Catholic Social Teachings

1.Dignity of the Human Person

Belief in the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all Catholic social teaching. Human life
is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the starting point for a moral vision for society. This principle is
grounded in the idea that the person is made in the image of God. The person is the clearest reflection of God
among us.
2. Common Good and Community
The human person is both sacred and social. We realize our dignity and rights in relationship with others, in
community. Human beings grow and achieve fulfillment in community. Human dignity can only be realized and
protected in the context of relationships with the wider society. 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. The obligation to "love our neighbor" has an individual dimension, but it also requires a broader social
commitment. Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the good of the whole society, to the common good.
3. Option for the Poor
The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent
moral claim on the conscience of the nation. We are called to look at public policy decisions in terms of how they
affect the poor. The "option for the poor," is not an adversarial slogan that pits one group or class against another.
Rather it states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. The option for
the poor is an essential part of society's effort to achieve the common good. A healthy community can be
achieved only if its members give special attention to those with special needs, to those who are poor and on the
margins of society.
4. Rights and Responsibilities
Human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are
protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things
required for human decency starting with food, shelter and clothing, employment, health care, and education.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities -- to one another, to our families, and to the larger
society.
5. Role of Government and Subsidiarity
The state has a positive moral function. It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect human rights,
and build the common good. All people have a right and a responsibility to participate in political institutions so
that government can achieve its proper goals. The principle of subsidiarity holds that the functions of
government should be performed at the lowest level possible, as long as they can be performed adequately.
When the needs in question cannot adequately be met at the lower level, then it is not only necessary, but
imperative that higher levels of government intervene.
6. Economic Justice
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. All workers have a right to productive work, to
decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. They also have a fundamental right to organize and join
unions. People have a right to economic initiative and private property, but these rights have limits. No one is
allowed to amass excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life.
Catholic teaching opposes collectivist and statist economic approaches. But it also rejects the notion that a
free market automatically produces justice. Distributive justice, for example, cannot be achieved by relying entirely
on free market forces. Competition and free markets are useful elements of economic systems. However, markets
must be kept within limits, because there are many needs and goods that cannot be satisfied by the market
system. It is the task of the state and of all society to intervene and ensure that these needs are met.
7. Stewardship of God's Creation
The goods of the earth are gifts from God, and they are intended by God for the benefit of everyone. There
is a "social mortgage" that guides our use of the world's goods, and we have a responsibility to care for these
goods as stewards and trustees, not as mere consumers and users. How we treat the environment is a measure
of our stewardship, a sign of our respect for the Creator.
8. Promotion of Peace and Disarmament
Catholic teaching promotes peace as a positive, action-oriented concept. In the words of Pope John Paul II,
"Peace is not just the absence of war. It involves mutual respect and confidence between peoples and nations. It
involves collaboration and binding agreements. There is a close relationship in Catholic teaching between peace
and justice. Peace is the fruit of justice and is dependent upon right order among human beings.
9. Participation
All people have a right to participate in the economic, political, and cultural life of society. It is a fundamental
demand of justice and a requirement for human dignity that all people be assured a minimum level of participation
in the community. It is wrong for a person or a group to be excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate in
society.
10. Global Solidarity and Development
We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic and ideological
differences. We are called to work globally for justice. Authentic development must be full human development. It
must respect and promote personal, social, economic, and political rights, including the rights of nations and of
peoples It must avoid the extremists of underdevelopment on the one hand, and "superdevelopment" on the
other. Accumulating material goods, and technical resources will be unsatisfactory and debasing if there is no
respect for the moral, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of the person.


