclusive option for the poor” came into common usage as a result of two important gatherings of the Latin American Episcopa Conference (CELAM), in Medellin(1968) and in Puebla (1979).These meetings of bishops ad-dressed the Church’s pastoral response to the contemporary needs of the continent. The Latin American bishops linked the option for the poor to the following of Christ and viewed it as a continuing of his mission in today’s world: “When we draw near to the poor in order to accompany them and serve them, we are doing what Christ taught us to do when he became our brother, poor like us. Hence ser-vice to the poor is the privileged, though not the exclusive, gauge of our following of Christ.”

Pope John Paul II

John Paul II has picked up the theme of the preferential but non-exclusive option for the poor and brought it into the mainstream of the official teaching of the church. He has repeated it in many of his major addresses during his travels in many different parts of the world. Even more important, however is his explicit inclusion of the option for the poor in his encyclical, The Social Concern of the Church (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis).There he spoke of the Option for the Poor as one of the characteristic themes and guide-lines dealt with by the Church in modern times: “This is an option or a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness. It affects the life of each Christian inasmuch as they seek to imitate the life of Christ, but it applies equally to our social responsibilities and hence to our manner of living, and to the logical decisions to be made concerning the ownership and use of goods.” (#42)

In his teaching, John Paul II is echoing the 1985 Extraordinary Synod in Rome. This gathering reviewed developments in the Church in the twenty years since the end of the Second Vatican Council and highlighted the graces of renewal which the Church experienced worldwide. According to the final statement of the Synod: “Following the Second Vatican Council, the church became more aware of its mission in the service of the poor the oppressed and the outcast. In this preferential option, which must not be understood as exclusive, the true spirit of the Gospel shines forth...” (#D-6)

Bishops’ Statements

In recent decades, many statements from individual bishops or from regional groups of bishops around the world also use the language of the option for the poor. In the 1980s and 90s, regional documents emphasized the growing effect of poverty on women and children in their areas. The U.S. Bishops published their Economic Justice for All (1986) because “the challenge for us is to discover in our own time and place” what it means to serve the least among us.” The need for solidarity with the poor and the importance of addressing “structural sin” through genuine re-distributive reform through job creation, trade reform and fair taxation policies was discussed in The Struggle Against Poverty: A Sign of Hope in Our World, by the Canadian Bishops, in 1996. The Mexican and American Bishops, in their joint regional document of 2003, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, emphasize the common needs surround migration policy, a particular result of globalization.

In fact, globalization becomes a common thread in regional documents as the world moved into the 21st century. In addition to the Canadian, Mexican and American Bishops who acknowledged the challenge of opting for the poor, the Central American Bishops spoke of debt and poverty in their statement in 2002.The Brazilian bishops in 2002focused on hunger and poverty in a formal declaration. The South African Bishops in 1999 spoke out on economic justice, the Asian Bishops in 2000, on the marginalization of the poor, and in 1998 the Australian bishops emphasized human rights and social obligations in an official document.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion regarding Option for the Poor and Vulnerable:

1. What challenges and threats to the option for the poor and vulnerable exist in today’s society? Think about the news stories you have read and/or heard about over the last two years and/or movies you have seen and identify threats to ensuring the option for the poor and vulnerable. With your group, brainstorm a list of specific challenges to the option for the poor – get as detailed as you can.

2. What values of American culture oppose the option for the poor and vulnerable?

3. How are human dignity and human rights related to the option for the poor and vulnerable?

4. How can we develop our sensitivities towards the poor and vulnerable of our society and our world and recognize the complexity, the potential and the value of each human being – including the poor and vulnerable – we encounter s we live our lives?

5. What are some examples of established power patterns (found in institutions and legal, social and economic structures) that work against the poor and vulnerable?

6. Where can we learn more about he injustices in these institutions and structures so we are fully aware of challenges to the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable?

7. How do the decisions of those in positions of power affect the poor and vulnerable? How might these people misuse their power in making decisions? Give some examples of those in position of power who have not kept the interest of the poor and vulnerable in mind when making decisions.

