Professional Documents
Culture Documents
19 Catholic Social Teachings Introduction
19 Catholic Social Teachings Introduction
Introduction
Questions about the Church’s
social involvement
Why does the Church have social teachings?
Why must the Church speak out publicly on
matters of justice in the economic, political, and
social spheres of society?
When the Church involves itself in social
questions, isn’t there a danger that it would
forget its primary mission to spread the Good
News and bring people closer to God?
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
We are an incarnational
Church.
The joys and the hopes, the
griefs and the anxieties of the
people of this age, especially
those who are poor or in any
way afflicted, these are the
joys and hopes, the griefs
and anxieties of the followers
of Christ. (Gaudium et Spes
#1)
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
The Church responds to important questions
asked by humanity.
The Church has always had the duty of
scrutinizing the signs of the times and of
interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus,
in language intelligible to each generation, she
can respond to the perennial questions which
men ask about this present life and the life to
come, and about the relationship of the one to
the other. (Gaudium et Spes #4)
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
It is part of our duty to promote
the common good as citizens.
The members of the Church, as
members of society, have the same
right and duty to promote the
common good as do other citizens.
They should act as a leaven in the
world, in their family, professional,
social, cultural and political
life. (Justice in the World #38)
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
It is an imitation of Christ.
Christ showed His concern for
the material welfare of His
people when, seeing the
hungry crowd of His followers,
He was moved to exclaim: "I
have compassion on the
multitude." (Mater et Magistra
#3-4)
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
It is constitutive of the preaching of the
gospel
Action on behalf of justice and participation in
the transformation of the world fully appear to
us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching
of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the
Church's mission for the redemption of the
human race and its liberation from every
oppressive situation. (Justice in the World #6)
It is essential to the Church’s mission and
identity to be involved in social concerns
Our love of God is bound up with our love of
neighbor; love of neighbor cannot be separated
from justice
Christian love of neighbor and justice cannot be
separated. For love implies an absolute demand for
justice, namely a recognition of the dignity and
rights of one's neighbor.
Because every person is truly a visible image of the
invisible God and a sibling of Christ, the Christian
finds in every person God himself and God's
absolute demand for justice and love. (Justice in the
World #34)
What are the Church’s social teachings