Catholic Social Teaching

The social teachings of the Catholic Church might be summarized in the following points:

• The dignity of the human person is rooted in his or her creation in the image and likeness of God (CCC 1699).
• The human person is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social institutions (1881-1882).
• Every human community needs a legitimate authority that preserves order and contributes to the realization of the common good. The common good is the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment (1901-1904, 1907-1909).
• Society ensures social justice when it respects the dignity and the rights of the person as the proper end of society itself. Furthermore, society pursues social justice, which is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority, when it provides the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain what is their due (1934-1935).

• Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1691-1876 (Website)

• The USCCB website offers a nice, short summary of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching (Website).

• Bob O'Gorman's chapter on Catholic Social Teaching in The Idiot's Guide to Catholicism offers a good introduction (PDF).

• In 1963, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an important encyclical on peace and justice. It's not long, and you can read it here: (Website).

• As Catholics, we are obligated to care for the earth, our home. Pope Francis wrote an important encyclical about this obligation. Read Laudato Si' here: (Website).

• Pope Francis recently penned the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, in which he summons us all to a new form of political engagement with our faith. Read it here: (Website)

• How does our faith affect our political participation? Read the US Catholic Bishops' guide to faithful citizenship: (Website).

• There's lots more to read. Check out the USCCB website for other important church documents and resources.

Weekly Meditation: Think About Politics.

The powers of sin and death from which Jesus comes to save us are not limited to individuals. Sin and death exert an influence on families, on neighborhoods and cities, and on national and global levels. Not without good reason did St. Paul write, “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.”

• Take a minute and think about the political and social problems that keep people from flourishing. What conflicts in the world trouble you most?

Jesus was not a Republican or a Democrat. He provided us with no clear political framework, and his engagement in the political and social conflicts of the day often raises for us more questions than answers. However, from its inception, the Church could not help but involve itself in society, from early Christians forgiving those who owed them a debt of money, to the medieval building of hospitals for the poor, to the contemporary efforts of agencies like Catholic Relief Services to provide the most vulnerable with access to basic health care.

• Take another minute and consider how the Church is called to respond to the political and social problems that you envisioned above. Are there specific groups or ministries designed to face these conflicts? How might you find out?

“No religion or politics at the dinner table!” often goes the rule. We’re not always very skillful at discussing our political differences with other people, especially in today’s climate of constant media consumption and political theater. And yet the Catholic Church insists that all Christians must do their part to work for justice, even in the smallest ways.

• Where does your daily life and labor intersect with the Church’s struggle for a just world? Are there small (or big!) ways in which you can stand with the poor and the vulnerable among us? Take a final minute to ask the Lord to reveal any such opportunities in your life.