Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Human Life and Human Dignity
• Belief in the inherent dignity of the human
  person is the foundation of all Catholic social
  teaching.
• Human life is sacred, and the dignity of the
  human person is the starting point for a moral
  vision of society.
• A persons dignity does not depend on who he/she
  is, what they own, or their status in life. All
  human person, regardless of their status in
  society, have inherent value by virtue of being
  human.
• The principle of human dignity is grounded in the
  idea that the person is made in the image of God.
  Is the clearest reflection of God among us.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Community and the Common Good
• In a culture driven by excessive individualism,
  this tradition says that the person is not only
  sacred but also social. Human dignity can only
  be realized and protected in the context of
  relationships with the wider society.
• 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.
• Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to
  the good of the whole society, the common good.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Rights and Responsibilities
• Human dignity can be protected and a healthy
  community can be achieved only if human rights
  are protected and responsibilities are met.
• Every person has a fundamental right to life and
  a right to those things required for human
  dignity- food, shelter, clothing, employment,
  health care and education.
• Corresponding to these rights are duties and
  responsibilities- to one another, to our
  families, and to the larger society.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• A basic moral test of society is how it treats
  its most vulnerable members. The poor have the
  most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the
  nation.
• The option for the poor is a perspective that
  examines personal decisions, policies of private
  and public institutions, and economic
  relationships in terms of their effects on the
  poor- those who lack the minimum necessities of
  nutrition, housing education and health care.
  Those who are marginalized and whose rights are
  denied have privileged claims if society is to
  provide justice for all.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Participation
• All people have a right to participate in the
  economic, political and cultural life of society.
  It is a fundamental demand of justice and a
  requirement for human dignity that all people be
  assured a minimum level of participation in the
  community.
• It is wrong for a person or a group to be
  excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate
  in society.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• The economy must serve people, not the other way
  around. All workers have a right to productive
  work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe
  working conditions. They also have a fundamental
  right to organize and join unions.
• People have a right to economic initiative and
  private property, but these rights have limits.
  No one is allowed to amass excessive wealth when
  others lack the basic necessities of life.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Stewardship of Creation
• This tradition insists that we show our respect
  for the Creator by our stewardship of creation.
  The goods of the earth are gifts from God,
  intended for the benefit of all.
• Human persons are not the ultimate owners of
  these goods, but rather, the temporary stewards.
  We are entrusted with the responsibility of
  caring for these gifts and preserving them for
  future generations.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Global Solidarity
• This tradition proclaims that we are our
  brothers and sisters keepers, wherever they
  live. We are one human family, whatever our
  national, racial, ethnic, economic and
  ideological differences. Solidarity means that
  loving our neighbor has a global dimension in
  an interdependent world.
• A firm and persevering determination to commit
  oneself to the common goodbecause we are all
  really responsible for all. John Paul II.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Constructive Role for Government
• Because we are social beings, the state is
  natural to the person. Therefore the state has a
  positive moral function. It is an instrument to
  promote human dignity, protect human rights, and
  build the common good.
• One of the key functions of government is to
  assist citizens in fulfilling their
  responsibility to others in society. Since, in
  a large and complex society these
  responsibilities cannot adequately be carried out
  on a one-to one basis, citizens need the help of
  government in fulfilling these responsibilities
  and promoting the common good.

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Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

• Promotion of Peace
• This tradition promotes peace as a positive,
  action-oriented concept. It is not just the
  absence of war. It involves mutual respect and
  confidence between peoples and nations. It
  involves collaboration and binding agreements.
  Paul VI
• There is a close relationship in Catholic
  teaching between peace and justice. Peace is the
  result of justice and is dependent upon right
  order among human beings.

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Acknowledgments

• Social Action Office, Conference of Leaders of
  Religious Institutes, Queensland Australia
• An American Catholic.org Franciscans and the
  St. Anthony Messenger Press
• Department of Social Development and World Peace,
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
  (USCCB) www.usccb.org
• Nancy Powers PhD Thinking Outside the Box
  2006
• Webpage www.ptdiocese.org

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Catholic Social Teaching
The voice of the Catholic Church on issues of
justice and peace, human rights and
responsibilities.1891-2007
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Catholic Relief Services Reaching out to the
world
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History of Catholic Relief Services

• Begun in 1943 by the U.S. Catholic Community to
  provide relief to World War II refugees
• Money magazine ranks CRS 2nd of 13 relief and
  development agencies 94.6 of collected funds
  spent on actual food, health, and development
  programs.
• CRS provides assistance on the basis of need, not
  race, creed or nationality.

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CRS Where there are people in need there is the
Catholic Church

• 1,800 Field Workers
• 80 Countries
• 2000 Development Projects
• Village Banking
• Agricultural Education
• Literacy Hygiene Training
• Vocation Training Centers
• Feeding Hunger Programs
• Orphanage Displace Persons
• Building a World of Justice

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Catholic Relief Services Guiding Principles
To help without principles is to create long term
harm.

• Life and Dignity every person is created in the
  image and likeness of God.
• Fundamental Human Rights people have a right to
  life, food, clothing, housing, health care,
  education and security
• We are all a part of the human family as a
  community and family we cannot ignore the needs
  of others
• Option for the Poor Vulnerable the greatest
  test of a moral society is how its treats its
  most vulnerable.

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Catholic Relief Services Guiding Principles
To help without principles is to create long term
harm.

• Solidarity everyone has fundamental rights
  regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity,
  economic, and religious differences.
• Dignity of Work everyone has a right to work
  and an obligation to work/contribute to the good
  of society.

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Reaching out to people in time of disaster

• Liberia
• Rwanda
• Congo
• Sudan
• North Korea (1995)
• Hurricane Mitch October 1998
• Kosovar exodus to Macedonia (1998)
• Earthquake in Turkey (August 1999)
• Afganistan (2001)
• Africa (2001-2002)
• India
• Jerusalem/West Bank/Gaza
• Colombia
• Indonesia/Southeast Asia (2004-2005) Tsunami
  Relief

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AIDS IN AFRICA

• 17 million people have died of AIDS in Africa
• 80 of all AIDS deaths last year occurred in
  Africa
• Life expectancy is in the low forties in some
  African countries because of AIDS
• 1 in 3 adults in Botswana are infected
• Millions of children are orphaned because of the
  disease
• There are an estimated 25 million more AIDS
  victims who will die in Africa.

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CRS Programs in United States

• Operation Rice Bowl
• Work of Human Hands
• Food Fast
• Crop Walk
• Harvest of Hope
• Jubilee Justice Gatherings
• Advocacy for Poor
• Africa Rising
• Twinning with Parishes in 3rd World Countries

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Innovative Ways of Changing the World

• Time for Building Bridges
• Donating Construction Materials
• Website for on-line research, information
  donations
• www.catholicrelief.org

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Nations

• Conflict/War
• Political Corruption
• Denial of Human Rights
• Lack of Participation in governance
• Economic Crises
• 3rd World Poverty Starvation

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World

• Terrorism
• Exploitation of Mineral Resources Oil
• Threat of War
• Human Rights Violations
• Lack of Leadership
• Poverty 3rd World Nations
• Political Corruption
• Nuclear Arms Proliferation

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A JUST WAR

• When Is War Justified?
• The moral theory of the just-war or
  limited-war doctrine begins with the
  presumption which binds all Christians We
  should do no harm to our neighbors. Just-war
  teaching has evolved as an effort to prevent war.
  It does this be establishing a set of rigorous
  conditions which must be met if the decision to
  go to war is to be morally permissible. Such a
  decision, especially today, requires

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• extraordinarily strong reasons for overriding the
  presumption in favor of peace and against war.
  The conditions for a just war are as follows
• Just cause. War is permissible only to confront
  a real and certain danger, i.e., to protect
  innocent life, to preserve conditions necessary
  for decent human existence and to secure basic
  human rights.
• Competent authority. War must be declared by
  those with responsibility for public order, not
  by private groups or individuals.
• Comparative justice. In essence Which side is
  sufficiently right in a dispute, and are the
  values at stake critical enough to override the
  presumption against war? Do the rights and
  values involved justify killing? Given
  techniques of propaganda and the ease with which
  nations and individuals either assume or delude

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• themselves into believing that God or right is
  clearly on their side, the test of comparative
  justice may be extremely difficult to apply.
• Right intention. War can be legitimately
  intended only for the reasons set forth above as
  a just cause.
• Last resort. For resort to war to be justified,
  all peaceful alternatives must have been
  exhausted.
• Probability of success. This is a difficult
  criterion to apply, but its purpose is to prevent
  irrational resort to force or hopeless resistance
  when the outcome of either will clearly be
  disproportionate or futile.
• Proportionality. This means that the damage to
  be inflicted and the costs incurred by war must
  be proportionate to the good expected by taking
  up arms.
• Duty to protect civilian populations and
  non-combatants. A just war is waged

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• with respect for the human dignity of the
  individuals caught up in military-political
  conflicts. Indiscriminate use of force targeting
  civilians, whether in a military operation or
  through terror destroying homes and creating
  refugee populationsthese are not legitimate
  means to fight for a just cause.
• Because of the destructive capability of modern
  technological warfare, the principle of
  proportionality (and that of discrimination)
  takes on special significance. Today it becomes
  increasingly difficult to make a decision to use
  any kind of armed force, however limited
  initially in intention and in the destructive
  power of the weapons of horrendous destructive
  potential.

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Catholic Relief Services Reaching out to the
world