8. What are ways to confirm our option for the poor and vulnerable as individuals, families, churches and/or school communities, and citizens? Brainstorm, create a list, and discuss the options.


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. Working for the common good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human life and all of God's creation. In a special way, the common good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change. Our obligations to the one human family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment of all.

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, #25 In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others.

A Call to Action, #23 "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?" (1 Jn 3:17). 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."

On the Development of Peoples, #23 A consistent theme of Catholic social teaching is the option or love of preference for the poor. Today, this preference has to be expressed in worldwide dimensions, embracing the immense numbers of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care, and those without hope.

On Social Concern, #42 Therefore everyone has the right to possess a sufficient amount of the earth's goods for themselves and their family. This has been the opinion of the Fathers and Doctors of the church, who taught that people are bound to come to the aid of the poor and to do so not merely out of their superfluous goods. Persons in extreme necessity are entitled to take what they need from the riches of others. Faced with a world today where so many people are suffering from want, the council asks individuals and governments to remember the saying of the Fathers: "Feed the people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them," and it urges them according to their ability to share and dispose of their goods to help others, above all by giving them aid which will enable them to help and develop themselves.

The Church in the Modern World, #69 Love for others, and especially for the poor, is made concrete by promoting justice.

The Hundredth Year, #58


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable (cont’d.) As individuals and as a nation, therefore, 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. This obligation is deeply rooted in Christian belief.

Economic Justice for All, #87 The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights of workers over the maximization of profits; the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion; the production to meet social needs over production for military purposes".

Economic Justice for All, #94 The obligation to provide justice for all means that the poor have the single most urgent economic claim on the conscience of the nation.

Economic Justice for All, #86 The primer 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. The extent of their suffering is a measure of how far we are from being a true community of persons. These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves.

Economic Justice for All, #88 The quality of the national discussion about our economic future will affect the poor most of all, in this country and throughout the world. The life and dignity of millions of men, women and children hang in the balance. Decisions must be judged in light of what they do for the poor, what they do to the poor, and what they enable the poor to do for themselves. The fundamental moral criterion for all economic decisions, policies, and institutions is this: They must be at the service of all people, especially the poor.

Economic Justice for All, #24 As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental "option for the poor" -- to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This "option for the poor" does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are the most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response.



Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Option for the Poor and Vulnerable (cont’d.) The way society responds to the needs of the poor through its public policies is the litmus test of its justice or injustice.

Economic Justice for All, #123 Listening to the cry of those who suffer violence and are oppressed by unjust systems and structures, and hearing the appeal of a world that by its perversity contradicts the plan of its Creator, we have shared our awareness of the Church's vocation to be present in the heart of the world by proclaiming the Good News to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and joy to the afflicted.

Justice in the World, #5 . . . the superfluous wealth of rich countries should be placed at the service of poor nations. The rule which up to now held good for the benefit of those nearest to us, must today be applied to all the needy of this world. Besides, the rich will be the first to benefit as a result. Otherwise their continued greed will certainly call down upon them the judgment of God and the wrath of the poor, with consequences no one can foretell.

On the Development of Peoples, #49 Let each one examine his conscience, a conscience that conveys a new message for our times. Is he prepared to support out of his own pocket works and undertaking organized in favor of the most destitute? Is he ready to pay higher taxes so that the public authorities can intensify their efforts in favor of development? Is he ready to pay a higher price for imported goods so that the producer may be more justly rewarded?

On the Development of Peoples, #48 It will be necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor - as individuals and as peoples - are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced... The advancement of the poor constitutes a great opportunity for the moral, cultural and *even economic growth of all humanity.

The Hundredth Year, #28 Those who are more influential because they have greater share of goods and common services should feel responsible for the weaker and be ready to share with them all they possess... the church feels called to take her stand beside the poor, to discern the justice of their requests and to help satisfy them, without losing sight of the good of groups in the context of the common good.

On Social Concern, #39 At the same time as it proclaims the Gospel of the Lord, its Redeemer and Savior, the Church calls on all, especially the poor, the oppressed and the afflicted, to cooperate with God to bring about liberation from every sin and to build a world which will reach the fullness of creation only when it becomes the work of people for people.

