St. John Mary Vianney Seminary College Inc.

SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of
the Catholic Church

Sem. Aldin G. Matos

Reporter

Very Rev. Fr. Julius L. Montaño

Professor

May 18, 2021

 CHAPTER 12
SOCIAL DOCTRINE AND ECCLESIAL ACTION

PASTORAL ACTION IN THE SOCIAL FIELD

A. Social Doctrine and the Inculturation of Faith

Aware of the power of Christianity to renew even cultural and social realities, the
Church offers the contribution of her teaching to the building up of the human
community by bringing out the social significance of the Gospel. At the end of the
nineteenth century, the Church's Magisterium systematically addressed the pressing
social questions of the time, creating “a lasting paradigm for the Church.
The Church, in fact, has something to say about specific human situations,
individual, and communal, national and international. She formulates a genuine doctrine
for these situations, a corpus which enables her to analyze social realities, to make
judgments about them and to indicate directions to be taken for the just resolution of the
problems involved.
 In her social doctrine the Church offers above all an integral vision of man and a
complete understanding of his personal and social dimensions. Christian anthropology
reveals the inviolable dignity of every person and places the realities of work, economics
and politics into an original perspective that sheds light on authentic human values while
at the same time inspiring and sustaining the task of Christian witness in the varied areas
of personal, cultural and social life.

B. Social Doctrine and Social Pastoral Activity

The Church's social teaching is the indispensable reference point that determines the
nature, modality, articulation and development of pastoral activity in the social field. It is the
expression of the ministry of social evangelization, aimed at enlightening, stimulating and
supporting the integral promotion of the human person through the practice of Christian
liberation in its earthly and transcendent dimension. The Church exists and is at work within
history. She interacts with the society and culture of her time in order to fulfil her mission of
announcing the newness of the Christian message to all people, in the concrete circumstances of
their difficulties, struggles and challenges. She does so in such a way that faith enlightens them
so that they can understand the truth that “true liberation consists in opening oneself to the love
of Christ”. The Church's social pastoral ministry is the living and concrete expression of the full
awareness of her evangelizing mission in the social, economic, cultural and political realities of
the world.
C. Social Doctrine and Formation

The Church's social doctrine is an indispensable reference point for a totally

integrated Christian formation. The insistence of the Magisterium in proposing this
doctrine as a source of inspiration for the apostolate and for social action comes from the
conviction that it constitutes an extraordinary resource for formation.
This is especially true for the lay faithful who have responsibilities in various
fields of social and public life. Above all, it is indispensable that they have a more exact
knowledge...of the Church's social doctrine”. This doctrinal patrimony is neither taught
nor known sufficiently, which is part of the reason for its failure to be suitably reflected
in concrete behavior.

D. Promoting Dialogue

The Church's social doctrine is a privileged instrument of dialogue between

Christian communities and the civil and political community. It is an appropriate tool for
promoting and cultivating attitudes of authentic and productive cooperation in ways
adapted to the circumstances. The commitment of civil and political authorities, called to
serve the personal and social vocation of mankind according to their own areas of
competence and with the means available to them, can find in the social teaching of the
Church an important support and a rich source of inspiration.
The social teaching of the Church is also fertile soil for dialogue and collaboration
in the ecumenical sphere. This is already happening in various places on a broad scale
concerning the defense of the dignity of the human person, the promotion of peace, the
concrete and effective struggle against the miseries of today's world, such as hunger and
poverty, illiteracy, the unequal distribution of the goods of the earth and the lack of
housing. This multifaceted cooperation increases awareness that all are brothers and
sisters in Christ, and makes the journey along the path of ecumenism easier.
In the common tradition of the Old Testament, the Catholic Church is able to
engage in dialogue with her Jewish brothers and sisters, which she does also through her
social doctrine, in order to build together a future of justice and peace for all people, as
sons and daughters of the one God.
This common spiritual heritage fosters mutual knowledge and reciprocal esteem,
on the basis of which broader agreement can be reached concerning the elimination of all
forms of discrimination and the defense of human dignity.
The Church's social doctrine is also characterized by a constant call to dialogue
among all members of the world's religions so that together they will be able to seek the
most appropriate forms of cooperation. Religion has an important role to play in the
pursuit of peace, which depends on a common commitment to the integral development
of the human person.
In the spirit of the meetings for prayer held in Assisi, the Church continues to
invite believers of other religions to dialogue and encourage everywhere effective witness
to those values shared by the entire human family.
 The Subjects of Social Pastoral Activity.
The entire people of God have a role to play as the Church fulfils her mission. In various
ways and through every member according to the gifts and the manner of acting proper to each
vocation, the people of God must respond to the duty to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel
(cf. 1 Cor 9:16), in the awareness that “missionary activity is a matter for all Christians”.
Pastoral work in the social sector is also meant for all Christians, who are called to
become active subjects in bearing witness to this social doctrine and to be fully part of the solid
tradition of the “fruitful activity of many millions of people, who, spurred on by the social
Magisterium, have sought to make that teaching the inspiration for their involvement in the
world”
Acting either as individuals or together with others in various groups, associations and
organizations, Christians of today represent “a great movement for the defense of the human
person and the safeguarding of human dignity”.