Ten Principles of Catholic Social Thought · 2011. 9. 16. · I. Social Thought, not Social...

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Ten Principles of Catholic Social Thought

Presented by Fr. William J. Byron, S.J., Ph.D.

TEN PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT S T U D Y G U I D E

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Table of Contents

Topic 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 6

Topic 2: The Principle of Human Dignity ..................................................................... 9

Topic 3: The Principle of Respect for Human Life ..................................................... 12

Topic 4: Principle of Participation ............................................................................... 16

Topic 5: The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable .......... 19

Topic 6: The Principle of Solidarity ............................................................................ 22

Topic 7: The Principle of Stewardship ........................................................................ 25

Topic 8: The Principle of Subsidiarity ......................................................................... 29

Topic 9: The Principle of Human Equality .................................................................. 33

Topic 10: The Principle of the Common Good ............................................................. 37

Topic 11: The Principle of Association ......................................................................... 41

Topic 12: Forward in a Great Tradition ......................................................................... 44



Program Summary

This set of lectures provides a concise summary of the principles that

underlie the body of doctrine known as Catholic Social Teaching.

The title of the series uses the word ―Thought,‖ rather than ―Teaching,‖ in

order to permit inclusion of contributions to this tradition from Catholic

thinkers—lay, religious, and clergy--who are not official teachers, but whose

ideas help to explain and supplement the papal encyclicals, conciliar

declarations, and statements from national bishops‘ conferences that make up

the documentary body of Catholic Social Teaching.

Within the topics presented, the second through the eleventh constitute the

ten ―building blocks‖ from which the series gets its name and upon which the

tradition rests; the twelfth and concluding lecture looks to the future and

suggests issues that might be addressed in future encyclicals and official

documents.

The American bishops have said that Catholic social teaching is an essential

part of the Catholic faith with which far too many Catholics are unfamiliar. The

purpose of this series is to help close that gap and bring this body of doctrine to

young adult and adult Catholics in the form of ―credenda‘ (principles to be

believed) that can become the basis of an ―agenda‖ (actions to be taken) in order

to build a better world.



About Your Presenter

The Reverend William J. Byron, S.J., is University Professor of Business and Society at St. Joseph‘s

University in Philadelphia. From 1982-1992, he was president of The Catholic University of America.

Father Byron writes a syndicated bi-weekly column (―Looking Around‖) for Catholic News Service

Syndicate. He is the author of Individuarian Observations: Essays in Catholic Social Reflection

(University of Scranton Press, 2007), Quadrangle Considerations [Loyola, 1989 (winner of the Catholic

Press Association's 1990 Best Book Award in Education)] and The Power of Principles: Ethics in the

New Corporate Culture (Orbis, 2006) among many more!

Fr. Byron was a founding director and past chairman of Bread for the World, a former member of the

Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations,

and was a member of the original Board of the Corporation for National Service.

He was the 1999 recipient of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities' Theodore M.

Hesburgh Award for his contributions over the years to the advancement of Catholic higher education.

In that same year he received the Council of Independent Colleges‘ Academic Leadership Award. He

earned his doctorate in economics, and he holds 30 honorary degrees.

A native of Pittsburgh, Father Byron grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended St. Joseph's

Preparatory School. After service in the army's 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in 1945-46, he

attended Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia for three years before entering the Jesuit order in

1950. He was ordained a priest in 1961.



Topic 1: Introduction

I. Social Thought, not Social Teaching

A) The overall title for this series of twelve talks is ―Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social

Thought.‖ It is social ―thought,‖ not social teaching, because we are taking a longer view and

wider focus than the body of doctrine that is called Catholic Social Teaching.

B) That term normally applies to papal and Episcopal teaching—encyclicals, special

pronouncements from the Vatican and from bishops‘ conferences. That formal magisterial

status is important, of course, because it gives those teaching documents special importance

and it places on the rest of us an obligation to give them special attention.

II. Learning from Unexpected Sources

A) ―Social thought includes a lot that is in our tradition that comes from less formal sources—

authentically Catholic, but not officially Catholic.

B) The writings of Dorothy Day would be an example as would sermons of some priests who were

not bishops and wise sayings of lay Catholics who reflected on ways in which the message of

the Gospel and the promptings of their faith-convictions might have an impact on the social

order.

III. Taking a Wider Point of View

A) The point here is simply that ―thought‖ is wider than ―teaching.‖

B) Catholic social teaching is usually thought to begin in 1891 with Pope Leo XIII‘s great

encyclical “Rerum Novarum.‖

1) Encyclical letters typically take their titles from the first few Latin words that open the

letter.

2) You can think of an encyclical as a letter that is intended to ―get around,‖ to cycle, to

make the rounds not just of the Catholic world but touch the minds and hearts of all men

and women of good will.

3) This particular letter—Rerum Novarum--has the English title ―On the Condition of the

Working Classes‖ and that was an important consideration in 1891 when socialism was a

threat to the Catholic faith and, in the minds of many, a ―solution‖ to the struggles

workers were facing.

IV. Answering Questions with Faith

A) Encyclicals tend to address questions—often called ―social questions‖—that can be answered

in the light of faith.



B) Our official teachers—the pope and the bishops worldwide will speak to these questions and

offer principles—not specific programs, but faith-based principles that can offer guidance to

the human community as it tries to work its way through the problems, as it seeks to find

answers to pressing social questions.

V. The Social Question

A) There is need to connect the Church‘s social credenda (what we believe about justice and love,

for example; or what we believe Jesus expects us to be) with the Church‘s social agenda (how

we should act, what we should do to make a better world).

B) A helpful step in that direction is to start thinking about that time-honored expression in

Catholic social thought, the ―social question.‖

VI. What is the Social Question in Our Day?

A) For Pope Leo XIII in 1891, the social question focused on the condition of the working

classes, on the right of workers to form associations, to receive a fair wage and thus begin to

save and purchase property that they could own; to organize themselves into unions and other

protective arrangements against assaults on their human dignity from the new industrialization

and the threat of socialism.

B) In 1967, Pope Paul VI said in an encyclical titled Populorum Progressio, ―Today the principal

fact that we must all recognize is that the social question has become world-wide‖ (No. 3).

C) But what precisely was then and is now, the question?

