the right to shelter and private property (RN #5) the right to food (RN #4, 10) the right to shelter and private property (RN #5) the right to a just and living wage (RN #34, LE #19) the right to life and a worthy standard of living (PT #11) the rights of workers to form unions (RN #38); the right to assemble and form associations (QA #23) the right to development (JM #15) the right to moral and cultural values (PT #12-13) the right to worship according to one’s conscience (PT #14); the right to religious freedom (DH #13) the right to freely choose one’s state of life and establish a family (PT #15-17, RN #9) the right to emigrate and immigrate (PT #25) the right to rest (LE #19) the right to a work that is not harmful to one’s conscience or personal dignity (LE #15) the right to appropriate subsidies for unemployed workers and their families (LE #18) the right to a pension in old age, sickness or injury (LE #19) the right to social security connected with maternity (LE #19) the right to freedom of expression and thought (JM #44)

Two Key Understandings The word ‘subsidiarity’ comes from the Latin word for help (subsidium). The principle relies on two central understandings which provide the conditions necessary to achieve public order and promote the common good. The human person and family must come before the nation or government. Human persons are born into families and into a fabric of relationships. The family is the foundation of the church and the basic unit of society. Institutions only exist to serve human needs and interests by working for the common good. Decision-making should not be concentrated in the hands of a few but be dispersed as widely as possible and be exercised by the most appropriate group of people, as close to the local level as is reasonable. The role of the State is to promote the wellbeing of all people in a country by promoting economic prosperity, equality of opportunity and social equity. Teacher’s Note: The role of the State is to promote the wellbeing of all people in a country by promoting economic prosperity, equality of opportunity and social equity. It not only has the duty to provide public safety, policing and military defence, and  to safeguard people’s rights through the legal system and regulation. The State has to provide a regulatory framework for businesses to flourish, by providing in co-operation with private enterprise when appropriate infrastructure (roads, rail, ports etc., water, power, communications), and prevent the growth of monopolies that would exploit the free market. The State has to raise funds through fair taxes to pay for all its services, including redistributing income to those in significant need through the social welfare system (as with the disabled, war veterans, the unemployed, age pensioners, those in aged care, hospitals and health services). How much the State should play a more or less direct role in the economy depends on circumstances and is a matter for democratic debate. Source: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Picture credits Slide 2: Erin Johnson/room3 Slide 3: Education for Justice (Caritas USA) Find out more www.caritas.org.au/CST Last updated April 2014