Foundational Principles of Social Justice

Virtue

A habitual and firm disposition to do good.

Respect for Private Property (Exodus + Deuteronomy)

A number of the laws in the Old law give penalties for stealing or causing damage to someone else's property, particularly harm to livestock, fields, orchards, and vineyards.

Prophet

A person God chooses to speak his message of salvation. A communicator of a divine message that they predict in the future.

Covenant

A solemn agreement between human being or between God and a human being in which mutual commitment are made. Covenants help us to understand how God's saving plan unfolds.

Social Encyclical

A teaching letter from the Pope to the members of the Church on topics of social justice, human rights, and peace.

Describe the social dimension of God's Covenant with Abraham.

Abraham was selected as the leader of God's chosen people and would be a blessing to other nations. "Your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars." Christ is a direct descendant of Abraham and through Christ, his disciples built communities of justice and peace.

Why must the support and protection of the family have the highest priority in society?

All other social groups and institutions are built around the family, and the family serves as the training ground for how to live in society.

Fair Trade

An organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries to obtain living wages for their labor.

Corporal Works of Mercy

Charitable actions that respond to people's physical needs and show respect for human dignity. This includes concrete actions for the poor and vulnerable, and the traditional list of seven works includes feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, and burying the dead. Those who do this are placed at the right hand of God and recieve the gift of eternal life.

3 Classical Types of Justice

Commutative, Legal, and Distributive (CLD)

What are two new Testament passages that direct us to care for those who are poor and vulnerable?

Corporal Works of Mercy, and the Beatitudes

New Law

Divine Law revealed in the New Testament through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ and through the witness and teaching of the Apostles. The new Law perfects the Old Law and brings it to fulfillment. Also called the Law of Love.

Old Law

Divine Law revealed in the Old Testament, summarized in the Ten Commandments. Also called the law of Moses. It is succeeded by the new Law of the Gospels.

How do we see the effects of original sin today?

Each one of us inherits original sin from birth due to the sin of Adam and Eve. This loss of original holiness is reflected in our inclination to sin, or concupiscence. Sins can include sins of comission or omission. Comission includes a direct action such as sealing or cheating. Omission includes ignoring the needs of others that are required to uphold their human dignity.

What important truth about social justice is taught through the Exodus event?

God is with us and wants to free us from oppressive forces and promote justice.

Divine Revelation

God's self-communication through which he makes known the mystery of his divine plan. Divine Revelation is a gift accomplished by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the words and deeds of salvation history. It is most fully realized in the Passion, death, and Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ. The way God revealed himself and his saving plan through mighty works and words.

Synoptic Gospels

Greek for "seeing the whole together" and the name given to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke due to their similar style.

How does the value of work as understood by Catholic social teaching differ from the common social understanding of the value of work?

In general society, work is the amount of money earned, or profit gained. Catholic social teaching says that the value of human work is the fact that the one who is doing it is a person and exists for the sake of the people.

Explain how the understanding of justice in the Bible is reflected in the three classical types of Justice.

Jesus teaches us the three classical types of justice which include commutative, legal and distributive justice.

How does Jesus teach about unconditional respect for human dignity?

Jesus tells us that we must see the image of God in every human and must love all people the best we can.

Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

Life and dignity of humans, dignity of work, solidarity, call to family community and participation, preferential option for the poor, care for God's creation, responsibilities and rights. (LDSCPCR)

Trinity

Our communion with one another should resemble the communion of the Holy Trinity. The Three Divine Persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are in perfect, loving relationship with one another. We are inherently communal.

Cardinal Virtues

Prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude (PJTF)

Give three examples of how society can protect and defend the dignity of human life?

Rejecting the use of genetic engineering to manipulate life, combating the use of public money to provide abortions, ensuring access to healthcare.

Four themes of the Old Law

Respect for human life, respect for private property, honesty in business, the just distribution of wealth, and special concern for the vulnerable.

Define Social Justice

Social justice is the justice provided by society that allows individuals to obtain their due according to their nature and their vocation. It is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority.

What three foundational principles is the social justice teaching of the Church built upon?

Society must respect the God-given rights of all people, governments and social institutions must work for the common good of all, the governments and social institutions must protect + provide for the material needs of their citizens as well as allow them to exercise their natural freedoms.

What is solidarity? How are solidarity and justice related to peace?

Solidarity is the union of one's heart and mind with all people. If one is in union with all people, they will respect their inherent dignity, leading to peace.

What is the difference between exploiting creation and being a steward of creation?

Someone who exploits creation tries to dominate the earth's resources. A steward of creation carefully manages the earth, which has been entrusted to his care.