VII. Our Social Question

A) At the most general level, I think the social question should be stated this way: How can the

human community of persons and nations live together in peace secured by justice?

B) The protection of fundamental human dignity requires that the question be asked at all times.

C) The organization of human life requires that it be asked in all areas of human activity.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between Catholic Social ―Thought‖ and Catholic Social ―Teaching‖?

2. What do you understand by the phrase the ―social question‖?

3. How would you frame the ―social question‖ for the present day?



Topic 2: The Principle of Human Dignity

I. How Many Catholic Social Principles Are There?

A) I have come up with 10.

1) There is nothing at all official about my count.

B) Some future Catechism of the Catholic Church may list more or fewer than these 10, if

compilers of that future teaching aid find that Catholic social teaching is suitable for framing in

such a fashion.

C) I offer my list of 10 in this lecture series for three reasons:

1) Some reasonably complete list is needed if the ignorance cited by the bishops is going to

be addressed;

2) Any list can serve to invite the hand of both editors and teachers to smooth out the

sentences for clarity and ease of memorization

3) Any widely circulated list will stimulate further thought on the part of scholars and

activists as to what belongs in a set of principles that can serve as a table of contents for

the larger body of Catholic social teaching.

II. Respect In the Human Family

A) "Every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and

therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family" Those words

are taken from a 1998 document issued by the Catholic bishops of the United States.

III. The Bedrock Principle of Catholic Social Teaching

A) Every person--regardless of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation,

employment or economic status, health, intelligence, achievement or any other differentiating

characteristic--is worthy of respect. It is not what you do or what you have that gives you a

claim on respect; it is simply being human that establishes your dignity. Given that dignity, the

human person is, in the Catholic view, never a means, always an end.

IV. The Bedrock Principle of All Personal and Social Ethics

A) Just take a moment to think about the state of human dignity in today‘s world—think of world

hunger, for example, think of the unemployed, the human beings who are mentally or

physically ill, the illiterate, the homeless.

B) Think of the condition of human dignity in your own country, town or city.

V. Assaults of Human Dignity as Sin ?


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A) I like the following definition of sin that I‘ve lifted from the Japanese novelist Shushaku

Endo‘s book Silence.

1) Endo was a 20th century Japanese Catholic writer of great renown. His protagonist is a

Jesuit missionary to Japan. Fr. Sebastio Rodrigues sits alone in a prison cell listening to

guards outside—laughing and talking, having no regard for him. Indeed they reminded

him of the guards who cast lots for the garments of Jesus before he was taken off to die.

Here are the words from the novel Silence: ―These guards, too, were men; they were

indifferent to the fate of others. This was the feeling that their laughing and talking stirred

up in his heart [the imprisoned priest]. Sin, he reflected, is not what it is usually thought

to be; it is not to steal and tell lies. Sin is for one man to walk brutally over the life of

another and to be quite oblivious of the wounds he has left behind.‖

VI. Human Dignity in Contemporary Society

A) We have to begin noticing.

B) We have to wonder why.

C) We have to notice that human beings are walking over the lives of other human beings, and we

have to wonder to what extent we, by our direct actions or inaction, or our indirect participation

or complicity with the actions of others, are part of the problem.

D) Just think of how we tolerate, even enjoy, violence in entertainment.

1) We take violence so much for granted without giving any thought at all to the damage it

does to the human dignity of those who receive it as well as those who inflict it.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is the basis for human dignity?

2. What is the difference between a human being and a human doing?

3. In what ways is human dignity being violated in contemporary society?



Topic 3: The Principle of Respect for Human Life

I. Stem Cell Research and Respect for Human Life

A) A short sentence in the Nov. 24, 2008 Associated Press report on issues in the then upcoming

policy debate over whether or not the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research

should be lifted, accurately portrays the argument against the use of embryonic stem cells as

saying "that life begins at conception--that once fertilization occurred in the lab, so did a human

being."

B) Hence no embryo should be destroyed in order to facilitate stem cell research.

C) Notice the verbal precision: ―that once fertilization occurred. . ., so did a human being.‖

D) The reference, of course, in the news story, was to in vitro fertilization. But whether in the

womb or in the laboratory, when fertilization occurs, there is life.

1) This is undeniable. A being exists that did not exist before.

II. Existence has Begun

A) Because it is human life--on its way to becoming fully human--it is, the argument goes, a

human being.

B) To assert that it is not human because it is not yet fully human is to deny the reality that a

continuum of existence has begun.

C) This is not to say that the embryo is a human person; it may well be, but that is not the claim.

1) The claim is simply that a being exists that is on its way to becoming fully human.

2) To terminate, for purposes of research, what would otherwise be an inevitable biological

development to full human personhood is morally wrong.

D) Human Reason

1) That conclusion can be drawn from human reason without the guidance of divine

revelation or the rulings of organized religion.

2) Reason sees in the fertilized egg an incipient human person and concludes that this is a

life worthy of respect and protection.

III. Those Who Do Not Agree

A) Those who disagree and see no human life in this living being at the moment of conception are

not to be dismissed as having no respect at all for human life and dignity.

B) They are, however, to be confronted on several issues



1) when human life begins

2) why any human life should not be regarded as a human being (if something exists, how

can it not be?)

3) why a developing human being has no claim on the possession of actual or potential

personhood.

IV. The Debate

A) To engage in a verbally imprecise policy debate about embryonic vs. adult stem-cell research

would be to walk mindlessly past the possibility of widespread violation of human life, human

rights, and human dignity.

B) I would compare this to firing a rifle shot through a closed door when there is a possibility that

a person is there on the other side.

C) We, as a nation, are not very good at engaging in verbally precise, reasoned argument on the

life issues. The chances of that happening will improve, I think, if we show more respect for

one another and permit ourselves to engage in respectful moral argument.

V. Abortion

A) Narrowing the range of legal permissibility of abortion would bring the matter closer to what I

believe is the national consensus on protection of unborn human life.

B) But just raising this question triggers opposition from defenders of a woman‘s unrestricted

―right to choose‖ to terminate the life within her womb at any stage of the pregnancy.

C) The tradition of Catholic social thought sees a correlation between rights and duties. An unborn

child‘s ―right to life‖ points to a corresponding duty, not of the child, but of the woman

carrying that child within her womb.

