John Paul II Conference

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John Paul II Conference

• Diocese of Yakima
• October 13, 2007

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The Struggle for Justice John Paul II

• Sister Sharon Park, O.P.
• Executive Director
• Washington State Catholic Conference

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Definitions of Justice

• What is Justice?
• What does it mean in your life?

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Dictionary Definition Justice

• 1 a the maintenance or administration of what is
  just especially by the impartial adjustment of
  conflicting claims or the assignment of merited
  rewards or punishments b judge c the
  administration of law especially the
  establishment or determination of rights
  according to the rules of law or equity.
• 2 a the quality of being just, impartial, or
  fair b(1) the principle or ideal of just
  dealing or right action (2) conformity to this
  principle or ideal righteousness c the quality
  of conforming to law.
• 3 conformity to truth, fact, or reason
  correctness.
  
• --From the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

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Catechism of the Catholic Church Definitions

• JUSTICE is the moral virtue that consists in the
  constant and firm will to give their due to God
  and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the
  "virtue of religion." Justice toward (others)
  disposes one to respect the rights of each and to
  establish in human relationships the harmony that
  promotes equity with regard to persons and to the
  common good. Just (persons), often mentioned in
  the Sacred Scriptures, are distinguished by
  habitual right thinking and the uprightness of
  their conduct toward their neighbors.
• --From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  1807
  

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Catechism of the Catholic Church Definitions (sl.
2)

• COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE
• Contracts are subject to commutative
  justice which regulates exchanges between persons
  and between institutions in accordance with a
  strict respect for their rights. Commutative
  justice obliges strictly it requires
  safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and
  fulfilling obligations freely contracted. Without
  commutative justice, no other form of justice is
  possible.
• -From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
  2411
  

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Catechism of the Catholic Church Definitions (sl.
3)

• DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
• The virtue that regulates those actions which
  involve the rights that an individual may claim
  from society. According to distributive justice,
  the state has three basic duties to distribute
  the common burdens and privileges equitably to
  make it possible for each citizen to exercise
  natural and acquired rights without undue
  hindrance to foster mutual relations among the
  citizens for living together peacefully.
• -- from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic
  Dictionary, Eternal Life.
  

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Why is justice important?

• Why study it?
• How can it influence
• My life?
• Our society?
• The world?

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Pope John Paul IIs Writings on Justice

• On Human Work (Laborem Exercens), 1981
• On Social Concern (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis),
  1987
  
• On the 100th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centisimus Annus), 1991

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PEACE (sl. 1)

• "Development is the new name for peace.
• .In fact, if the social question has acquired a
  worldwide dimension, this is because the demand
  for justice can only be satisfied on that
  level.
• To ignore this demand could encourage the
  temptation among the victims of injustice to
  respond with violence, as happens at the origin
  of many wars. Peoples excluded from the fair
  distribution of the goods originally destined for
  all could ask themselves why not respond with
  violence to those who first treat us with
  violence? Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 10

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PEACE (sl. 2)

• .how can one justify the fact that huge sums of
  money, which could and should be used for
  increasing the development of peoples, are
  instead utilized for the enrichment of
  individuals or groups, or assigned to the
  increase of stockpiles of weapons, both in
  developed countries and in the developing ones,
  thereby upsetting the real priorities?
• If "development is the new name for peace," war
  and military preparations are the major enemy of
  the integral development of peoples. Pope
  John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec.
  30, 1987. Section 10

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PEACE (sl. 3)

• On the contrary, in a different world, ruled by
  concern for the common good of all humanity, or
  by concern for the spiritual and human
  development of all instead of by the quest for
  individual profit, peace would be possible as the
  result of a more perfect justice among
  people. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo
  rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 10
• If arms production is a serious disorder in the
  present world with regard to true human needs and
  the employment of the means capable of satisfying
  those needs, the arms trade is equally to
  blame. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei
  socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 24

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PEACE (sl. 4)

• Today perhaps more than in the past, people are
  realizing that they are linked together by a
  common destiny, which is to be constructed
  together, if catastrophe for all is to be
  avoided. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 26.
• Commitment to justice must be closely linked with
  commitment to peace in the modern world. Pope
  John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem
  exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section 2.

