Catholic Social Teaching has evolved through a rich tradition of documents written by popes, councils and bishops. To learn more about Catholic Social Teaching, it is important to read the documents themselves. See the list on the left side of this page as a starting point.

Catholic Social Teaching states that each and every person has value, are worthy of great respect and must be free from slavery, manipulation and exploitation. “Catholic social teaching believes that human beings, created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), have by their very existence an inherent value, worth, and distinction”. Life and Dignity of the Human Person. The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred. The tenets of Catholic social justice, which dovetail with America's dearest values, can replace the misguided and exhausted ideology of unfettered free market libertarianism, writes Basil Merenda. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99. Gambling, or gaming, is the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance. It thus belongs to the class of aleatory contracts which the gain or loss of the parties depends on an uncertain event.

By Basil L. Merenda • Posted November 24, 2020

Our country’s soul is troubled. The COVID pandemic, civil unrest, economic inequality, climate change and national uncertainty have exposed the glaring shortcomings in the ideology of laissez faire — unfettered free market — libertarianism of the Reagan Revolution which has dominated public policy for the last 40 years.

Its stark and strident principles of “survival of the fittest,” “greed is good,” and “trickle down” economics are diametrically opposed to Christian love and charity.

Even amid this crisis our country has an opportunity to experience, as Abraham Lincoln said, “a new birth of freedom” by replacing this misguided and exhausted ideology and tackling these serious problems with the century-old tenets of Catholic social justice, which are grounded in uplifting and inspiring values found in the eternal truths of sacred scripture, the Beatitudes and moral considerations.

Indeed, Catholic social justice principles are not mysterious, not parochial, not intolerant but are as American as motherhood and apple pie.

Catholic Social Teaching On Gambling Strategies

They include widely accepted values: protection of all human life; fair play in economic and social life; dignity of every person and their rights as workers and consumers; strong families and participation in neighborhood communities; charity for the poor and disadvantaged; active role for government to promote the general welfare; and ultimately, stewardship of God’s creation so we can pass on a vibrant and sustainable planet Earth for future generations.

In 1891, faced with the rise of a brutish and inequitable industrialized world economy, Pope Leo XIII used a papal encyclical, which is the most authoritative teaching a pope can issue, entitled Rerum Novarum to introduce the world to the teachings of Catholic social justice.

He proclaimed that the Catholic Church must always use its teaching authority to speak out on social issues with a particular preference for the poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Leo went on to recognize the rights of labor through trade unions and collective bargaining, and he rejected unrestricted capitalism and “Godless” communism-socialism, acknowledging that government is necessary for promoting justice through the protection of these rights.

Over the years Pope Leo XIII’s successors, including the ardent anti-communist pontiff from Poland, St. John Paul II, have developed and advanced these principles in a series of timely encyclicals that convincingly demonstrated how Catholic social teaching can be applied to the many economic and social problems faced by our country and the world at the time.

Coming on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis of the Great Recession, Pope Benedict XVI issued Caritas in Veritate, advocating for more, not less, governmental intervention in the economy as a way to rein in Wall Street and its high-risk financing and unbridled greed that directly caused the global financial meltdown.

Catholic Social Teaching On Gambling Articles

In 2015 Pope Francis applied Catholic social justice principles to climate change. Decrying the exploitation and destruction of the environment in his encyclical Laudato ‘Si, Francis called for “all people of the world” to develop accessible sources of renewable energy, so “swift and unified global action” can address the serious consequences of the existential threat to the planet posed by climate change, global warming and the lack of clean water and biodiversity.

On Oct. 3 of this year Pope Francis used his comprehensive and well-received encyclical Fratelli Tutti to apply the tenets of Catholic social teaching to the long list of woes our country has been experiencing. He condemned racism as a sin against God and noted the death penalty and war were unacceptable.

Francis then warned against selfishness in the economy and the marketplace and denounced the “dogma” of neoliberalism economics that resorts to “magic theories of spillover and trickle-down economics to solve society’s problems, including the pandemic” and prayerfully urged the entire world to work together on the COVID-19 pandemic, international politics and the dignity of women.