Church

The Church is both the means and the goal of Jesus' saving mission. The Church ensures social justice by promoting the inherent dignity of others as a community of believers.

Magisterium

The Church's living teaching office, which consists of all bishops, in communion with the Pope.

What were the social realities that Pope Leo XIII addressed in On the Condition of Labor?

The Church's right to speak on social issues, affirms that every person has basic right that must be respected by society, and promotes the rights and just treatment of others.

Define Paschal Mystery

The actions done by Jesus for all people through his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Deterrence

The belief that war, especially nuclear war, can be prevented through the ability to respond to a military attack with a devastating counterattack. (Response to atomic bomb and cold war)

Social Doctrine

The body of teaching by the Church on economic and social matters that includes moral judgments and demands for action in favor of those beging harmed.

Stewardship

The careful and responsible management of someone or something that has been entrusted to a person's care. This includes responsibly using and caring for the gifts of creation that God has given us.

Grace

The free and undeserved gift of God's loving and active presence in the universe and in our lives, empowering us to respond to his call and to live as his adopted sons and daughters. Grace restores our loving communion with the Holy trinity, lost through sin.

Common Good

The good that is collectively shared by a number of people and that is beneficial for all members of a given community. Social conditions that allow for all citizens of the earth, individuals and families, to meet basic needs and achieve fulfillment promote the common good.

The Church is both the means and the goal of Christ's saving mission. What are the social justice implications of this truth?

The means is to build the kingdom of God. The goal is to achieve eternal salvation in heaven.

Subsidiarity

The moral principle that large organizations and government should not take over responsibilities and decisions that can be carried out by individuals and local organizations, and that large corporations and governments have the responsibility to support the good of human beings, families, and local communities, which are the center and purpose of social life. "As small as possible, as large as necessary."

Original Holiness

The original state of human being in their relationship with God, sharing in the divine life in full communion with him.

Salvation History

The pattern of specific Slavic events in human history in which God clearly reveals his presence and saving actions. Salvation was accomplished once and for all through Jesus Christ, a truth foreshadowed and revealed throughout the Old Testament. How God has been at work throughout human history to save humanity from sin and death and restore our original holiness and justice.

Universal Destination of Goods

The principle that the earth and all its good belong to God, and he intends these goods to provide the things all human beings need to live with dignity. One should not hoard money and possessions.

What did the prophets proclaim related to social justice?

The prophets were the guardians of the old law and called people to put their total trust in God, turn away from false Gods, to be authentic in their worship, repent for their sins, and practice justice in their relationships with one another.

Distributive Justice

The responsibility that society has for safeguarding essential human rights and ensuring the just distribution of the earth's resources, with special regard for those people whose basic needs are going unmet.

What are the main categories of human rights outlined by Pope John XXIII in his encyclical Peace on Earth?

The right to: life, moral and cultural values, worship God according to one's conscience, choose one's state in life, economic rights, meeting and association, emigrate and immigrate, political rights.

Original Sin

The sin by which the first humans disobeyed God and thereby lost original holiness and became subject to death. Original Sin is transmitted to every person born into the world, except Mary and Jesus. It is the loss of our original holiness and justice.

Legal Justice

The social responsibilities that citizens owe their country and society.

Original Justice

The state of complete harmony of our first parents with themselves, with each other, and with all of creation.

Explain the moral principle of the universal destination of goods?

The universal destination of goods is the principle that the earth and all its goods belong to God, and he intents these goods to provide the things all human beings need to live with dignity.

Honesty in Business (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy)

The use of honest weights, and forbidding charging interest on a loan.

Justice

The virtue concerned about the rights and duties within relationships and societies.

Scripture & Tradition

The way divine revelation is communicated and what Catholic Social Teaching is rooted in.

Paschal Mystery

The work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ mainly through his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

racism

Treating people of a different race without the full respect their equal dignity requires.

Commutative Justice

Type of justice that calls for fairness in agreements and contracts between individuals. It is an equal exchange of goods, money, or services.

Solidarity

Union of one's heart and mind with all people. Solidarity leads to the just distribution of material good, creates bonds between opposing groups and nations, and leads to the spread of spiritual goods such as friendship and prayer.

What is the social dimension associated with our salvation?

We all have inherent dignity, and are therefore inherently communal.

Rerum Novarum

Written by Pope Leo VIII in 1891. (On the Condition of Labor). During Gilded Age and upheld the dignity of workers.

Social Justice

the defense of human dignity by ensuring that essential human needs are met and that essential human rights are protected for all people.