Catholic Social Teaching

Many people are unaware of the extent of social doctrine in the Catholic religion.  This might be so because of the tendency to separate religion and politics in the minds of many American Catholics, then defining politics as anything to do with social welfare and governance.  In fact the Church has had a persistent voice concerning the social welfare of its members from the time of its inception.   This can be traced through the Scriptures, Early Church writers and medieval theology into the more obvious writings of the last century or so issued by popes and many bishops.  Some popes who specifically spoke about social welfare include Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum (workers have a right to organize in unions), John XXIII in Pacem In Terris (peace is needed for social progress), Paul VI in Populorum Progressio (arms race robs the poor), finally John Paul II in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis.(peace will not come without economic reform), and Benedict XVI in Caritas In Veritate (economic redistribution of wealth is valid).  It’s safe to say that none of these reforms happen without political action of some type.

In Catholic social ethics, the foundational point of sacredness of human life compliments the need to consider human rights and obligations, and these come from the human relationship to God and human society.  Human rights are claims to material and spiritual benefit.  The use of the term “human rights” has grown steadily in papal teaching from the time of Pius XII up to the present.  From the time of Vatican II until now, there has been greater emphasis on the development of social reform ideas rooted in Scripture and then applied to the modern state.

A central point of Catholic social teaching is that humans are social by nature, not private. Any valid state is an extension of the social nature of persons.  This point of view makes Catholic social teaching different from the “contract conception” of society, rooted in an individualistic view of the human person that many of us are used to and also apply to religion.  In Catholic thinking, society is the result of human relationships expressed through politics, economics, law and culture.  In the contract conception of society, duties to others are only valid if they are freely chosen by the individual - no one has a claim on another.  In contrast, Catholic philosophy views the individual as a member of numerous communities, such as families, the states, and humanity in general.  In Catholic thought, the state is the place of political authority with both moral responsibilities and restraints and needs to be called to account when it fails.

In terms of morals, Catholic thought makes critical use of a concept known as the “common good.”  This concept includes the conditions of a spiritual and physical nature that each person needs to have available to reach their full potential.  Such conditions include access to a reasonable level of economic security, safety, health care, religion, education, meaningful employment, recreation, cultural goods, political involvement, etc.  So, each person and each political or economic system needs to test itself against the greater need of the common good.  If the person, system, etc., does not support the common good in some regard, it can be considered immoral in that area.