D) The child‘s right to life puts a limit on her ―freedom of choice‖ that she is not morally free to

ignore.

E) Legal Matters

1) Removing criminal penalties would, in my view, show a respect for both freedom of

choice (I‘m speaking of an informed moral choice) and freedom of conscience on the part

of those who see life, but not human life, and the potential for personhood, but not an

actual person, in a human embryo.

2) I disagree with those who see neither human life nor the potential for human personhood

in an embryo, but I can still respect the dignity of those who, in good conscience, hold

another view.

3) Does life-protecting law without a criminal penalty make sense? I think it can.



(a) Let politicians and lawmakers debate over criminalizing or decriminalizing so-

called partial birth abortion and you will find that room is being made for pro-choice

candidates to support a ban on partial-birth abortion, which they see as morally

indefensible, while still permitting first trimester abortions, which they may

personally oppose on moral grounds but permit on political grounds out of respect

for those who, apparently in good conscience, disagree.

(b) To be clear, let me say that I oppose abortion under any circumstances, but am

willing to yield some ground here to those who conscientiously disagree, in the hope

that the compromise—not on principle but on policy—would mean a significant

reduction in abortions in America.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. When does human life begin?

2. Can a distinction be made between a human being and a human person?

3. How can those who disagree on answers to either of the first two question engage in reasoned argument?



Topic 4: Principle of Participation

I. Thinking of Yourself as a Participant

A) Catholic social thought would encourage you to think of yourself as a participant; indeed

Catholic social teaching would say that you have an obligation as well as a right, to participate.

II. The Right and Duty to Participate

A) Back in 1998, the Catholic bishops of the United States issued a public statement that read in

part: ―We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the

common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable‖

B) This means that without participation, the benefits available to an individual through any social

institution cannot be realized.

C) The human person has a right not to be shut out from participating in those institutions that are

necessary for human fulfillment.

1) This principle applies in a special way to conditions associated with work.

2) According to the American bishops, ―Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a

form of continuing participation in God‘s creation. If the dignity of work is to be

protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected¬¬--the right to productive

work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property, and to

economic initiative.‖

III. Catholic Social Teaching from the Bishops

A) As I indicated, it was in 1998 when the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) issued Sharing Catholic Social Teaching:

Challenges and Directions-¬Reflections of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, a document intended to

call the attention of all U.S. Catholics to the existence of Catholic social principles--a body of

doctrine with which, the bishops say, "far too many Catholics are not familiar."

B) In fact, they added, "many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of

the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith." I think you will agree that those are indeed

strong words.

C) A companion document, Summary Report of the Task Force on Catholic Social Teaching and

Catholic Education, is included in the same booklet that contains the bishops' reflections on

this "serious challenge for all Catholics." The report is available still from the Bishops

Conference.

IV. The Workplace

A) According to Catholic social thought, every human person in any workplace has a right to have

some say in the decisions that affect his or her livelihood; a right, in other words, to participate.



B) To be shut out of all discussion is to be denied respect for one's human dignity.

C) The ethical thing to do in stressful economic times, say, in cases either of layoff or of career

continuation in the same organization, is to involve the employee in planning and in the

execution of the plan for what happens next.

1) This means preparation for separation, should that have to happen; it also means

enhancing the "value added" potential and the productivity of employees who will

remain.

D) Moreover, ethical managers will acknowledge the importance of recognizing the dignity of

their associates by including them in decision-making not simply because it is the right thing to

do, but also because the ―people process‖ leads to better business decisions.

V. Pope John XXIII on the Workplace

A) In 1961, Pope John XXIII issued a famous social encyclical titled ―Mater et Magistra

(Christianity and Social Progress).

B) Note, by the way the significance of those ―one‖ years in the tradition of Catholic Social

Teaching—1891 for Rerum Novarum, 1931 for Quadragesimo Anno, and here is 1961 with

Mater et Magista—the Church as ―Mother and Teacher.‖

C) The principle of participaton is articulated in Mater et Magistra as follows:

D) The pope writes: ―We, no less than our predecessors, are convinced that employees are justified

in wishing to participate in the activity of the industrial concerns for which they work. It is not,

of course, possible to lay down hard and fast rules, regarding the manner of such participation,

for this must depend upon prevailing conditions, which vary from firm to firm and are

frequently subject to rapid and substantial alteration. But we have no doubt as to the need for

giving workers an active part in the business of the company for which they work—be it a

private or a public one. Every effort must be made to ensure that the enterprise is indeed a true

human community, concerned about the needs, the activities, and the standing of each of its

members.‖ (91)

VI. Participation in the Family

A) Here,we can apply the same ideas

1) Indeed you should think of the right of all family members to participate in decision-

making. Some, of course, have greater responsibility, but all have a right to be heard.

2) In the Roman Catholic wedding ceremony when the nuptial blessing is given, I always

like to stress these words in the portion of that blessing that is directed to the groom, who

has just become a husband: ―May her husband put his trust in her and recognize that she

is his equal. . .‖

3) She is indeed his equal and has an equal right to participate in household and family

decision-making.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Can democracy work without participation?

2. Would you say that a citizen has a moral obligation to participate in the electoral process?

3. What can you do to extend and enhance participation in your personal spheres of influence?



Topic 5: The Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable

I. This lecture will focus on what is often called the preferential love for the poor. I like to call

it the Principle of Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable.

II. Putting the Needs of the Poor and Vulnerable First

A) The tradition of Catholic social thought keeps alive the story of the last judgment (Mt. 25:31-

46) and emphasizes the importance of putting the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

B) Recall Matthew 25: ―When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he

will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will

separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place

the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.‖

C) And the gospel account goes on to explain that those on the right will hear their Lord say,

―Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave

me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for

me, in prison and you visited me.‖

D) And you will recall that the Gospel story has those who hear these words say in reply: ―Lord,

when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see

you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in

prison, and visit you?‘

E) And the king will say to them in reply: ‗Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these

least brothers [or sisters] of mine, you did for me.‖

F) And, of course, if you didn‘t do it for the needy ones, the poor and vulnerable, you did not do it

for Him.

G) There‘s a lesson there waiting to bother you whenever you refuse a beggar, ignore the ill, or

forget the prisoner. Jesus intended it that way. He wanted to bother us. He wanted to stir up

within us something resembling a social conscience.

