Is anyone else irked by the phrase "social justice"?

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Tony the mad #117
I will not engage in a Papal quote war since there are Popes on both sides of this issue; more precisely they lean more toward one side or the other rather than being on a particular side. It should not be surprising that a Pope who grew up in a totalitarian state that actively persecuted the Church should lean more toward your point of view.
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It is vital to know that the Popes do not “lean toward” my or any other’s “point of view”, but that they offer principles for reflection. This is so important that we need to go back to Pope Leo XIII.

Popes have warned explicitly against thinking that they have unique insights into specific matters of economic policy.

“If I were to pronounce on any single matter of a prevailing economic problem, I should be interfering with the freedom of men to work out their own affairs. Certain cases must be solved in the domain of facts, case by case as they occur…[M]en must realise in deeds those things, the principles of which have been placed beyond dispute…[T]hese things one must leave to the solution of time and experience.” [Pope Leo XIII. Quoted in *The Church And The Market, Dr Thomas E. Woods, Lexington Books, 2005, p 4].

Pius XI wrote of “matters of technique for which [the Church] is neither suitably equipped nor endowed by office.” Quadragesimo Anno, 41]….“economics and moral science employs each its own principles in its own sphere.” [QA, 42]. The Pope went on to deny that “the economic and moral orders are so distinct from and alien to each other that the former depends in no way on the latter.” [QA, 42]. Woods states: “As A.M.C. Waterman points out, this concession by Pius XI ‘throws doubt on the authoritative character of that very substantial part of Catholic (or at least papal) social teaching which consists not of theological and ethical pronouncements, but of empirical judgments about the economy.’ ” [Woods, p 5].

“It goes without saying that part of the responsibility of Pastors is to give careful consideration to current events in order to discern the new requirements of evangelization. However, such an analysis is not meant to pass definitive judgments since this does not fall per se within the Magisterium’s specific domain.” [John Paul II, *Centesimus Annus, 3. Italics added].

Further, John Paul II adds: “The Church has no models to present; models that are real and truly effective can only arise within the framework of different historical situations, through the efforts of all those who responsibly confront concrete problems in all their social, economic, political and cultural aspects, as these interact with one other. For such a task the Church offers Her social teaching as an indispensable and ideal orientation, a teaching which, as already mentioned, recognizes the positive value of the market and of enterprise, but which at the same time points out that these need to be oriented towards the common good.….” [CA, 43. Italics in original].

Thus, “The Church’s social teaching proposes principles for reflection; it provides criteria for judgment; it gives guidelines for action:…” [CCC 2423].
 
Hi, You are RIGHT, ABU, Schall and Kaczor both call for cooperation
between Church and Gov’t in helping the poor. I propose that the Church
HELP the gov’t by providing an ALTERNATIVE to welfare, thru existing
societies, like St. Vincent De Paul(Greatly expanded) to help, first of all
the poor OF THE FLOCK. As I said in my last post, the potential for giving
IS THERE.
As for the “Utopian ideal”, shouldn’t the Church be EVOLVING towards that?
Like it says in 2 Pet 1, we as individuals should be constantly improving, should
we not expect THE CHURCH to be improving?
I restate what I have said before, the Church should WAKE UP(Rev 3:1-6) and
take up her rightful responsibility to look after the poor. As Dr Jeff Mirus says
in the article at Catholicculture.org(recommended to me by a seminarian)
called “The New Evangelization, What Does It Look Like?”, the most
effective way to win the “culture war” is not from the TOP DOWN, but at the
grassroots. So When we help the poor, One person/family at a time, AND
preaching the Gospel to them, we WILL improve society!
I can foresee what you will say: “You’re on welfare yourself, people in glass
houses shouldn’t throw stones!” But, I KNOW that I am not doing right, the
CHURCH should be there for me! What I’m asking is NOT a drastic change
in the way the Gov’t runs things, but a change in what the Church sees as
her ROLE in society!
Time for mourning, Prayer and acknowledging our sins, Church!
 
GLam8833 #121
What I’m asking is NOT a drastic change in the way the Gov’t runs things, but a change in what the Church sees as her ROLE in society!
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The Catholic Church was founded by Christ essentially to teach, sanctify (lead to holiness) and rule in His Name, and our mission is obedience to His Will, rather than for the elimination of poverty, or any other “role” as an objective.

No one can seek legitimately to change what Christ has mandated.

As Samuel Gregg in *Pope Francis and Poverty *(November 26, 2013) points out:
‘Many poverty-alleviation methods that involve redistribution (such as foreign aid) are increasingly discredited. As the economist and historian of the Federal Reserve Allan Meltzer put it, one of the 20th century’s economic lessons is that “transfers, grants and redistribution did little to raise living standards in Asia, Latin America and Africa.” In other words, the standard wealth-redistribution policies that are often regarded as indispensable to poverty alleviation have failed to achieve their goals. Hence it behooves all Catholics to ask ourselves why such approaches have failed if we’re going to have a serious conversation about wealth and poverty in the modern world.’
m.nationalreview.com/corner/365004/pope-francis-and-poverty-samuel-gregg
 
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