Justice in the World, #77

Source: Stewardship of Creation “Backgrounder” from the Center of Concern www.coc.org. Reprinted with permission for internal VCHS use only. 45

Catholic Social Teaching: Stewardship of Creation The 30 second Summary: What Does the Church Say about the Stewardship of Creation? God’s love is made known through God’s creation, incarnation and ongoing revelation. In the Book of Genesis we read how God speaks and God’s word brings all things into being. This life-giving work brings order out of chaos. Creation has an order and a purpose ordained and willed by God, and God names it “good.” The goodness of creation therefore is a divine proclamation. The Human person is created first from the clay of the earth, the only creation made in the image and likeness of God. Human beings are to live in partnership with creation, drawing life and sustenance from it and in turn treating all creation with care and reverence. Human beings are to be stewards, the voice of creation, protecting and respecting its use and existence. Where Does This Teaching Come From?





Church Documents and Stewardship of Creation This chart highlights some of the historical developments, or “signs of the times” that caused the church to take notice and respond to the call Stewardship of Creation.

What was the reality? Document & Year What was presented? Great suffering and poverty in developing countries, accentuated by the growing global divide between the rich and poor of the world, is a critical concern.

On the Development of Peoples (Populorum Progressio), 1967

Respect for the universal purpose of creation (God intends the earth and its goods for all) is needed for authentic development.

New social problems of urbanization (poverty, marginalization, etc.), including the environment, emerge.

A Call to Action (Octogesima Adveniens), 1971

The harmful exploitation of nature is leading to an “environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable.” People have a responsibility to respect the environment.

A growing awareness that resources and the biosphere are not infinite develops—they must be saved and preserved.

Justice in the World (Justicia in Mundo), 1971

Concern for the environment is expressed in the context of discussions of development. Richer nations are using too much energy and resources, to the detriment of nature. Conservation of natural resources is needed.

An increasing interdependence in the world is becoming apparent. There is also a growing awareness of the need to respect the integrity and cycles of creation.

The Social Concerns of the Church (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis), 1988

Ecological solidarity (among peoples and nations, and with future generations) is treated for the first time; ecological solidarity is essential to true development. John Paul II notes that the earth’s resources are limited, and that pollution threatens the health of all.

The fall of communism has brought attention to the newly independent countries of Eastern Europe and their development, including environmental concerns.

One Hundred Years (Centesimus Annus), 1991

John Paul II states that “an anthropological error” lies at the root of the mistreatment of the environment. He cautions against this arbitrary use of the earth “as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose.”

Sources: Himes, Kenneth R., Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2001. Judith Dwyer, ed. The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Teaching. Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press, 1994. s.v. “Ecology,” by Thomas Ryan, S.M. Keenan, Marjorie, Care for Creation: Human Activity and the Environment. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000.


Questions for Reflection and Discussion on Stewardship of Creation:

1. The Book of Genesis is an essential source for reflection on creation and its place in God’s created order. How have I understood this text in the past? How might I read it differently with new awareness of a sacramental view of creation with God as creator and sustainer of ALL life, ALL creation?

2. How are we to fulfill God’s call to be stewards of creation in an age when we may have the capacity to alter that creation significantly and perhaps irrevocably?

3. How can we as a “family of nations” exercise stewardship in a way that respects and protects the integrity of God’s creation and provides for the common good, as well as for economic and social progress based on justice?

4. Have you ever heard of the tem, “social sin?” (Social sin arises when people copy or cooperate with one another in allowing and promoting sin. This is often evident in what becomes socially acceptable or what is institutionalized in the social structure or laws. Catechism of the Catholic Church, #12869) How is disregard or degradation of the environment a of social sin?

5. How does creation and view toward its proper care, reverence and protection fit into a catholic notion of the seamless web of life?

6. Are there concrete ways in which I display a reverence for the earth in my daily life? (gardening, recycling, careful use of fossil fuels, choices to consume less, organic options at the market, mindful consumption, memberships in co-ops, etc.).

