CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHINGS II

 The CST aim:

o Main aim: To interpret the realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the
Gospel teachings…
o To guide Christian behaviour
 Social doctrine (“best kept secrets”)  the Church’s reflection on social issues and problems.
o “belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology & particularly in moral theology.”
o 13 document  Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII (1st) – Centessimus Annus by Pope John Paul II (latest)

I. INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT
 For development to be integral  it must serve the TOTAL PERSON in all dimensions including the INTERIOR:
SPIRITUAL DIMENSION & ETERNAL SALVATION of the human person
 Aspects of Human Life:
1. Social
2. Political
Development to be integral Must respond to all of
3. Economic
these
4. Cultural
 HUMAN DIGNITY  basis of development
o Every person is endowed with an inalienable dignity as IMAGE & LIKENESS OF GOD, a child of God
entrusted with an eternal destiny

II. HUMAN DIGNITY & HUMAN RIGHTS

 DIGNITY = the state or quality of being excellent, worthy & honourable
A. BASIS OF HUMAN DIGNITY
 For Christian Social Philosophy:
o Man is the center and crown of creation because man keeps intact the image & likeness of God himself.
o Man is the only creature on earth that God willed for itself
 Man as “willed” by God as “chosen” by him from eternity & called, destined for grace and glory
 Each Man, Most Concrete Man, The Most Real Man
 Social Being:
o Man by his innermost nature is a SOCIAL BEING (relational being) & unless he relates himself to others
that he can neither live nor develop his potentials
o MAN = BODY + SOUL
 Christ united himself to every man:
o Gaudium et Spes 22: “by his incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every man.”
o RH#13: “We are not dealing with the “abstract” man but the real and concrete historical man. We are dealing
with “each” man for each one is included in the mystery of redemption & with each one Christ has united
himself forever through this mystery.”
B. NATURE OF MAN
1. INCLINATION TOWARDS GOOD & EVIL
o Although man was made by God in a state of holiness man finds that he has inclination towards evil too.
o Dramatic struggle between Good & Evil
2. FREEDOM
o Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness
o AUTHENTIC FREEDOM = an exceptional sign of divine image within man
 o Man’s dignity demands that he acts according to a knowing & free choice
3. WISDOM & INTELLECT
o INTELLECT  man judges rightly
o Man shares in the light of divine mind

