CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE

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CATHOLICSOCIAL JUSTICE

• An Overview
• Chapter 1

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Humanity

• We are made in Gods image and likeness and
  therefore are rational beings or persons.
• We have free will.
• Yet we suffer the effects of Original Sin.
• Still, we are destined for ETERNAL HAPPINESS
  thanks
• to Jesus Christ.

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Therefore

• Social justice is built on the principle of human
  dignity which believes that like God we are free
  and thinking PERSONS.
• A sense of the dignity of the human person has
  been impressing itself more and more deeply on
  the consciousness of contemporary man, and the
  demand is increasingly made that men should act
  on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of
  a responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but
  motivated by a sense of dutyIt is in accordance
  with their dignity as persons-that is, beings
  endowed with reason and free will and therefore
  privileged to bear personal responsibility-that
  all men should be at once impelled by nature and
  also bound by a moral obligation to seek the
  truth, especially religious truth. Pope John
  Paul II, Dignitatis Humanae

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• With our gift of Human Dignity comes the gift of
  great responsibility!

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JUSTICE according to St. Thomas Aquinas

• Is a VIRTUE governing our relationship with
  OTHERS.
• It is a WILL-ingness to extend to each person
  what he or she deserves what is RIGHT-fully his
  or hers.
• All people are equal in being owed rights by
  others, which are their rights by nature as
  RATIONAL beings.

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Who was St. Thomas Aquinas?
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SOCIAL One aspect of Justice

• Because justice governs our relationship with
  others it requires that in order for us to be
  JUST we must be SOCIAL.
• Breakdowns in society are the result of
  injustice.

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EQUALITY AND JUSTICE

• True justice assumes a certain equality among
  people.
• For St. Thomas, human equality did not mean that
  all people are treated necessarily the same.
  Rather it meant that all people should enjoy
  certain RIGHTS. For example, not all people
  should be allowed to perform brain surgery. Yet
  all people should have a right to brain surgery
  if they need it.

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GOD IS JUST

• Like God, who is perfectly JUST, we are called to
  be just as well.
• Definition of the justice of God God orienting
  us towards our proper end in all things.

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• What is the difference between Gods justice and
  Gods MERCY?

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• Some people say that in the end, Gods justice
  and His mercy are the
• same thing.
• What do you think?

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So, what is CATHOLIC Social Justice?

• Catholic social justice the teaching that
  attempts to understand how societies work and
  what moral principles and value ought to guide
  them.

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BODY OF DOCTRINE

• The teachings of the Church known as Catholic
  Social Justice are a BODY OF DOCTRINE that the
  Church has developed, with the Holy Spirits
  guidance, to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ to
  our life together as members of the human family.

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3 Aspects of the Body of Doctrine

• It gives us principles for reflection
• It provides criteria for judgment.
• If gives guidelines for action. (CCC 2423)

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Church Sources

• SCRIPTURE (Old and New Testament)
• Modern Catholic Social Teaching comes to us from
  a strong tradition of PAPAL writings, especially
  since Pope Leo XIII in the 19th Century.
• It also comes from
• Council documents
• CCC
• Statements/letters of Catholic Bishops
  Conferences.

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The Latest Source

• CARITAS IN VERITATE (Charity in Truth) written
  by Pope Benedict XVI)

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http//www.youtube.com/watch?vcDtWesg0o7Ifeature
channel_page
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Justice springs from LOVE

• St. Thomas Aquinas definition of Love Willing
  the best good for another.
• In order to love God, says Thomas, we must do HIS
  WILL.
• Love is always RELATIONAL.

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• Jesus gave us the fullness of His Love through
  the PASCHAL MYSTERY which is still available to
  us today especially in the EUCHARIST.
• We are called to be OTHER CHRISTS in this world.

