Title: Introduction to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
1Introduction to the Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church
2Overview
- Origins the 1977 Synod of Bishops of America
- From catechism to compendium
- Format complete and systematic overview of the
social teachings (8)
3Part One
- Introduction
- Gods Plan of love for humanity
- Churchs Mission Social Doctrine
- Human person and human rights
- Principles of Churchs Social Doctrine
4Part Two
- Family
- Work
- Economic Life
- The Political Community
- The International Community
- The Environment
- The Promotion of Peace
5Part Three
- Social Doctrine and Ecclesial Action
6Indices
- Index of references
- Analytical index
7Critiques, concerns, limitations
- Approach doctrine / teaching
- Inductive v. deductive approach
- Light on historical development
- Overweighed on the teachings of JPII
- Use of documents of differing authority and
differing level of teaching authority
81. Introduction
- Dawn of the 3rd millennium
- Pilgrim people
- Traveling companions
- Offers social doctrine
9Significance of Compendium
- The Christian knows that in the social doctrine
of the Church can be found the principles for
reflection, the criteria for judgment and the
directives for action which are the starting
point for the promotion of an integral and
solidary humanism. Making this doctrine known
constitutes, therefore, a genuine pastoral
priority, so that men and women will be
enlightened by it and will be thus enabled to
interpret today's reality and seek appropriate
paths of action The teaching and spreading of
her social doctrine are part of the Church's
evangelizing mission5. (7)
10See-Judge-Act
See
Judge
Act
11Experience Explore and identify your personal
experience, bias and assumptions related to the
issue.
Issue Identify the issue.
Social Analysis Research the current reality,
historical context, cultural, social, economic
and political factors impacting the issue
Action How are we called to respond as faithful
followers of Jesus?
Theological Reflection What does Scripture
say? What does our Tradition say (historical
treatment, social teaching documents, other
theological sources)?
12Drawn from Gaudium et Spes
- An act of service by the Church
- To the men and women of our time
- In dialogue
- Question of mans place in nature and human
society
13Challenges
- Truth of what it means to be human (what humans
are, what they should be, what they can be) - Understanding and management of pluralism and
difference - Globalization
142. Gods Plan for Humanity
- Gods liberating action in the history of Israel
- Exodus story
- Ten commandments
- Covenant relationship
- Sabbatical and jubilee legislation
- Prophets
15Ten Commandments
- The Ten Commandments, which constitute an
extraordinary path of life and indicate the
surest way for living in freedom from slavery to
sin, contain a privileged expression of the
natural law. They teach us the true humanity of
man. They bring to light the essential duties,
and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights
inherent in the nature of the human person25.
16The TEN COMMANDMENTS (Exodus 201-17) Then God
spoke all these words, saying, "I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall
have no other gods besides Me. You shall not
make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of
what is in heaven above or on earth beneath or in
the water under the earth. You shall not take
the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh
day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God in it you
shall not do any work, you or your son or your
daughter, your male servant or your female
servant or your cattle or your sojourner who
stays with you. For in six days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that
is in them, and rested on the seventh day
therefore the lord blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy. Honor your father and your
mother, that your days may be prolonged in the
land which the Lord your God gives you. You
shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal. You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor. You shall not
covet you neighbor's house you shall not covet
your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his
ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your
neighbor.
17Sabbatical / Jubilee Provisions
- This legislation is designed to ensure that the
salvific event of the Exodus and fidelity to the
Covenant represents not only the founding
principle of Israel's social, political and
economic life, but also the principle for dealing
with questions concerning economic poverty and
social injustices. This principle is invoked in
order to transform, continuously and from within,
the life of the people of the Covenant, so that
this life will correspond to God's plan. To
eliminate the discrimination and economic
inequalities caused by socio-economic changes,
every seven years the memory of the Exodus and
the Covenant are translated into social and
juridical terms, in order to bring the concepts
of property, debts, loans and goods back to their
deepest meaning. - The precepts of the sabbatical and jubilee years
constitute a kind of social doctrine in
miniature28. (24-25)
18Sabbath Day Every 7th Day
- Take care to keep holy the sabbath day as the
LORD, your God, commanded you. Six days you may
labor and do all your work but the seventh day
is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may
be done then, whether by you, or your son or
daughter, or your male or female slave, or your
ox or ass or any of your beasts, or the alien who
lives with you. Your male and female slave should
rest as you do. For remember that you too were
once slaves in Egypt, and the LORD, your God,
brought you from there with his strong hand and
outstretched arm. That is why the LORD, your God,
has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.
