Social Doctrine of the Church: The Unity of the Human Family

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Remember a while back when I began posting on the social doctrine of the Church and I described what is called the common good and the universal destination of all of creation?

It has to do with the unity of the human family. This unity is in turn founded on the dignity of the human person, every person, regardless of nationality, race, creed or economic status.

You see, if every human person is of equal dignity, then humanity as a whole is one family. It shares in the common good, and to this family all of creation is universally destined; all of the resources of the earth are to be shared.

This is not an easy doctrine to accept to many inculturated into a society placing high value on competitiveness, open markets, and self-sufficiency.

The Social Doctrine of the Church states, “The Christian message offers a universal vision of the life of men and peoples on earth (Pius XII, 1953) that makes us realize the unity of the human family. (Gaudium et Spes 42) This unity is not built on force of arms, terror or abuse of power, but rather it is the result of a “supreme model of unity, which is a reflection of the intimate life of God, one God in three Persons…. what we Christians mean by the word ‘communion'”.

Because each member of the human family are all equal by virtue of their natural dignity, there is always the need to promote the universal common good, which is the common good of the entire human family. (Pacem in Terris, 1963)

My friends, this ultimately is not only founded on the bedrock principle of justice, but more profoundly upon the law of love upon which all of the moral life is based.

Challenging…. no doubt.

For an in depth discussion of this topic, refer to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, nos. 428-432.