4. MORAL CONSCIENCE
o In the depths of man’s conscience:
 man detects law, which he doesn’t impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience
 always summoning him to love good & hate evil
 The voice of conscience can & when necessary speaks to his heart more specifically: Do this, shun that!
5. HUMAN PERSON = CENTER OF CREATION & OF ALL SOCIAL INSTITUTION
o Men as individuals are necessarily the foundation, cause & end of all social institution
C. HUMAN RIGHTS
 HUMAN RIGHTS = a mechanism to control the exercise of power so that it does not become dehumanizing of
persons
 Definition:
o Fundamental Rights of Human Beings  are essential to the exercise of human dignity
o Those rights are possessed by human beings by the mere fact of their being human
o Terms synonymous with “human rights”
 Fundamental rights
 Natural rights
 Fundamental freedom
 Public freedom
 Civil liberties
 Declaration of Human Rights:
o North American Declaration of Independence (1776)  mentioned: “certain inalienable rights”
o Bill of Rights of Virginia (1776)  “a first declaration, which contains a specific list of the rights of the
human being & of the citizen”
o The Declaration on the Rights of Man & of the Citizen (1793) “adopted by French Constituent Assembly”
 this declaration embodied the ideas of liberal society & was instrumental in the transformation of the
political & social structure of the West
o The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) “adopted by the UN Organization  2 other
covenants: “the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights” & “International Covenant on
Civil & Political Rights”
 2 Kinds of Human Rights:
1. CIVIL & POLITICAL RIGHTS  inherent to the human person (liberty, equality & participation)
2. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & CULTURAL RIGHTS  to large extent creations of interaction between the
individual & society in the course of history. (aim to respond the basic needs of human being: food,
clothing, shelter, health & education)
 A Concise Catalogues of Human Rights
1. Biological & Psychological (Spiritual) Rights
a. Right to life & physical integrity
b. Right to respect for one’s person, reputation & freedom
c. Right to security
d. Right to liberty
e. Right to Juridical Protection of One’s own Rights
f. Right to Equality
2. Civil & Family Rights
3. Political Rights
4. Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
 Human Rights Sustainable Development & Respect for the Integrity of Creation
 o Human rights also include:
 Commitment to sustainable development of creation
 Respect for the integrity of creation
o Contemporary Catholic Christian Ethics  aware of the following:
 Aware of the rights of the future generation to a habitable planet able to sustain an adequate quality of life.
 Aware of the moral imperative to respect the integrity of creation
o 3 aspects of Integrity of Creation:
1. We are stealing from the future generations if we use up the resources of the earth faster than nature
renews them unless we make compensation, or use them in a way that will be of value in the future.
2. We are destroying the quality of present human life if we do not organize our industry, agriculture and
life-style in a way that is ecologically responsible
3. We are called to see ourselves as part of a nature & to live in respectful, peaceful & harmonious
partnership with all other creatures
o General Agreement: We humans are obliged to avoid an EXPLOITATIVE attitude towards our partner in
creation (animals & plants of the earth & towards inanimate world)
1. We are obliged not to inflict unnecessary pain on animals
2. We have a moral obligation to ensure that the variety of species of animals & plants is respected
3. It is accepted that humans may not destroy or wantonly pollute the environment

III. SOLIDARITY
 SOLIDARITY =
o A “firm & persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to the good of all & of
each individual because we are really responsible for all.” (SRS#38)
o Is “manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods & remuneration for work. It also presupposes the
effort for more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced & conflict more readily settled by
negotiations.” (CCC#1940)
 COMMON GOOD = the good of all & of each individual
o CCC#1907-1909  Is the “sum total of social conditions which allow people either as group or as individuals
to reach their fulfilment more fully & more easily.” It presupposes:
1. Respect for person
2. Requires the social well being & development of the group itself
3. Peace (the stability of the just order)