Deuteronomy 512-15
19Sabbath Year Every 7th year
- Let the land rest and lie fallow for the poor,
slaves and wild animals (Exodus 2310-11
Leviticus 251-7) - Remission of debts (Deuteronomy 151-11)
- Freedom of Hebrew slaves (Deuteronomy
1512-18) - Remember that you were a slave in the land of
Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you for
this reason I lay this command upon you today.
Deuteronomy 1515
20Jubilee Year Every 50th year
- Proclamation of liberty (Leviticus 2510)
- Everyone returned to own land (Leviticus 2510)
- Treat poor with dignity, do not extract
interest, do not enslave (Leviticus 2536-41) - The land shall not be sold in perpetuity for
the land is mine, and you are but aliens who have
become my tenants. Therefore in every part of
the country that you occupy, you must permit the
land to be redeemedI, the Lord, am your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you
the land of Canaan and to be your God. Leviticus
25 23-24, 38.
21Jesus Christ, Fulfillment of Gods Love
- In the Gospel of Saint Luke, Jesus describes his
messianic ministry with the words of Isaiah which
recall the prophetic significance of the jubilee
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to preach the good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk
418-19 cf. Is 611-2). Jesus therefore places
himself on the frontline of fulfillment, not only
because he fulfils what was promised and what was
awaited by Israel, but also in the deeper sense
that in him the decisive event of the history of
God with mankind is fulfilled. (28)
22Revelation of Triune love
- Jesus awareness of being a beloved son
- Revealing the face of God
- Trinity as communion
23Human Person in Gods Plan of Love
- Being a person in the image and likeness of
Godinvolves existing in relationship. (34) - Christian revelation shines a new light on the
identity, the vocation and the ultimate destiny
of the human person and the human race. Every
person is created by God, loved and saved in
Jesus Christ, and fulfils himself by creating a
network of multiple relationships of love,
justice and solidarity with other persons while
he goes about his various activities in the
world. (35)
24The human vocation
- The pages of the first book of Sacred Scripture,
which describe the creation of man and woman in
the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 126-27),
contain a fundamental teaching with regard to the
identity and the vocation of the human person.
They tell us that the creation of man and woman
is a free and gratuitous act of God that man and
woman, because they are free and intelligent,
represent the thou created by God and that only
in relationship with him can they discover and
fulfill the authentic and complete meaning of
their personal and social lives that in their
complementarities and reciprocity they are the
image of Trinitarian Love in the created
universe that to them, as the culmination of
creation, the Creator has entrusted the task of
ordering created nature according to his design
(cf. Gen 128).
25Christian salvation
- Universal and integral
- Concerns the human person is all dimensions
- It is not possible to love one's neighbor as
oneself and to persevere in this conduct without
the firm and constant determination to work for
the good of all people and of each person,
because we are all really responsible for
everyone44. (43)
26Positive anthropology
- There is no state of conflict between God and
man, but a relationship of love in which the
world and the fruits of human activity in the
world are objects of mutual gift between the
Father and his children, and among the children
themselves, in Christ Jesus in Christ and thanks
to him the world and man attain their authentic
and inherent meaning. (46)
27- God, in Christ, redeems not only the individual
person but also the social relations existing
between men. (52)
28Reflection Questions
- How does the Catholic understanding of the person
differ from other faith traditions? - How does it differ from prevailing culture?
- What are the challenges of presenting this
understanding? - In the Catholic view, is it possible to
compartmentalize religion from other aspects of
life?
29Gods Plan and the Mission of the Church
- Mission proclaiming the Kingdom of God
(communion with God among humanity) (49) - The church is the seed and beginning of the
Kingdom - Sign and safeguard of the transcendent dimension
of the human person.