7. How does the earth echo the voice of God?


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Stewardship of Creation Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith.

On the Development of Peoples, #15 It is a requirement of our human dignity and therefore a serious responsibility, to exercise dominion over creation in such a way that it truly serves the human family. Exploitation of the riches of nature must take place according to criteria that take into account not only the immediate needs of people but also the needs of future generations. In this way, the stewardship over nature, entrusted by God to human beings, will not be guided by shortsighted-ness or selfish pursuit; rather, it will take into account the fact that all created goods are directed to the good of all humanity. The use of natural resources must aim at serving the integral development of present and future generations.

Address to the UN Centre, Nairobi, Kenya, 18 August 1985, N. 2; Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II. VII, 2 (1985), p477-484.

It is manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue to accumulate excess goods, squandering available resources, while masses of people are living in conditions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence. Today, the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfishness—both individual and collective—are contrary to the order of creation, an order that is characterized by mutual interdependence.

Pope John Paul II, 1990 World Day of Peace Message, #8 The human person, who discovers his or her capacity to transform and in a certain sense create the world through his or her own work, forgets that this is always based on God’s prior and original gift of the things that are. The human person thinks that he or she can make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his or her will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose, which the human person can indeed develop but must not betray. Instead of carrying out his or her role as a cooperator with God in the work of creation, the human person sets himself or herself up in the place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more tyrannized than governed by him or her.

Pope John Paul II, One Hundred Years, #37 Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle. In many parts of the world society is given to instant gratification and consumerism while remaining indifferent to the damage, which these attitudes cause. Simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become part of everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequences of the careless habits of a few.

Pope John Paul II, Call for Ecological Conversion, January 18, 2001, General Audience Among today’s positive signs we must also mention a greater realization of the limits of available resources, and of the need to respect the integrity and the cycles of nature and to take them into account when planning for development, rather than sacrificing them to certain demagogic ideas about the latter. Today this is called ecological concern.

Pope John Paul II, The Social Concerns of the Church, #26


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Stewardship of Creation (cont’d.)

At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both "the human environment" and the natural environment.1 It is about our human stewardship of God's creation and our responsibility to those who come after us. With these reflections, we seek to offer a word of caution and a plea for genuine dialogue as the United States and other nations face decisions about how best to respond to the challenges of global climate change.

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCCB, 2001 #3 Because of the blessings God has bestowed on our nation and the power it possesses, the United States bears a special responsibility in its stewardship of God's creation to shape responses that serve the entire human family. As pastors, teachers, and citizens, we bishops seek to contribute to our national dialogue by examining the ethical implications of climate change. We offer some themes from Catholic social teaching that could help to shape this dialogue, and we suggest some directions for the debate and public policy decisions that face us. We do so with great respect for the work of the scientists, diplomats, business and union representatives, developers of new technologies, environmental leaders, and policymakers who have been struggling with the difficult questions of climate change for many years.

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCCB, 2001 #6 Freedom and the capacity for moral decision making are central to what it means to be human. Stewardship—defined in this case as the ability to exercise moral responsibility to care for the environment—requires freedom to act. Significant aspects of this stewardship include the right to private initiative, the ownership of property, and the exercise of responsible freedom in the economic sector. Stewardship requires a careful protection of the environment and calls us to use our intelligence "to discover the earth's productive potential and the many different ways in which human needs can be satisfied."4

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, USCCB, 2001 #16 True stewardship requires changes in human actions—both in moral behavior and technical advancement. Our religious tradition has always urged restraint and moderation in the use of material goods, so we must not allow our desire to possess more material things to overtake our concern for the basic needs of people and the environment. Pope John Paul II has linked protecting the environment to "authentic human ecology," which can overcome "structures of sin" and which promotes both human dignity and respect for creation.6 Technological innovation and entrepreneurship can help make possible options that can lead us to a more environmentally benign energy path. Changes in lifestyle based on traditional moral virtues can ease the way to a sustainable and equitable world economy in which sacrifice will no longer be an unpopular concept. For many of us, a life less focused on material gain may remind us that we are more than what we have. Rejecting the false promises of excessive or conspicuous consumption can even allow more time for family, friends, and civic responsibilities. A renewed sense of sacrifice and restraint could make an essential contribution to addressing global climate change



Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Stewardship of Creation (cont’d.) As Catholic bishops, we seek to offer a distinctively religious and moral perspective to what is necessarily a complicated scientific, economic, and political discussion. Ethical questions lie at the heart of the challenges facing us. John Paul II insists, "We face a fundamental question which can be described as both ethical and ecological. How can accelerated development be prevented from turning against man? How can one prevent disasters that destroy the environment and threaten all forms of life, and how can the negative consequences that have already occurred be remedied?"2


As people of religious faith, we bishops believe that the atmosphere that supports life on earth is a God-given gift, one we must respect and protect. It unites us as one human family. If we harm the atmosphere, we dishonor our Creator and the gift of creation. The values of our faith call us to humility, sacrifice, and a respect for life and the natural gifts God has provided. Pope John Paul II reminds us in his statement The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility that "respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation, which is called to join man in praising God."13 In that spirit of praise and thanksgiving to God for the wonders of creation, we Catholic bishops call for a civil dialogue and prudent and constructive action to protect God's precious gift of the earth's atmosphere with a sense of genuine solidarity and justice for all God's children.


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.


The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council has reminded us: "God destined the earth with all that it contains for the use of all people and nations, in such a way that created thing in fair share should accrue to all people under the leadership of justice with charity as a companion." All other rights, whatever they are, including property rights and the right of free trade must be subordinated to this norm; they must not hinder it, but must rather expedite its application. It must be considered a serious and urgent social obligation to refer these rights to their original purpose.

On the Development of Peoples, #69 Material goods and the way we are developing the use of them should be seen as God's gifts to us. They are meant to bring out in each one of us the image of God. We must never lose sight of how we have been created: from the earth and from the breath of God.

On Social Concern (Donders translation), #29 The Bible, from the first page on, teaches us that the whole of creation is for humanity, that it is men and women's responsibility to develop it by intelligent effort and by means of their labor to perfect it, so to speak, for their use. If the world is made to furnish each individual with the means of livelihood and the instruments for growth and progress, all people have therefore the right to find in the world what is necessary for them.

On the Development of Peoples, #22


Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Stewardship of Creation (cont’d.) From the patristic period to the present, the church has affirmed that misuse of the world's resources or appropriation of them by a minority of the world's population betrays the gift of creation since "whatever belongs to god belongs to all."

Economic Justice for All, #34 The most profound motive for our work is this knowing that we share in creation. Learning the meaning of creation in our daily lives will help us to live holier lives. It will fill the world with the spirit of Christ, the spirit of justice, charity, and peace.

On Human Work (Donders translation), #25 Nor can the moral character of development exclude respect for the beings which constitute the natural world... [First] one cannot use with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate, animals, plants, the natural elements simply as one wishes, according to one's own economic needs. On the contrary, one must take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system, which is precisely the "cosmos".

[Second] natural resources are limited; some are not, as it is said, renewable. Using them as if they were inexhaustible, with absolute dominion, seriously endangers their availability not only for the present generation but above all for generations to come.

[Third] the direct or indirect result of industrialization is, ever more frequently, the pollution of the environment, with serious consequences for the health of the population. ...

The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to "use and misuse", or to dispose of things as one pleases. The limitation imposed from the beginning by the Creator himself ... shows clearly enough that, when it comes to the natural world, we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated with impunity.

On Social Concern, #34 By its very nature private property has a social quality which is based in the law of the common destination of earthly goods. If this social quality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of a passionate desire for wealth and serious disturbances, so that a pretext is given to those who attack private property for calling the right itself into question.

The Church in the Modern World, #71 Farm owners and farm workers are the immediate stewards of the natural resources required to produce the food that is necessary to sustain life. These resources must be understood as gifts of a generous God. When they are seen in that light and when the human race is perceived as a single moral community, we gain a sense of the substantial responsibility we bear as a nation for the world food system. Meeting human needs today and in the future demands an increased sense of stewardship and conservation from owners, managers, and regulators of all resources, especially those required for the production of food.



