Fundamental principles of the social teaching of the Church. The social nature

 

34. Fundamental principles of the social teaching of the Church. The social nature of the human being; the principle of subsidiarity, the concept of society, the common good, universal destination of goods, the principle of solidarity, the preferential option for the poor, social justice.

 

Catholic social teaching is the Catholic doctrines on matters of human dignity and common good in society. Catholic social doctrine has always tried to find an equilibrium between respect for human liberty, including the right to private property and subsidiarity, and concern for the whole society, including the weakest and poorest. The various Pope through their encyclical letters instructs fundamental principles of the social teachings of the Church. Now I would like to mention the name of the encyclical letters based on social teaching of the Church:

Rerum Novarum: It is very important to note that the Catholic Church always expresses her concern about the human dignity and human persons. The social teaching of the Church in the modern period starts from Pope Leo XIII with his encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, promulgated in 1891. This encyclical letter emphasizes on the labour questions. This historical document isconsidered as the MAGNA CHARTA. In his encyclical letter, Pope strongly protested against the inhuman conditions of working people in the industrial societies. The main concern of social teaching of the Church is human dignity and human person.

QUADRAGESIMO ANNO: Another major social encyclical QUADRAGESIMO ANNO was written by Pope Pius XI in 1931. Pope addressed the issue of social injustice and called for the reconstruction of the social order. Pope confirms the principle that salaries should be paid proportionately for the whole family. The state should apply principle of subsidiarity, which will become a permanent element of Church’s social teaching.

Mater et Magistra:On 15 May 1961 Pope John XXIII has written Mater et magistra, subtitled "Christianity and Social Progress". This encyclical expanded the church's social doctrine to cover the relations between richand poor nations, examining the obligation of rich countries to assist poor countries while respecting their particular cultures. It includes an examination of the threat of global economic imbalances to world peace.

Pacem in terries: Written by Pope John XXIII in 1963. Pope inspires the establishment of world peace to the laying of a foundation consisting of proper rights and responsibilities between individuals, social groups, and states from the local to the international level.

Second Vatican Council

The primary document from the Second Vatican Council concerning social teachings is Gaudium et spes, the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church and the Modern World", which is considered one of the chief accomplishments of the Council. Unlike earlier documents, this is an expression of all the bishops, and covers a wide range of issues of the relationship of social concerns and Christian action. At its core, the document asserts the fundamental dignity of each human being, and declares the church's solidarity with both those who suffer, and those who would comfort the suffering.The joys and the hopes, the griefs and 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 follower of Chirst.

Pupulorum Progressio: Pope Paul VI published the encyclical letter PupulorumProgressio in 1967 in which he mentioned about the sufferings of the poor and hungry of the world and brought forth the issue of structural dimensions of global injustice. For an integral human development the Pope invited all the countries, rich and poor alike to work together in solidarity to establish justice and to strive towards the renewal of the social structure. In addition to this, the Pope also initiated the Pontifical Commission of justice and Peace. The encyclical solemnly announces, “Development is the new name for peace.”

OctogesimaAdveniens: The apostolic letter OctogesimaAdveniens of Pope Paul VI was published in 1971 on the occasion of the eighteenth anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Novarum. In this lettSer the Pope called for all the Christian communities to act responsibly in order to establish a just social order. The apostolic letter presents the post-industrial society with all its complex problems: “unemployment, discrimination, emigration, population growth, the influence of the means of social communications, the ecological problem”.

LaboremExercens (1981) : The encyclical letter LaboremExercens (1981) by Pope John Paul II was published on the 90th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. In this encyclical Pope John Paul II put emphasis on the “priority of labor over capital” as central to a just society. He also criticized an ‘economism’ that reduces humans into mere instruments of production. The Pope remarked that the work has a subjective dimension as well along with its objective dimension.  Although work is decvice in social life, it has also a context where a person fulfills his/her natural or supernatural vocation.

Centesimus Annus: was the third social encyclical of Pope John II commemorating the centenary of the “immortal encyclical “Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII. In this encyclical the Pope demonstrated the continuity of the Church’s social teaching s throughout the century through papal teachings and other ecclesial documents. The Pope wrote: what we nowadays call the principle of solidarity, this principle is frequently stated by Pope Leo XIII, who uses the term ‘friendship\Pope Pius XI refers to it with the equally meaningful term social charity’ Pope Paul VI, expanding the concept to cover the many modern aspects of the social question, speaks of a ‘civilization of love’. The encyclical vivified that the teachings of the church “moves along the axis of reciprocity between God and Man: recognizing God in every person and every person in God is the condition of authentic development”.

 

The social nature of the human being: Man is a social being. Therefore, a human beings does not live alone or he/she cannot lead life oneself. In order to exist and to develop himself, human being needs supports of community in regards. For example: For spiritual growth; a man is dependent upon the education, instruction and help others, which education is above all taken care of by the family, tribe, state and Church. Therefore, very shortly we can say that we are reciprocal or substitute of each other and this types acts belong to the social nature of human being.

The principle of subsidiarity: The principle of subsidiarity states that social institutions have an auxiliary and complementary function concerning the tasks and needs of the smaller groupings and individuals. That means to say that on the one hand societies must leave to the smaller groupings or individuals what they can do by their own power; and that on the other hand they must assist the smaller groupings or individuals where they are unable to accomplish a necessary or at least useful task.

The principle of subsidiarity means the majority groups of the people will respect the minority, which means is to respect a small group, which belong to a large group and allow the little group to do their activities how far they continue according to their capacity.

Pope Pius XI opted for the principle of subsidiarity. Compendium of the social Doctrine of the Church defines subsidiarity “as economic, institutional or juridical assistance offered to lesser social entities, entails corresponding series of negative implications that require the state to refrain from anything that would be facto restrict the essential space of the smaller essential cells of society.”

The principle of subsidiarity protects the particular rights and competence of individuals against excessive dominion by societies as well as the competence of minor associations against oppressive and totalitarian claims of the large society.

The concept of society: A society is a union of individual acting for a common purpose while human societies are held together by social and cultural bonds. These bonds have been developed as groups of individuals have learned to cooperate in their efforts to provide themselves with food, shelter and protection against the things in their environment which were a threat to their survival.

A society is a group of people who normally live together in a definite territory, sharing a common ways of life and helping one another to achieve and maintain certain goals.

Society many be defined as the permament union of men who are united by modes of behavior that are demanded by some common end/goals, value or interest. Society denotes a union of which form a community in that community is society in which men are more intimately bond by specific ends and natural forces society has common practices of moral norms, values, customs which purposes is to establish the common good in society.

The common good:The key statement of common good is ‘to fulfillment of social life and basic human needs for all.’ In the history of the social teachings of the Church, the popes were concerned with the application of the common good in the concrete situations of reality. The common good has been an important principle of the social teachings of the church. According to the pastoral constitution on the Church of Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes (26) defines the common good as “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual member’s relatively through and ready access to their own fulfillment.”

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1097-1910), there are three constitutive elements. The first one is dignity of the human person. The public authority and society must let every person live with his/her fundamental rights and exercise his/her freedom. The second element is social wellbeing and development of the groups itself, which includes basic human needs. And finally, maintaining the stability and security of a just order emphasized. Catechism of the Catholic Church asserts that the state has the duty to promote the common good of the civil society, its citizens and other intermediate bodies.

Universal destination of goods: The universal destination of goods is an idea in Catholic theology, by which the Catholic Church professes that the goods of creation are destined for humankind as a whole, but also recognizes the individual right to private property. In addition, political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: 2403 The right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.... 2405 Goods of production – material or immaterial – such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor.

In 1967, Pope Paul VI wrote in the encyclical Populorumprogressio: Everyone knows that the Fathers of the Church laid down the duty of the rich toward the poor in no uncertain terms. As St. Ambrose put it: "You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich."

The principle of solidarity: The principle of solidarity signifies a bond of mutual concern and obligation. It is a firm commitment to the common good. The popular sayings goes regarding to the principle of solidarity is “we are all in the same boat.” Without the principle of solidarity we cannot expect peace, justice and common good in society.

Solidarity is a recurring theme in the writings of John Paul II in the encyclical CENTESIMUS ANNUS, according to him, solidarity is one of the fundamental principles of the Christian view of social and political organization and notes that previous popes have identified the same principle under the name “Friendship”(Leo XIII), Social charity (Pius XI,) and the civilization of love (Paul VI)

Solidarity is neither a vague feeling of compassion or commiseration, nor the union of one group in society over against another. Solidarity aims at the good of social justice and is not undertaken for the sake of struggle or in order to eliminate the opponent.

Solidarity is a human and Christian virtue, describing the commitment to the common good. It has three principal manifestation, common good, refer to good activities and the communion of persons.

Solidarity involves charity as well as justice. Communion in common goods and activities finds a root in the common nature of man, but it is ultimately secured by the reorganization that every person is called to share in the communal life of the Trinity.

The preferential option for the poor: The meaning and intent of the phrase “option for the poor” is found in OCTOGESIMO ADVENIENS (1971), an apostolic letter of Paul VI, which stated, “In the teaching us charity, the gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society; the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others.

In the Latin American framework the “preferential option for the poor” is inextricably associated with themes of liberation theology and the struggle against oppression of poor in every kind. ‘Preferential option for the poor’ this statement invites us to look at the poor and needy people of the society with compassionate concern according to the teaching of Jesus. It is our moral responsibility to help the poor and needy for their survival.

Social justice: Social justice is a rather recent concept and has been accepted in Catholic moral teaching since Pius XI whose social encyclical QUADRAGESIMO ANNO is characterized by this term. Social justice refers to the economic welfare of social groups. As such, it demands a proportionate share for the social partners in the fruits of their economic cooperation. Pure profits of excessive nature on the part of the management as well as overdrawn and further expansion of an enterprise, offend against the demands of social justice.

Social justice further demands a proportionate and equitable distribution of the wealth of a nation among the different groups and regions of a society. Social justice likewise demands a balancing of wealth between stronger and weaker sectors of society, such as often between a well to do industrial and a less favoured agricultural sector, or between developed and less developed regions in a nation.

 

Finally, social justice also imposes obligations upon nations in their matual relations. It binds the economically advanced countries to assist nations in proverty and misery, so that they can live in a manner worthy of human beings.