303. The Churchs Mission and Social Doctrine
- The Church, sharing in mankind's joys and hopes,
in its anxieties and sadness, stands with every
man and woman of every place and time, to bring
them the good news of the Kingdom of God, which
in Jesus Christ has come and continues to be
present among them73. Sacrament of Gods love. - Minister of salvation not in abstract or merely
spiritual dimension, but in the context of
history(60)
31Goal
- Proclaim the Gospel and make it present in the
complex network of social relationships - Reaching out to the person and
- Enriching and permeating society itself with the
Gospel (62) - Supernatural
- Raising the natural to a higher planenothing of
the created or human order is excluded from
grace. (29)
32Whole person
- The whole man not a detached soul or a being
closed within its own individuality, but a person
and a society of persons is involved in the
salvific economy of the Gospel. (65)
33Evangelization
- Evangelical mission in relation to the social
mission - The Church's social doctrine is an integral part
of her evangelizing ministry. Nothing that
concerns the community of men and women
situations and problems regarding justice,
freedom, development, relations between peoples,
peace is foreign to evangelization, and
evangelization would be incomplete if it did not
take into account the mutual demands continually
made by the Gospel and by the concrete, personal
and social life of man85.
34The Churchs social doctrine is
- An integral part of her evangelizing ministry.
- A distinctive way to carry out ministry of the
Word and her prophetic role - Essential part of the Christian message
- Not a marginal interest or one that is tacked on
to the mission - At the heart of the Churchs service ministry
- Stems from proclamation and witness
35Evangelical Mission
- Early 1900s, two schools
- Saving souls
- Establishing visible churches
- Social mission was secondary and a means towards
the goal.
36Early development of social doctrine
- Focus was on savings souls within the Church
- Rerum Novarum
37Vatican II
- Convergence of understanding between the
evangelical and social mission - Guadium et spes
- Reading the signs in light of the Gospel
- Mission of the Church to the world
- Promoting human dignity and rights
- Encouraging and fostering community
- Guidance as to the meaning and value of human
activity
38Synod of Bishops 1975
- Working of behalf of justice is a constitutive
dimension of the preaching the Gospel
39Redemptoris Missio
- Church is sent by Christ to reveal and
communicate the love of God to all peoples and
nations - Happens in various ways
- A force of liberation through forming consciences
that promote dignity, solidarity, peace, justice
and integral development.
40Post Vatican II Understanding of the paths of
mission
- Charity (communicating Gods love)
- Witness (presence)
- Dialogue (mutual witness / respect)
- Proclamation (invitation to relationship w/
Christ) Development and Liberation from Injustice - Inculturation
- Contemplation / prayer
- Reconciliation and healing
41Relationship between evangelical and social
mission
- Principles of CSD
- Life and dignity of the human person
- Call to Family, Community and Participation
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Option for the poor
- Dignity of work, workers rights
- Solidarity
- Care for creation
- Paths of mission
- Charity (communicating Gods love)
- Witness (presence)
- Dialogue (mutual witness / respect)
- Proclamation (invitation to relationship w/
Christ) Development and Liberation from Injustice - Inculturation
- Contemplation / prayer
- Reconciliation and healing
42Reflection Questions
- Do most Catholics see the social doctrine as
essential to the evangelical mission of the
Church? Why / why not? - What is the role of the deacon regarding the
social mission and does that relate to the role
of the faithful?
43The Nature of the Churchs Social Doctrine
- Formed over time through intervention of
Magisterium on social issues - Not an ideology, but theology, particularly moral
theology - Crossroads where Christian life and conscience
come into contact with the real world.
44Foundations
- Main aim to interpret reality in light of the
Gospel teaching on humanity and the human
vocation (72) - Foundation in Scripture and tradition
- Faith interacting with reason knowledge
enlighten by faith - Uses all branches of knowledge, philosophy, human
and social sciences
45Role of science
- This attentive and constant openness to other
branches of knowledge makes the Church's social
doctrine reliable, concrete and relevant. Thanks
to the sciences, the Church can gain a more
precise understanding of man in society, speak to
the men and women of her own day in a more
convincing manner and more effectively fulfil her
task of incarnating in the conscience and social
responsibility of our time, the word of God and
the faith from which social doctrine flows110.
(78)
46Authority of the social teaching
- Insofar as it is part of the Church's moral
teaching, the Church's social doctrine has the
same dignity and authority as her moral teaching.
It is authentic Magisterium, which obligates the
faithful to adhere to it115. The doctrinal
weight of the different teachings and the assent
required are determined by the nature of the
particular teachings, by their level of
independence from contingent and variable
elements, and by the frequency with which they
are invoked116. (80)
47- The Church's social doctrine is presented as a
work site where the work is always in progress,
where perennial truth penetrates and permeates
new circumstances, indicating paths of justice
and peace. Faith does not presume to confine
changeable social and political realities within
a closed framework137. Rather, the contrary is
true faith is the leaven of innovation and
creativity.
48Historical Development
- Video In the Footsteps of Jesus