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Catholic Social Teaching

Laudato Si (Praise Be)
June 18, 2015 Social Encyclicals, Catholic Social Teaching

In Laudato Si, a letter addressed to all the people of the world, Pope Francis presents a clear and compelling case for placing people at the center of a renewed commitment to caring for the planet.

“We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.  Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”  [139]

Caritas in Varitate (Charity in Truth)
November 1, 2012 Social Encyclicals, Catholic Social Teaching

Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22).

The Right to Life and the Dignity of the Human Person
November 30, 2011 Themes, Catholic Social Teaching

Is the death of a preborn human in the womb really a private matter? Who is not horrified by the evil of genocide? How can a terrorist bombing of a marketplace ever be justified?

"We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill," says Living the Gospel of Life "or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem."

The Call to Family, Community and Participation
November 29, 2011 Themes, Catholic Social Teaching

“The person is not only sacred,” say the US Bishops, “but also social.  How we organize our society – in economics and politics, in law and policy – directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community."

This organization of society moves from the basic unit, the family, to the larger community while ensuring that everyone participates.  The emphasis on the larger social group counterbalances unregulated individual rights, that left unconstrained, can turn toward anarchy.

A Vincentian Looks at Charity in Truth
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections
by Richard Benson, Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians)

Pope Benedict XVI latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, provides a timely challenge to a contemporary world in which the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" continues to grow, where materialism and individualism are sought after in place of authentic human fulfillment and where the "consumer" and short term "profit" have become the benchmarks of too many capitalists and too many capitalist enterprises.

A Jesuit Looks at Charity in Truth
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections

In Robert Bolt's play, A Man for All Seasons, the aging Cardinal Wolsey admonishes Sir Thomas More: "You're a constant regret to me, Thomas. If you could just see the facts flat on, without that horrible moral squint; with just a little common sense, you could have been a statesman."(1) Wolsey's heirs are quick to upbraid our latter-day Mores for their sentimental "moral squint" at public policy. Yet even statesmen of Wolsey’s stripe seldom see the facts “flat on.”  Invariably, our perceptions betray our moral squints, the common sense with which we see the world.

Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections

Encyclical Letter On the Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth

1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22).

Quotes from Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections

"If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just toward them." (6)

"A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized." (15)

Caritas in Varitate (Charity in Truth)
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections

Encyclical Letter On the Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth

1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a forc

Quotes from Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
November 22, 2011 Catholic Social Teaching, CST Reflections

"If we love others with charity, then first of all we are just toward them." (6)

"A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized." (15)

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