PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

FACULTY OF THEOLOGY/ DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

A Study on concept of Justice in 4 Social Documents of the Catholic Church

Solicitudo Rei Socialis

Centesimus Annus
Deus Caritas Est
Caritas in Veritate

An Assignment
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master In Theology

FR MERTON D’SILVA
Reg No

DR. AUGUSTINE CHENATTU

Alwaye
March 2024

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Introduction
Here we take up a study on the concept of Social Justice as its development of
thought progresses is the world today and its understanding in the Social documents of
the Church which is explicated in four various timelines.
1. Solicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern)
This encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II, published on the 30 December,
1987, commemorates the 20th anniversary of Populorum Progressio ‘On the
Development of Peoples’ of Pope Paul VI. The purpose of the social encyclical of
Pope John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis is to scrutinise the present unhealthy social
situation in the light of the Gospel and provide guidelines for its transformation.
1.1 Objectives of Solicitudo Rei Socialis
The two objectives are: a. to pay homage to the historic document of Paul VI
and to its teaching, and secondly, to reaffirm the continuity of the social doctrine of
the Church as well as its constant renewal, since such teaching is of perennial value.
(#3) In the Christian vision, development cannot be limited to mere economic growth.
“In order to be authentic, it must be complete: integral, that is, it has to promote the
good of every man and of the whole man”. This encyclical point to speak about Social
Justice, since the present situation of the world demands concerted action based on a
clear vision of all economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspects in this global vision
of man and of the human race.
John Paul II notes that the hopes for development, once so lively, today appear
very far from being realised. In fact, the former optimism has given way to a deep
pessimism. Despite some advance and progress, the overall situation is rather
negative. There is first of all the widening of the gap between the areas of the so-
called developed North and the developing South. The great inequality in the
distribution of foodstuffs, hygiene, health, drinking water and working conditions
persists. Added to this divergence are the differences of culture and value systems,
which do not match the pace of economic development and make the social question
even more complex. We should realise that we are living in one world, but the fact
that we speak of First, Second, Third and even Fourth worlds means that the unity of
the human race is seriously compromised.
The Pope condemns in particular political parties and leaders who usurp the
role of leadership in many countries, permitting no other party to exist, and who also
use corrupt methods to retain their power. This is a subtle form of totalitarianism.
Similarly, it is a sad fact that in many parts of today’s world, human rights to liberty,
free speech, and choice of avocation are ruthlessly suppressed. Indeed modern under-
development is not only economic, he observes, but cultural, political and simply
human as well.

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 There is a close link between respect for justice and the establishment of real
peace. This can only be attained by having a concern for the common good of all
humanity, or by concern for the “spiritual and human development of all “ instead of
by the quest for individual profit, peace would be possible as the result of a “more
perfect justice among people.” (#10)
1.2 Interdependence a notion of Justice among nations
Despite the geo-political fragmentation of the present-day world, — the First, Second,
Third and even Fourth world—their interdependence remains close, notes the Pope.
Indeed in his encyclical, the word “interdependence” assumes a key role in an
understanding of the contemporary social question and acts as a pointer to its solution,
in so far as it forms a kind of economic matrix for the moral argument enshrined in the
word “solidarity”. Interdependence is noticeably a notion of Justice among nations.
Thus it should be obvious that development either becomes shared in common by
every part of the world or it undergoes a process of regression even in zones marked
by constant progress. This tells us a great deal about the nature of authentic
development: either all the nations of the world participate, or it will not be true
development. (#17)
1.3 The Justice in solving unemployment and underemployment
It is alarming that while employment prospects are increasing in high-
economic-development countries, the sources of work appear to be diminishing in
developing nations due to their rapid population increase and high proportion of
youth. In this regard, the words of the Encyclical Laborem Exercens is
very appropriate “It must be stressed that the constitutive element in this progress
and also the most adequate way to verify it in a spirit of justice and peace, which the
Church proclaims and for which she does not cease to pray...is the continual
reappraisal of man’s work, both in the aspect of its objective finality and in the aspect
of the dignity of the subject of all work, that is to say, man.”
1.4. Need for a Justice between the ‘Two Opposing Blocs’
One of the serious reasons for the lack of development in today’s world is the
political factor, manifesting itself in the existence of two opposing blocs commonly
known as the East and the West. In the West, there exists the system of liberal
capitalism, and in the East there is the system inspired by Marxist collectivism. As the
Holy Father is at pains to point out, the tension between East and West is not an
opposition between two levels of development, but extends to two opposing concepts
of development of individuals and peoples. Both these concepts are incorrect and
require radical transformation. The fact that the Pope placed these two systems on an
equal plane and demanded even of the so-called liberal capitalist system a radical
change, aroused much resentment and criticism in the Western world. One cannot
forget that liberal capitalism has its roots in the philosophy of the Enlightment of the
18th Century.