IV. UNIVERSAL PURPOSE OF EARTHLY GOODS & PRIVATE PROPERTY

 Gaudium et Spes #69:
o “God intended the earth and all that it contains for the use of every human being & people. Thus, as all men
follow justice & unite in charity, created good should abound for them on a reasonable basis…”
o “…attention must always paid to the universal purpose for which created goods are meant...”
o “…a man should regard his lawful possession not merely as his own but also as a common property in the
sense that they should accrue to the benefit of not only himself but of others…”
 Primary intention of the Creator  Everything here on earth should be used & enjoyed by every human being &
people
 If a person is in extreme necessity, he has the right to take from the riches of others what he himself needs.
 PRIVATE PROPERTY must always be understood in the context of the PRIMARY INTENTION OF THE
CREATOR, in the context of the UNIVERSAL PURPOSE OF EARTHLY GOODS.
o Private property has a social dimension
 o The right to private is subordinated to the RIGHT TO COMMON USE, to the fact that those goods are
meant for everyone.
o SRS#42: “Private Property is under a social mortgage, which means that is has an intrinsically social
function, based upon & justified precisely by the principle of the destination of goods.”
 Definition:
o OWNERSHIP = is the exclusive right of control over a thing
 Exception to this right is possible if demanded by higher law.
 Subject to ownership are not only material goods but also intellectual and spiritual creations.
 3 Views on Property:
1. Liberal Concept of Ownership
 Private property  “the right of the individual to dispose of the goods in his possession to the exclusion of
the third party, with full freedom, according to his own pleasure & without any social limits, obligations or
duties.”
2. The Marxist/Social Position
 Complete abolition of private property
 “original sin of mankind”
3. The Catholic Church’s Response
 Catholic Church always defended the right to private property & also to bequeath & to inherit it.
 Right to private property = right which is sacred based on natural law of which God is the author
 This right is NOT ABSOLUTE
 4 Argument for the Right to Private Property:
1. Argument from Justice
 Anchored on the workers right to dispose of his wages as he sees fit.
 It is undeniable that when a man engages in remunerative labor the impelling reason & motive of his work
is to obtain private property, and to hold it as his very own.
2. Second Argument
 Man is endowed with reason & hence requires possession not only for temporary use but also in stable &
permanent manner.
 Man’s relationship with the things of nature is universal & he takes into account not only his present needs
but also the future needs.
 Thus, man’s relationship with nature is stable and permanent
3. Argument from Causality
 That which is required for the preservation of life & for the well-being, is produced in great abundance
from the soil, but not until man has brought it into cultivation & expended upon it his solicitude & skill.
4. The last argument based on the Obligation of the Father to his Family
 Right to private property belongs naturally to individual persons, must likewise, belong to a man in his
capacity as the head of the family.
 Most sacred law of nature  Father should provide & all of necessaries for those whom he has begotten,
and… it is natural that he should wish that his children, who carry on, so to speak, & continue his
personality, should be by him provided with all that is needful to enable them to keep themselves decently
from want & misery amidst the uncertainty of his mortal life.
 The Universal Destination of Goods & the Fundamental Right to Use:
o The right to private property  subordinate to the primordial right to use & for the common destination of
the goods of the earth.
 Social Obligation of Private Property:
o Social Obligation of Private Property  intrinsic to its very nature
o It is rooted in the very nature of the human person himself who alone is the origin, bearer & goal of social
life, based on, the principle of the common destination of goods & is a clear implication of Christian charity
 Work/Property/Ownership of the Means of Production:
o Intimate link between: Work + Property + Means of Production  (acquired) all through work & must serve
work
 o We cannot possessed for possession’s sake because the only legitimate title to our possession  we should
serve labor  by serving labor, we should make possible the achievement of the first principle  universal
destination of goods & right to common use

V. SOCIAL JUSTICE & LOVE

 Social relationship  based on JUSTICE
 JUSTICE = rendering to each man or human community what is their own or due by right
 CCC#1928: “Society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals
to obtain what is their due, according to their nature & their vocation.”
 Justice  means to SHARE
o Everyone is exhorted to share, to share to him/her who has none. No one is exempted to share what he/she has
for the sake of another who has none. But more is expected from him/her who has more.
 PCPII#304: “Justice rejects such situations as dishonesty in the marketplace, graft and corruption in private and
public life, and the unjust wage for employees.”
 To LOVE = To SHARE; but NOT ALL SHARING ARE ACTS OF LOVE
 Justice must be tempered by love
 PCPII#305: “for our interpersonal relationships & social structures to be put in order, justice is not sufficient.
Love is necessary.”
 JUSTICE = the minimum right due to an individual or human community
 There is injustice, there no peace
 ACTION ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE  an essential component of genuine & lasting peace

VI. LOVE OF PREFERENCE FOR THE POOR

 The God of the Bible is the God of the Poor
1. God is on the side of the poor because they are defenseless & have nobody to take up their cause
2. God’s being on the side of the poor is not to be understood as thereby being against all non-poor
3. God’s concern for the poor should be read as a challenge addressed to believers: you who say that you believe
in the God of the covenant, who say that you are on His side, should be where the bible says God is, namely
on the side of the poor.
4. Clear from the whole biblical message that: poverty has to be opposed and that its main causes, injustice &
oppression have to be counteracted  calls for unrelenting work for justice

