CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

OVERVIEW

• CST is a body of teaching on social, economic, political and cultural matters on what the body of the Church seems to have forgotten or never known
• CST still remains outside the mainstream of ordinary parish life.
• CST is a collection of key themes which have evolved in response to the challenges of the day.
• Conviction/assumptions underlying CST
• God is at work in human history.
• God is at work healing and redeeming human history and inviting all people to participate in that work.
  

There exist a spirit/plan of agency within the church: “to carry forward the work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending spirit,” agency examples: witness to the truth – rescue – serve – scrutinize signs of the times” and interpreting them in the light of the gospel.

“What the faith community believes God is doing and inviting us to evoke in this historical period.  This represents a reading of society – a great deal of discernment – how does Christ speak to this “signs of the times.”

Principles: foundation of CST – in an effort to read the “signs of the times.”

DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

I.    There is inherent dignity in the human person because all people are created in the image of God.
II.    Human dignity exists as a result of our existence. It is not dependent upon social conditions, race, class, gender, sexuality – it is not earned or achieved – it provides a unique social worth that exist in each person simply because they exist. Therefore, all human life is sacred.
III.    The human person is the starting point for a moral vision of society.
IV.    We all need to strive- respect – and support full and authentic human development – one must build their skill for service of the common good - Each person possesses at birth a divine vocation – a specific unique calling to further the development of human society (Echoes the sentiments of the CST of Rights and Responsibilities: Sacred dignity flows from the person in his/her vocation to serve the community – see the following major category).
V.    Oppression – inequality can impede human development – therefore we need to work hard to change this.
VI.    One must love thy neighbor. And one must love God and neighbor in order to in act the work of social justice – loving neighbor in working toward social justice is essential for loving God.
VII.    Charity justice that you offer to your neighbor.  
VIII.   Charity represents a form of agency that you offer to your neighbor allowing one to work toward justice and you must work to transform structures which blocks love.
IX.    One must work toward establishing structures of justice which support which supports and liberates all people.
 X.    Full and authentic development requires dialogue – where differences will be explore and all conflicts will be addressed – it is only through dialogue can new levels of understanding and appreciation can be achieved in the human community.
XI.  ***Key limitation: focus of CST (DHP) underscores what we the blessed must live by and what we must do – but what must the unblessed – the unchosen and the oppressed live by? Very privilege – centric – those who can bring change – what about those who cannot bring the change or are not aware of the need for change?
 

RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES

I.    Human rights flow from the intrinsic sacred dignity of the person in his/her vocation to serve the community and to be recognized by communities and governments. Human rights flow from the respect of human dignity.  Each person has a right to those things required for human decency starting with food, shelter, clothing, employment, health care, and education. Also includes freedom of speech, religion, association, migration, and participation in full society.   
II.    According to CST, since property is an important link to human development then everyone has a right to private property – but this is not an absolute right. Private property must serve the needs and development of the whole community.  It is the responsibility of each to respect and protect the human rights of all. (Peace on Earth encyclical).
III.    It is the role of government to regulate those organizations that play a role and assure that the common good will be enhanced. Government must not do for those that can do for themselves – but it must also help those who cannot do for themselves toward the work of serving the common good.
 