Catholic social teaching is central to our faith, and is based on and inseparable from our understanding of
human life and dignity. These teachings are derived from: the Gospels and the words of Christ; papal statements and
encyclicals; and Catholic bishops statements and pastoral letters. Catholic social teaching calls us all to work for the
common good, help build a just society, uphold the dignity of human life and lift up our poor and vulnerable brothers
and sisters.
The following paragraphs describe the seven themes of Catholic social teaching.
1 LIFE AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, every persons life
and dignity must be respected and supported from conception through natural death. We believe
that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the
human person.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that human life is sacred, from conception to natural death.
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Since
every human being has dignity, every human being should have everything necessary for leading a life truly human,
such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to
education, to employment, to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the
upright norm of one's own conscience, to protection of privacy and rightful freedom.
Genesis 1:26-27 (we are created in God's image)
Deuteronomy 30:19 (choose life)
John 12:32 (Christ will draw all to himself)
1 Corinthians 15:22 (Christ died for all)

2 CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION
The human person is not only sacred, but social. How we organize our society
socially, economically, legally and politically directly affects human dignity and
the ability of every human person to grow in community. Marriage and family, the
foundations for social life, should be strengthened and supported. Every person has
a right to participate in society and a corresponding duty to work for the advancement of the
common good and the well-being of all.
Genesis 17:7-8 (God covenants with all people)
Exodus 6:6-8 (God's covenant frees a people)
Mark 1:14-15 (the reign of God, a social image)

3 SOLIDARITY
We are one human family. We are our brothers and sisters keepers, wherever they
may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions. At the core of the virtue of
solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Our love for all of our brothers and
sisters calls us to seek a peaceful and just society where goods are distributed
fairly, opportunity is promoted equally and the dignity of all is respected.
Solidarity helps us see other people and nations as our neighbors. We are one, human
family and we must go beyond our differences. We are called to overcome barriers of race, religion,
gender, nationality, ethnicity, and economic status and work for global peace and justice.
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Solidarity is determination to commit oneself to the common good, because we are all one family
and we are responsible for each other.
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Solidarity prevents rich nations from being indifferent to
the poverty and lack of basic human rights experienced by people living in other nations.
Genesis 22:17-18, Psalm 22:28-29 (save all nations)
Isaiah 2:1-4, Micah 4:1-3 (peace for all nations)
Romans 10:12 (no national distinctions in God)
Galatians 3:28 (all one in Christ)
4 DIGNITY OF WORK
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a
way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in Gods creation. To
uphold the dignity of work, the basic rights of workers must be respected the right
to productive work, to fair and livable wages, and to organize and join a union.
Genesis 2:15 (humans cultivate earth)
Exodus 20:9-11, 23:12, 34:21; Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (Sabbath gave laborers rest)
Leviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:14-15, Sirach 34:22, Jeremiah 22:13, James 5:4 (wage justice)
Matthew 20:1-16 (Jesus uses wage law in parable)
Matthew 10:9-10, Luke 10:7, Timothy 5:17-18 (laborer deserves pay)

5 RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Every person has a fundamental right to life the right that makes all other rights
possible. Each person also has a right to the conditions for living a decent life
food, health care, housing, education and employment. We have a corresponding
duty to secure and respect these rights for others and to fulfill our responsibilities to
our families, to each other and to our larger society
Deuteronomy 5:17, 30:19 (right to life)
Sirach 34:22 (rights of workers)
Psalm 146:5-8 (freedom from oppression)
Isaiah 10:1-2 (against unjust laws)

6 OPTION FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE
Scripture teaches that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable. The
church calls on all of us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first. This
preferential option for the poor and vulnerable should be reflected in both our daily
lives and public policies. A fundamental measure of our society is how we care for
and stand with our poor and vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Exodus 22:20-22, Leviticus 19:33-34, Deuteronomy 24:17-18 (laws protecting aliens,
widows, orphans)
Deuteronomy 14:28-29, 26:12-13 (laws providing for the poor)
Matthew 25:41-46 (judgment of nations)
Luke 4:16-21 (Jesus' mission to the poor and outcast)
Luke 14:12-14 (reach out to the poor and vulnerable)

7 CARE FOR GODS CREATION
The world that God created has been entrusted to all of us. Our stewardship of the
earth is a form of participation in Gods act of creating and sustaining the world. In
our use of creation, we must be guided by a concern for generations to come. We
show our respect for the Creator by our care for creation.

Genesis 1:31 (goodness of creation)
Genesis 2:15 (stewardship of the earth)
Daniel 3:74-81 (all the earth blesses God)
Hosea 4:1-3 (humans wound the earth)
Romans 8:18-25 (all creation awaits redemption)