VII. VALUE OF HUMAN WORK

 Work  is essentially connected with or related with human dignity
 “The more I work the more human I become”; “The more I work, the more I become like God”
 Intellect is not only the basis for my being image & likeness of God but also my work
 Work  we become human & divine
 Man as Worker
o Apart from man work per se in unintelligible
o Man = as worker
o Only man  capable of work & work essentially distinguish the human person from the rest of creatures
o Man  by nature: WORK
o Work  fundamental dimension of human existence on earth
o Human labor  fundamental dimension of man’s being in the world & it remains always on unmistakable
sign of human nature & humanity
 Human Person as Subject to Work
o WORK = an “ACTUS PERSONAE”
 One who carries it out is a person, a conscious and free subject (that decides about himself)
 Work possess a personal character because it proceeds from man as its subject 7 directed to him as its end
 Work possess a value flowing directly from the dignity of the worker who performs it
 Thus, labor can never be treated as a mere commodity
o Transcendence of the Person over Work
 Primary bases of the value of work  MAN (subject of work)
o Priority of the Subjective Dimension over the Objective Aspect of Work
 Objective side of Labor = ensemble of the whole range of products & instruments that man’s work has
produced & which aid human labor in further subjugating the earth, as well as the related objective structures
that are linked to the entire labor process.
 At times: technology & machines  subjugate & enslaves the worker reduced him to a mere toy of the
megaprocess of production
o Priority of Labor over Capital
 Labor  always a PRIMARY EFFICIENT CAUSE
Capital  remains a mere instrument / INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE
 CAPITAL = a collection of things & instrument that can condition human labor but can never be set as an
impersonal economic “subject” over & above work
 Capital  a result of historical heritage of human labor
 Subjectivity of Human Labor  (demands) capital should serve labor & the person who alone is the real &
efficient subject of the whole process of production
o Centrality of the Human Person
 Human Person  always be the subject & the end of the labor process
 Man  primary reference point of the production process
 Human dignity  central ethical principle governing economic activities & policies
 Thus: To assert the centrality of his work in the production cycle:
1. Profit & salary
2. Savings & public money
Guarantees this central position
3. Entrepreneurial & union activity
 Man’s Self-Realization In and Through Work
o Work  good for man
o Work  transforms nature, adopting to man’s needs & also ACHIEVES FULFILMENT AS A HUMAN
BEING
o Necessary & Economic Character of Work
 Without the result of labor man cannot preserve his existence & secure what is indispensible for life  secure
himself for economic basis  to realize the higher potentialities of his being
o Personal Character of Work
 In and through Work:
1. It provokes & bring about the full development of human power
2. It develops his bodily & spiritual faculties
3. It helps to awaken & employ all the faculties, even those that are hidden, or those that lay dormant & are
wasted away
4. Man actualizes & develops the virtual & inherent possibilities of his nature & bring himself thereby to
fuller perfection as a person
o The Transforming Character of Work
 Man  called by God to exercise dominion over the visible creation, a dominion that he principally realizes
by means of his daily work
 Nature  entrusted by God to man
 But nature is not a finished product  Man must work to transform the goods provided by nature & render
them fit in his use
  By transforming things of nature by means of work  It makes it possible for himself to “become more”
the person he is called to be in the midst of visible creation
o Collaborative Character of Work
 By collaborating with God’s on-going creative activity  Man fulfils himself as the image & likeness of God
on the context of spatio-temporal history
