integration of body and soul where there is a place for

God (Pope Francis: What is Integral Human

Module 1 Development (2017).
God’s eternal plan is to save all his creation and that For these reasons, the Church never kept silent on
despite its people's wickedness, He designed a social issues that degrades primarily the dignity of
grandiose plan of salvation of all mankind. This plan the human person.  She may sound meddling at
finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the Word made times but in promoting and protecting human
flesh, who was sent by the Father and fulfilled the dignity, it is necessary to confront social issues
God’s promise through prophet Isaiah (61:1-2) “The which impede integral development of the person.
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed
me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent OVERVIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CATHOLIC
me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering SOCIAL TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Part 1: Church Mission in Christ: Salvation of the
Lord” (Luke 4:18-19). This messianic description Whole Person
of Jesus’ mission was shared to his chosen apostles
and later handed down to the Church (Compendium of The man christ jesus: gods promise fulfilled handed
the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 20-34) The down to the church his
salvation that Christ’s offers to all people and the
whole person is universal and integral. This includes The salvation is universal & integral
the entire dimension of the human person like
Jesus’ Mission (handed down to the church)
corporeal and spiritual, personal and social, historical
and transcendent aspects of man. (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n.
20-34)
Jesus’ public life showed how He saves the corporal
dimension of man through miracles of healing (eg. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
Luke 14) and provisions of food (Matthew 14).  In the anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He
same manner, Jesus emphasized the importance of a has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
healthy social relationship by loving one’s neighbor recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those
and enemies and most importantly the love of who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of
God (Mark 12). Thus, Christ came to save not only
the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19)
man’s soul but his body and other aspects of his
humanity.  Further,   Jesus’  earthly mission was not Jesus saves through:
only for the “Chosen People of God” but to all
mankind most specially the lost ones (Luke 19).  Miracle of healing (Luke 14)
The salvific mission of Christ is handed down to  Provisions for food (Matthew 14)
the Church that is why she continues to save man’s
soul and at the same time promote the integral  Promotion of healthy social relationship (love
development of the person.  Pope Francis, during the of neighbor) (Mark 12)
fiftieth anniversary of Populorum
Progressio described the multidimensional aspects of  Love of God
human development. Firstly, by virtue of solidarity,
How does the Church do it today?
the Pope highlighted the importance of “integrating 
different peoples of the earth” to avoid the widening  SOLIDARITY with the poor
gap between the rich and the poor or dramatic
inequality between those who have and have not in  SUBSIDIARITY
life. Secondly, by virtue of subsidiarity the Pope called
on for “offering viable models of social integration” so  HOLISTIC HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
that each and every person may have their fair share of
 INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNAL DEV’T
for the development of society where no one is left
behind. Thirdly, he puts forward the “integration in  INTEGRATION OF BODY AND SOUL
development of all those elements of which it is truly
constituted” which includes economic, financial,
labor, culture, family life, and religion. Fourthly, the
Pope added the in the description of integral human
development the process of “integrating individual and
community dimensions”. And finally, “integrating the
body and soul” emphasizing that development is
consist in getting more and more goods  but the
1. LIFE AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN
PERSON
The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is
sacred and that the dignity of the human person is
the foundation of a moral vision for society. This
belief is the foundation of all the principles of our
social teaching. In our society, human life is under
direct attack from abortion and euthanasia. The
value of human life is being threatened by
cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and the use
of the death penalty. Catholic teaching also calls
on us to work to avoid war. Nations must protect
the right to life by finding increasingly effective
ways to prevent conflicts and resolve them by
peaceful means. We believe that every person is
precious, that people are more important than
things, and that the measure of every institution is
whether it threatens or enhances the life and
dignity of the human person.
“The fundamental message of Sacred Scripture
proclaims that the human person is a creature of
God (cf. Ps 139:14-18), and sees in his being in
the image of God the element that characterizes
and distinguishes him: “God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them”. (PONTIFICAL
COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, #108.)
2. CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY, AND
PARTICIPATION
The person is not only sacred but also social. 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. Marriage and the family are the
central social institutions that must be supported
and strengthened, not undermined. We believe
people have a right and a duty to participate in
society, seeking together the common good and
well-being of all, especially the poor and
vulnerable.
The human person is essentially a social being
(#294) because God, who created humanity,
willed it so (295). Human nature, in fact, reveals
itself as a nature of a being who responds to his
own needs. This is based on a relational
subjectivity, that is, in the manner of a free and
responsible being who recognizes the necessity of
integrating himself in cooperation with his fellow
human beings, and who is capable of communion
with them on the level of knowledge and love. “A
society is a group of persons bound together
organically by a principle of unity that goes
beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is
at once visible and spiritual, a society endures
through time: it gathers up the past and prepares
for the future” (Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, #149.).
3. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity
can be protected and a healthy community can be
achieved only if human rights are protected and
responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person
has a fundamental right to life and a right to those
things required for human decency.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and
