Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

Human Dignity

Belief in the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of Catholic social teaching. Human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the starting point for a normal vision for society.

The principle of human dignity is grounded in the idea that the person is made in the image of God. The person is the clearest reflection of God among us. We are required to honour the human person, to give priority to the person.

Community and the Common Good

 In a culture driven by excessive individualism, our tradition proclaims that the person is not only sacred but also social. Human dignity can only be realized and protected in the context of relationships with the wider society.

How we organise our society – in economics and politics, in law and policy –directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. The obligation to “love our neighbour” has an individual dimension, but it also requires a broader social commitment. Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the good of the whole society, to the common good.

Rights and Responsibilities

Human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency- starting with food, shelter and clothing, employment, health care and education. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities – to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

A basic moral test of society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation.

The option for the poor is a perspective that examines personal decisions, policies of private and public institutions, and economic relationships in terms of their effects on the poor – those who lack the minimum necessities of nutrition, housing, education, and health care. Those who re marginalised and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all.

The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one’s neighbour as one’s self.

The option for the poor is an essential part of society’s effort to achieve the common good. A healthy community can be achieved only if its members give special attention to those with special needs, to those who are poor and on the margins of society.

Participation

All people have a right to participate in the economic, political, and cultural life of society. It is a fundamental demand of justice and a requirement for human dignity that all people be assured a minimum level of participation in the community.

It is wrong in a person or a group to be excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate in society. In the words of the U.S. bishops, “The ultimate injustice is for a person of group to be treated actively or abandoned passively as if they were non-members of the human race. To treat people this way is effectively to say they simply o not count as human beings.”

Dignity of work / Rights of workers

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. All workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. They also have a fundamental right to organize and join unions.

People have a right to economic initiative and private property, but these rights have limits. No one is allowed to amass excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life.

Stewardship of creation

Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for he creator by our stewardship of creation. The goods of the earth are gifts from god, intended or the benefits of all.

We humans are not ultimate owners of these goods, but rather, the temporary stewards. We are entrusted with the responsibility of caring for these gifts and preserving them for future generations.

Global solidarity

Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are on human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences. Solidarity means that “loving our neighbour” has global dimensions in an interdependent world.

John Paul the 2^nd has called the solidarity a virtue. It is the virtue, he says, by which we demonstrate “a firm and preserving determination to commit oneself to the common good... because we are all really responsible for all.”

Promotion of peace

Catholic teaching promotes peace aas a positive, action-oriented concept. in the world of Pope John Paul 2^nd, “peace is not just the absence of war. It involves mutual respect and confidence between peoples and nations. It involves collaboration and binding agreements”.

There is a close relationship in catholic teaching between peace and justice. peace is the fruit of justice and is dependant upon right order amoung human beings. 

Questions 1

1.       List the 5 issues social justice aims to cover:

·         Poverty

·         Child labour

·         Refugees

·         Homelessness

·         Hunger

2.       In your own words explain what is meant by human dignity

Human dignity is the belief that everyone is of value, that you, yourself are of value and that we are all made in the image of god. Human dignity is respect for yourself and respect for others. Everyone is equally valid; every human life is worth looking after.

3.       What is meant by moral vision for society

It is aiming for all levels of society to behave in an appropriate and equal manner so that you feel safe always.

4.       Which of the 5 social justice issues relates to human dignity?

·         Poverty

·         Child Labour

·         Refugees

·         Homelessness

·         Hunger

Questions 2

1.       Give an example of a community that you are part of.

I am in the Stella Maris community.

2.       How is this community both sacred and social?

It is a catholic girl’s school and we keep up the catholic ethos and we uphold the catholic faith and we aim to live a moral/a religiously significant life.

3.       What is the major test of a moral society?

The moral test of a moral society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.

4.       In what way does your community look after the poor?

Our community donates to charity and help to look after the elderly at these venues:

·         St vinnies

·         Salvos

·         Red cross

·         World vision

·         Meals on wheeles

Questions 3

1.       What are every human’s fundamental rights?

Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency – starting with food, shelter and clothing, employment, health care and education.

2.       What is the role of the government in maintaining human rights

It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect human rights, and build the common good.

3.       Who is responsible for assisting the government to achieve its goals

All people

Social Injustice issues.

Group work task- groups of 3 or 4 to identify a social justice issue from global education website-global issues.

-        The name of the issue

Food security

-        A summary of the background of the issue

Food security is to have physical and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food. It is the guarantee that the people meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.

For the more than 800 million people who do not get enough regular, healthy food, ill health and a shorter life expectancy are real risks. Children, and especially very young children, who suffer from food insecurity will be less developed than children of the same age who have had sufficient food. They will most likely be shorter and weigh less, and be less able physically and intellectually, because of poor nutrition.

-        Details about the issue/ why the situation occurs

 Food security is an issue as many factors contribute to the problem. Ideally all people should have access to healthy food; sadly this is not the case. Namely, the poorest suffer the greatest. Reasons for the huge disparity between food distribution and access that are manmade and outside of natural disasters and climate change (arguable) are:

Poverty and health- lack of income and resources restrict farmer’s abilities to improve their farming and lead them to struggle to feed themselves or sell any excess for income. This lack of money/resources also means lack of nutrient rich food and ill health furthering the problem of food production.

