Social Justice and the Catholic Church
Solidarity
- "Preferential option for the poor" is understood by God as a commitment to the poor
- Viewed as a principal of Catholic Social Teaching
- U.S bishops understand the principle as follows:
- We must keep in mind those who are poor and powerless
- The U.S bishops proposed three priorities in economic decision-making:
- Most modern political theories have a common point of departure: the individual and his or her instincts and drives to possess him or herself and material goods
- The individual's bond to a larger social whole is based on a tacit " a social contract" which obliges each citizen to abide by the social arrangement
- Historically, the motivation for compliance has mostly been fear of death or fear of chaos and unremitting confrontation
- Catholic social teaching says the individual goods ought to serve the common good
- Justice, not fear, is what binds us to this good
- Solidarity is the virtue that binds us to one another in the distribution of wealth
- This solidarity can be understood in its widest sense as a solidarity with God's love of creation
- It can also be seen as a solidarity with those who are near to us (family, community) and far away (all are children of God)
- Basic necessities of the poor are top priority
- Increasing active participation in economic life
- investment of wealth, talent, or human energy should be directed to the poor
[it is] an obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless...The "option for the poor," therefore, is not an adversarial slogan that pits one group or class against another. Rather it states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community...These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves. (#87-88)
I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man whom you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to b any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [self rule] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.
Gandhi believed poverty was the worst form of violence. He made it his mission to try and tackle poverty from all ends to restore human dignity and human rights to those who face societal exploitation. Gandhi gave this talisman in order for people to make decisions that would lead to the salvation of those who are poor and suffering
The social doctrine of the Church
Ownership of property
Prayer
Let us pray now for the strength to respond to the call for Justice in the World
and to love deeply in a complex world, and
where injustice is visible in so many places.
May we renew our commitment to respond to this call through our prayers
as well as our actions.
as we look at the world and the challenges it presents.
We pray that we are open to God’s grace and touched by the Spirit’s wisdom
as we reflect on our Church’s teachings on social and economic justice.
We pray that we move beyond fear to speak with compassionate courage
and to act with both conviction and humility.
Make us whole, O Lord, and help us know that our wholeness will endure only
through solidarity and engagement for the common good.
We pray this in your name, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
- Emphasis was placed on the right to own property
- Ownership of property came to be seen as an extension of owning a body, that's how important it was
- Today in our much more complex and technological society, you may no longer need a piece of property to survive, but we do need material goods
- In today's society the question is not so focused on private property but material goods in general
- However the popes have weighed in on the topic of private property and have come to the conclusion that "the right to private property is valid and necessary" but it is not an absolute right
In her social teaching , the church addresses these and other issues. References are provided to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
- The meaning of work has a religious and moral value (2427)
- The right to economic activity (2429, 2430)
- The responsibility of the state (2431)
- The responsibility of the business world (2432)
- Access to employment (2433)
- A just wage (2434)
- Legitimacy of a strike (2435)
- Obligations of rich nations (2437-2439)
- Direct aid to poor nations (2440)
- The right of nations to seek and find their potential (2440-2441)
- Love for the poor (2443-2449)
1. NEED
2. A JUST WAGE
"It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain unsatisfied..." ~Pope John Paul II
- Wages are about a contractual relationship
- A just wage falls under distributive justice
- "Each one has a right to procure what is required in order to live."
- It is the need that determines what the wage is
- A just wage fulfills the basic needs of human life
- The needs of one person are different than that of another
- Every human being has the right to a decent human life
- distribution of goods must provide a minimum standard of living
- Support given to those who need it must be enough to take care of fundamental human needs
- The earth first of all belongs to God the creator, and we are just stewards of it
- Therefore, all humans have the God given right to be sustained by the earth
- The ownership of property is therefore subject to a higher principal, namely, that the "goods of this world are originally meant for all"
- It means that private property has a social function justified "by the principal of the universal destiny of goods"
- The issue of the distribution of material goods, however, has not disappeared
- The concern today is not longer a national issue but a global issue
Modern Day Example
Proportional Equality
The Church has sought to live and act within different forms of government, voicing its descent whenever important values were threatened. The Catholic Church does not identify with any one type of government: whether liberal, democratic, communist, tribal or monarchical. The Catholic Church brings the gospel perspective of justice to bear on all political and economic systems. When it comes to social justice there can be no neutral point of view. Catholic social teaching stretching back to the nineteenth century provides us with principals of social justice to ground our reflection on this reality. Most of the social encyclicals of the recent popes, from 1891 to the present, can be understood as a response to Western democracies. The Church's teaching offer several bases for re-thinking social questions in terms of justice.
Pope Francis reminds Donald Trump not to forget the poor
If before God all are equal, should there not be more equality in salary for work done?
http://www.catholicregister.org/home/international/item/23576-pope-francis-reminds-donald-trump-not-to-forget-the-poor
" The most pressing question of our day concerns the relationship between economically advanced commonwealths and those that are in process of development".
Commutative justice is described as blind. Distributive justice is proportional. It asks, "What is a fair or just distribution of wealth or material goods?" There are four criteria used to measure the just distribution of economic goods, they include:
3. EFFORT & SKILL REQUIRED
4. Productivity
Unequal salaries is due to the different levels of effort and skill needed to do the work. In our economy wages are determined by a number of factors which include:
In current economies, the higher level of productivity is the reason for higher salaries. At an individual level, someone who makes a greater contribution will make a greater salary.
- power of the union
- success of the firm
- abundance of workers in a field
- popularity of the product
*Effort and skill must be rewarded proportionately*