Question about Catholic Social Doctrine

  • Thread starter Thread starter JayCL
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JayCL

Guest
Hi, relatively new Catholic here!

What are the teachings of Catholic Social Doctrine? As a new-comer, if EWTN is to be believed, it feels like the only Social Doctrine we care about is abortion, not allowing same-sex marriage, and how supposedly persecuted Christians and Catholics are in the USA. I feel like I very seldom hear conversations in Catholic media about caring for the poor, the children in cages along our southern border (legal or not, the treatment is not humane), or any other social issue. Are abortion and same-sex marriage the only social issues that our Church concerns itself with in the USA? I know in my heart there must be more. And if there is, why do we never talk about it in Catholic media?
 
As you can imagine, since there are many facets to society, so is the Church’s social doctrine multi-faceted and quite developed (the natural law and law of Christ should permeate every aspect of individual and social life).

Abortion is a high priority issue because by its very nature it excludes a whole class of persons (numbering in the millions) from the goods of society, including the most basic protections against life being taken. Since no other social goods are possible if you are killed in the womb, it only makes sense that this is a high priority.

But it is by no means an exclusive priority. The Church has addressed and works for good in all the areas you mentioned.

The Compendium on the Church’s Social Doctrine, put out by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is a helpful guide. Even it is pretty big (again, because there are so many facets of society).

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/p...peace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html

Some resources from the US bishops:
https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-t...hing/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching
 
Last edited:
Thanks. I’m not trying to downplay the importance of our anti-abortion stance, but again, it seems like all EWTN does is go on and on ad nauseam about abortion while not so much as mentioning so many other social issues that we as Catholics should be concerning ourselves with. Like world hunger which also affects millions of people. If people can’t eat, they don’t live, you know? It just feels like most Catholic media is, if you’ll forgive the expression, a “one-trick pony”.
 
And i will definitely look into these resources you shared. I appreciate your reply and your help!
 
Oh, I know priests do, I just wonder again why Catholic media never feels that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the immigrant, etc are worthy of 1/4 of the airtime put into being anti-abortion and anti-LGBT marriage. But I am very proud to be a Catholic. ❤️
 
Yeah, I guess my main/only(?) source of Catholic media is EWTN radio.
 
JayCL said:
Oh, I know priests do, I just wonder again why Catholic media
Click to expand...
I mean, it really just depends on where you’re going for your Catholic media. Crux and the now-more-left-leaning First Things are both good. And there are young Catholic writers who constantly emphasize the issues you’re talking about. One of my favorites is Elizabeth Bruenig (religion opinion writer for the NYT, formerly of the Washington Post). Read her stuff and watch her on YouTube. She’s all about the issues you’re raising, and she’s not alone. Gotta get beyond EWTN (which is also good, just doesn’t have a monopoly on the Catholic thing).
 
JayCL said:
I just wonder again why Catholic media never feels that feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the immigrant, etc are worthy of 1/4 of the airtime put into being anti-abortion and anti-LGBT marriage.
Click to expand...
Probably because most people don’t object to any of those things, but they are okay with abortion and same-sex marriage. When the majority of the world believes in such horribly wrong things, we should be especially vocal in upholding the truth that they’re not moral.
 
But are most of the people listening to EWTN thinking that abortion is okay? It seems more like preaching to the choir. Jesus commanded us to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, etc. That’s not to downplay the seriousness of the issue of abortion, but maybe we could focus equal amounts of energy on the things Jesus explicity did tell us to do that many Christians and Catholics can’t be bothered ot even give thought to AND to the issue of abortion. Just my thoughts.
 
JayCL said:
But are most of the people listening to EWTN thinking that abortion is okay? It seems more like preaching to the choir. Jesus commanded us to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, etc. That’s not to downplay the seriousness of the issue of abortion, but maybe we could focus equal amounts of energy on the things Jesus explicity did tell us to do that many Christians and Catholics can’t be bothered ot even give thought to AND to the issue of abortion. Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...
I could argue that emphasizing the corporeal works of mercy is preaching to the choir, and that Jesus and His disciples were persecuted for speaking unpopular truths. Either way, EWTN though isn’t just for practicing Catholics; they’re interested in evangelization too (I think EWTN radio hosts Catholic Answers at least occasionally, as an example). It is a sad truth that there are more than a few Catholics whose stance on abortion matches that of Joe Biden than the Church. The Catholic Church is also the largest charitable organization on the planet with its numerous charities and Orders dedicated to serving the poor.

Feeding the hungry is good, but the chief mission of the Church is the salvation of souls. And right now the world is upholding a diabolical intrinsic evil as good and a “right”. Their relationship with God is starving.
 
So the words Jesus spoke should take a back-seat to hammering home the abortion issue? You don’t see this as even a little one-sided? How about both are important and it’s not just “the Church” (as an entity)'s job to feed the poor, etc, but rather every Catholic who helps comprise the Church’s job to do these things. I think it’s a pretty bold statement to say that anything supersedes anything that Jesus overtly commanded.
 
