Social doctrine

Introduction

Catholic social teaching, also referred to as Catholic social doctrine, is defined as "a clearly discernible body of official teachings on the social order, in its economic and political dimensions. It is concerned, on the one hand, with the dignity of the human person as created in the image of God, and with human rights and duties which protect and enhance this dignity, and it is concerned, on the other hand, with the common good, that is, with the radically social nature of human existence, with the nature of society and of the state, with the relationship between society and state (balancing the principle of subsidiarity and the principle of socialisation), and with voluntary associations, e.g., labour unions, which serve as a buffer and a bridge between state and society."

McBrien, R., (1095) (Ed.), The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 912-913.

Church teaching

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the Catholic social doctrine as follows:

2420 The Church makes a moral judgment about economic and social matters, "when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it." In the moral order she bears a mission distinct from that of political authorities: the Church is concerned with the temporal aspects of the common good because they are ordered to the sovereign Good, our ultimate end. She strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and in socio-economic relationships.

2424 A theory that makes profit the exclusive norm and ultimate end of economic activity is morally unacceptable. The disordered desire for money cannot but produce perverse effects. It is one of the causes of the many conflicts that disturb the social order. A system that "subordinates the basic rights of individuals and of groups to the collective organisation of production" is contrary to human dignity.