408. What is involved in the common good?
(Comp 408) The common good involves:
respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person, the
development of the spiritual and temporal goods of persons and society, and the
peace and security of all.
“In brief”
(CCC 1925) The common good consists of three essential
elements: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person;
prosperity, or the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of society;
the peace and security of the group and of its members.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1907) First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the
name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the
fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit
each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good
resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms
indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as "the
right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard… privacy,
and rightful freedom also in matters of religion" (GS 26 § 2). (CCC 1908)
Second, the common good requires the social
well-being and development of the
group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is
the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good,
between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each
what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education
and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on
(Cf. GS 26 § 2).
Reflection
(CCC 1909) Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and
security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by
morally acceptable means the security
of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal
and collective defence. (CCC 2304) Respect for and development of human life
require peace. Peace is not merely
the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers
between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without safeguarding the
goods of persons, free communication among men, respect for the dignity of
persons and peoples, and the assiduous practice of fraternity. Peace is
"the tranquillity of order" (St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 19, 13, 1: PL 41, 640). Peace is the work of justice
and the effect of charity (Cf. Isa
32:17; cf. GS 78 §§ 1-2).
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