THE PERSON IN THE COMMUNITY

I.    Our dignity and rights exist in our relationships with others – as we assume here that the human person is both sacred and social – It is through community that human beings grow and achieve fulfillment.  Human dignity is recognized, developed, and protected in the context of relationships – community with others rooted in love and justice. Foundational community=immediate family, extended family – whole human race – past and present generations.
II.    Common good – makes it possible for women and men to achieve the perfection of their humanity.
III.    Catholic social thought emphasizes and insists upon the participation of each and every person in the common good – contrary to the belief that some have to be excluded for the benefits of social advances. This involves working on developing in society all those conditions of social living (economic, political, sociological, and cultural) through which each and every person can be enabled to achieve their authentic and full human development. Requires creating jobs, caring for the less privileged.
IV.    ***Once again, we find focus on the privileged and not the oppressed. What does this offer the downtrodden – are they to be dependent on those others who can change circumstances?
V.    We are all part of a social context that is essential for community living and individual development.   We must realize any set of social and cultural structural context.
VI.    Structures of grace: structures that support and facilitate authentic human development.
VII.    Structures of sin: structures that obstruct or obscure authentic human development.
VIII.   Liberation from oppressive social political and economic situations and structures is an important mission of the church but it must also include spiritual and religious dimensions as well. Text supports this but then takes a dig at Latin American Liberation.  Most important contribution of LT has been its starting point in the experience of the oppressed. ** This would answer and address concerns stated above.
IX.    People have the right to democratic participation in decision making opportunities in order to achieve the common good as presented by government.  A minimum level of participation in the community is a fundamental demand of justice and requirement for human dignity. Church recognizes the inequities that exist but does not provide any solutions.

X.    Church is a sacrament of God’s Reign – a community of God working to bring this about. “The sacred mission challenges the Church at each moment to be a discerning community grappling with the problems of the larger human community, witnessing to justice, working to heal, redeem and transform the institutions, policies and patterns by which the people of the planet live with each other with the whole earth community.”  These challenges are found within the institution itself but can also be viewed individually or structurally.
 

DIGNITY OF WORK

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OPTIONS FOR THE IMPOVERISHED

I.    Work is the means by which persons express and develop both being and dignity. Workers are not to be looked upon simply as a means of production or a human form of capital.  Work must be organized to serve the three purposes of work:  the worker’s humanity, a supportforr family life, and the common good of the human family. Workers have the right to organize and form unions to achieve these goals.  The primary concern must always be with the development and well-being of the workers. All workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. People have a right to economic initiative and private property, but these rights have limits. No one is allowed to amass excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life. To not enhance its workers and serve the common good is a moral failure.
II.    Issues of Poverty are at the heart of the Judeo-Christian social vision – as they are people who are often forgotten, exploited and marginalized in society.  The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. Depriving and withholding from the poor hurts everyone as the option for the poor is an essential part of society’s effort to achieve the common good. Sacred dignity – that they are born with – often overlooked or abused.
III.    They represent the sector of our society who experience and reveal failing and shortcomings of our social systems.  We look at the poor because they are the most vulnerable and the one’s the market excludes and ignores.   
IV.    Their experiences, insights and concerns offer important evidence in the search for the more just systems of social life to which God is calling the human community.
V.    The Social Concerns of the Church Pope John Paul II underscores that the amassing of wealth highlights our preoccupation with “having” and not “being”.  I am who I am by what I have and not by who I am.
VI.    Biblical Justice is when those in poverty and on the margins have what they need in order to survive, develop, and strive to give back to the community – the fundamental needs for food, health, education are required for biblical justice to be enacted.
 

GOLBAL SOLIDARITY & PROMOTION OF PEACE

I.    We are all part of the human family and have a mutual obligation to promote the rights and development of all people across communities, nations, and the world, irrespective of national boundaries.  
II.    The core truth of CST is the recognition that we are all one in being children of God.
III.    No one fulfillment and salvation can be completely isolated from any other in the web of existence – each depends ultimately on solidarity in the fulfillment and salvation of all.  
IV.    If you are not untouched or unchanged by the suffering of others then you suffer from spiritual underdevelopment – they need solidarity for their own salvation.  We are called to work globally for justice – authentic development must be full human development.
V.    ***Once again, written from the perspective of the chosen and offer very little to the damned.
VI.    Peace is the fruit of justice and is dependent upon solidarity and right order among humans and among nations. Progressive disarmament is essential for future security – peacemaking: pacifism or non-violence and just war theory.
 

CARE FOR CREATION

Respect and share the resources of the earth as we are all part of the community of creation.  All goods of the earth are gifts from God and are intended by God for the benefit of everyone and to enhance the common good.  CST has only recently explicitly addressed environmental and ecological concerns – concern for sharing and caring for creation has always been a part of the tradition.  We must be stewards and trustees of the world’s goods and not mere consumers.