YOUCAT Question n. 438 - Why does the Catholic Church have her own social teaching?
(Youcat
answer) Because all men, as children of God, possess a unique dignity, the
Church with her social teaching is committed to defending and promoting this
human dignity for all men in the social sphere. She is not trying to preempt
the legitimate freedom of politics or of the economy. When human dignity is
violated in politics or economic practices, however, the Church must intervene.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2420)
The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, "when
the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires
it" (GS 76 § 5). In the moral order she bears a mission distinct from that
of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of
the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign Good, our ultimate
end. She strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and
in socio-economic relationships.
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) “The joy and hope, the grief and
anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted
in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of
Christ as well” (Second Vatican Council, GS). In her social teaching, the
Church makes this statement specific. And she asks: How can we take
responsibility for the well-being and the just treatment of all, even of non-
Christians? What is a just organization of human society, of political,
economic, and social institutions supposed to look like? In her commitment to
justice, the Church is guided by a love that emulates Christ’s love for
mankind.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2422)
The Church's social teaching comprises a body of doctrine, which is articulated
as the Church interprets events in the course of history, with the assistance
of the Holy Spirit, in the light of the whole of what has been revealed by
Jesus Christ (Cf. SRS 1; 41). This teaching can be more easily accepted by men
of good will, the more the faithful let themselves be guided by it. (CCC 2423)
The Church's social teaching proposes principles for reflection; it provides
criteria for judgment; it gives guidelines for action: Any system in which
social relationships are determined entirely by economic factors is contrary to
the nature of the human person and his acts (Cf. CA 24).
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