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 The glorification of the individual and of individualistic self-interest, the blind
belief in scientific progress, and the seeking of profit as the mainspring of the
economic system has led to unchecked consumerism and the total lack of any
conception of social responsibility. Indeed in practice the system can produce a type
of “super-developed” individual, completely consumeristic in his outlook, and
desirous of having more merely for the sake of having more. His own intrinsic
development is completely neglected. In fact we have here a new model of “under-
development”. (#28)
1.5 The Just view is on an Authentic Human development envisaged by Scripture
Pope John Paul II underlines the importance of authentic human development
in accordance with man’s vocation, which he finds revealed in Sacred Scripture.
Created by God in his image, man has a special task to fulfil; to have dominion over
other created things and through this dominion to realize his vocation or perfect
himself. Thus development cannot consist only in dominion over and the
indiscriminate possession and use of created things and the products of human
industry; it rather lies in subordinating the possession, dominion and use to man’s
vocation to immortality. As we struggle amidst the obscurities and deficiencies of
underdevelopment and super-development, we have a clear vision of our final destiny
and of that of our accomplishments — God’s plan to order all things in the fullness
which dwells in Christ. It is this faith and the vision inspired by it that impels the
Church to concern itself with the problem of development and to urge men to think
about the nature and characteristics of authentic human development. (#28-31)
1.6 Sin and the Structures of Sin
The Encylcical speaks again injustice that is enumerated by a sociopolitical
analysis and formal reference to “sin” and the “structures of sin”. Because, the rigid
social structures that tend to perpetuate diverse forms of injustice and exploitation. As
Pope John Paul notes, the decisions which either accelerate or slow down
development of peoples are really political in character, and therefore essentially
moral decisions. These sinful structures are actually the result of two very typical sins
of our age i.e., the all consuming desire for profit and the thirst for power.
1.7 Option for the Poor
By virtue of her own evangelical duty the Church feels called to take her stand
beside the poor, to discern the justice of their requests, and to help satisfy them,
without losing sight of the good of groups in the context of the common good. The
teaching and spreading of her social doctrine are part of the Church’s evangelizing
mission. And since it is a doctrine aimed at guiding people’s behaviour, it
consequently gives rise to a “commitment to justice,” according to each individual’s
role, vocation and circumstances. The Encyclical ends with a Trinitarian Prayer for
Peace and Justice in the whole world by the Pope.