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PEACE (sl. 5)

• .it must not be forgotten that at the root of
  war there are usually real and serious
  grievances injustices suffered, legitimate
  aspirations frustrated, poverty, and the
  exploitation of multitudes of desperate people
  who see no real possibility of improving their
  lot by peaceful means. Pope John Paul II, On
  the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 52.
• For this reason, another name for peace is
  development. Just as there is a collective
  responsibility for avoiding war, so too there is
  a collective responsibility for promoting
  development. Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 52.

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SOLIDARITY (sl. 1)

• it is a firm and persevering determination to
  commit oneself to the common good that is to say
  to the good of all and of each individual,
  because we are all really responsible for
  all. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 38.
• Positive signs in the contemporary world are the
  growing awareness of the solidarity of the poor
  among themselves, their efforts to support one
  another, and their public demonstrations on the
  social scene. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 39.

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SOLIDARITY (sl. 2)

• Solidarity helps us to see the other-whether a
  person, people or nation-not just as some kind of
  instrument, with a work capacity and physical
  strength to be exploited at low cost and then
  discarded when no longer useful, but as our
  neighbor, a helper. Pope John Paul II, ON
  SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis),
  Dec. 30, 1987. Section 39.
• In this way, the solidarity which we propose is
  the path to peace and at the same time to
  development. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 39.
• Solidarity is undoubtedly a Christian virtue. In
  what has been said so far it has been possible to
  identify many points of contact between
  solidarity and charity, which is the
  distinguishing mark of Christ's
  disciples. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 40.

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SOLIDARITY (sl. 3)

• ..if one studies the development of the
  question of social justice, one cannot fail to
  note that, whereas during the period between
  Rerum Novarum and Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno the
  Church's teaching concentrates mainly on the just
  solution of the labour question within
  individual nations, in the next period the
  Church's teaching widens its horizon to take in
  the whole world. The disproportionate
  distribution of wealth and poverty and the
  existence of some countries and continents that
  are developed and of others that are not call for
  a levelling out and for a search for ways to
  ensure just development for all. Pope John
  Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens),
  Sept. 14, 1981. Section 2.

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SOLIDARITY (sl. 4)

• While in the past the class question was
  especially highlighted as the centre of this
  issue, in more recent times it is the world
  question that is emphasized. Thus, not only the
  sphere of class is taken into consideration but
  also the world sphere of inequality and
  injustice, and as a consequence, not only the
  class dimension but also the world dimension of
  the tasks involved in the path towards the
  achievement of justice in the modern world.
  Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem
  exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section 2.

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POVERTY (sl. 1)

• There are many millions who are deprived of hope
  due to the fact that, in many parts of the world,
  their situation has noticeably worsened.
  Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 13.
• We are therefore faced with a serious problem of
  unequal distribution of the means of subsistence
  originally meant for everybody, and thus also an
  unequal distribution of the benefits deriving
  from them. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 9.

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POVERTY (sl. 2)

• The first negative observation to make is the
  persistence and often the widening of the gap
  between the areas of the so-called developed
  North and the developing South. Pope John Paul
  II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei
  socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 14.   
• As we observe the various parts of the world
  separated by this widening gap, and note that
  each of these parts seems to follow its own path
  with its own achievements, we can understand the
  current usage which speaks of different worlds
  within our one world the First World, the Second
  World, the Third World and at times the Fourth
  World. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 14.

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POVERTY (sl. 3)

• Among the specific signs of underdevelopment
  which increasingly affect the developed countries
  also, there are two in particular that reveal a
  tragic situation. The first is the housing
  crisis. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 17.
• Another indicator common to the vast majority of
  nations is the phenomenon of unemployment and
  underemployment. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 18.
• A third phenomenon is the question of the
  international debt Pope John Paul II, ON
  SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis),
  Dec. 30, 1987. Section 19.

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POVERTY (sl. 4)

• If a nation were to succumb more or less
  deliberately to the temptation to close in upon
  itself and failed to meet the responsibilities
  following from its superior position in the
  community of nations, it would fall seriously
  short of its clear ethical duty. Pope John
  Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei
  socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 23.
• If Pope Leo XIII calls upon the State to remedy
  the condition of the poor in accordance with
  justice, he does so because of his timely
  awareness that the State has the duty of watching
  over the common good and of ensuring that every
  sector of social life, not excluding the economic
  one, contributes to achieving that good, while
  respecting the rightful autonomy of each sector.
  Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 11.
• The Church is firmly committed to this cause, for
  she considers it her mission, her service, a
  proof of her fidelity to Christ, so that she can
  truly be the "Church of the poor". Pope John
  Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens),
  Sept. 14, 1981. Section 8.