III. Our Church Teaches a Preferential Love for the Poor

A) Why is this so?

1) Because the common good--the good of society as a whole--requires it.

2) The opposite of rich and powerful is poor and powerless. If the good of all, the common

good, is to prevail, preferential protection must move toward those affected adversely by

the absence of power and the presence of privation.



3) Otherwise the balance needed to keep society in one piece will be broken to the detriment

of the whole.

IV. Preferential Love

A) Any parent knows what preferential love means.

B) The vulnerable three-year-old child gets preference over his or her more self-sufficient older

sibling under certain circumstances.

C) Let the toddler run out into the path of an oncoming automobile and you‘ll see the older child

left to fend for him- or herself on the sidewalk as the parent of both rushes out to extend

preferential protection to the vulnerable child.

D) So the modern church is asking for nothing unusual, unfamiliar, or extraordinary when it calls

for preferential love (as I said, I like to think of it as preferential protection) of the poor and

vulnerable.

V. Prayer

A) We pray for peace. We pray for justice. We give and receive love as best we can. We pray

―Thy kingdom come‖ in every Mass. The kingdom is coming. We can count on that. The reign

of God, the dominion of God‘s will over all, is coming. We can‘t build the kingdom, we can

only lower the barriers that hinder its coming. The kingdom is God‘s to give when the time is

right. When will that be?

VI. The Kingdom is Coming

A) Recall the words of Jesus, recorded for you at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark (Mark

1:15): ―This is the time of fulfillment,‖ Jesus said, ―The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent,

therefore, and believe the Gospel.‖

B) Why has the kingdom been at hand now for over 2000 years but not yet grasped? Why is the

fulfillment of love, justice, and peace not yet in our midst? Because we have refused to

―repent,‖ to change our hearts, to accept the attitudinal turnaround that is required of anyone

who hears and really believes the Gospel.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Do you find it helpful to think of preferential ―protection‖ as a way of understanding what the church intends

by preferential ―love‖ for the poor?

2. Pope John Pau II once remarked that love for the poor should be preferential, but not exclusive. What do you

think he meant by that?

3. The kingdom of God is a reign that fosters love, justice and peace. Is it accurate to say we can ―build‖ the

kingdom, or better to say that we can build a city on earth that is more receptive to the coming of the

promised kingdom?



Topic 6: The Principle of Solidarity

I. We Are Our Brothers' and Sisters' Keepers

A) This principle of solidarity has global dimensions in an interdependent world.

1) It functions as a moral category that leads to choices that will promote and protect the

common good.

2) It translates the familiar ―love-your-neighbor‖ commandment to global dimensions in the

interdependent world that we all inhabit.

B) We are indeed our brothers‘ and sisters‘ keepers. We are one large and growing family.

II. The Vatican on Solidarity

A) The word ―solidarity‖ was used by Pope Paul VI in his 1967 encyclical letter on the

Development of Peoples—Populorum Progressio.

B) He wrote: ―There can be no progress toward complete development of individuals without the

simultaneous development of all humanity in the spirit of solidarity‖ #43.

C) Pope John Paul II picked up on that notion and translated ―solidarity‖ into a moral category and

gave it a prominent place in the tradition of Catholic social thought.

1) He, as you know, was a native of Poland. Karol Wojtyla was the Cardinal Archbishop of

Krakow before being elected pope in 1978.

D) Polish labor leader Lech Walesa.

1) He was associated with the Polish trade union Solidarnnosc –Solidarity—and as a young

man worked as an electrician in Gdansk shipyard.

2) A strike in Gadansk in 1980 led to the formation of the National Committee for Solidarity

and Walesa was elected chairman. It was the first independent labor union in a country

belonging to the Soviet bloc.

3) The union was suppressed by the Polish government bur re-emerged in 1989 and, with

strong support from the Polish Pope—moral and spiritual support--Walesa was

instrumental in the overthrow of Communism in the Soviet Union

E) In the 1980s the word SOLIDARITY in Polish lettering appeared on a long banner that ran

from the roof of the AFL-CIO Building on 16th Street in Washington, DC down to the

sidewalk.

F) Lane Kirkland was then president of the AFL-CIO; he threw the support of the American labor

movement behind the Polish organizing effort.



1) Kirkland was a graduate of Georgetown‘s School of Foreign Service. He was an

internationally-minded man. Some of his union members here at home thought he was

too internationally-minded, devoting more attention to the Solidarity movement in Poland

than to efforts to grow the labor movement here at home.

2) When Kirkland decided to retire and not run for re-election, the candidate he endorsed

was not elected to the presidency of the AFL-CIO; they wanted someone whom they

thought would focus on organizing here at home.

G) Walesa became Poland‘s first popularly elected president in 1990, having won the Nobel Peace

Prize in 1983 for his stand against Communism. Solidarity became a familiar term here in the

U.S.

H) Pope John Paul II laced it through various writings and did his best to bring it to the forefront

of consciousness among Catholics as a moral category.

1) Not only are we bound by a shared human nature with other humans around the world,

we are bound to assist them—bound by a moral obligation because we are by nature in

solidarity with them—to do what we can to advance human development in the backward

areas of the world. Solidarity requires it of us.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is the basis of our ―solidarity‖ with other persons around the world?

2. In what way is ―solidarity‖ a moral category?

3. What are the implications of ―solidarity‖ for public policy on issues like immigration and collective

bargaining?



Topic 7: The Principle of Stewardship

I. A Steward is a Manager, Not an Owner.

A) The idea of stewardship is grounded in the first verse of the 24th psalm: ―The earth is the

Lord‘s, and the fullness thereof.‖

1) God is the owner of the earth and of all that it contains.

2) The ―fullness thereof,‖ in the sense of what is grown or extracted from the earth and later

refined, shaped, or fabricated, also belongs to God.

B) You may hold a deed and legal title to your property, but the biblically based idea of

stewardship says that you own nothing absolutely.

1) You hold it in trust. You are a manager, not an owner.

2) And your trusteeship of treasure, time, and talent means that you have a responsibility to

use them wisely, for the glory of God and the service of others (as one way of expressing

your gratitude to God for what you have).

3) You are also obliged to use ―the earth‖ carefully with an eye to conservation, so that

future generations will not be deprived.

