LESSON 1: INTRODUCTORY LESSON ON: The Catholic Social Teachings

Yahweh says: “See the fast that pleases me: breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening
the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke. Fast by sharing your food
with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn
away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a
flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the glory of the Yahweh your rearguard. Then you
will call and Yahweh will answer, you will cry and he will say, I am here. If you remove from your midst
the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your share your food with the hungry
and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.”
- Isaiah 58: 6-10

Worship is an integral part of human life. Through worship we

render God the honor that is his due. But it is very common for us to
separate worship from life. Many preachers have talked about the
topic: To church on Sunday – to hell on Monday! Thus, we read in the
Gospel according to Matthew: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord!
Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will
of my heavenly Father.” (Mt. 7:21) The prophet Isaiah speaks of worship
in terms of fasting. A pious Jew fasted twice a week, on Mondays and
Thursdays. The self-righteous Pharisee in the parable of Jesus clearly
stated: “I fast twice a week.” (Lk. 18:12) True fasting, however, for the
prophet Isaiah is all about justice and charity. The authentic worshipper
must promote justice: “See the fast that pleases me: breaking the
fetters of injustice.” (Is 58:6a) The real devotee must practice charity:
“Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you
see naked and do not turn away from your own kin”. (Is. 58:7)

Generally, Catholic Social Teaching comes in the forms of social encyclicals which were
developed in the late 19th century. It was Pope Leo XIII who issued the first modern social encyclical,
Rerum Novarum, in 1891. The word encyclical comes from the Greek enkyklios which means “circular”
or “general”. Thus, an encyclical is a circular or letter of the Pope to a group of bishops or to all the
 LESSON 1: INTRODUCTORY LESSON ON: The Catholic Social Teachings
bishops of the world on matters of faith and morals. (The word “encyclical” shares etymological
origins with “encyclopedia” which means general knowledge.) The Christian engagement with the
‘world’ and all its aspects, however, has a longer history. It is already found in the Bible—from the
challenging pronouncements of the prophet in Israel; the radical life of Jesus and his first followers
vis-ả-vis the Jewish and Roman powers; to the teaching of the Fathers of the Church and theologians
on the ownership of goods, usury, violence, and others. Thus, Catholic Social Teaching is an evolving
body of prophetic thinking that continues to apply truthful Christian practice in ever-changing
contexts.

MAGISTERIUM: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 87

“The term social doctrine goes back to Pope Pius XI (Pontificate 1922 – 1939) and designates the doctrinal
corpus (or body of teachings) concerning issues relevant to society which, from the Encyclical Letter Rerum
Novarum of Pope Leo XIII, developed in the Church through the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiffs and the Bishops
in communion with them. The Church’s concern for social matters certainly did not begin with that document, for
the Church has never failed to show interest in society. Nonetheless, the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum marks
the beginning of a new path. Grafting itself onto a tradition hundreds of years old, it signals a new beginning and
a singular development of the Church’s teaching in the area of social matters.

“In her continuous attention to men and women living in society, the Church has accumulated a rich
doctrinal heritage. This has its roots in Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels and the apostolic writings, and
takes on shape and body beginning from the Fathers of the Church and the great Doctors of the Middle Ages,
constituting a doctrine in which, even without explicit and direct Magisterial pronouncements, the Church
Nine Principles of Catholic Social Teachings
gradually came to recognize her competence.”

Below are the 9 Principles of the Catholic Social Teachings wherein encyclicals written by
Popes were grounded of.

1. The Principle of Human Dignity

Human dignity is the very foundation of
the social teaching of the Church. This is based on
the Christian anthropology that every human
being us created in the image and likeness of God
(Genesis 1: 26-27). For this reason, human life is
sacred that must be respected, promoted,
developed, and defended from the moment of
conception unit its natural death. This particular
tenet is actually echoed by the Catechism of the
Catholic Church on what the Bible is saying by
https://bit.ly/2VcKZ14 teaching about the dignity of man, “Created in the
image of the One God and equally endowed with
rational souls, all . . . have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of
Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal
dignity” (no. 1934).
 LESSON 1: INTRODUCTORY LESSON ON: The Catholic Social Teachings
Vatican II affirms that every person is the only creature on earth that God has willed
for his own sake (GS 24, par.3). It says further that everyone must be consider every neighbor
without exception as another self, taking into accounts first of all the life and the means
necessary to living it with dignity, so as not to imitate the rich man who had no concern for
the poor man Lazarus (GS 27; Lk 16:19-31). The U.S. Bishop’s Pastoral Letter made a very
profound reflection on the dignity of every human person being the clearest reflection of
God’s presence in the world; all of the Church’s work in pursuit of both justice and peace is
design to protect and promote the dignity of every person (The Challenge of Peace: God’s
Promise and Our Response, no. 15)

2. The Principle of Human Solidarity

Solidarity is a moral and social virtue. https://bit.ly/3eAFpxy
It is not a mere spirit of camaraderie or
team or some vague feeling of compassion
or good will. Rather, it is “firm and
persevering determination to commit
oneself to the common good, i.e., to the
good of all and of each individual because
we are really responsible for all” (SRS, 38).
It includes a love of preference for the poor,
hence, solidarity with the poor. It is a commitment to achieve social justice, development and
peace – and to achieve these by peaceful means and by respecting fundamental human rights.
Solidarity extends to the level of relations between nations.

