MAN, CHURCH, SOCIETY
SOCIO-CULTURAL-THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Introduction
This module will lead you to know the process see, judge, act method
of social analysis. It is an Interdisciplinary method to move Theory into
Practice. This social analysis method was initially promoted by a
Belgian Catholic priest named Fr. Joseph Cardijn. Before World War
II, Fr Cardijn, made a Cardinal later in his life, inspired many faith-
based action groups such as the Young Christian Workers, Young
Christian Students, and the Christian Family Movement. This
approach was also recommended in the 1961 encyclical letter by Pope
John XXIII entitled, (The Church) Mother and Teacher. It is also a
method that is very influential in the African theological circle.
Moreover, we will also discuss in this module the Principles of Social
Teaching used by the Catholic Church. This Social teaching of the
Church is a branch of moral theology that addresses contemporary
issues within the social structures of society: political, economic, and
cultural. It recommends a set of principles on which to form one's
conscience to evaluate the framework of society and as the criteria for
prudent judgment in decision making. It offers a structural way of
reflecting and discerning, rooted in the Gospel and natural law which
can be used for daily response of our faith.
Method of Analysis
See, judge, act method is a movement from engagement and
solidarity, then to reflection and understanding, and finally to
cooperative involvement and action. This will give you a strong basis
from which you can take ideas generated by discussions, such as the
one we are having in this module, and effectively employ them.
See – Principle of Reflection
• Involves the process of seeing, hearing, experiencing and
reflection on the lived reality of individuals and communities.
• Carefully and intentionally examines the primary data from the
situation.
• Asks questions like: "What are the people in this situation doing,
feeling, and saying?" or "What is happening to them and how do
they respond?"
Judge – Criteria for Judgment
A. Social Analysis – Obtaining a more complete picture of the
social situation by exploring its historical and structural
relationships. In this step, we attempt to make sense of the reality
that was observed in Step 1. Why are things this way? What are
the root causes?
B. Theological Reflection – Analyzing the experience in the light of
scripture and the Catholic social tradition. How do biblical values
and the principles of Catholic social teaching help us to see this
reality in a different way? How do they serve as a measuring stick
for this experience?
Act – Direction for Action
• Planning and carrying out actions aimed at transforming the
social structures that contribute to suffering and injustice.
• Ask questions: Do you have enough information and analysis to
act? If not, what additional research is needed? How can you act
to support the empowerment of those who are poor or
disadvantaged?
Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
Ten Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
1. The Principle of Respect for Human Dignity
• Human dignity emerges neither from what people
accomplish or own, but because we are created in the image
and likeness of God. Consequently, every person is worthy
of respect simply by virtue of being a human being. People
do not lose the right to being treated with respect because of
disability, poverty, age, lack of success, or race, let alone
gain the right to be treated with greater respect because of
what they own or accomplish.
2. The Principle of Respect for Human Life
• An implication of the first principle is that every person, from
the moment of conception to natural death has inherent
dignity and a right to a life consistent with the dignity that is
ours as human beings. The Catholic tradition sees the
sacredness of human life as part of any moral vision for a
just and good society.
3. The Principle of Association
• The human person is not only sacred but also social. We
cannot consider a person simply as an isolated individual but
as part of a rich tapestry of relationships. When making
decisions that impact the lives of others, we must consider
how it impacts that person’s connections with family, friends,
and the wider community.
4. The Principle of Participation
• People have a right to shape their own lives and the society
in which they live. They should participate in decision
processes that impact their lives and cannot be considered
passive recipients of other people’s decisions. We each have
a responsibility to be shapers of the kind of world in which
we wish to live.
5. The Principle of Preferential Option for the Poor and
Vulnerable
• In a world where we see deepening divisions between rich
and poor, the powerful and the powerless, the Catholic
tradition reminds us that God stands firmly on the side of the
most marginalized members of society. While every person’s
needs are important, we must consider first and foremost
how the lives of the most vulnerable people are impacted or
enhanced by the decisions we make.
BLOCK 2 | 2ND YEAR – 1ST SEMESTER (A.Y. 2021 – 2022)
6. The Principle of Solidarity
• We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Learning to
practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that ‘loving
our neighbor’ is not, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “a
feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the
misfortunes of so many people. On the contrary, it is a firm
and persevering determination to commit oneself to the
common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each
individual, because we are all really responsible for all.”
7. The Principle of Stewardship
• We show respect for the Creator by our stewardship of
creation. We have a responsibility to care for the world’s
goods as stewards and trustees, not primarily, let alone
merely, as consumers. As people working toward making
these principles a reality, good stewardship also means
making careful and responsible decisions with the resources
entrusted to us.
8. The Principle of Subsidiarity
• The word subsidiarity comes from the Latin
word subsidium which means help, aid or support. The
principle of subsidiarity means clearly determining the right
amount of help or support that is needed to accomplish a
task or to meet an obligation: “not too much” (taking over and
doing it for the other: thereby creating learned helplessness
or overdependence) and “not too little” (standing back and
watching people thrash about, thereby increasing frustration
and perhaps hopelessness). The principle might be better
summarized as ‘no bigger than necessary, no smaller than
appropriate’.
9. The Principle of Human Equality
• Given that every human being is entitled to respect and
dignity merely because she/he has been created in the
image and likeness of God, it follows that there is radical
equality among all human beings. After all, as George Cladis
points out: “competition is alien within God.” This principle
lies close to the surface in every Australian. We talk of it in
terms of giving people a fair go.
10. The Principle of Common Good
• A community is genuinely healthy when every single person
is flourishing. This is not the utilitarian formula of the greatest
good for the greatest number, but the moral formula of the
greatest good for all, simply on the basis that they are human
beings and therefore inherently worthy of respect.

BLOCK 2 | 2ND YEAR – 1ST SEMESTER (A.Y. 2021 – 2022)