I’m guessing because maybe there’s an election coming up with one party who promotes abortion and another one who doesn’t. To note, being pro-life isn’t just being pro-birth. It means respecting the dignity of life from conception to natural death. Eating would be included in there. I’m not sure what shows you’re watching on EWTN but they do discuss other things. Check out the older Mother Angelica shows.
 
Fauken said:
It is a sad truth that there are more than a few Catholics whose stance on abortion matches that of Joe Biden than the Church. The Catholic Church is also the largest charitable organization on the planet with its numerous charities and Orders dedicated to serving the poor.
Click to expand...
It’s also a sad truth that more than a few Catholics only identify with those charitable organizations only in lip service and reject the Church’s concrete efforts to get justice for the poor and show mercy to prisoners etc.
 
Last edited:
JayCL said:
So the words Jesus spoke should take a back-seat to hammering home the abortion issue? You don’t see this as even a little one-sided? How about both are important and it’s not just “the Church” (as an entity)'s job to feed the poor, etc, but rather every Catholic who helps comprise the Church’s job to do these things.
Click to expand...
You asked why the Church seems to focus more on abortion than feeding the hungry, etc. Jesus asked us to feed the hungry, but He also asked us to go and sin no more. Outside the Church there is no salvation; only the Church has been tasked by God to shepherd His people. While we cannot ignore the needs of the poor, we cannot abide by abortion and the idea that the very weakest and poorest amongst us is not even a human being.
JayCL said:
I think it’s a pretty bold statement to say that anything supersedes anything that Jesus overtly commanded.
Click to expand...
Please do not put words in my mouth.
 
If you’re relatively new to the faith, it’s better for you to learn about Church social teachings from the Pope’s and bishop’s publications rather than from Catholic media like EWTN or Relevant Radio. Those outlets are not designed to cover the broad spectrum of every social issue that the Church concerns itself with. They focus on a small handful of issues that are most of interest to their viewing and listening audience.

I see genesis315 already posted to you the link to the USCCB social teaching document, which is where I was going to suggest you start.

Many of the social teachings like helping the poor and hungry don’t get discussed a lot because they’re not really controversial, a lot of Catholics already help, and consequently no need to really talk about them unless it’s a fundraising day.
 
Last edited:
JayCL said:
How about both are important and it’s not just “the Church” (as an entity)'s job to feed the poor, etc, but rather every Catholic who helps comprise the Church’s job to do these things. I think it’s a pretty bold statement to say that anything supersedes anything that Jesus overtly commanded.
Click to expand...
This is really uncalled for. What makes you think Catholics in general don’t do anything to feed the poor?
Catholics don’t tend to announce when they’re doing charity.
Fauken is a respected member of this forum and doesn’t go around saying that stuff “supersedes” Jesus’ commands. That’s insulting.
 
A couple of points on why issues like abortion, sexuality, and religious freedom are discussed fairly often, or at least that it seems like it. As other people on this thread have already said, issues like caring for the poor, prisoners, homeless, etc., are non-controversial and already acted upon in a huge way by the Church. We don’t need to convince people that caring for the poor is the right thing to do because it is largely accepted by society and the Church, unlike an issue such as abortion.

When it comes to something like abortion or same-sex marriage, the Church has to fight to even convince people that these actions are morally wrong, let alone work to legally end these practices. Saying that the Church talks about abortion or same-sex marriage too much is like saying that people in the United States were talking too much about slavery in 1860, or talking too much about civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s. These are the issues of our time, just like slavery was in the mid 1800s and discrimination and segregation were in the decades after WWII.

On the topic of abortion specifically, one of the criticisms from people outside and inside the Church from certain segments is that the Church focuses on abortion to the detriment of other issues like caring for the poor, immigration, etc. This is a false argument when the evidence is examined. Yes, groups like the USCCB may prioritize abortion as the primary social justice issue, but they are concerned more with things at a higher, national, or international level where larger and longer-term policy issues are the focus. At the local parish level, abortion is almost never the preeminent concern. Take a look at any random parish bulletin, and you’ll probably find dozens of opportunities to donate food, volunteer at a homeless shelter, take communion to the sick, etc. The parish probably has one pro-life ministry that works on abortion at the local level, if it even has one. Also, most priests won’t be talking about abortion during homilies; at most parishes you could maybe go for months or longer without hearing about it during mass. There will be parishes that are anomalies, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

And from a practical standpoint, unlike something like same-sex marriage, where the societal fight has largely been lost by the Church, when it comes to abortion there is evidence that many younger people are pro-life and that the Church has a real chance of gaining ground when it comes to the number of people who agree with its beliefs concerning abortion. Especially with the Supreme Court soon to have another pro-life justice confirmed (although I don’t believe we’re as close to having Roe v. Wade overturned as others might) now is not the time to let up in the fight against abortion when the cause has so much momentum.
 
I do hear about all the world needs, and certainly about hunger as you mentioned. I learn of all these needs through the church envelopes that are provided. Not only that, many of us have favorite charities that are local and in other countries as well, where hunger is addressed. We get reminders and information about what is going on and how things are progressing via pictures that we see.
 
Your answer seems plausible enough, but I’ve been listening to EWTN for about 4 years now and it seems pretty consistent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top