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Prayer of St. Theresa of Avila

• Christ has no body but yours,No hands, no
  feet on earth but yours,Yours are the eyes with
  which he looksCompassion on this world,Yours
  are the feet with which he walks to do
  good,Yours are the hands, with which he blesses
  all the world.Yours are the hands, yours are the
  feet,Yours are the eyes, you are his
  body.Christ has no body now but yours,No hands,
  no feet on earth but yours,Yours are the eyes
  with which he looksWith compassion on this
  world.Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

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Assignment

• What do you think? Exercise on page 12 of your
  text.
• Write on a separate sheet of paper (NOT in your
  book)

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Principles of Catholic Social Justice

• In 1998, the U.S. Catholic Bishops wrote a
  document entitled, Sharing Catholic Social
  Teaching Challenges and Directions
  Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops.

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• In this document, the Bishops highlighted seven
  principles that serves as the foundation of the
  Churchs Social Teaching.
• These principles can help us by motivating us to
  be truly just toward others.
• They are an ESSENTIAL part
• of our Catholic faith.

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First Principle

• A. Dignity of the Human Person and

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• Respect for Human Life.

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Second Principle

• 2. Call to Family, Community Participation

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Fourth Principle

• 3. Rights and Responsibilities, including

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• the Common Good.

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Fourth Principle

• 4. Preferential Option and Love for the Poor and
  Vulnerable

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Fifth Principle

• 5. Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

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Sixth Principle

• Solidarity
• Because we live in an interdependent world.
• Definition of solidarity unity (as of a group
  or class) that produces or is based on community
  of interests, objectives, and standards

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(No Transcript)
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Seventh Principle

• Stewardship by helping and protecting all
  persons and all of creation.
• Definition of stewardship the careful and
  responsible management of something/one entrusted
  to one's care

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So, are we GOOD or BAD?

• Our view of humanity directly effects our
  behavior and sense of justice.

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The Christian Answer

• God made us in His Image and Likeness. God
  perfect good. Therefore, we were created good.
  (Gn 1 27-31)
• Once we accepted sin into our lives, God gave us
  Jesus to restore us to goodness as His adopted
  children.
• Therefore we know humans are fundamentally good.

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What the CCC says about us

• Each human has tremendous dignity
• Each human is a child of God
• We are special in Gods eyes
• We have rights and responsibilities
• We have a spiritual nature
• God made us for Himself.
• We possess freedom and must use it responsibly
• We are social beings.
• We image God best when we love one another.
• God made us co-creators with Him.
• We are NOT God.
• We are wounded by sin and inclined to evil and
  error.
• We are saved sinners
• We are called to be compassionate like Jesus.
• We are friends of the Lord.
• The Lord asks that we love him in return,
  especially by treating our neighbor as another
  self. But this implies we must LOVE OURSELVES
  FIRST!

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Assignment

• On page 21, do the Scripture Link and Using Your
  Gifts for Others exercises. You will need a
  Bible. Write answers on a separate sheet of paper.

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Our Human Rights

• A RIGHT is a claim we can make on other people
  and on society so we can live a full, human life.
  
• We do not EARN human rights. They are a gift
  from God given with our human dignity.

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Characteristics of Human Rights

• Universal rights are for EVERY human being. No
  exceptions.
• Inviolable rights are untouchable because they
  come from God.
• Inalienable rights are inherent and beyond
  challenge. No one has the authority to take them
  away.

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Types of Human Rightsaccording to Pope John
XXIIIs encyclical, Peace on Earth.
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Right to Life
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Moral and Cultural Rights
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Right to Worship God
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Right to Choose Freely Ones State of Life
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Right to Family
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Economic Rights
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Right to Property/Goods
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Right to Meetings and Associations
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Right to Emigrate and Immigrate

• Emigrate  to leave one's place of residence or
  country to live elsewhere.
• Immigrate to come into a country of which one
  is not a native for permanent residence

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Political Rights
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Assignment

• Read More on Human Rights page. 23-24 of your
  text. Answer the question at the end of the
  reading by John Paul II.
• Read Case study, p. 24-25.
• Answer the questions on the
• Bottom of page 23. Be
• prepared for in-class debate!