II. Stewardship as a Moral Category

A) You can be a good or bad steward, faithful or unfaithful, just or unjust in your management of

time, talent, and treasure.

1) This applies to all of us, in any circumstance, at any time of our respective lives.

III. Papal Social Teaching on Stewardship

A) ―If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation,‖ wrote Pope Benedict XVI is his January 1,

2010 World Peace Day message. That is a stewardship responsibility.

1) This echoed the January 1, 1972 World Peace Day statement of Pope Paul VI: ―If you

want peace, work for justice.‖ Paul VI made a related point in his 1967 encyclical

―Populorum Progressio‖ (On the Development of Peoples) when he remarked that

―development is the new word for peace.‖

B) Papal social teaching says that if we work to protect the environment, we are preparing the way

for peace. If we work for justice, peace will eventually follow.

1) Economic development is prerequisite to the attainment of world peace.

IV. Clear and Consistent Catholic Social Teaching



A) Pope Benedict‘s concern for the environment (―protect creation‖) is part of a worldwide

concern that marks the confluence of two great social forces—the social justice movement and

the environmental movement.

V. Stewardship in Politics

A) S mith Bagley

1) I was struck by a comment made by former President Bill Clinton in his eulogy at the

funeral of Smith Bagley, who died in early January 2010.

2) Mr. Bagley was a philanthropist, a convert to Catholicism, a Democratic Party fund-

raiser, and supporter of social programs to improve the lot of poor and disadvantaged

people.

3) Mr. Clinton said, ―References have been made several times today to the fact that Smith

was a convert to Catholicism. I‘d say that Smith was a Catholic before he ever became

one, because of his social conscience and his commitment to social justice.‖

B) And that made me think of something former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a talk

given to the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management in June 2009 at the

Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

1) Blair spoke, among other things, of his own conversion to Catholicism and first remarked

that you would have to be British to understand why he could never had made that move

while still prime minister.

2) But after leaving office he did make the move. ―One of the reasons I was drawn to the

Church was the work that it does caring for the sick, looking after the elderly, and

showing compassion for people for whom most people don‘t show compassion. . . . I

know the help that our Church gives in the work that is done in some of the poorest parts

of Africa in pursuit of justice, and indeed life for people who otherwise are going to die

as a result of famine or conflict or disease.‖

VI. Protecting the Poor and Promoting Social Justice

A) Catholics can take pride in this respect for the Catholic commitment to protect the poor and

promote social justice.

B) Catholics have to realize that their great tradition of social justice is at risk if it fails to connect

in the policy arena worldwide with the great social issues of our day—climate change , poverty,

unemployment, economic development, hunger, disease, the life issues, refugee movements,

family instability, education, and many more.

VII. The Goal of Peace

A) If we want peace (and who doesn‘t?), we must deal with all these issues.

B) Pope Benedict seems to think that environmental protection would be a good place to start.



C) Take an intellectual or practical walk down that path and you will meet all the other issues

along the way.

D) ―It is becoming more and more evident,‖ said Benedict in his New Year‘s Day message, ―that

the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our life-style and the

prevailing models of consumption and production . . . . We can no longer do without a real

change of outlook which will result in new life-styles.‖



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What are the practical implications of the distinction between ownership and stewardship?

2. Relative to material creation, how far does any one person‘s stewardship responsibilities extend?

3. It is sometimes said that ―stewardship‖ should govern our management of time, talent, and treasure. Do you

accept t his principle? If so, what implications does it have for you personally and your family?



Topic 8: The Principle of Subsidiarity

I. The Meaning of Subsidiarity

A) Whenever you hear the prefix ―sub,‖ you think of down, lower, below t he surface—subway,

for example.

B) A subsidy is usually thought of in financial terms; it represents assistance, a gift, a grant place

under a person or project to provide needed support.

C) Well, subsidiarity suggests a lower level; it connotes support from below.

II. Organizational Subsidiarity

A) Applied to organizational life, the principle of subsidiarity means that no decision should e

taken at a higher level in the organization that can be taken as efficiently and effectively at a

lower level.

B) This is a principle that keeps government in its proper place when it comes to deciding and

doing what best serves the common good.

C) Notice that this principle works in both directions.

1) In some cases, decisions and actions must be taken at the top because there simply is not

the capacity at lower levels to decide or do those things that need doing effectively and

efficiently.

2) At other times, it is just the reverse; justice requires that deciding and doing belong at a

lower level if the dignity of individual members of society is not to be ignored and

walked over, so to speak, by mindless people in possession of power. This is a principle

that keeps government in its proper place.

III. The Papacy on Subsidiarity

A) To explain subsidiarity, here are words from Pius XI‘s famous encyclical Quadragesimo Anno

(On Reconstruction of the Social Order), issued in 1931, forty years after Rerum Novarum:

1) As history abundantly proves, it is true that on account of changed conditions many

things which were done by small associations in former times cannot be done now save

by large associations. Still, that most weighty principle [the principle of subsidiarity],

which cannot be set aside or changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy:

Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their

own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at

the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher

association what lesser and subordinate associations can do. For every social activity

ought of its very nature furnish help [subsidium] to the members of the body social, and

never destroy and absorb them. #79



IV. Subsidiarity in Politics and Government

A) The state‘s job is to preserve the peace, promote justice, and protect the common good.

B) Individuals and private organizations are also expected to contribute to peace, justice, and the

common good, but sometimes the problems are so large and the threats so great, only the state

can do the job.

C) Those who say today, for example, that the care of economic casualties and the creation of jobs

should be "left to government," risk violating the principle of subsidiarity, which would allow

neither decisions nor actions at a higher level of organization that could be taken just as

effectively and efficiently at a lower level.

1) This principle would push decision making down to lower levels. But sometimes

government must act in the interest of the common good. There will be instances, and

the economic crisis that began in 2008 is surely one of them, when government must take

action if the crisis is to be addressed properly and effectively.

V. Subsidiarity in the Workplace

A) The principle of subsidiarity should also apply in private sector organizations, in ordinary

workplaces.

1) This ties in with the principle of participation and, as is so often the case, is reducible to

the principle of human dignity.

2) Individuals are not to be ground under by impersonal, anonymous decision makers at

higher levels in the organization.