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ENVIRONMENT (sl. 1)

• Among today's positive signs we must also
  mention a greater realization of the limits of
  avail able resources, and of the need to respect
  the integrity and the cycles of nature and to
  take them into account when planning for
  development, rather than sacrificing them to
  certain demagogic ideas about the latter. Today
  this is called ecological concern. Pope John
  Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei
  socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 26.
• .the experience of recent years shows that
  unless all the considerable body of resources and
  potential at (our) disposal is guided by a moral
  understanding and by an orientation towards the
  true good of the human race, it easily turns
  against (us) to oppress (us). Pope John Paul
  II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis),
  Dec. 30, 1987. Section 28.
• The first consideration is the appropriateness
  of acquiring a growing awareness of the fact that
  one cannot use with impunity the different
  categories of beings, whether living or inanimate
  - animals, plants, the natural elements - simply
  as one wishes, according to one s own economic
  needs. On the contrary, one must take into
  account the nature of each being and of its
  mutual connection in an ordered system, which is
  precisely the cosmos. Pope John Paul II, ON
  SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec.
  30, 1987. Section 34.

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ENVIRONMENT (sl. 2)

• The second consideration is based on the
  realization - which is perhaps more urgent - that
  natural resources are limited some are not, as
  it is said, renewable. Using them as if they were
  inexhaustible, with absolute dominion, seriously
  endangers their availability not only for the
  present generation but above all for generations
  to come. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 34.
• The third consideration refers directly to the
  consequences of a certain type of development on
  the quality of life in the industrialized zones.
  We all know that the direct or indirect result of
  industrialization is, ever more frequently, the
  pollution of the environment, with serious
  consequences for the health of the population.
  Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 34.

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ENVIRONMENT (sl. 3)

• Equally worrying is the ecological question which
  accompanies the problem of consumerism and which
  is closely connected to it. In (the) desire to
  have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow,
  (the human person) consumes the resources of the
  earth and his own life in an excessive and
  disordered way. Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 37.
  
• (Human persons) think that they can make
  arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without
  restraint to his will, as though it did not have
  its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose,
  which (humans) can indeed develop but must not
  betray. Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 37.

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ENVIRONMENT (sl. 4)

• The first and fundamental structure for "human
  ecology" is the family, in which (human persons)
  receive (their) first formative ideas about truth
  and goodness, and learns what it means to love
  and to be loved, and thus what it actually means
  to be a person. Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 39.
  

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HUMAN DIGNITY (sl. 1)

• But the Church is an "expert in humanity," and
  this leads her necessarily to extend her
  religious mission to the various fields in which
  men and women expend their efforts in search of
  the always relative happiness which is possible
  in this world, in line with their dignity as
  persons. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN
  (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30, 1987.
  Section 41.
• The Church respects the legitimate autonomy of
  the democratic order and is not entitled to
  express preferences for this or that
  institutional or constitutional solution. Her
  contribution to the political order is precisely
  her vision of the dignity of the person revealed
  in all its fullness in the mystery of the
  Incarnate Word. Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 47.

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HUMAN DIGNITY (sl. 2)

• Faithful to the mission received from Christ her
  Founder, the Church has always been present and
  active among the needy, offering them material
  assistance in ways that neither humiliate nor
  reduce them to mere objects of assistance, but
  which help them to escape their precarious
  situation by promoting their dignity as
  persons. Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 49.
• .it is very alarming to see governments in many
  countries launching systematic campaigns against
  birth, contrary not only to the cultural and
  religious identity of the countries themselves
  but also contrary to the nature of true
  development. Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 25.

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OPTION FOR THE POOR (sl. 1)

• Here I would like to indicate one of them the
  option or love of preference for the poor. This
  is an option, or a special form of primacy in the
  exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole
  tradition of the Church bears witness. It affects
  the life of each Christian inasmuch as he or she
  seeks to imitate the life of Christ, but it
  applies equally to our social responsibilities
  and hence to our manner of living, and to the
  logical decisions to be made concerning the
  ownership and use of goods. Pope John Paul
  II, ON SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei
  socialis), Dec. 30, 1987. Section 42.