The new relationships of interdependence between individuals and peoples, which are
de facto forms of solidarity, have to be transformed into relationships tending towards
genuine ethical-social solidarity. This is a moral requirement inherent within all human
relationships. Solidarity is seen therefore under two complementary aspects: that of a social
principle, and that of a moral virtue.
Solidarity must be seen above all in its value as a moral virtue that determines the order
of institutions, on this basis of this principle the “structures of sin” that dominate relationships
between individuals and peoples must be overcome. They must be purified and transformed
into structures of solidarity through the creation or appropriation modification of laws,
market regulations, and juridical system.
The principle of human solidarity leads us also to another level of commitment that
human dignity should be protected and promoted because man by nature is a social being.
This is what Saint John XXIII’s Encyclical letter Mater et Magistra that says that human beings
are the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution. That is necessarily so, for
men are by nature social beings (no. 219).

3. The Principle of Common Good

The common good is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as
groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and easily” (GS, 26). It consist of
three essential elements: (a) it presupposes respect for the fundamental rights of the human
person and the natural freedom necessary for the development of the human vocation; (b) it
requires the social well-being and the development of the group itself, i.e., whatever is
needed to lead a truly human life such as food, clothing, health, work, education, and culture
 LESSON 1: INTRODUCTORY LESSON ON: The Catholic Social Teachings
should be accessible to each one; (c) it requires peace, i.e., the stability and security of a just
order (cf. CCC, 1907-09). These social conditions are obtained through social justice.
Social justice is sometimes called the
justice of the common good. It demands
proportionate share in the fruits of economic
cooperation and equitable distribution of the
wealth of a nation among different social
classes. It also imposes obligations of mutual
relation on different social groups, i.e., the
better to assist the poor so that they can live
in a manner worthy of human beings. Social
justice condemns such situations as
“excessive economic and social disparity
between individuals and peoples” (GS, 29),
the concentration of wealth in the hands of https://bit.ly/3dw4bxj
the few, and excessive profits.

4. The Principle of Human Life

“Human life sacred because from its beginning it
involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a
special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God
alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one
can, under any circumstances, claim for himself the right
directly to destroy an innocent human being.” Since human
https://bit.ly/2Z7Jhzi life must be respected from the moment of conception until
its natural death, “the Church not only feels the urgency to
assert the right to a natural death, without aggressive treatment and euthanasia, but likewise
firmly rejects the death penalty.”
5. The Principle of Association and Participation
The characteristic implication of subsidiarity is participation, which is expressed
essentially in a series of activities by means of which the citizen, either as an individual or an
association with others, whether directly or
through representation, contributes to the
cultural, economic, political and social life of
the civil community to which he belongs.
Participation is a duty to be fulfilled
consciously by all, with responsibility and
with a view of the common good.
This cannot be confined or restricted
to only a certain area of human growth, like
in the area of the world of work and
economic activity, information and culture,
and in the field of political and social life, but
https://bit.ly/2Za7yVI
even in the area of building an international
community.

6. The Principle of Preferential Option for the Poor

 LESSON 1: INTRODUCTORY LESSON ON: The Catholic Social Teachings
“The principle of the universal destination of
goods requires that the poor, the marginalized and
in all cases those whose living conditions interfere
with their proper growth should be the focus of
particular concern. To this end, the preferential
option for the poor should be reaffirmed in all its
forces. This is an option, or a special form of the
primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to
which the whole tradition of the Church bears
https://bit.ly/3hSNwaC witness, it affects the life of each Christian
inasmuch as he or she seeks to imitate the life of Christ, but it applies equally to our social
responsibilities and hence to our manner of living, and to the logical decisions to be made
concerning the ownership and use of good. Today, furthermore, given the worldwide
dimension of which the social dimension has assumed, this love of preference for the poor,
and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the
hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without health care and, above all, those without
hope of a better future.”

7. The Principle of Stewardship

“Created in God’s image, we were commended to
conquer the earth with all it contains, and to role the
earth with justice and holiness; we were to
acknowledge God and creator of all things and relate
ourselves and the totality of creation to Him, so that
through our dominion over all things, the name of
God would be majestic in all the earth.” “The
https://bit.ly/319O0TJ dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an
absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to
“use and misuse”, or to dispose of things as one pleases. The limitation imposed from the
beginning by the Creator himself. . . shows clearly enough that, when it comes to the natural
world, we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated
with impunity.” The right to private property is valid and necessary, but it does not nullify the
value of this principle that the goods of the world are originally meant for all.
The Catechism for Filipino Catholics says are called to exercise responsible stewardship
over all creation (no. 341). Hence, a Christian steward is the one who receives God’s gift
gratefully, cherishes and tends them in responsible and accountable manner, shares them in
justice and love with all, and return them increase to the Lord.

8. The Principle of Subsidiarity

“The principle of subsidiarity protects people from abuses by higher-level social
authority and calls on these same authorities to help
individuals and intermediate groups to fulfill their
duties. The principle is imperative because very
person, family and intermediate group has something
original to offer to the community.” “In order for this
principle to be put into practice there is a
corresponding need for: respect and effective
promotion of the human person and the family; ever https://bit.ly/2Z6ckmS
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appreciation of associations and intermediate organizations in their fundamental choices and
in those that cannot be delegated to or exercised by others; the encouragement of private
initiative so that every social entity remains at the service if the common good. . .”

9. The Principle of Human Equality

Man and woman have the same dignity and are of equal value, not only because they
are both, in their differences, created in the image of God, but even more profoundly because
the dynamic of reciprocity that gives life to the “we” in the human couple is an image of God.1
The dignity of man before God is the basis of equality and brotherhood among all people,
regardless of their races, nation, sex,
origin culture, class. “God shows
partiality” (Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6;
Eph 6:9). The incarnation of the Son of
God shows the equality of all the people
with regard to dignity: “There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free, there is neither male nor female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28;
Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13: Col 3:11).
https://bit.ly/31aLD37