Foundations of Catholic Social Teaching and Human Dignity
Evolution of the Church's Social Doctrine
1) The Church's social doctrine was not designed from the outset as an organic system but has formed over the course of time through numerous interventions of the Magisterium on social issues. This genesis explains the fact that there could be some shifts regarding the nature, method, and epistemological structure of the Church's social doctrine. Option 1
Foundations in Revelation and Reason
2) Social doctrine finds its essential foundation in biblical revelation and the Tradition of the Church. From this source, which comes from above, one receives the inspiration and light to understand, evaluate, and guide human experience and history. However, the faith that welcomes God's word and puts it into practice effectively interacts with reason. The understanding of faith, particularly faith-oriented practice, is structured by reason and utilizes all the contributions it offers. Also, social doctrine, as applied to the knowledge of the contingency and historicity of praxis, combines both "Fides et Ratio" and is an eloquent expression of this fruitful relationship. Option 1
Core Attributes and Characteristics
3)
- 1) Universal
- 2) Inviolable
- 3) Universal
- 4) Inviolable
- 5) Inherent
- 6) Inalienable
Fundamental Principles and Rights
4)
- 1) First principle
- 2) Peculiar
- 3) Natural right
- 4) Original
- 5) Priority
- 6) Social duty
Structural Logic and Effectiveness
6)
- 1) Intrinsic priority
- 2) Efficient cause
- 3) Complementarity
- 4) Intrinsic logic
- 5) Effectiveness
- 6) Imposing
Values and Human Vocation
7)
- 1) Right
- 2) Progress
- 3) Justice
- 4) Moral sense
- 5) Reciprocal service
- 6) Vocation
The Centrality of Human Dignity
8) Man, understood in his concrete historical reality, represents the heart and soul of Catholic social teaching. The whole social doctrine is developed, in fact, from the principle that affirms the inviolable dignity of the human person. Through the many expressions of this awareness, the Church has sought, above all, to protect human dignity against any attempt to propose reductive and distorted images, and has also repeatedly denounced its many violations. History shows that in the fabric of social relations, some of the largest human capabilities emerge, but there are also nested the most heinous abuses of their dignity. Option 1
The Moral Exercise of Freedom
9) In the exercise of freedom, one engages in acts that are morally good; these build both the individual and society when they obey the truth—that is, when one does not intend to be the creator and absolute master of ethical standards. Freedom, in fact, "is not rooted absolute and unconditional in itself, but in the existence in which it is found and to which it accounts, representing at the same time a limitation and a possibility." It is the freedom of a child, or a donated freedom that has to be accepted as a seed and cultivated responsibly. Otherwise, freedom dies and destroys both the person and society. Option 1
Economic and Defensive Considerations
10)
- 1) Self-defense
- 2) Accumulation
- 3) Generalized
- 4) Justified
- 5) Real economic
- 6) Deterrence