o Redemptive Character of Work
 Jesus  MAN OF WORK (John Paul II)  he taught the “GOSPEL OF WORK”
 Christ  made “work as an INTEGRAL POINT OF THE WORK OF REDEMPTION”
 In the light of Christ’s paschal mystery  Human work takes on a new value & meaning
 Through Work  Man shares in the CREATION ACTIVITY OF GOD & in the REDEMPTIVE
ACTION OF CHRIST must permeate even the most ordinary instance of human work
 A SPIRITUALITY OF WORK  based on the GOSPEL OF WORK
o Social Character of Work
 Work = inherently a social affair
 CA#31: “More than ever, work is work with others & work for others: it is a matter of doing something for
others.”
 Work  SERVICE, animated by CHARITY to one’s family, society, & the whole human family
 Work  a venue of SELF-REALIZATION  he selflessly gives himself to others
1. Work & Family
- 2 expression of man’s social nature: FAMILY & NATION
- Work  destined to serve the family
- FAMILY = simultaneously a community made possible by work & first school of work within the home for
every person
- Work  for family – NOT – Family  Work
- Work may never be destroy the family, for if it does then it ends by destroying its very purpose
2. Work & Women
- True Advancement of women  requires that labor should be structured in such a way that women do not have
to pay for their advancement by abandoning what is specific to them & at the expense of the family, in which
women as a mothers have an irreplaceable role.
- Work that women do or are required to do must befit & must not undermine their special role & dignity as
women. (John Paul II)
3. Family Wage (Just Wage)
- FAMILY WAGE = a “single salary given to the head of the family for his work, sufficient for the needs of the
family without the other spouse having to take up gainful employment outside the home.
4. The Right to Profit Sharing & Economic Participation
- There is a need to unshackle the worker from being solely dependent on the wage system
- This can be done by allowing workers to have joint ownership of the productive aspects that will enable them to
earn income from both labor & capital
- Popes  always advanced worker’s active participation & co-responsibility in the ownership, management &
profits of the business enterprise in which they work.
5. Problem of Underemployment
- UNDEREMPLOYMENT = the lack of work in general & a lack of work to which someone is qualified
- Underemployment  an ETHICAL PROBLEM
- Evil of Underemployment:
 It is an evil which cuts deeply into the dignity of human person & humiliates him, making him
appear useless in his own eyes & thus undercuts the person’s self-esteem
 It lies precisely in this: it deprives the person of a basic venue for his own self-fulfilment
 Duties & Responsible of Employers and Wealthy Owners
o Primary duty of the employers & wealthy owners  UPHOLD THE DIGNITY OF WORKERS
1. Workers are not to be treated as slaves
2. Justice demands that the dignity of the human personality be respected in them
3. The religious interest and spiritual well-being of the workers receive proper consideration
 4. Not to expose anyone to corrupting influences or enticements of sin
5. No way alienate him from care for his family & the practice of thrift
6. More work is not to be imposed than strength can endure or that kind which is unsuited to a worker’s age or
sex
7. To give to every worker what is justly due to him
8. They are obliged to establish a system of paying in accord with justice
9. The rich must religiously avoid harming in any way the savings of the workers either by coercion or by
fraud or by the acts of usury
o In this perspective  we give work the right appreciation that it deserves
o One kind of work must not be looked down upon as less dignified than the other (like manual labor as compared
to intellectual work)
o Principle of human work  mandates among other things: SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT FOR ALL, JUST
REMUNERATION FOR WORK
o It also includes:
 Right to rest
 Right to decent work environment
 Right to association
 Right to participate in the fruits of work and in management
 Right to strike under certain conditions

