Catholic Social Teaching

[MariaTS]

Usually these rights are stated in general terms; it then belongs to the interpreter to explain them more precisely. The main fundamental rights are as follows (MM 11-27; UN–Address of John Paul II to the 36th General Assembly of the United Nations, Oct. 2. 1979):

1. the right to life, liberty, and security of person;

1. the right to physical and moral integrity;

1. the right to sufficient and necessary means to live in a becoming manner (food, clothing, housing, rest, health care, social services);

1. the right to security in case of sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, unemployment, and any involuntary loss of the means of subsistence;

1. the right to due respect for one’s person and good name;

1. the right to religious freedom and to freedom of conscience-and of thought:

1. the right to declare and defend one’s own ideas (freedom of expression); the right to culture and access to objective information about public events;

1. the right to education and, in relation to it, freedom to teach;

1. the right to free choice of a state in life and the right to establish a family (marriage);

1. the right to work, to free choice of a position or profession, and to a just wage;

1. the right to private property, including ownership of the means of production (MM 96);

1. the right of assembly and of association;

1. the right to form unions and to strike (MM 14);

1. the right to choose one’s residence, to travel, and to emigrate;

1. the right to participate actively in public life;

1. the right to personal participation in attaining the common good;

1. the right to the legal protection of one’s rights;

1. the right to citizenship.

Source: columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/social.html

These are, perhaps, the most important values and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.

 

[GratefulFred]

With RIGHTS come also RESPONSIBILITIES.

Each of us is expected to make our best efforts to provide for ourselves without being hindered by the denial of rights.

Also a sense of degree is at play. We do have a right to an education and a job, for example, but not all of us can get a Harvard education free of cost or the salary of a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Thus not all of us can get a ten acre estate and a 4,000 square foot home and a Lexus.

We DO have that opportunity, but the quality of our life greatly depends on our personal efforts.

 

[Dale_M]

These are, perhaps, the most important values and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.

Maria, they certainly are important values in the Catholic faith. If I might quibble with you, perhaps I wouldn’t use the adjective “most”, since the most important beliefs in the Church have to do with Christ: that he is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity,Savior of mankind, founder of the Catholic Church etc.

But that is just a quibble. The rights outlined by Pope John Paul II are guides to just action in the world.

With RIGHTS come also RESPONSIBILITIES.

Absolutely. Although, I don’t think Pope John Paul II, or Maria, suggested otherwise.

We DO have that opportunity, but the quality of our life greatly depends on our personal efforts.

Yes, in the US and other Western democracies this is true. However, it isn’t true in many countries of the world. Remember, the Pope was addressing the UN General Assembly, which means pretty much every country was being spoken to.

 

[markbrumbaugh]

1. the right to sufficient and necessary means to live in a becoming manner (food, clothing, housing, rest, health care, social services);

To me…this means everyone should have the right to work for a living and provide for themselves. Not a right to have the government steal things from those who have accumulated private property, and give stuff to those who for whatever reason (luck, laziness, or misfortune), have fewer of these things.

I should also have the right to be charitable according to my concience, not that of the government (as if a bureaucracy has a concience).

BUT…nice try.

 

[Lancer]

1. Excellent brief/synopsis on the Catholic Church’s Social Doctrine…top-notch link:
   THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH…

by…Dr.Javier Hervada …who appears to be a “long-ball” hitter on Catholic Doctrine…his credentials are impeccable…
Javier Hervada holds a chair in Canon Law and the title of Professor of the Philosophy of Law and of Natural Law in the University of Navarre (Pamplona, Spain).
2. I would “second” another comment…be careful/do not label the excerpt you selected as…

These are, perhaps, the most important values and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.

…I believe I understand what you mean…is also not fair to Dr. Hervada…here is what he actually said:

The** Church’s social doctrine is an integral part** of the Christian conception of life (MM 222); it is founded upon revelation and the natural law (RN 12; QA 11, 17; MM 219). … … Since it applies Christian truth and morality to various historical situations in the secular world, the social doctrine commands the assent of the faithful as much as any other pronouncements of the Magisterium.

Still, in order to interpret and apply that doctrine correctly, it is necessary to know the actual historical situation which a given document is evaluating. Its conclusions cannot be applied indiscriminately to different historical situations. Similar situations and facts warrant corresponding evaluations; somewhat different situations require appropriate modifications, even if they are described in the same terms.

In other words Dr. Hervada’s list of JP-II principles (that you listed)…is top-notch…but it can’t be applied indiscriminately…and can’t be the “most” important…!

1. The part of Dr. Hervada’s work that I feel is very important…especially as the USA slides into the “Federal Government” has to be our “Big Daddy”…:

1. THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY. As we have just seen, the common good is a task for public and private sectors of society, each function- ing according to its nature. Some things fall within the competence of the public organization (the government) of the political community-as, for example, making laws, administering justice, and providing for the common defense. Other matters belong to private individuals; for example, whatever pertains to the family.…
   … Here the principle of the primacy of private initiative is to be strictly applied. In substance, this principle states that such activities belong in the first place to the individual person since they constitute part of his natural end. Consequently, they are the means **by which a person perfects himself and cooperates in the perfecting of others. **

The political community is ordained to the perfecting of persons; hence the public organization must not deprive persons of the means for their perfection and personal fulfillment. Far from restricting it, the government must assist them and empower them to act. The mission, of the state is to encourage, to assist, and when necessary to supplement the initiatives of its citizens. **The social doctrine of the Church calls this the principle of subsidiarity **(QA 80).

The most well-known formulation of this principle was given by Pius XI: “That most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy: Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For **every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the social body, and never destroy or absorb them” (QA 79). **

Three other principles can be discerned within the principle of subsidiarity:** First, persons and small communities must enjoy the autonomy necessary to attain the ends and to carry out the activities within their own competence. Second**, larger communities must aid the initiatives of those who come under their authority, neither stifling nor absorbing them. Third, the larger society must supply the deficiencies of persons and smaller communities when they are unable by themselves to promote the common good, and for so long as the deficiency should last.
Two conditions must be met for this principle to be applied correctly: First, the private enterprise must have social significance; that is, it must be carried out with a consciousness of social responsibility.
Second, the state must not act to the detriment of the defenseless (QA 78; MM 11), and it must guarantee and assist private enterprises.

. columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/social.htmlLastly, there is enough in the totality/whole picture of the Church’s Social Doctrine for most of us to examine our conscience and make course corrections to give our necessary/required… “assent of faith”…to all aspects of the Church’s Social Doctrine…I am first in line for this examination of conscience!

Pax Christi