Background on Faithful Citizenship
    Part 2

Sources of Catholic Social Teaching
    by Fr. M. Keith LaBove

 
           What exactly is the Church’s social doctrine?  Fundamentally, it is the application of the truths of the gospel to the lived situation of the day, at a particular place and time.  As such, it basically has two constitutive elements.  One element is the fundamental principles that are drawn from revelation and tradition, including from an adequate consideration of the human person.  These principles are the core of this body of teaching, and will remain more stable over time. 

            The second aspect is the actual application of the fundamental principles to the concrete situation.  For example, one application might be that this or that law ought to be passed or repealed, that this or that structure of society needs to be changed, etc.   This aspect of the teaching will have validity only in that particular time and place.  Unlike the fundamental principles of this teaching, these applications will offer room for much more disagreement among people of good will.  The concrete ways and methods of bringing about justice in the world are not always as clear as are fundamental principles of justice and human dignity.

            In light of this distinction between principles and applications, it would be good to mention a valuable resource that became available in 2004 from the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace.  Entitled “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”, this book length work does an excellent job of presenting a systematic and comprehensive overview of this body of Church teaching.  There is probably no better compilation of the fundamental principles of Catholic social teaching available today.

            That being said, the Compendium by its very nature leaves much unsaid.  As the document itself states, “Herein the most relevant theological, philosophical, moral, cultural and pastoral considerations of this teaching are systematically presented as they relate to social questions.  . . .  The document limits itself to putting forth the fundamental elements of the Church's social doctrine, leaving to Episcopal Conferences the task of making the appropriate applications as required by the different local situations.”

            Alongside the Compendium, there also exist a broad array of documents issued by various popes, Vatican offices, Episcopal conferences as well as by individual bishops.  These documents attempt to accomplish in most cases what a work such as the Compendium cannot:  apply the Church’s social doctrine to individual concrete situations.  Papal teaching addressing general trends in society worldwide will of necessity be more general than for example a particular bishop speaking to an unjust situation within his own diocese.  Yet these documents are where we usually discover the “nuts and bolts” of Church teaching.  For example, the US Bishops have spoken on issues such as racism, war and peace, the economy, welfare and immigration reform, etc.  Each of these statements is an excellent example of applying doctrine to the lived situation confronting Catholics at that time.

            Amongst this rather broad-ranging collection of documents, we would be remiss if we did not mention one in particular entitled “Rerum Novarum” (On the Condition of Labor), issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891.  This document is usually recognized as marking the beginning of what is called “modern catholic social teaching”.  It continues to be referenced and commemorated to this day, as for example Pope John Paul II did with his encyclical, “Centesiumus Annus”, marking the hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum in 1991.

            Another document of particular concern to us in this series of articles is of a much more recent vintage.  Through its various revisions, it has retained the title, “Faithful Citizenship:  A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility”.  Every four years, the Catholic Bishops of the United States revisit this document, publishing a revised version. 

            While stopping short of telling people how to vote this document strives to take the fundamental principles of social doctrine and apply them to the concrete situation of our country, with particular reference to the issues of concern in the upcoming elections. The document is intended to enable Catholics to take their faith all the way into the voting booth.