VIII. PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT

 PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT = “the process of building people’s capability & confidence especially the poor, to
actively participate in the management, advancement & control of their lives in all their social, economic, political,
cultural, and religious dimensions”
 Empowering people  is a must if we want lasting & genuine social transformation
 CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHINGS II
I. INTRODUCTION
 Based on CST:
- Specific Contribution of CST to societal life:
1. EVANGELIZATION
2. DIALOGUE with the World
3. Instrument for INTERPRETATION of realities
4. Guidelines for PASTORAL & SOCIAL ACTION of the Church
- AIM:
1. COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE
2. PERSPECTIVE OF THE GOSPEL (See, Judge & Act)
- Methodology:
 Scrutinized the signs of times  in the light of the Gospel (GS#4)
 GOSPEL VALUES  SEE, JUDGE, ACT  SIGNS OF TIMES
 SIGNS OF TIMES = the social concerns, issues & problems of the present time on the economic, political &
cultural level

II. BIBLICAL BASIS OF CST:

 The Mission (Lk.4:16-21)
 What God hates and what God loves (Jer.22:13-17)
 The Law & Man’s Welfare (Mk.2:23-28)
 True Fasting (Is.58:3-12)
 God, The Liberator (Ex.1:1-16)
 Our Good Neighbors (Lk.10:25-37)
 Our Neighbors: The Least Important Ones (Mt.25:31-46)

III. CHARACTERISTICS: PERMANENT & CHANGING

 PERMANENT  Gospel Values (valid at all times and in all places)
 CHANGING  Social Situation (social teaching is evolving)

IV. TENSION: DOCTRINE & TEACHING

 DOCTRINE  implies a close system (permanent)
 TEACHING  changing character or evolutionary character
- BOTH! Teaching & Doctrine
- Permanent Truths  Doctrine ; Evolve  Teaching
 As doctrine  to PRESERVE & UPHOLD
As teaching  to DEVELOP, UPDATE & SUPERSEDE

V. ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL TEACHINGS

 Permanent Principles  ANNOUNCEMENT
- Directly flowing out from the Gospel Values
 Concrete Judgement  DENOUNCEMENT
- Concrete judgement on a concrete situation
 Directives for Action
- Church contribution for real human progress in society
 Proscribes & Prescribes
- PROSCRIBES = to denounce / condemn
- PRESCRIBES = to recommend
- In making the judgment, the Church (authoritative)  PROSCRIBES than Prescribes
- Not to see the judgment & directives for action as Precepts but PRECEDENTS
VI. SURVEY OF CST
 According to Catholic Social Doctrine (CSDC)
1. RERUM NOVARUM (by Leo XIII)
2. QUADRAGESIMO ANNO (by Pius XI)
3. MATER ET MAGISTRA (by John XXIII)
4. PACEM IN TERRIS (by John XXIII)
5. GAUDIUM ET SPES (by Vatican II)
6. POPULORUM PROGRESSIO (by Paul VI)
7. OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS (by Paul VI)
8. LABOREM EXERCENS (by John Paul II)
9. SOLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS (by John Paul II)
10. LAUDATO SI (by Francis)

11. DIGNITATIS HUMANAE

12. WORLD DAY OF PEACE MESSAGES
13. CHRISTMAS RADIO MESSAGE OF PIUS XII
14. NON ABBIAMO BISOGNO (by Pius XI) against the totalitarian fascist regime of Italy
15. MIT BRENNENDER SORGE (by Pius XI) on the situation of the Catholic Church under the third reich
16. DIVINI REDEMPTORIS (by Pius XI) on aesthetic communism & the Christian Social Doctrine

 According to Social Theologians:

1. JUSTICE IN THE WORLD (Synod of Bishops)
2. EVANGELII NUNTIANDI (by Paul VI)
3. REDEMPTOR HOMINIS (by John Paul II)
4. CENTESSIMUS ANNUS (by John Paul II)
5. DEUS CARITAS EST (by Benedict XVI)

VII. PRINCIPLES OF THE CHURCH’S SOCIAL DOCTRINE ACCORDING TO CSDS:

1. Principle of the COMMON GOOD
2. Principle of the UNIVERSAL DESTINATION OF GOODS
3. Principle of SUBSIDIARITY
4. Principle of PARTICIPATION
5. Principle of SOLIDARITY
6. Principle of the FUNDAMENTAL VALUES OF SOCIAL LIFE: TRUTH, FREEDOM & JUSTICE
7. WAY OF LOVE

VIII. PRINCIPAL TEACHINGS OF CST ACCORDIGN TO PCP II

1. INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT based on HUMAN DIGNITY and SOLIDARITY
2. UNIVERSAL PURPOSE OF EARTHLY GOODS and PRIVATE PROPERTY
3. SOCIAL JUSTICE and LOVE
4. PEACE and ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE
5. LOVE OF PREFERENCE FOR THE POOR
6. VALUE OF HUMAN WORK
7. INTEGRITY OF CREATION
8. PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT