Catholic Social Teaching

Some Roots of Catholic Social Teaching

Basic Human Dignity

• “Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity ….For by his power to know himself in the depths of his being, he rises above the whole universe of mere objects.” (GS, 14)
• “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. His destiny lies in observing this law, and by it he will be judged. His conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary.” (GS, 16)
• “Here then is the norm for human activity—to harmonize with the authentic interests of the human race, in accordance with God’s will and design, and to enable men as individuals and as members of society to pursue and fulfill their total vocation” (GS, 35)
• “Any human society, if it is to be well-ordered and productive, must lay down as a foundation this principle: that every human being is a person; his nature is endowed with intelligence and free will. By virtue of this, he has rights and duties of his own, flowing directly and simultaneously from his very nature, which are therefore universal, inviolable, and inalienable.” (PT, 9)

Sociality and the Common Good

• “There is a certain parallel between the union existing in the divine persons and the union of the sons of God in truth and love. It follows, then, that if man is the only creature on earth that God has wanted for its own sake, man can fully discover his true self only in a sincere giving of himself….The social nature of man shows that there is an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society. Insofar as man by his very nature stands completely in need of life in society, he is and he ought to be the beginning, the subject and the object of every social organization. Life in society is not something accessory to man himself: through his dealings with others, through mutual service, and through fraternal dialogue, man develops his talents and becomes able to rise to his destiny.” (GS, 24-25)
• “As authority is chiefly concerned with moral force, it follows that civil authority must appeal primarily to the conscience of individual citizens, that is, to each one’s duty to collaborate readily for the common good of all….Since the right to command is required by the moral order and has its source in God, it follows that, if civil authorities legislate for or allow anything that is contrary to that order and therefore contrary to the will of God, neither the laws made nor the authorizations granted can be binding on the consciences of the citizens, since we must obey God rather than men.” (PT, 48, 51)

Human Freedom and the Care for Creation

• “If by the autonomy of earthly affairs is meant the gradual discovery, exploitation, and ordering of the law and values of matter and society, then the demand for autonomy is perfectly in order; it is at once the claim of modern man and the desire of the creator….However, if by the term ‘the autonomy of earthly affairs’ is meant that material being does not depend on God and that man can use it as if it had no relation to its creator, then the falsity of such a claim will be obvious to anyone who believes in God. Without a creator there can be no creature.” (GS, 36)
• “Peace on earth, which men of every era have so eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed.” (PT, 1)

Rights, Duties and the Organization of Society

• “In human society, to one man’s right there corresponds a duty in all other persons: the duty, namely, of acknowledging and respecting the right in question. For every fundamental human right draws its indestructible moral force from the natural law, which in granting it imposes a corresponding obligation. Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other.” (PT, 30)
• “Human beings have the right to choose freely the state of life which they prefer, and therefore the right to establish a family, with equal rights and duties for man and woman, and also the right to follow a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. The family, grounded on marriage freely contracted, monogamous and indissoluble, should be regarded as the first and natural cell of human society. To it should be given every consideration of an economic, social, cultural and moral nature which will strengthen its stability and facilitate the fulfillment of its specific mission.” (PT, 15-16)