The Church:

1
Chapter 2

• The Church
• Called to Work for Justice

2
A Key to Catholic Identity

• The central message is simple our faith is
  profoundly social. We cannot be called truly
  Catholic unless we hear and heed the Church's
  call to serve those in need and work for justice
  and peace.
• Communities of Salt and Light, U.S. Bishops,
  1993

3
The Church

• Church
• The assembly of the faithful joined through
  baptism who are the Body of Christ on earth
• Begun at Pentecost (Acts 21-4)
• Powered by the Spirit given to the Apostles and
  given to us at Confirmation
• Both a sign and instrument of the unity of all
  people with God and with each other
• Images of Church
• Body of Christ / People of God / Bride of Christ

4
Ecclesiology

• Ecclesiology
• Study of the Church
• Ekklesia ? duly gathered assembly
• Vatican IIs Ecclesiology
• The Church is a sign and a safeguard of the
  dignity of the human person.
• A religious organization whose purpose it is to
  help bring about the reign of God in history.
• The social mission is constitutive not
  extra-curricular or optional.

5
Rome and the Early Church

• Roman Culture
• Viewed justice as upholding laws maintaining the
  proper order of society
• Justice from the Latin ius law
• Laws as the protection of power, rights, and
  property
• Early Church
• New ordering of society
• Acts 244-47 / Gal 326-28
• St. Pauls image of the Body of Christ
• Key to the establishment of communities of
  compassion
• Church as the People of God united in love and
  service to one another
• Importance of all members of the community

6
Into the Middle Ages

• Edict of Milan 313 A.D.
• Declaration allowing Christians to worship in the
  Roman Empire
• Paved the way for the Church to spread throughout
  the empire and become the official religion
• Christendom
• The geo-political area of the Roman Empire in
  which Christianity prevailed and in which Church
  and state were one
• Establishment of hierarchy
• Top-down structure maintaining order in a society
• Beginnings of Religious Orders
• Franciscans, Dominicans, and others established
  to foster values of community building in the
  spirit of St. Paul and the early Church

7
New Worlds / New Challenges

• Colonialism
• The political and economic system by which one
  country controls and exploits another, holding it
  in a subservient role
• Middle Class
• People of moderate income in a society
• Colonialism and the growth of the middle class
• New challenges to the practice of justice
• Turbulent period of time in the Western world

8
Responses to Challenges

• Vincent de Paul
• Louise de Marillac
• John Baptist de la Salle
• Elizabeth Ann Seton
• Katherine Drexel
• Francis of Assisi
• Dorothy Day

• Christian missionaries introduce native people to
  the gospel.
• Legacy seen in todays Catholic hospitals,
  schools, convalescent homes, hospitality centers
  for the hungry and the homeless

9
Marxist Challenge

• Karl Marx
• Proposed a radical restructuring of society
• equalization of work
• sharing of resources
• Stated that workers were pawns in the hands of
  owners
• Workers of the world unite!
• Goal of the world becoming a workers paradise
• Socialism
• Government ownership and administration of the
  production and distribution of goods

10
Churchs Response

• In 1891, Pope Leo XIII drafted the first
  encyclical concerning social justice
• Rerum Novarum On the Condition of Labor
• Beginning of modern Catholic social teaching
• Catholic Social Teaching
• The body of official Church documents written by
  the Magisterium in response to various social,
  political, and economic issues
• The Church speaking out as a moral voice in the
  face of injustice and oppression

11
Rerum Novarum

• Opposed Socialisms abolition of private property
  
• Complete control by the state
• Violation of the dignity of the individual
• Opposed Capitalisms harsh treatment of the poor
  as mere pawns
• Unregulated system of attaining profit using any
  means necessary
• Disregard for the dignity of the worker as a
  human being
• Proposed a system based on Natural Law
• The way in which society should operate
• According to the will of God
• Impact
• Flourishing of Catholic labor unions
• Minimum-wage laws
• Establishment a precedent for the Church to speak
  out on social matters
• Set the table for next 100 years of social
  action

12
Key Ideas

• Cooperation between classes
• Not inevitable class warfare
• Dignity of work
• Primary purpose to provide a decent life for
  families not to be harsh or oppressive
• Just wage
• An amount sufficient to provide a decent life

• Role of the State
• Balance between liberalist and socialist
  philosophies
• Private ownership of property
• All have a right to own property fair
  distribution
• Defense of the poor
• Goal should be lifting up, not casting down the
  poor

13
Dorothy Day / Catholic Worker

• Incorporated the spirit of the Gospels and Rerum
  Novarum into the life experiences of immigrant
  poor in America
• One of the most significant American Catholics of
  20th century
• Strong in social justice
• Practiced and preached the Works of Mercy
• Influenced generations of American Catholics
• The Catholic Worker
• Paper begun by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin
• Call for the Church to speak out for the needs
  and concerns of all people, especially the
  poorest of the poor
• Catholic Worker Movement
• Outreach and compassion to the working poor
• Mission carried out today in many U.S. cities

14
Chapter 3

• A Just World
• A Catholic Vision

15
Catholic Social Teaching

• Action on behalf of justice and participation in
  the transformation of the world fully appear to
  us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching
  of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the
  Churchs mission for the redemption of the human
  race and its liberation from every oppressive
  situation.
• Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World, 1971
• Education as to the demands of the Gospel and
  encouragement to take action that makes the world
  a more just place
• Communicated through a variety of documents
• Conciliar documents, encyclicals, statements by
  national and regional bishops
• Signs of the Times
• interpretation by the Church of the religious,
  political, cultural, and economic factors that
  shape the overall situation of society

