Core Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

Social Justice: Definition and Explanation

Definition: Social justice is the moral and social principle that seeks to ensure fair access for all people and groups to the goods, opportunities, and rights necessary for human dignity.

Explanation: It goes beyond material equality; it aims at equity, solidarity, and respect for human dignity.

It ensures that everyone can participate in the economic, political, and social life of the community.

In Catholic Social Teaching, it is rooted in love of neighbor and the dignity of the human person, not in ideology.

The Principle of Subsidiarity

Definition: A principle that states a higher authority should not interfere in what a lower level can accomplish by itself, but should support (subsidium) when necessary.

Main Features of Subsidiarity

• Autonomy: Lower communities have the right to self-govern.
• Help, not control: Higher authorities should assist, not replace.
• Proportionality: Intervention must be limited and temporary.
• Decentralization: Encourages local initiative and responsibility.

The Common Good

Definition: The common good is the sum of social conditions that allow individuals and groups to reach their full human potential more easily and fully.

Characteristics of the Common Good

• Universality: It belongs to everyone, not just to some.
• Integral: Includes material, moral, and spiritual dimensions.
• Human-centered: Ordered to human fulfillment.
• Shared responsibility: Everyone must work toward it.

Examples: Peace, justice, education, public health, and security.

What the Social Doctrine of the Church Is NOT

1. It is not a political ideology (neither left nor right).
2. It is not an economic system or a fixed model of governance.
3. It is not a party program, but a moral compass.
4. It does not replace human action but guides it ethically.
5. It does not impose, but proposes principles based on truth, justice, and love.

The Human Person

Definition: The human person is a rational and free being, created in the image and likeness of God, possessing inherent dignity.

Attributes of the Human Person

• Dignity: Intrinsic and inalienable—never lost.
• Freedom: Capacity for self-determination and moral choice.
• Sociability: Naturally called to live with others.
• Transcendence: Oriented toward God and eternal truth.
• Unity: Both body and soul form one personal being.

Social Doctrine of the Church (SDC)

Definition: The SDC is the body of Catholic teaching that offers moral and spiritual principles to guide human behavior in social, economic, and political life.

Characteristics of the SDC

• Theological: Based on Revelation and the dignity of the person.
• Moral: Provides ethical guidance, not technical solutions.
• Universal: Applies to all peoples and cultures.
• Dynamic: Evolves with historical and social contexts.
• Practical: Aims to transform society according to the Gospel.

Organic Notion of Society

Vertical Dimension

Refers to the ordered hierarchy of responsibilities and authority within society (family, municipality, state, etc.). It is not about domination, but about ordered service.

Horizontal Dimension

Refers to solidarity and cooperation among the various social groups or sectors. All are equal in dignity and contribute differently to the common good.