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2. Centesimus Annus, (The Hundredth Year)
Centesimus Annus begins with a restatement and a current application of the
major principles of Rerum Novarum. Pope John Paul II then addresses the relationship
of the Church’s social teaching to major trends and events in the past one hundred
years with a special emphasis on the events in Eastern Europe in 1989. He misses no
opportunity to affirm human dignity and human rights. The encyclical notes the fall of
“Real Socialism,” but cautions against thinking that this fall signifies a victory for
capitalism.
2.1 Centisimus Annus appreciates movements that advance social justice
With this document, the pope encourages everyone who supports justice. These
people, who operate independently or in concert with one another through a variety of
associations, groups, and organisations, embody a powerful force for the defence of
the human person and the preservation of human dignity. This movement has helped
to create a more equitable society, or at the very least, to reduce injustice, in the face
of shifting historical conditions.
2.2 What injustice was done in History to Rerum Novarum
John Paul II presents a sort of counterbalance to the Teaching of Leo Xiii: the
Defence of Workers, as this was the rationale behind the Rerum Novarum and the
network of social issues that was resolved by defending the most vulnerable and
impoverished people at the time, who were the workers’ defence prior to the
employer’s and capital abuse. However, they were also criticising the fallacies of the
solutions they put forth at the time, such as Marxist socialism, which had atheism as
its source. Denying God they denied human dignity, since man is created in the imago
Dei (Image of God). Pope continues in the line of the Leo XIII’s teaching and the
pontiffs who followed, the Pope published an extremely intriguing conclusion. God’s
affirmation serves as the guarantor for the protection of the poorest and the defence of
man’s dignity. This letter is written to defend the weakest, most vulnerable, and most
in need. Therefore, rejecting God amounts to practically handing these people over to
a dictatorial and authoritarian government. Tragically, the story illustrates how these
atheist regimes have oppressed, trampled, and denigrated humanity like never before.
It was observed that in some way, they also recalled Leo XIII’s encyclicals, Pope John
Paul II’s predecessors, and what Pope Paul VIth continued in his letter Octogésima
Adveniens, which was written eighty years later to Rerum Novarum. However, the
Pope was very much aware that peace is built on the foundation of justice: what was
essential to the Encyclical was precisely its proclamation of the fundamental
conditions for justice in the economic and social situation of the time.
2.3 Highlighting the injustices that still exist in the world today
Regretfully, despite international declarations and conventions on the subject as
well as state-level laws, one still finds instances of contracts between employers and

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employees that do not address even the most basic justice regarding the employment
of women or children, working hours, hygienic conditions of the workplace, and fair
pay. The Pope ascribed to the “public authority”, “the strict duty” of ensuring the
workers’ welfare since doing otherwise would be an injustice; in fact, he did not hold
back when discussing “distributive justice”.
2.4 Justice toward the “New Things” of Today
Today, as we approach 100 years of the Pontifical Social Magisterium was
established by Rerum Novarum, It also states with all new stuffs nowadays. Given
that the title has been revised and we are in the modern era, what are those new things
in allusion? And he adds that one of those new aspects is that, despite the world of
work being so diverse, it has also been lived in blocks, much like society on the one
hand. We are divided ideologically, with policies and economic suggestions
continuing in divergent directions; each nation with specific ideologies. However, one
of these recent developments that also, in a way, speaks to the current state of affairs
is the collapse of Marxist socialism in Europe.
Two events in 1989, which can be considered iconic in part, are the fall of the
Berlin Wall, which also signifies the end of Marxist socialism and the beginning of a
new period that would play a significant role in global historical development. The
collapse of the Soviet Union and the Union of Socialist Republics is the other iconic
component. The Soviet Union, which at one point was a conglomeration of states,
vanishes before being referred to as Russia that had Marxism as its political,
intellectual, and economic framework, which brought the hope of new freedoms but
also the threat of new forms of injustice and servitude.
It must be interpreted from an economic, political, and most importantly,
optical standpoint. Theological reasoning does not advocate seeing those occurrences
through a lens that draws nearer to God. The Pope claims that the fall of Marxist
socialism as a form of government is a result of people seeking both transcendence
and freedom. In this way, the Pope makes the point that people have been searching
for something that the world cannot provide and that, isn’t limited to material or
economic well-being alone. Rather, they have been searching for something that
transcends both freedom and transcendence, which is to say, God, you must see the
reasons behind this fall. A fall that will undoubtedly aid in the man’s recovery of
dimensions, losses, and to remember that in communist nations, the state promoted
atheism teaching people not to believe in God. The Pope hoped that these regimes
would disappear and that humanity as a whole would emerge from these cultures.
They could take a fresh approach to saying goodbye to Atheism. Since, Atheism and
contempt for the human person cause class struggle and militarism (#14)
An analysis of history and current events is essential to the Church’s mission of
evangelization. This is actually known as interpreting the signs of the times in a just
manner by reading them. The pope wishes for people to learn how to fight for justice