These Catholic-American values can lead to commonsense policy initiatives: 1) an increase in minimum wage to the more livable rate of $15 per-hour; 2) support for union card check to permit workers to more easily organize unions and protect their workplace rights; 3) guarantees that health care won’t be taken away from folks in the midst of a pandemic and neither would they be penalized for pre-existing conditions; 4) end racism in voting, criminal justice, health care and the economy; and 5) enact sensible climate policy to protect the planet.

Undeniably, Catholic social justice can restore social, economic and racial justice which have been under attack before our eyes.

In fact, folks of all faiths, religions and political registrations can embrace these principles, including the president-elect, Senate majority leader and speaker of the House, by just resolving to leave our children and grandchildren a more fair and equitable country and vibrant and life-sustaining planet Earth.

***

Basil L. Merenda is the beneficiary of a Catholic education from kindergarten to eighth grade, high school, undergraduate and graduate school, and law school. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Villanova University. He has spent almost his entire legal career practicing in the public service, law enforcement and union labor law.

Introduction

The basis for the theme of Human Dignity, the bedrock of Catholic Social Teaching, is that humans were created in the image and likeness of God. Regardless of any factors or reasons we can think of, individuals have an inherent and immeasurable worth and dignity; each human life is considered sacred. This theme is about our radical equality before God that leads us to think no less of somebody because they are from a different place or culture, because they believe something different to you, or because of their work or employment situation.

The principle of Human Dignity means that Catholic Social Teaching takes a strong position on issues around the start and end of life (like the death penalty and abortion) but it also has big consequences for everything in-between. For example it can effect how we think about how our society supports those with disabilities, how we address global inequality and the approach we take to civil rights issues. It is from this idea that all people have inherent dignity that the themes of ‘Preferential Option for the Poor’ and ‘Authentic Human Development’ develop within Catholic Social Teaching.

The idea that each life has value isn’t something Catholic Social Teaching has a monopoly on; it shares a lot in common with International Human Rights which are also universal, inviolable and inalienable. But Catholic Social Teaching differs slightly because of its basis. It grounds Human Dignity in the firm foundations of the Catholic Church’s traditions thought about the sanctity of creation as told in the story of our creation (Genesis) and God's incarnation (Gospels).

Read more about Human Dignity here

Human Dignity Quotes

'At stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator'
Saint John Paul II, Solicitude Rei Socialis

'For, by his Incarnation, he, the son of God, in a certain way united himself with each man'
Vatican II

'Dear friends, it is certainly necessary to give bread to the hungry – this is an act of justice. But there is also a deeper hunger, the hunger for a happiness that only God can satisfy, the hunger for dignity. There is neither real promotion of the common good nor real human development when there is ignorance of the fundamental pillars that govern a nation, its non-material goods: life, which is a gift of God, a value always to be protected and promoted; the family, the foundation of coexistence and a remedy against social fragmentation; integral education, which cannot be reduced to the mere transmission of information for purposes of generating profit; health, which must seek the integral well-being of the person, including the spiritual dimension, essential for human balance and healthy coexistence; security, in the conviction that violence can be overcome only by changing human hearts.'
Pope Francis

Catholic Hospital Serving the Common Good

Catholic Social Teachings Usccb

Sr. Xavaria, is a force to be reckoned with! an astute Franciscan sister with a bubbly personality and an infectious laugh. She is Matron of one of the largest hospitals in North Western Cameroon. Under her leadership, the team of Franciscan sisters and committed staff have provided quality health care at an affordable cost for..

One Woman’s Story

I am a Zambian girl by nationality and am in my late teens. I was trafficked from Zambia into the UK in early January 2007. I managed to escape from my trafficker around the end of February. I hated myself, the whole world and everyone in it. I thought I had nothing to live for..

Catholic Social Teaching On Gambling Addiction

Welcoming Asylum Seekers

Themes Of Catholic Social Teaching

“There are always too many of them. ‘Them’ are the fellows of whom there should be fewer – or better still none at all. And there are never enough of us. ‘Us’ are the folks of whom there should be more” (Zygmunt Bauman, Wasted Lives). ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’ (Jesus in..