VI. Subsidiarity in Business

A) The principle of subsidiarity keeps the door wide open for the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Creative thinking and prudent risk-taking are expected at lower levels if our economic engines

are to generate jobs and income for working people. The notion of subsidiarity, along with the

principle of solidarity, introduces a moral dimension into all of this –a sense of obligation to do

something to advance the common good. Entrepreneurship is, or certainly should be, ethical

activity, Government should encourage it. Business and government should be talking ethics

when they discuss job creation; they ought to be talking the principle of Catholic social

thought!

VII. The Moral Obligations on Elected Officials and Corporate Executives:

A) keep talking to one another,

B) shed ideological prejudices about regulation and freedom relative to markets and trade;

C) trace the origins of the ideas that underlie the industries the executives represent (Motorola,

Comcast, Honeywell, DuPont, Eli Lilly, Google, to name just a few);

D) locate the origins of the capital (the dollars) that brought those ides to life in corporate form;



E) examine the justice of the relationships (labor relations) between owners and employees whose

interaction produced the goods and services that found their way to market;

F) distinguish between investors who want not only to enrich themselves but to see growth in

employment as well as products and services, and speculators who make self-interested bets to

advance their own economic security as opposed to generating jobs and income for others;

G) analyze the distinction between a true investor and an opportunistic speculator in order to

determine the right incentives to encourage those who can to play the indispensable role of

providing the needed capital, as well as providing the quality education that makes economic

progress possible.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What does it mean to say that the principle of subsidiarity keeps government in its place?

2. How do attentive listening and a commitment to accountability relate to subsidiarity?

3. Is there a proper role for ―Big Government‖?



Topic 9: The Principle of Human Equality

I. Justice and Equality

A) Justice means treating equals equally; giving to each person his or her due; being fair.

B) The great tradition of Catholic social teaching provides additional ideas of justice in the form of

principles.

II. Images of Justice

A) Images can help one gain an understanding of justice. There is, for instance, the image the

prophet Amos employed to communicate the idea of justice. Listen to the prophet Amos (7:7-

9):

B) Then the Lord God showed me this: he was standing by a wall, plummet in hand. The Lord

asked me, ―What do you see, Amos?‖ And when I answered, ―A plummet,‖ the Lord said:

1) See, I will lay the plummet

In the midst of my people Israel;

I will forgive them no longer.

The high places of Isaac shall be laid waste,

And the sanctuaries of Israel made desolate;

I will attack the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

C) This is the famous image of the plumb bob.

1) You sometimes see them in little holsters on the hips of surveyors.

2) Although new technology means that they are used less frequently now, they are

employed by surveyors in staking out the lines and boundaries of new roads and other

construction projects.

3) The ―plummet‖ or, as we call it today, the plumb-bob, drops directly down from the

surveyor‘s fingers; it is a pointed, cone-like metal weight that seeks the earth‘s center.

4) The string from the plumb bob to the fingers holding it creates a vertical line—a plumb

line--to be seen in the cross hairs of the surveyor‘s instrument, the transit.

D) Judgment of Israel

1) Israel is going to be measured for its uprightness, its justice, says the Lord, through the

voice of Amos.



2) If the nation is not upright, if it is ―out of plumb,‖ as builders would say, it will surely

collapse.

3) Think for a moment of how we borrow from the vocabulary of the building trades to

communicate an idea of justice—―on the level,‖ ―fair and square,‖ ―up and up,‖ ―four

square.‖

4) An unjust society will fall just as surely as will a wall under construction that is not

straight, that is ―out of plumb.‖

E) By far the best image of justice for purposes of communicating an understanding of justice is

the familiar image of two trays in balance on a scale. You see that image everywhere.

1) When the scales are even, justice prevails.

2) When an unfair advantage is taken, it shows through as a downside gain taken at the

expense of the upside loss.

3) Compensatory (pensa is the Latin word for weights) action is called for; the weights must

be rearranged so as to bring the trays back into balance, into a state of justice.

F) The Image of the Scales of Justice for Purposes of Social Analysis

1) If I pick your pocket (a simple one-on-one example of injustice), my downside gain is

taken at the expense of your upside loss. To make things right again, I‘ve got to get that

wallet back where it belongs—on your tray.

2) Now think of other imbalances from the perspective of social justice, still employing the

framework of the scales of justice.

(a) Look at the differences in life expectancy between African American children and

their white contemporaries in the U.S.

(b) Compare educational attainments or income distributions between selected groups.

(c) Think of compensation received in the workplace by men and women doing

essentially the same work

(d) Consider daily caloric intake in the developed over against the less developed

economies of the world.

(e) Look at the balance (or imbalance) of trade between rich nations and poor.

G) In every case the question is the same: Is one tray‘s favored downside weight taken at the

expense of deprivation on the other tray?

1) There must, of course, be some relatedness if the analysis is to conclude that corrective

action is required in the name of justice.

2) The relatedness between a pickpocket and his or her victim is clear.



3) Not so clear is the relationship between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups in the

other comparisons I just made.

(a) To the extent that there is an identifiable relationship between the two, then you can

begin to look for evidence that one side‘s gain has indeed been taken (and is still

being enjoyed) because of the other side‘s loss.

(b) There is a clear causal connection and justice calls for remedial action.

(c) It might be established, for instance, that the imbalance is the result of prejudice,

exploitation, greed, or abuse of power.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How would you distinguish justice from vengeance?

2. In the face of injustice, when and of whom would compensatory action be required?

3. How would you explain the notion of justice to a child?



Topic 10: The Principle of the Common Good

I. Meaning of the Common Good

A) The principle of the Common Good is a justice-related idea, one that needs more attention in

times of social injustice and inequality.

B) Papal Opinion on the Common Good

1) In its Pastoral Constitution on The Church in the Modern World ( No.26), the Second

Vatican Council described the common good as ―the sum of those conditions of social

life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and

ready access to their own fulfillment.‖

2) It is not the sum of all the individual goods, nor is it a utilitarian kind of greatest good for

the greatest number of people.

3) It involves rather a conscious sense of respect for all persons, an acknowledgment of the

basic human dignity of everyone, and a commitment to work for the promotion of

conditions in society that encourage the development of each person‘s human potential.

C) The Common Good and Solidarity

1) This idea is related to the principle of solidarity, the notion that we are, by virtue of our

common human nature, connected to one another, part of the one human family.

