Matthew 24, 23-28 + CSDC and CV    

(CV 37b) Today that would be more difficult, given that economic activity is no longer circumscribed within territorial limits, while the authority of governments continues to be principally local. Hence the canons of justice must be respected from the outset, as the economic process unfolds, and not just afterwards or incidentally. Space also needs to be created within the market for economic activity carried out by subjects who freely choose to act according to principles other than those of pure profit, without sacrificing the production of economic value in the process. The many economic entities that draw their origin from religious and lay initiatives demonstrate that this is concretely possible.

Church's social doctrine: the mystery and dignity of human beings

CSDC 124. Prizing highly the marvellous biblical message, the Church's social doctrine stops to dwell above all on the principal and indispensable dimensions of the human person. Thus it is able to grasp the most significant facets of the mystery and dignity of human beings. In the past there has been no lack of various reductionist conceptions of the human person, many of which are still dramatically present on the stage of modern history. These are ideological in character or are simply the result of widespread forms of custom or thought concerning mankind, human life and human destiny. The common denominator among these is the attempt to make the image of man unclear by emphasizing only one of his characteristics at the expense of all the others[233].  

  

Notes: [233] Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 26-39: AAS 63 (1971), 420-428.

(Mt 24, 23-28) The question of truth is essential for culture

[23] If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. [24] False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect. [25] Behold, I have told it to you beforehand. [26] So if they say to you, 'He is in the desert,' do not go out there; if they say, 'He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. [27] For just as lightning comes from the east and is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. [28] Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

CSDC 558. The second challenge for Christian commitment concerns the content of culture, that is, truth. The question of truth is essential for culture because “it remains each man's duty to retain an understanding of the  whole human person in which the values of intellect, will, conscience and fraternity are pre-eminent”.[1169] A correct anthropology is the criterion for shedding light on and verifying every historical form of culture. The Christian commitment in the field of culture is opposed to all reductionistic and ideological perspectives of man and life. The dynamism of openness to the truth is guaranteed above all by the fact that “different cultures are basically different ways of facing the question of the meaning of personal existence”[1170]. 

  

Notes: [1169] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 61: AAS 58 (1966), 1082. [1170] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 24: AAS 83 (1991), 822.

[Initials and Abbreviations.- CSDC: Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church; -  SDC: Social Doctrine of the Church; - CV: Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth)]