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without resorting to violence, giving up on internal conflicts involving class struggle
and external conflicts involving war.
2.5 Unjust ways of Capitalism and its solutions today
The common use of products serves as a restraint on the right to private
property, as affirmed by Catholic social teaching. Humans respond to God’s gifts
through labour, which is what we do during the day—work with and for others.
Knowledge, technology, and expertise are becoming more important in production
than land. Most people in today’s society lack the resources or opportunity to learn the
fundamentals needed to navigate the world of technology and communication. As a
result, they are ignored or exploited. The shortcomings of capitalism in terms of
people are far from going away. Many human needs are not satisfied in a free market
economy (#34). It is a “strict duty of justice and truth” and a requirement of dignity
to help needy people acquire expertise and develop the skill to enter the modern
economy (#34). Consumerism has created attitudes and lifestyles which damage the
physical and spiritual health of human beings. It is necessary to create Just lifestyles in
which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness, and the common good determine choices.
The social basis of the Gospel must function as a basis and motivation for
action because witnessing for justice and peace is more credible than logical
arguments (#57). The option for the poor is not limited to material poverty but
encompasses cultural and material poverty as well. Love is made concrete in the
promotion of justice which requires changes in lifestyles, models of production and
consumption, and structures of power (#58).
3. Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love)
The first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, in 2005, Deus Caritas Est is
considered “programmatic,” in that it lays out fundamental themes that he considers
of prime importance for the Church of today, themes he is expected to refer back to in
the future.
3.1 Deus Caritas Est - The Incarnate Love of God
In the First part the encyclical devotes the majority of it to explaining the true
meaning of the words Eros (love of attraction - ascending love) and Agape (self-
sacrificing love of the other - descending love). God’s passionate love for his people
for humanity is the basis of all Love. So great is God’s love for man that by becoming
man he follows him even into death, and so reconciles justice and love. With this
illumination of the true meaning of Agape, the faithful are reminded that our work for
justice offers us humility, must come from a place of love, and is impossible to
accomplish without God’s hand. Love of God and love of neighbour have become
one: in the least of the brethren we find Jesus himself, and in Jesus we find God,
Justice can only be administered correctly when love is freely flowing. And this love
is only achieved by accepting the grace of Love as a gift from God.