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OPTION FOR THE POOR (sl. 2)

• Today, furthermore, given the worldwide dimension
  which the social question has assumed, this love
  of preference for the poor, and the decisions
  which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the
  immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the
  homeless, those without medical care and, above
  all, those without hope of a better future. It is
  impossible not to take account of the existence
  of these realities. To ignore them would mean
  becoming like the "rich man" who pretended not to
  know the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate (cf. Lk
  1619-31). Pope John Paul II, ON SOCIAL
  CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis), Dec. 30,
  1987. Section 42.

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OPTION FOR THE POOR (sl. 3)

• The motivating concern for the poor - who are, in
  the very meaningful term, "the Lord's poor" -
  must be translated at all levels into concrete
  actions, until it decisively attains a series of
  necessary reforms. Pope John Paul II, ON
  SOCIAL CONCERN (Sollicitudo rei socialis),
  Dec. 30, 1987. Section 43.
• "When there is question of defending the rights
  of individuals, the defenceless and the poor have
  a claim to special consideration. Pope John
  Paul II, On the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 10.
• The content of the text is an excellent testimony
  to the continuity within the Church of the
  so-called "preferential option for the poor", an
  option which I defined as a "special form of
  primacy in the exercise of Christian
  charity". Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 11.

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DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 1)

• Through work (human persons) must earn (their)
  daily bread and contribute to the continual
  advance of science and technology and, above all,
  to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral
  level of the society within which he lives in
  community with those who belong to the same
  family. Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981.
  Blessing.
• .. life is built up every day from work, from
  work it derives its specific dignity, but at the
  same time work contains the unceasing measure of
  human toil and suffering, and also of the harm
  and injustice which penetrate deeply into social
  life within individual nations and on the
  international level. Pope John Paul II, ON
  HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14,
  1981. Section 1.

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DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 2)

• The call to solidarity and common action
  addressed to the workers.was the reaction
  against the degradation of (the human person) as
  the subject of work, and against the unheard-of
  accompanying exploitation in the field of wages,
  working conditions and social security for the
  worker. Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section
  8.
• .there must be continued study of the subject
  of work and of the subject's living conditions.
  In order to achieve social justice in the various
  parts of the world, in the various countries, and
  in the relationships between them, there is a
  need for ever new movements of solidarity of the
  workers and with the workers. Pope John Paul
  II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept.
  14, 1981. Section 8.

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DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 3)

• .(Human persons) combine (their) deepest human
  identity with membership of a nation, and intend
  (their) work also to increase the common good
  developed together with (their) compatriots, thus
  realizing that in this way work serves to add to
  the heritage of the whole human family, of all
  the people living in the world. Pope John Paul
  II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14,
  1981. Section 10.
• .part of the abiding heritage of the Church's
  teaching, must always be emphasized with
  reference to the question of the labour system
  and with regard to the whole socioeconomic
  system. We must emphasize and give prominence to
  the primacy of (the human person) in the
  production process, the primacy of (the human
  person) over things. Pope John Paul II, ON
  HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981.
  Section 12.
• .the principle of the priority of labour over
  capital is a postulate of the order of social
  morality. Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section 15.

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DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 4)

• While work, in all its many senses, is an
  obligation, that is to say a duty, it is also a
  source of rights on the part of the worker. These
  rights must be examined in the broad context of
  human rights as a whole.. Respect for this broad
  range of human rights constitutes the fundamental
  condition for peace in the modern world peace
  both within individual countries and societies
  and in international relations.. The human
  rights that flow from work are part of the
  broader context of those fundamental rights of
  the person. Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section
  16.

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DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 5)

• labour became a commodity to be freely bought
  and sold on the market, its price determined by
  the law of supply and demand, without taking into
  account the bare minimum required for the support
  of the individual and his family. Pope John
  Paul II, On the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 4.
• At the height of this clash, when people finally
  began to realize fully the very grave injustice
  of social realities in many places and the danger
  of a revolution fanned by ideals which were then
  called "socialist", Pope Leo XIII intervened with
  a document which dealt in a systematic way with
  the "condition of the workers". Pope John
  Paul II, On the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 4.

37
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 6)

• The key problem of social ethics in this case is
  that of just remuneration for work done. In the
  context of the present there is no more important
  way for securing a just relationship between the
  worker and the employer than that constituted by
  remuneration for work. Pope John Paul II, ON
  HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981.
  Section 19.
• Just remuneration for the work of an adult who is
  responsible for a family means remuneration which
  will suffice for establishing and properly
  maintaining a family and for providing security
  for its future.Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section 19.

