Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

(Principles, Prophecy, and a Pastoral Response USCCB)

Life and Dignity of the Human Person:

            The human person is central, the clearest reflection of God among us. Each person possesses a basic dignity that comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment, not from race or gender, age or economic status. The test of every institution or policy is whether it enhances or threatens human life and human dignity.

Call to Family, Community, and Participation:

            The human person is not only sacred, but social. We realize our dignity and rights in relationship with others, in community...The family has major contributions to make in addressing questions of social justice...We also have the right and responsibility to participate in and contribute to the broader community in society. A central test of political, legal, and economic institutions is what they do to people, what they do for people, and how people participate in them.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Human Person:

            People have a fundamental right to life and to those things that make life truly human: food, clothing, housing, health care, education, security, social services, and employment. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society, to respect the rights of others and to work for the common good.

Option For and With the Poor and Vulnerable:

            Poor and vulnerable people have a special place in Catholic social teaching. A basic moral test of a society is how its most vulnerable members are faring. It is the lesson of the parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25). Our tradition calls us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first. We are called to respond to the needs of all our sisters and brothers, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response.

Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers:

            Work is an expression of our dignity and a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. People have the right to decent and productive work, to decent and fair wages, to private property and economic initiative. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around.

Solidarity:

            We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Our responsibilities to one another cross national and other boundaries. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. We are called to promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.

Care for God’s Creation:

            We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. The environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.

Catholic Social Teaching

(A Century of Social Teaching, USCCB)

What is it?

The story of the Church’s social mission is both old and new, both a tradition to be shared and a challenge to be fulfilled. The Church’s social ministry is:

Founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor...liberty to captives...recovery of sight to the blind”…(Lk 4:18-19)and who identified himself in the parable of the Last Judgment with the hungry, the homeless, the stranger, “the least of these.” (Mt 25:45)

Inspired by the passion for justice of the Hebrew prophets and the scriptural call to care for the weak and to “let justice surge like water.” (Am 5:24)

Shaped by the social teaching of our Church, papal encyclicals, counciliar documents, and Episcopal statements that have explored, expressed and affirmed the social demands of our faith, insisting that work for justice and peace and care for the poor and vulnerable are the responsibility of every Christian

Lived by the People of God, who seek to build up the Kingdom of God, to live our faith in the world locally and globally.

The Continuing Challenge:

Individual and institutional acts of charity are requirements of the Gospel. They are essential but not sufficient.

These acts of charity must be accompanied  by concrete efforts to address the causes of human suffering and injustice.

Advocacy and action to carry out our Catholic principles strengthens our Church and enriches our society.

We are called to transform our hearts and our social structures, to renew the face of the earth.