Water is a very valuable commodity that all food production requires in abundance. Drought has a huge impact on food production. Better planning and irrigation can address the situation somewhat but this is only possible in developed countries as poor countries do not have the resources or infrastructure to build dams and irrigation systems. Irrigated land has the ability to produce far more than traditional farming. For example, In Australia less than half a percent of farm land is irrigated but it produces 28 percent of total gross agricultural production.

Land Degradation – farmland and the quality of the soil deteriorates overtime through over farming. The quality of the soil becomes very poor so food production is not possible. Poorer farmers have no resources to fertilise or improve the quality of neither their land nor the ability to access other land.

Land Deals / dictatorship/warlords dealing between countries or regions - Poor countries are producing food to sell/export to wealthy countries or areas at the expense of their own people. Often rural areas are discriminated against in order to feed urban areas. Governments can set the price of produce at very low rates to feed the cities but the farmer does not get ahead. Warlords can use food for their own end, depriving those who do not support their cause and using food access as a currency.

-        What can be done about the issue(who is currently doing something)

Improving food production

Increasing the amount of food available is essential to feed the growing population. The Green Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s led to huge increases in production, largely due to the farming of high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, the growth of land under production and irrigation, greater use of fertilisers and pesticides and greater availability of credit. Further increases in food production depend on better combination of traditional knowledge with research; improving farming practices through training and the use of technology to increase production from current land without further loss of productive land; land reform to provide secure access to land for more people; and the provision of low-cost finance to help farmers invest in higher quality seeds and fertilisers and small irrigation pumps.

While genetically modified seeds are being hailed as a means of improving crop production, there are also worries about the possession of seeds, adequate compensation for traditional knowledge and possible side effects.

Economic growth and trade liberalisation

Increasing food production leads to bigger availability of food and financial growth in the domestic and/or overseas markets. Producing income can provide access to more and varied foods and provide cash for use in other areas of the financial system, such as small enterprise and manufacturing, which in turn helps reduce poverty. Trade liberalisation is opening up markets slowly, but there are costly barriers to overcome. Work is underway through the Doha Round of multilateral trading negotiations in the World Trade Organisation to make trade rules fair, encourage trade liberalisation and assist developing countries to participate in the global trade environment.

Distribution

While there are adequate resources in the world to provide food security for all, policy and behavioural changes are necessary to guarantee a fair share for all people, especially the poor. Building on a series of global conferences, in particular the 1992 International Conference on Nutrition and the 1996 and 2002 World Food Summits, countries have developed national nutrition plans and policies in nine major strategic action areas that:

• include mainstream nutrition goals in development policies and programmes
• improve household food and nutrition security
• protect consumers through improved food quality and safety
• prevent and manage infectious diseases
• promote breastfeeding
• care for the socioeconomically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable
• prevent and control specific micronutrient deficiencies
• promote appropriate diets and healthy lifestyles
• assess, analyse and monitor nutrition situations.

The progress towards achieving these goals, however, has been much slower than intended.

Recognising the role of women

Gender equality is a prerequisite for the eradication of poverty and hunger. Many programs recognise the need for changes in access to food, land, credit, education, health and nutrition training and decision making in order to make effective use of women's roles in agricultural production and food preparation.

Food aid

The need for food during emergencies such as drought, disaster, population displacement and conflict is addressed by the distribution of basic food supplies and fuel. Early warning systems can predict problem areas, allowing action to be taken to keep people in their homes and help them back to food self-sufficiency as quickly as possible. Food sourced locally rather than internationally minimises the costs and disruption to local markets. In severe situations feeding may be necessary but often food aid is linked with work, health or education to avoid dependency and address the long-term causes of food insecurity.

Lady Justice

What is the significance of  the:

Blindfold- During the 16th century, artists started showing the lady blindfolded to show that justice is not subject to influence. From this, the statue earned the name Blind Justice.                                                                           Scales - The scales that she holds represent the impartiality with which justice is served.

Sword -  The sword signifies the power that is held by those making the decision.

List social injustuice issues;



The division between the sexes - The division between the rich and the poor exist in all societies. Poverty being a viscous cycle, people find themselves unable to break away from. Compared to rich people, the poor have lesser opportunities. Many of them dont have access to food, education, housing and employment. Their resources are limited and most of the time, there is nothing much they can do about it.





Descrimination - Another example of social injustice is discrimination on the basis of sex. Women being considered as an inferior sex for centuries now. Compared to men, women own very less property, not only in the developing countries, but the world over.



Racial discrimination - Racial discrimination is another kind of social injustice. People who are black are considered inferior to the whites. There is no basis for this theory, yet racial discrimination is a reality which many African Americans live with everyday.

HomosexualityHomosexuality - Nowhere is social injustice more obvious than in the case of homosexuals. People openly declare homosexualityto be unnatural and against religion! Denying homosexuals the right to get married and live a life of dignity is nothing but social injustice!

Social Justice

What is social justice?

A fair and proper administration of laws and conforming to the natural law, that all persons irrespective of race, religion, ethnic origin, gender and possession arre treated equally and without prejudice.