There is a wonderful body of Catholic doctrine we call the Church’s social teachings. The social doctrine of the Church developed in the nineteenth century when the Gospel encountered the modern industrial society and its new concepts of society, production of goods and services, labor and ownership.
One of the first questions one must ask is, “When does the Church make moral judgments about economic and social matters?” The answer is, “When the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it.”
This is why the Church so consistently and strenuously warns all men and women about the evils of abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, war, same-sex marriage. These are social issues where the fundamental rights of persons and the salvation of souls are at stake.
It is also the reason that Church has spoken out against the excesses of capitalism, the evil of communism, the rights of the worker, the legitimate rights of unions, the dignity of the undocumented alien, and many other social matters.
The Church’s social teachings has three ends:
1. To propose principles for reflection by all.
2. To provide criteria for judgment.
3. To give guidelines for action.
We will discuss more of this topic in later posts.