2) The principle of solidarity functions as a moral category that leads to choices that will

promote and protect the common good.

3) We are, indeed, our brothers‘ and sisters‘ keepers‘ and we are obligated to act

accordingly.

4) The fact that millions of Americans are not covered by any form of health insurance is an

issue to be considered as an assault on the common good, a blow to our sense of

solidarity, and that issue is, of course, at the center of our current public policy debate

about healthcare finance reform.

II. Images of the Common Good

A) An image that helps the individual, self-interested mind wrap itself around the notions of

solidarity and common good is the image of the old-fashioned inner tube and a rubber tire.

1) The wholeness and roundness of the tire suggests the oneness of society. Hold on to that

image; it applies today to tires manufactured with the latest technology long after the

inner tubes fell out of fashion.

2) You may remember plunking yourself in an inner tube used as a flotation device in a

swimming pool or on a lake when you were a child.



3) In any case, the inner tube‘s potential for wear and tear—the potential for a blowout that

can flatten the entire tire (remember the rubber patches on those tubes?)—serves to

remind that it is in the interest of the whole tire that attention be paid to a small section in

need of a plug or patch.

4) Promotion of the common good protects the ultimate good of the individual.

B) Let that imagery go to work to persuade you of the oneness of society (the whole tire) and the

importance to the whole of being attentive to one small area of weakness and vulnerability.

III. The Common Good in America

A) The common good is the sum total of social conditions that foster the full development of

human potential.

B) Now think about the condition of family life in America (and around the world)

1) what about the condition of human dignity? Education? Housing? Health care,

Employment? Peace? Overall security?

2) All of these social conditions relate to the common good.

C) The "Common Good" is a catch-all phrase that describes an environment that is supportive of

the development of human potential while safeguarding the community against individual

excesses.

D) It looks to the general good, to the good of the many over against the interests of the one or

very few.

E) In the words of Alfred Lord Tennyson, we should be asking ourselves, "Ah! When will all

men's good/ Be each man's rule, and universal Peace/ Lie like a shaft of light across the land?"

IV. Losing a Sense of the Common Good

A) We are losing a sense of working together to achieve common goals and protect the common

good.

B) Behind that loss is a reluctance to identify and articulate deeply-held values.

C) If, for example, the principle of human dignity is understood, accepted as a value, internalized

and permitted to function as a prompter of personal choice, the person thus prompted will

defend human life and dignity wherever and whenever it is under assault.

D) Look around the workplace and the larger community for assaults on human dignity.

1) Try to get behind the unemployment statistics.

2) Look at urban decay.

3) Examine the drug culture and its economic underpinnings.



4) Consider the neglected elderly.

5) Ask about the physical settings within which low-income children seek both education

and recreation.

6) How about those who have no health insurance?

7) How do any or all of these social conditions relate to the common good?

V. Conclusion

A) This much is sure: A better understanding of the common good will lead to improved social

conditions not only in the U.S. but around the world, and thus to fuller development of human

potential.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Can you put in writing a one-sentence summary of the meaning of the common good?

2. Granted the importance of a shared commitment to the common good for the smooth functioning of society,

what then can be said of the importance of individual autonomy and personal resourcefulness?

3. In what way can it be said that the proper role of government is to promote and protect the common good?



Topic 11: The Principle of Association

I. Meaning of the Principle of Association

A) This lecture is devoted to a discussion of the principle of association—an important idea in the

tradition of Catholic social thought.

B) To be clear, I‘m not interested here in any psychological theories of association, free

association of ideas, or anything along those lines.

C) This is about people connecting up with other people.

II. Association and the Family

A) We Catholics hold that the centerpiece of society is the family; family stability must always be

protected and never undermined.

B) By association with others--in families and in other social institutions that foster growth,

protect dignity and promote the common good--¬human persons achieve their fulfillment.

III. Understanding Association

A) Consider for a moment the word ―socius,‖ it is Latin for ―friend.‖ See it there in the middle of

the word ―association.‖

B) See it as well in the word we use so often: ―society.‖

1) In order to develop as persons, in order to live full human lives, we need friends, we

need associates; we cannot go it alone.

2) We are social beings. Indeed we were never meant to go it alone.

3) And in order to get where we need to go, want to go, have a right to go as human beings,

we have to connect with others.

4) Our road to progress is sometimes blocked by what appear to be insurmountable forces.

5) To overcome those forces—especially when they are human oppositional forces—we

have to team up, organize, bond together; thus bound together we can remain committed

to non-violence and still make progress.

IV. Association in the Workplace

A) The church recognizes and respects that right to organize in the workplace—to form unions in

order to negotiate wages and working conditions.

B) That recognition comes under the broader banner of association which covers a wider swath of

human activity than just the workplace, as important as that is.

V. Association and Social Relationships



A) Catholic social thought sees the person as not only sacred but also social.

B) Hence, official Catholic social teaching views social relationships in the economic and

political orders, in law and in both corporate and public policy, as directly affecting human

dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community.

VI. Work and Family

A) The centerpiece of society is the family; family stability must always be protected and never

undermined.

B) By association with others--in families and in other social institutions that foster growth,

protect dignity, and promote the common good--human persons achieve their fulfillment.

C) Integrating this principle into education for leadership in later life means encouraging a student

to look within, to his or her future success in balancing work and family, as well as looking

outward to the impact of business and professional decisions on the family life of workers,

customers and other stakeholders.

VII. “What is a family?”

A) This questino is making the rounds today in the public policy arena.

B) The Catholic tradition has an unambiguous answer to this question.

1) It will speak against same-sex marriage and can do that on firm, non-prejudicial, even

non-judgmental grounds.

2) However, to deny human persons who are also homosexual their reasonable and genuine

human rights is quite another matter and, in this area of discussion and debate, the

Catholic social principle of human dignity must never be ignored.

VIII. Association and Organization

A) Central to the tradition of modern Catholic social thought is ―the right to organize,‖ the right to

form unions---associations of workers---to protect the dignity of workers.

B) The principle of association has a special place in the tradition of Catholic social thought. I

place this building block last on my list of ten not in any way to diminish its importance, but

only to emphasize that it is one of them and all ten have to be understood, appreciated, and

integrated into the value system that Catholics carry with them into the culture clash that awaits

us in what commentators all too facilely call ―the real world.‖

C) It is the only world we have and it is going to be a far better world to the extent that we can

associate with one another, become friends with one another, unite with one another for the

pursuit of objectives and goals that are themselves ordered toward the common good.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What does it mean to say, as the Church does, that the human person is both sacred and social?