16
Social Teaching Today

• Continued moral voice
• Increasing attention on justice-related concerns
• Representative of demographic shifts
• Movement away from a European dominated Church
• Largest numbers of Catholics ? Latin America
• Africa and Asia outnumbering number of Catholics
  in North America
• Growth in former communist countries
• Global dimension of the Church
• Necessitates consideration of issues impacting
  the entire world

17
Themes of Social Teaching

• Seven Themes identified by U.S. Catholic Bishops
• Essential for carrying out the Churchs mission
• Life and Dignity of the Human Person
• Call to Family, Community, and Participation
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• Solidarity
• Care for Gods Creation

18
Human Dignity

• Foundation for all other principles/themes
• Promoting the life and dignity of human beings is
  the most fundamental principle of Social Teaching
• The person is sacred, made in the image of God
• Dignity comes from God, and cannot be taken away
• Intrinsic quality
• All people are loved by God and created equal in
  dignity
• Defense of human life
• From conception to natural death

19
Call to Family, Community, and Participation

• Participation
• The right and responsibility of all people to
  participate in all aspects of human society
• Common Good
• The condition that allows all people in a
  community to reach potential and fulfill dignity
• The good of each person is tied to the common
  good.
• The common good requires
• Respect for the rights of all people.
• The social well-being development of the group.
• Peace, which includes security

20
Rights and Responsibilities

• Rights
• Conditions or things that any person needs in
  order to be fully what God created her/him to be
• Right to life
• Having ones basic needs fulfilled
• Possessing economic rights
• Ability to exercise political, religious, and
  cultural ideals
• Responsibilities come with the rights that we
  have been given by God
• We have the responsibility to uphold the rights
  and human dignity of others
• Responsibility to act with justice especially in
  terms of wealth and generosity to the poor

21
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

• Preferential Option for the Poor
• The choice to put the needs of societys most
  poor and vulnerable first among social concerns
• Not just economic poor those deprived of basic
  rights
• Two parts
• Freely choosing to become partners with the poor
• Commitment to take action in the face of
  injustice
• God calls us to work on eliminating the sinful
  inequalities in our world.
• This call to justice is direct from God and
  challenges us to help the poor to fully realize
  their God-given dignity.
• Just as you did it to one of the least of those
  who are members of my family, you did it to me
  (Mt.2540)

22
Dignity of Work / Rights of Workers

• Work exists for the benefit of people
• Economic activity (work) is meant to provide for
  the needs of the entire community, not to
  increase the profit, power and position of a few
• Individuals contribute to the common good through
  work and fair wages
• Dignity of Work
• The value that work has because it supports human
  life and contributes to human dignity
• Rights of Workers
• Include the right to employment, to decent and
  fair pay, to a safe workplace, and anything
  necessary for life and health

23
Solidarity

• It is a firm and persevering determination to
  commit oneself to the common good that is to
  say, to the good of all ...because we are all
  really responsible for all.
• Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern, 1987
• Solidarity
• A constant commitment to the common good based
  on the idea that we are all responsible / part of
  the same human family
• Involves working with, not just working for,
  other people
• Quality of justice that breaks down barriers
  between people
• Just World
• Based on a spirit of friendship between
  individuals, groups, and nations
• All people should have a voice

24
Care for Gods Creation

• God created everything for us to use and not to
  abuse
• Our care of Gods Creation should be an offering
  of thanks to him
• We are to be stewards and caretakers of all of
  Gods creations
• Exercise good judgment in the use of the worlds
  resources
• Preservation of the worlds resources for future
  generations
• leave it better than you found it
• Responsibility of all members of society

25
Applying the Principles

• Service of the poor
• Reaching out in ways that help individuals and
  groups to live good lives
• Working with others
• Cannot carry this work independently
• Examining Social Institutions
• The various ways in which societies meet the
  needs of their people
• How do these institutions positively/negatively
  impact the lives of people

26
Culture

• Culture
• Shared values and beliefs of a community which
  impact the lives of its members
• Various aspects of culture
• Individualism
• Emphasizes personal independence and the rights
  of individuals over interdependence and concern
  for the common good
• Interdependence
• Reliance on others for survival and well-being
• Consumerism
• Distorted desire to possess things out of
  proportion to our needs or normal wants
• Simple Living
• Buying and using only what is needed out of
  respect for people and resources

27
Evaluating Culture

• Responsibility as followers of Christ
• We must constantly evaluate cultural values to
  determine if they are consistent with a respect
  for the dignity of human life
• Church as Countercultural
• Idea that the Church speaks out at times against
  the immortality of culture in defense of human
  dignity
• Examples
• Right to Life
• Defense of the Poor
• Attacks on Materialism

28
Fatalism Versus Hope

• Fatalism
• The belief that the world is out of the control
  of humans and in the hands of blind fate
• Usually pessimistic, negative perspective
• Hope
• Theological virtue
• Enables us to trust that God is always working
  for our good
• Rooted in the Resurrection
• Implication
• Despite injustice, God is still present and will
  remain active in the world