I. Charity vs. Justice

II. Organizing the Principles

III. Three Foundational Pillars of C.S.T.A. Dignity B. Community C. Pref. Concern/Option for the Poor

DignityDignity CommunityCommunity Pref. OptionPref. Option

Office for Social Justice, St. Paul, MN

The Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:29-37)

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor [in the first place], they call me a communist.”

Bishop Dom Hélder Camara

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Every economic decision and institution must be judged in light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person. . . . We believe the person is sacred—the clearest reflection of God among us. Human dignity comes from God, not from nationality, race, sex, economic

Economic Justice for All (1986), §§13, 79

status, or any human accomplishment. . . . The Bible vigorously affirms the sacredness of every person as a creature formed in the image and likeness of God.”

“God loves each of usas if there were onlyone of us.”

Saint Augustine

“Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community. In our teaching, the human person is not only sacred but social. 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.”

Economic Justice for All (1986), §14

“Human life is life in community…. Christians look forward in hope to a true communion among all persons with each other and with God…. Indeed Christian theological reflection on the very reality of God as a trinitarian unity of persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—shows that being a person means being united to other persons in mutual love.”

Economic Justice for All (1986), §§63-64

“As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental ‘option for the poor’— to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This ‘option for the poor’ does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are the most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response.”

Economic Justice for All (1986), §16

“The poor show us who we are, and the prophets tell us who we could be, so we hide the poor and kill the prophets.”

Fr. Dan Berrigan, S.J.

“Our students will mature in a world wracked by the insecurity of terrorism, economic dislocation, environmental change, corporate misdeeds, political corruption and even religious scandals. Despite these challenges to their own individual moral development, they need to realize that saving themselves is insufficient Christian witness.

“They must also engage to heal the broken world and the damaged lives of their neighbors.”

Professor Jerry McElroy