responsibilities–to one another, to our families,
and to the larger society.
The movement towards the identification and
proclamation of human rights is one of the most
significant attempts to respond effectively to the
inescapable demands of human dignity [302]. The
Church sees in these rights the extraordinary
opportunity that our modern times offer, through
the affirmation of these rights, for more
effectively recognizing human dignity and
universally promoting it as a characteristic
inscribed by God the Creator in his creature [303].
The Church's Magisterium has not failed to note
the positive value of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations on
10 December 1948, which Pope John Paul II
defined as “a true milestone on the path of
humanity's moral progress” (Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church #152.).
4. OPTION FOR THE POOR AND
VULNERABLE
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable
members are faring. In a society marred by
deepening divisions between rich and poor, our
tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment
(Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of
the poor and vulnerable first.
“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” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of
the Church, #182-184).
5. THE DIGNITY OF WORK AND THE
RIGHTS OF WORKERS
The economy must serve people, not the other stoked also by various forms of exploitation,
way around. Work is more than a way to make a oppression and corruption that have a negative
living; it is a form of continuing participation in influence on the internal and international life of
God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be many States (Compendium of the Social Doctrine
protected, then the basic rights of workers must be of the Church, #192.).
respected–the right to productive work, to decent
and fair wages, to the organization and joining of 7. CARE FOR GOD’S CREATION
unions, to private property, and to economic
initiative. We show our respect for the Creator by our
The rights of workers, like all other rights, are stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not
based on the nature of the human person and on just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our
his transcendent dignity. The Church's social faith. We are called to protect people and the
Magisterium has seen fit to list some of these planet, living our faith in relationship with all of
rights, in the hope that they will be recognized in God’s creation. This environmental challenge has
juridical systems: the right to a just wage; [651] fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that
the right to rest; [652] the right “to a working cannot be ignored.
environment and to manufacturing processes For man, “created in God's image, received a
which are not harmful to the workers' physical mandate to subject to himself the earth and all that
health or to their moral integrity”; [653] the right it contains, and to govern the world with justice
that one's personality in the workplace should be and holiness, a mandate to relate himself and the
safeguarded “without suffering any affront to totality of things to him who was to be
one's conscience or personal dignity”; [654] the acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all.
right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary Thus, by the subjection of all things to man, the
for the subsistence of unemployed workers and name of God would be wonderful in all the earth
their families; [655] the right to a pension and to (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the
insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of Church, #456).
work-related accidents; [656] the right to social
security connected with maternity; [657] the right
to assemble and form associations.[658].
(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the
Church, #301).
6. SOLIDARITY
We are one human family whatever our national,
racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological
differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’
keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our
neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking
world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the
pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught
that “if you want peace, work for justice.” The
Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for
all our sisters and brothers demands that we
promote peace in a world surrounded by violence
and conflict.
Part 2
Solidarity highlights in a particular way the
intrinsic social nature of the human person, the THMES OF THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL
equality of all in dignity and rights and the TEACHINGS
common path of individuals and peoples towards 7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
an ever more committed unity…“In the presence
of the phenomenon of interdependence and its 1. Human dignity
constant expansion, however, there persist in The person is sacred, made in the image of God. The
every part of the world stark inequalities between foundational principle of all catholic social teaching is
developed and developing countries, inequalities
the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of
the human person. Human life must be valued
infinitely above material possessions. War, the death
penalty, racism and discrimination must almost always
be opposed.
Call to Family, Community and Participation
“The person is not only sacred but also social. 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.
Marriage and the family are the central social
institutions that must be supported and strengthened,
not undermined. We believe people have a right and a
duty to participate in society, seeking together the
common good and well-being of all, especially the
poor and vulnerable.
Rights and Responsibilities
Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life
and a right to those things required for human decency.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and
responsibilities–to one another, to our families, and to
the larger society - USSCB
Preferential option for the poor.
“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” (Compendium of
the Social Doctrine of the Church).
Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form
of continuing participation in God’s creation -
USSCB
The rights of workers, like all other rights, are based
on the nature of the human person and on his
transcendent dignity Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church #301)

Solidarity highlights in a particular way the intrinsic

social nature of the human person, the equality of all
in dignity and rights and the common path of
individuals and peoples towards an ever more
committed unity

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

#192

For man, “created in God's image, received a mandate

to subject to himself the earth and all that it contains,
and to govern the world with justice and holiness..

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

#456