Matthew 19, 13 + CSDC and CV

(CV 28c) Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away [67]. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fibre and makes people capable of mutual help. By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples can better understand the needs of poor ones, they can avoid employing huge economic and intellectual resources to satisfy the selfish desires of their own citizens, and instead, they can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual.

Notes: [67] Cf. Benedict XVI, Message for the 2007 World Day of Peace, 5.

Divini Redemptoris: a systematic criticism of communism, described as “intrinsically perverse”

CSDC 92c. With the Encyclical Letter Divini Redemptoris [158], on atheistic communism and Christian social doctrine, Pope Pius XI offered a systematic criticism of communism, describing it as “intrinsically perverse”[159], and indicated that the principal means for correcting the evils perpetratedby it could be found in the renewal of Christian life, the practice of evangelical charity, the fulfilment of the duties of justice at both the interpersonal and social levels in relation to the common good, and the institutionalization of professional and interprofessional groups.

Notes:  [158] The official Latin text can be found in AAS 29 (1937), 65-106. [159] Cf. Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Divini Redemptoris: AAS 29 (1937), 130.    

 (Mt 19, 13) The dignity and rights of children

 [13] Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them,

CSDC 244. The Church's social doctrine constantly points out the need to respect the dignity of children. “In the family, which is a community of persons, special attention must be devoted to the children by developing a profound esteem for their personal dignity, and a great respect and generous concern for their rights. This is true for every child, but it becomes all the more urgent the smaller the child is and the more it is in need of everything, when it is sick, suffering or handicapped”[554]. The rights of children must be legally protected within juridical systems. In the first place, it is necessary that the social value of childhood be publicly recognized in all countries: “No country on earth, no political system can think of its own future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human family”[555]. The first right of the child is to “be born in a real family”[556], a right that has not always been respected and that today is subject to new violations because of developments in genetic technology.

 Notes: [554] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 26: AAS 74 (1982), 111-112. [555] John Paul II, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (2 October 1979), 21: AAS 71 (1979), 1159; cf. John Paul II, Message to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the occasion of the World Summit for Children (22 September 1990): AAS 83 (1991), 358-361. [556] John Paul II, Address to the Committee of European Journalists for the Rights of the Child (13 January 1979): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 22 January 1979, p. 5.

[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)]