BasicElementsof CatholicSocialThought
CatholicChurchhasthe longestandbroadesttraditionof reflectionon the
complicationof revelationandtraditionfor humansociety.Thefour basicprinciples
which underpinthis body of thoughtare:
1.) Personalism
All thinkingaboutsocietybeginswith the notionof the inalienable,inviolable
valueof the humanperson.This musttranscendthe state,nation,tribe, gender,
race,andetc.Humanbeingsarealwaysendsin themselves
they canneverbe used
asmeans.Humanbeingshavean inherentdignity andareequalandthat equality
is their equality-in-dignityendowedby their immortalsoul.
A significantelementof the Catholicoppositionto fetal stemcell researchand
abortionis rootedin this principle.Thereis no Catholicoppositionto otherstem
cell research.
2.) The CommonGoodThe stresshereis on the structuresof communitybeginningwith the family.
Onecanonly grow into one's full potentialasa humanbeingthroughhuman
relations.We canneverbecomefully humanexceptin society.Thuswe mustlive
out our freedomin a way that contributesto the commonwealth.
CatholicSocial
Thoughtspeaksof personsratherthanindividuals.
3.) Subsidiary
for humanbeing
This principleunderlinesthe importanceof freeassociation
of civil society.It distinguishes
sharplybetweenstateor
andthe establishment
govemmentandcivil society.Voluntaryassociations
andthe family arethe tissue
of a free society.
Decisionmakingaboutall humanproblemsshouldbe left at the lowestlevel
possibleandstill servethe commongood.This principlecementedan anxiety
aboutthe stateinto CatholicSocialThought.It is suspiciousthat all statesseekto
grow andto aggrandizetheir power.
a.) SolidaritvThis is the principleof civic friendship.Freecivil societyrequiresdeeper
level of relationshipsbetweenpeoplethanjust contracts.
ln the twentiethCentury,Catholic SocialThoughtaddeda strongemphasison the
significanceof work. It wasseenasa humanparticipationin God'screation.We become
fully ourselvesthroughwork. This wasto an importantdegreethe influenceof JohnPaul
II who onceobservedthat to endthe World God would haveto stopdoing andthat we
arehis parbrersin this doing.As part of this senseof the importanceof work was alsothe
right of economicinitiative asan elementof humancreativitywhich hasto be protected
from the stateand corporateinstitutions.
Otherissuesraisedby the dialogueof Catholicthoughtwith the World in the 20fr
Centuryarethe public function of wealthwhich mustbe seennot a stuff to be ownedand
andthe productof creativitywhich mustbe used
keptbut asa storeof humanresources
in the corlmon goodandnewwaysto think aboutpoverty.Thebasicquestionsis not
how to transferresourcesto help the poor but how to includethe poor in networksof
participationandcreativity.This hasspawnedthe ideaof "the preferentialoption for the
poor" asa watchwordof CatholicSocialThought.
Underlyingall of thesenotionsis that humanfreedomandcreativityrequirevirtue
to
anda public culturebasedon moralprinciples.Thesemoralprinciplesareaccessible
all throughhumanrezuon.You do not haveto be Catholicor haveaccessto revelationto
know them.