| |
by Bishop Donald Wuerl Building a better world has been the aim of Pope John Paul II and his predecessors
|
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two articles on Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II's encyclical on the Church's social teaching. The complete text of Centesimus Annus, which was released on May 1, 1991, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, can be found at the Vatican Web site: www.vatican.va.
When the Second Vatican Council met from 1962 to 1965, the Council Fathers addressed social and temporal aspects of Christian life in their document Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World). In it, they say the Church’s function is to promote the good of the whole person "in his totality taking into account his material needs and the requirements of his intellectual, moral, spiritual and religious life" (GS, 64).
Gaudium et Spes observes that the Church is not bound to any particular political, economic, or social system. It also makes clear that the demands of the Gospel plunge the Church into the "joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time…" (GS, 1). This is the context for the council’s examination of the Gospel and its bearing on marriage and family life, the development of culture, economic life, the political community and the avoidance of war.
|
 |
|
Pope John Paul states that one purpose in writing Centesimus Annus (One Hundred Years of Catholic Social Teaching) is to honor Pope Leo XIII. "The present encyclical," he writes, "seeks to show the fruitfulness of the principles enunciated by Leo XIII which belong to the Church's doctrinal patrimony, and, as such, involve the exercise of her teaching authority" (3.5). While situations change and the teaching needs continuously to be applied in a way that makes it relevant, the principles are rooted in revelation and in our human nature. It is the duty of the magisterium to enunciate the Church's social teaching not as an option for the believer but as a guide for his or her life.
In Chapter 2, "Toward the 'New Things' of Today," John Paul directs our attention to the competing principles that form the background against which the Church's social teaching had to struggle. The operative competing principle in the free-world economy too often has been "the right to a profit."
The profit principle dominates many practical decisions and can be felt at virtually every level of human enterprise. In parts of the world described as "capitalist," the profit principle, either as property or free enterprise, has often been advanced as an absolute norm.
The competing value in the socialist world is "the need of the collectivity." The totalitarian principle in a centrally planned economy makes individuals subservient to the market. They serve the market and the government; individual rights are sacrificed for the common good or the collective benefit.
Catholic social teaching recognizes the positive in both systems. The free enterprise system is emptied of all meaning without its profit incentive. Human society fails without due recognition of the rights of the collectivity — the state.
|
|
|
What Catholic social teaching has tried to do is balance the legitimate needs of both the free enterprise system and the rightful demands of the state against the more basic human needs of individuals who live and die not in abstraction but in the flesh. In the effort to balance the many competing rights and needs, there has emerged a clear articulation of permanent principles and values that must be addressed before any economic system or government can claim to act in a truly just and human manner.
In the remaining portion of the encyclical the pope provides examples of the major principles and values that are the foundation of Catholic social teaching. This list of principles and values is not exhaustive but includes some that are basic and self-evident, and others that flow from the more basic principles. All are expressed in the papal magisterium articulating Catholic social teaching.
|
|
|
The dignity of the human person does not derive from any individual achievement, accomplishment, productivity, or external talent or attribute. We are created in the image and likeness of God and are called to a divine destiny that transcends earthly life. As such, every human from the moment of conception until natural death is to be cherished and considered worthy of reverence and respect.
For this reason the Church defends so intensely the dignity of persons against all forms of slavery, exploitation, manipulation, and domination, whether these be inflicted in the field of politics, economics, medicine or science, or follow on cultural or ideological demands.
Flowing from the God-given dignity of the human person are certain inherent rights that must be protected and defended. Of particular import is the right to religious liberty, because it touches the transcendent core of the person, the spirit, and reveals a point of reference and in a certain sense becomes the measure of the other fundamental rights (cf. 44). In the United States, the Declaration of Independence recognizes the rights — rooted in "Nature and Nature's God" — of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
|
|
|
No one is an island. We are social by nature. Human development and growth take place in society. Because of the principle of interdependence between the person and society, human society must be the object of the Church’s social teaching.
By the common good we mean all those social conditions that favor the full development of human personality. While the common good is higher than private interests, it is intrinsically united to the good of the human person. The Church must continually stress the human meaning of social structure and foster society’s transformation according to the criteria of social justice.
|
|
|
The two principles solidarity and subsidiarity should govern social life. Solidarity recognizes that each person as a member of society is interconnected with the destiny of society itself. From the perspective of the Gospel, solidarity is also bound up with the salvation of all women and men. Subsidiarity complements the principle of solidarity by which individuals, local communities and intermediary bodies of governance are protected from the danger of losing their rightful autonomy and freedom.
The goods of the earth are given by God so that all persons might pursue their right to a form of life in keeping with human dignity. While the right to private property is valid and necessary, it nevertheless is restricted within the limits of its social function. To cite John Paul II, Christian tradition has never upheld this right as absolute and untouchable. On the contrary, it has always understood this right within the broader context of the right common to all to use the goods of the whole creation; the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone (cf. 30).
|
|
|
The Church's social doctrine invites us to be grateful for the vitality and ferment of the prophetic voices who speak for the unborn, the poor, the homeless, the victims of racism and sexism, the elderly and people with handicaps. The same teaching challenges us so that we may see our world as the house of God that calls for our care and our stewardship. The goods of the earth are not without limits nor can they be squandered without regard for future generations.
At the same time the Church in her social doctrine says the vocation of the laity is to be a transforming agent of society. Especially important today is the vocation of the politician who is called to represent us in the task of building a just social order.
Most of all, the Church's social doctrine points us to Christ who came among us so that all of us might have life and have it to the full (cf. John 10:10). The same voice of Christ is echoed again in the living tradition of the Church that encourages and fosters opportunities for every human being to actualize his or her God-given potential, talents and aspirations so that we might realize the glory of God in our lives and world. As St. Irenaeus said, "The glory of God is the human person fully alive."
In the final section of the encyclical John Paul thanks "all those who have devoted themselves to studying, expounding and making better known Christian social teaching" (56.1).
No one has performed that task with greater dedication, skill and devotion than the pope himself. As we look back over the history of Catholic social teaching and look forward to its ever more explicit application, we do so with great gratitude to all of the popes who are voices of social justice — none more than Pope John Paul II.
Bishop Donald Wuerl is a member of Duquesne Council 264.
|
|
|