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 3.2 The Question on Justice and Charity by the Church
An criticism to the Church’s humanitarian work has existed since the 18 th
century and was further developed by Marxism, which placed special emphasis on the
idea that the impoverished need of justice rather than charity. ‘Giving alms is
essentially a technique for the wealthy to avoid their moral responsibility to promote
justice, as well as a way to ease their consciences, all the while maintaining their
privileges and depriving the underprivileged of their rights. Rather than utilising our
individual acts of kindness to support the existing status quo, we should create a fair
social structure where everyone has access to the resources of the world and is not
dependent on charity.’ While there is undoubtedly some truth to this argument, there
is also a lot of false information. It is true that a just social order should give each
person his share of the community’s goods in accordance with the principle of
subsidiarity. It also means that the pursuit of justice must be a fundamental standard of
the State. Church social philosophy and Christian teaching on the State have
traditionally emphasised this. With the industrialization of society in the 19 th century,
the historical problem of the proper ordering of the collectivity had assumed a new
significance. It resulted in class struggle between haves and have not’s. Church’s
leadership was slow to realize that the issue of the just structuring of society needed to
be approached in a new way.
3.4 Marxist Arguments for Social Justice Vs Christian Social Justice
Marxism witnessed a global revolution. Initial plans called for a revolution
followed by the collectivization of the means of production, which would instantly
improve conditions. This was seen as the solution to all social problems. This is no
longer an illusion. The Church’s social doctrine has evolved into a set of fundamental
guidelines that offer approaches that are valid even outside the Church in the complex
situation of today, not least because of the growth of a globalised economy. However,
in light of ongoing development, these guidelines must be addressed in the context of
dialogue with all those who are seriously concerned for humanity and the world in
which we live.
3.5 The two primary requirements for social justice in the modern era
Two fundamental situations must be taken into consideration in order to more
precisely describe the relationship between the ministry of charity and the necessary
commitment to justice: First and foremost, one of politics’ primary duties is to ensure
that society and the state are justly ordered. Second, even in the most just society, the
necessity of charity/ love, or caritas, will always exist.
3.5.1 States ensuring Social Justice
The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics.
As Augustine once said, a State which is not governed according to justice would be
just a bunch of thieves. Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between what

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belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God. (cf. Mt 22:21). The distinction between
Church and State, or, as the Second Vatican Council puts it, the autonomy of the
temporal sphere. The State may not impose religion, yet it must guarantee religious
freedom and harmony between the followers of different religions. For her part, the
Church, as the social expression of Christian faith, has a proper independence and is
structured on the basis of her faith as a community which the State must recognize.
The two spheres are distinct, yet always interrelated. Politics is more
than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of public life: its origin and its goal are
found in justice, which by its very nature has to do with ethics. Justice is both the aim
and the intrinsic criterion of all politics. The State must inevitably face the question of
how justice can be achieved here and now. But this presupposes an even more radical
question: what is justice? The problem is one of practical reason; but if reason is to be
exercised properly, it must undergo constant purification, since it can never be
completely free of the danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling
effect of power and special interests.
3.5.2 The Role of the Church in promoting Social Justice
The social teaching of the Church makes arguments based on natural law and
reason, or more specifically, on what is consistent with each person’s inherent nature.
It acknowledges that ensuring that this doctrine is embraced in political life is not the
Church’s duty. The Church’s goal is to assist people in developing their political
consciences, foster a deeper understanding of what justice really requires, and increase
their willingness to act in accordance with those requirements; even when doing so
may put them in contradiction with their own interests. Creating a fair and equitable
society where everyone gets what is rightfully theirs is a vital responsibility that needs
to be taken up by every generation. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not
remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through
rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice,
which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be
the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through
efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good
is something which concerns the Church deeply.
Thus this document presents a presented clear teaching regarding the service
rendered by the Church to the State in its efforts to procure justice. Reiterating that the
Church neither has the will nor the competence to replace the State in this important
responsibility, she does however offer a twofold assistance.