2. List any five ―associations‖ you can think of and explain how they contribute to the development of personal

human potential.

3. How does collective bargaining in the workplace relate to the principle of association?



Topic 12: Forward in a Great Tradition

I. Looking Ahead

A) This final lecture in is intended less as a summary and more of a forward look.

B) Where is the tradition of Catholic Social Thought going?

1) It will always be rooted in a commitment to the recognition and protection of human

dignity.

2) It will continue to speak to issues of human life; it will encourage participation in

decisions that affect human welfare. It will never abandon the poor.

3) It will remind believers of the implications of the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity,

and stewardship in their lives.

4) It will never lose sight of the importance of promoting and protecting justice in the

world, as it continues to promote the common good and foster various forms of

association that are essential to the full social development of the human person.

5) In other words, the principles of Catholic social thought will continue to serve as

building blocks for a social justice agenda into the unknown future.

C) Issues for the Future

1) There are several issues that have received insufficient attention in the past—for

example, racism, war and peace, and the environment—and you can be sure you will be

hearing more about these as the Catholic mind wraps itself around social concerns in the

future.

II. The Just War Theory

A) There has, of course, been a long tradition of the so-called just war theory.

B) The technology of warfare has changed so dramatically and, I would say, perilously since

August of 1945 when the United States used atomic power against the Japanese people and

thus brought World War II to a morally ambiguous close—we simply did not know the

implications of the uses of nuclear weapons, and we seem to be confused about the moral

justification of the use of force in cases that are not clearly instances of self defense.

C) Criteria for a just war are complicated

1) Many are of the opinion that the destructive force of nuclear and chemical weapons is

now so great there is simply no moral justification to use them under any circumstances.

2) The tradition will be speaking more directly to that issue in the future.

III. Environmental Issues



A) These are now being seen as social justice issues.

B) The tradition must address them more specifically with the support, one would hope, of solid

scientific evidence.

IV. The Future of the Papacy and the Tradition

A) If anyone in the Vatican were to seek my advice on what themes I would recommend for

extended treatment in a social encyclical, I would respond by suggesting that two themes,

among many that are worthy of treatment, are water and oil.

1) Water

(a) I‘ve often thought that water offers imagery and a reality that can trigger sacramental

and theological reflection as well as scientific, technological, and geopolitical

considerations that can be discussed in the language of social justice and analyzed

within the categories of Catholic social thought.

2) Oil

(a) The same might be said of oil—essential, of course, for the administration of some

sacraments and familiar also as a geopolitical, social justice reality.

V. Why Water Is So Vitally Important

A) The present water crisis is a challenge that must be met by religious conviction (we are our

brothers‘ and sisters‘ keepers), moral action (it would be morally wrong to stand by and do

nothing), scientific and engineering ingenuity (we have the knowledge and we know how to

apply it), diplomacy (solving a problem of international magnitude requires international

cooperation), and political will (we—leaders and led--must choose to act and pay in order to

provide clean water).

B) The present issue of insufficient clean water on our planet requires each one of us to be aware

of the nature of the water crisis, knowledgeable of the ways in which clean water can be made

safely and securely available to all human beings, and both sparing in our use and creative in

our discovery of water supplies (think of the potential and expense of desalination).

C) The dimensions of the present crisis are enormous: Nearly 900 million people in the world have

no access to clean water and 2.5 billion people have no safe way to dispose of human waste

(hence the need for civil and sanitary engineering). Dirty water and lack of proper hygiene kill

3.3 million people around the world annually (hence the need for education and medical care).

D) There is no way that issues like climate change, energy, and world hunger can be separated

from water. As mountain glaciers diminish as a result of global warming in Asia, threats of

drought increase as does the threat of hydroelectricity shortages in the dry seasons and

devastating floods during monsoons.

E) Just think of the impact and relevance a papal encyclical on water might have in the world

today. The same can be said for a similarly theologically reflective and politically practical



encyclical on oil, or food, or the air we breathe. Catholic social thought is moving forward

along these lines; this kind of thinking will lead the human community, by God‘s grace, to a

better future here on earth.



REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What are the issues of contemporary social concern that you would like to see addressed in a papal social

encyclical?

2. Where is the line between Catholic Social Thought and direct political action?

3. Given the destructive power of current weapons technology, is a just was possible?



Suggested Readings

Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage, David J. O‘Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, eds.

(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995).

Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations, Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M.,

editor, (Washington, CD: Georgetown University Press, 2004).

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Libreria

Editrice Vaticana (Washington, DC: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Publishing, 2005

Claims in Conflict: Retrieving and Renewing the Catholic Human Rights Tradition, David Hollenbach,

S.J. (Paulist Press 1979)

Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration on Religious Freedom, Second Vatican Council.

Silence, Shushaku Endo, tr. William Johnston (Taplinger Publishing Coo, 1980)

Resolution on Abortion, November 7, 1989, by the then National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now

the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Noonan, John T, ed., The Morality of Abortion: Legal and Historical Perspectives, Harvard University

Press, 1970.

Willkie, John and Barbara, Abortion: Questions and Answers, Hayes Publishing Co., 1985.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops),

Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions-¬Reflections of the U.S. Catholic

Bishops, 1998.

Office of Social Justice, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, ―Key Principles of Catholic Social

Teaching‖ www.osjspm.org

William J. Byron, S.J., ―Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching,‖ America, Vol 179, No. 13

(October 31, 1998), 9-12.

―The Church, the Kingdom of God, and the renewal of social relations,‖ in the Compendium of the

Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (Washington, DC: United States

Catholic Conference, 2005), 23-24.

Jack Jezreel, ―Why the Preferential Option for the Poor is not Optional,‖ U.S. Catholic, November,

1997.

Donal Dorr, Option for the Poor: A Hundred Years of Vatican Social Teaching, Orbis, 1983.

http://www.osjspm.org/



Mary Giblin, ―What Catholics Should Know about Solidarity,‖ Catholic Update, June, 2007.

―Catholic Social Teaching: Principle of Solidarity,‖ Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

www.misacor.usa.org/index

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