Catholic social teaching is
a central and essential element of our faith. Its roots are in the Hebrew
prophets who announced God's special love for the poor and called God's people
to a covenant of love and justice. It is a teaching founded on the life and
words of Jesus Christ, who came "to bring glad tidings to the poor . . .
liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind"(Lk 4:18-19), and
who identified himself with "the least of these," the hungry and the
stranger (cf. Mt 25:45). Catholic social teaching is built on a commitment to
the poor. This commitment arises from our experiences of Christ in the
eucharist.
As the Catechism of the
Catholic Church explains, "To receive in truth the Body and Blood of
Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his
brethren" (no. 1397).
Catholic social teaching
emerges from the truth of what God has revealed to us about himself. We believe
in the triune God whose very nature is communal and social. God the Father
sends his only Son Jesus Christ and shares the Holy Spirit as his gift of love.
God reveals himself to us as one who is not alone, but rather as one who is
relational, one who is Trinity. Therefore, we who are made in God's image share
this communal, social nature. We are called to reach out and to build
relationships of love and justice.
Catholic social teaching is
based on and inseparable from our understanding of human life and human
dignity. 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. Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has
inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with that dignity. Human
dignity comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment.
Our commitment to the
Catholic social mission must be rooted in and strengthened by our spiritual
lives. In our relationship with God we experience the conversion of heart that
is necessary to truly love one another as God has loved us.
from Catholic Social
Teaching: Challenges and Directions.
RESOURCES ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