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4. Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth)
By emphasising Christian compassion as the motivating factor for Christian
social involvement, Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate aims to reinforce the way
Catholic social teaching is based in the Gospel. This document was Promulgated on
29 June, the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in the year 2009.
4.1 Charity as a gift of God to promote Justice to one another
The encyclical opens with a number of powerful declarations regarding the
influence of charity on the way Christians respond to pressing social concerns in our
increasingly interconnected, global society. Benedict XVI saw charity as the basis of
the qualities of courage and generosity that are necessary to sustain Christian
“engagement in the field of justice and peace,” contending that charity “is at the
heart of the Church’s social doctrine.”
The encyclical further contends that only a Christian perspective can fully
comprehend the true meaning of charity, as it allows us to recognise God’s love for us
as unmerited and undeserved. First and foremost, it is a “creative love” —a love that
inspired God to voluntarily and kindly create the universe, the human race, and each
and every individual human being. It is “redemptive love”, which is the process by
which the Holy Spirit and Christ have restored sinful humanity. When viewed in this
context, charity is primarily a kind of love that is freely and graciously offered; God
gives us life by creation, and through forgiveness and recreation, This suggests that
Jesus’s command to love one’s neighbor as oneself calls for a stronger emphasis on
how Christian love requires equal regard for all of one’s neighbors, especially the
poor. Thus Christian love itself demands justice toward one’s neighbors, not only
treating them with the graciousness expressed in gift. In addition, as a form of
communion among persons Christian love is based on mutual relationship in
community. Such mutual love requires equality among those in relationship if it is to
be genuinely reciprocal. Therefore a relational understanding of Christian love itself
demands justice.
Love as gracious, even undeserved, giving is surely one way that humans can
imitate the love God has for them in their interpersonal and social relations with each
other. Perhaps the fullest expressions of charity as gift are the forgiveness that a
person or community offers to another who has oppressed them, or the self-sacrifice
that leads one person or community to surrender its own well being on behalf another.
4.2 The Decline of Justice in the Market Economy
In a climate of mutual trust, the market is the economic institution that permits
encounter between persons, inasmuch as they are economic subjects who make use of
contracts to regulate their relations as they exchange goods and services of equivalent
value between them, in order to satisfy their needs and desires. The market is subject
to the principles of so-called commutative justice, which regulates the relations of

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giving and receiving between parties to a transaction. But the social doctrine of the
Church has unceasingly highlighted the importance of distributive justice and social
justice for the market economy, not only because it belongs within a broader social
and political context, but also because of the wider network of relations within which
it operates. In fact, if the market is governed solely by the principle of the equivalence
in value of exchanged goods, it cannot produce the social cohesion that it requires in
order to function well. Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the
market cannot completely fulfil its proper economic function. And today it is this trust
which has ceased to exist, and the loss of trust is a grave loss. These matters raise
significant questions about the adequacy of Caritas in Veritate’s stress on charity as a
gift relationship that goes beyond the requirements of justice and equality.
Overcoming the corrupt misuse of development aid that has caused some to call for
the abolition of aid altogether will require creating structures of accountability that
seek to guarantee that aid actually benefits the poor.
4.3 A practicable justice to mitigate poverty in the modern global economy
The encyclical strongly advocates social changes that will help alleviate
poverty in the developing world. Efforts aimed at overcoming poverty, of course,
require addressing current patterns of trade, finance, investment, and development
assistance. In the interest of brevity, only development assistance will be considered
here as an illustration of this larger agenda and this will be primarily in light of the
encyclical’s approach to the relation of love and justice.
An ethic based on love as equal regard expressed in justice, therefore, rather
than charity as gift, will be needed to determine whether assistance is really benefiting
those it seeks to aid. An ethic of love as reciprocal mutuality that supports genuine
solidarity is needed to shape institutions of accountability that work to prevent the
irresponsible behaviour of too many governments in the developing world today.
Clearly, the encyclical is aware that aid can create dependency and reinforce
governmental domination of the poor in developing nations and it urges that we find
ways to avoid this (# 58.).
4. 4 Approaches of Love as opposed to Contextual Challenges to injustices
By thus openly connecting the church’s social teaching to the charity at the
core of the Christian faith, Pope Benedict is undoubtedly attempting to draw a closer
connection between the Church teaching and the Gospel. Unfortunately, this
endeavour is in danger of being undermined by a number of other steps taken by
church leadership in recent years. Often the church leaders’ approach to the relation
between pro-life issues and issues of economic and political justice and their response
to the sex abuse crisis contradict key aspects of Christian love and thus seriously
undermine the social contribution of Christian charity that Caritas in Veritate seeks to
promote. Furthermore, the church must serve as a prime example of the kind of

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reciprocal regard that civil society’s pursuit of the common good necessitates because
love is mutuality and reciprocity.

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