Massaro Chapter 5 Reading Guide on the Nine Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching(CST)
Consult: From Chapter 3, Inheriting the Tradition of CST, on “Major Documents” and “Timeline of Key Events”
From Chapter 4, The Sources and Methods of CST, the four sources in Revelation, Reason, Tradition, Experience
Summary of Themes and links to the key source texts: Table 5.1 Page 80
Theme 1: the Dignity of
Every Person and Human
Rights
Theme 2: Solidarity,
Common Good, and
Participation
Theme 3: Family Life
Theme 4: Subsidiarity and
the Proper Role of
Government
Rooted in a thick cosmology of
humans as images of God, thus
inherently deserving dignity: each
person of immeasurable holiness and
value. Contrast to thin cosmology of
secular rights theories
3 key concepts:
Solidarity-- Begins with inner
attitude, that gets expressed in
external actions
Rooted in the fact of the web of social
interdependence, also taken as a
human value
Complements Theme 2’s focus on
broader social relations with
consideration of most basic societal
unit
Sub. refers to ways various levels of
society and govt should relate to each
other and assist one another in
bringing about good outcomes for all:
focus on Division of Labor, eg. local,
regional, national govts.
From this value comes strong
uncompromising positions opposing
abortion, euthanasia, capital
punishment.
Bernardin’s “seamless garment” or
“consistent ethic of life” model
No sin or condition undoes this
“Fundamental” equality
“Rights” issue from inherent dignity
(we talk about “inalienable rights”)
Eg. 1948 UN Declaration of Human
Rights, strongly influenced by CST
Common Good—recognizing that
there are numerous proper goals in
life beyond our own private benefits.
Eg. educating children, environmental
protection
Participation—everyone has a
fundamental right and duty to engage
in a full range of activities and
institutions of social life. Anything
that blocks this participation is an
offense against human rights
Govt as a relatively privileged
institution for carrying out the
common good. Thus its crimes and
betrayals are the most pernicious.
Family as “domestic church,” “first
cell of society” because
 Kids first learn about
themselves, conscience,
God, values
 Haven in a heartless world
CST proposes and evaluates family
institution in light of these ideas but
recognizes problems that beset actual
family life: traditional hardships plus
new pressures, such as
 Rootlessness
 Overwork—lack of childcare
 Divorce
 New family types and
combinations, eg. ss couples,
blended systems
Both the person and the family exist
prior to society and govt
Rule of thumb: “Rely as much as
possible on those solutions that are
closest to the people affected and that
employ the smallest groupings and
mechanisms that are still effective.”
Emphasizes critical importance of
natural groupings, spontaneously
arising associations, what social
scientists call civil society or
mediating structures
Main problems of violation of
subsidiarity: totalitarianism (fascism
and communism), nanny state,
learned helplessness
The state is not society; society
includes more than the state
Theme 5: Property
ownership in modern
society, rights and
responsibilities
Theme 6: Dignity of
work, workers rights,
support for labor
unions
Theme 7: Colonialism
and economic
development
Theme 8: Peace and
disarmament
Theme 9: Preferential
option for the poor and
vulnerable
Seek to balance the
competing values of
--the requirements of the
common good
--and the personal and social
benefits of private property
ownership
Surprisingly perhaps, Church
has long advocated workers’
rights and welfare under
capitalism—e.g. social
Catholicism in 19th century
Involves historical awareness
of the legacy of colonialism
and imperialism in warping
international relations and
undermining global solidarity
--includes tragic
entanglement of Church itself
--history of especially
European expansionism, and
today, American corporations
In all CST documents, “the
goal of justice is closely
linked to the ideal of peace:”
SHALOM
“Preferential option for the
poor” a relatively new phrase
in the doc’s, but pure Gospel:
Jesus’ ministry is all about
this
--1978-79 CELAM
conference, experiences of
Latin America (Puebla)
--Church itself had become
entangled in injustices against
the poor
--liberation theology pros and
cons
Historically, Church often
warned against unlimited
accumulation of wealth ; God
intended earthly goods to be
used for the common good
Sometimes private property
rights must be overridden for
the sake of everyone,
particularly is situations of
grotesque inequality:
expropriation
Socialization: the process of
guaranteeing greater
accountability and
responsibility from those
most responsible for factors
of the common good: eg.
power, water, food: should
they be public utilities?
Eminent domain issues
JP2: “Private property, in
fact, is under a social
mortgage.”
What we now take for
granted:
Minimum wage laws, pension
plans, social insurance, safety
reg’s, weekends, labor unions
Concept of the “Living
Wage”
Unions necessary to
counterbalance the power of
mgt and owners
Labor itself ideally and
intrinsically not just a
drudgery, but also as source
of human dignity & meaning,
arena for interaction and
collaboration. If not these,
then conditions must be
challenged .
Main concern for
exploitation, dehumanization
of workers
Competition in today’s world
is not on a level global
playing field: resource
exploitation, debt burdens,
corruption
These problems emerge out
of whole social systems as
well as individual evils:
--Social sins
--Structures of evil
JP2: “all consuming desire
for profit” and “thirst for
power”
CST initially rather passive
and weak on issues, more
recently more direct &
proposes specific strategies:
Structural reorganization of
economies
Micro-development
Technology transfer and education
Boycotts
Lobbying
Debt reduction plans
2 basic approaches to peace
in CST:
--Pacifism
--Just war theory
Just War Theory: see pp.1067 for summary
JWT an effort to reconcile the
goal of peace with the noble
need to protect innocent and
defenseless from aggression
Now weakened because
--Current practices of war—
e.g weapons of mass
destruction
--Rapid escalations possible
--JWT misused to cloak
aggression in moral language
--Capacities of govts to
produce false info
--Terrorism’s use of civilians
as pawns
Pacifism (eg. D. Day, MLK)
now more prominent: CST as
Peacemaking, strong focus on
disarmament, involvement in
negotiating
“Prophetic voices of the Church have
called especially on the privileged to
reverse the logic of the secular world,
where unbridled and selfish
accumulation of wealth is expected
and rewarded, and to imitate God as
best they can in exercising special
care for the poor.”
Church seeks not class warfare but
class harmony based on justice
(differs from Marxism here)
What would preferential option mean
for us in wealthy countries? Personal
charity and also working for justice
Core criterion for policy: “to
measure all decisions by the likely
effects they will exert upon the leastadvantaged members of society.”
--lifestyle changes
--Policy advocacy
--strong awarereness of who the most
vulnerable are, (includes the unborn)