38
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 7)

• Besides wages, various social benefits intended
  to ensure the life and health of workers and
  their families play a part here. The expenses
  involved in health care, especially in the case
  of accidents at work, demand that medical
  assistance should be easily available for
  workers, and that as far as possible it should be
  cheap or even free of charge. Pope John Paul
  II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept.
  14, 1981. Section 19.
• The Pope immediately adds another right which the
  worker has as a person. This is the right to a
  "just wage". Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 8.

39
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 8)

• A workman's wages should be sufficient to enable
  him to support himself, his wife and his
  children. Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 8.
• To these rights Pope Leo XIII adds another right
  regarding the condition of the working class, one
  which I wish to mention because of its
  importance namely, the right to discharge freely
  one's religious duties. Pope John Paul II, On
  the hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 9.

40
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS (sl. 9)

• Agricultural Worker
• The world of agriculture, which provides society
  with the goods it needs for its daily sustenance,
  is of fundamental importance. Pope John Paul
  II, ON HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept.
  14, 1981. Section 21.
• This depends not only on the level of development
  of agricultural technology but also, and perhaps
  more, on the recognition of the just rights of
  agricultural workers and, finally, on the level
  of awareness regarding the social ethics of work.
  Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section
  21.

41
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS(sl. 10)

• Disabled Worker
• Disabled people are fully human subjects with
  corresponding innate, sacred and inviolable
  rights, and, in spite of the limitations and
  sufferings affecting their bodies and faculties,
  they point up more clearly the dignity and
  greatness of man. Since disabled people are
  subjects with all their rights, they should be
  helped to participate in the life of society in
  all its aspects and at all the levels accessible
  to their capacities. Pope John Paul II, ON
  HUMAN WORK (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14,
  1981. Section 21.

42
DIGNITY OF WORK/WORKERS(sl. 11)

• Immigrant Worker
• Emigration in search of work must in no way
  become an opportunity for financial or social
  exploitation. As regards the work relationship,
  the same criteria should be applied to immigrant
  workers as to all other workers in the society
  concerned. Pope John Paul II, ON HUMAN WORK
  (Laborem exercens), Sept. 14, 1981. Section
  21.

43
ACTION ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE(sl. 1)

• As far as the Church is concerned, the social
  message of the Gospel must not be considered a
  theory, but above all else a basis and a
  motivation for action. Pope John Paul II, On
  the hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 57.
  
• Today more than ever, the Church is aware that
  her social message will gain credibility more
  immediately from the witness of actions than as a
  result of its internal logic and consistency.
  This awareness is also a source of her
  preferential option for the poor, which is never
  exclusive or discriminatory towards other groups.
  Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 57.

44
ACTION ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE(sl. 2)

• The Church's love for the poor, which is
  essential for her and a part of her constant
  tradition, impels her to give attention to a
  world in which poverty is threatening to assume
  massive proportions in spite of technological and
  economic progress. Pope John Paul II, On the
  hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum
  (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991. Section 57.
  
• Love for others, and in the first place love for
  the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself,
  is made concrete in the promotion of justice.
  Justice will never be fully attained unless
  people see in the poor person, who is asking for
  help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a
  burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness
  and a chance for greater enrichment. Pope John
  Paul II, On the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 58.

45
ACTION ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE(sl. 3)

• It is not merely a matter of "giving from one's
  surplus", but of helping entire peoples which are
  presently excluded or marginalized to enter into
  the sphere of economic and human development.
  Pope John Paul II, On the hundredth
  anniversary of Rerum Novarum (Centesimus
  annus), May 1, 1991. Section 58.
• Today we are facing the so-called "globalization"
  of the economy, a phenomenon which is not to be
  dismissed, since it can create unusual
  opportunities for greater prosperity. Pope
  John Paul II, On the hundredth anniversary of
  Rerum Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1,
  1991. Section 58.

46
ACTION ON BEHALF OF JUSTICE(sl. 4)

• Therefore, in order that the demands of justice
  may be met, and attempts to achieve this goal may
  succeed, what is needed is the gift of grace, a
  gift which comes from God. Pope John Paul II,
  On the hundredth anniversary of Rerum
  Novarum (Centesimus annus), May 1, 1991.
  Section 59.

47
ADVOCACY

• Catholic Advocacy Network
• Catholic Advocacy Day February 22, 2008 In
  Olympia