Selected quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on Stewardship of Creation (cont’d.) By the work of our hands or with the help of technology, we till the earth to produce fruit and to make it a dwelling place fit for all of humanity; we also play our part in the life of social groups. In so doing we are realizing God's plan, revealed at the beginning of time, to subdue the earth and perfect the work of creation; at the same time we are perfecting ourselves and observing the command of Christ to devote ourselves to the service of our sisters and brothers.

The Church in the Modern World, #57 Although in general it is difficult to draw a line between what is needed for right use and what is demanded by prophetic witness, we must certainly keep firmly to this principle: our faith demands of us a certain sparingness in use, and the Church is obliged to live and administer its own goods in such a way that the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor. If instead the Church appears to be among the rich and the powerful of this world its credibility is diminished.

Justice in the World, #47 Whoever has received from the bounty of God a greater share of goods, whether corporeal and external, or of the soul, has received them for this purpose, namely, that one employ them for one's own perfection and, likewise, as a servant of Divine Providence, for the benefit of others. "Therefore, those who have talent, let them constantly see to it that they be not silent; they who have an abundance of goods, let them be on the watch that they grow not slothful in the generosity of mercy; they that have a trade whereby they support themselves, let them be especially eager to share with their neighbors the use and benefit thereof."

On the Condition of the Working Classes, #36 The Church teaches--and has always taught--that scientific and technical progress and the resultant material well-being are good things and mark an important phase in human civilization. But the Church teaches, too, that goods of this kind must be valued according to their true nature: as instruments used by people for the better attainment of human ends. They help to make men and women better people, both in the natural and the supernatural order.

Mother and Teacher, #246 Whether you abound in, or whether you lack, riches, and all the other things which are called good, is of no importance in relation to eternal happiness. But how you use them, that is truly of utmost importance.... The well-to-do are admonished that wealth does not give surcease of sorrow, and that wealth is of no avail unto the happiness of eternal life but is rather a hindrance; that the threats pronounced by Jesus Christ, so unusual coming from Him, ought to cause the rich to fear; and that on one day the strictest account for the use of wealth must be rendered to God as Judge.

On the Condition of the Working Classes, #33-34

Prayer Sampler

1

I.

Lord, as we begin this day give each of us the Grace we most need to be the person you created us to be.

Give us the desire to respect those with whom we work.

Give us the desire to see you in those who enter our doors for care this day. Encourage us when we need to be encouraged.

Give us insights into how we may better benefit from the talents and the gifts of those with whom we serve.

Help us to be more unified in our purpose and in our response to the meaning of our ministry. Amen.

II.

Lord, help us to be aware of our need for you in our lives.

Help us to know our poverty so that we are less likely to judge the impoverishment of others.

Help us to respond to those who suffer injustice.

Help us to serve those who no one else will touch, listen to, or heal.

Help us to take care of ourselves, our bodies, minds and spirits so that we may more readily see what needs to be done.

Bless all of those who are here in this place. Grant us the wisdom to know that you are the guide for our service to our neighbors. Amen.

Prayer Sampler

2

III.

God, Life and Spirit, make us more aware this day of:

Those in need of guidance instead of judgment.

Those who are gentle and caring, instead of crass and uncaring.

Those who need shelter, food and water…and the power of listening in a compassionate way.

Those who are innocent who remind us of God’s gift of purity and hope.

Those we seek peace and justice in the midst of strife and anger especially in change and transition.

Those who are alone, disliked and alienated from goodness because of problems and hurt.

Help us to help those who come to us for assistance. Help us to recall that we, too, must be healed. Give us the wisdom to know what to do and what to say to those who ask for help. Give us the ability to discern what is important instead of what is not important so that our words and deeds are more reflective of your words and deeds.

Let us commit to being more thankful, hopeful, and faithful in our dedication to the mission and ministry of healing and health care. Amen.

Prayer Sampler (cont’d.)