1. Catholic Social Teaching
And the Legal Profession
In today’s presentation, I would like to reflect with you about an important aspect of Spring Hill’s identity as a Jesuit, Catholic college. I am sure that you are well aware of the importance of institutional clarity about values and identity, not only as a marketing tool, but much more importantly, as an organizing vision, and image of the future toward which we progress together. My thesis is that Catholic Social Teaching, especially the Jesuit mission of the service of faith and the promotion of Justice, is key to the Jesuit and Catholic identity of Jesuit colleges and universities.
Edward B. Arroyo, SJ, Editor, Blueprint for Social Justice
Twomey Center for Peace Through Justice Loyola University New Orleans 6363 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA ;

2. Catholic Social Thought: Some Foundational Issues

3. Catholic Social Thought (CST): texts in contexts
Why
What
Who
How
Where
When

4. CST: Why? Deals with the enduring dilemma:
How to be faithful to God, relationships
And responsible to social institutions

5. Faith perspective on society for: Teaching Preaching Action
CST: What?
Faith perspective on society for:
Teaching
Preaching
Action

6. CST: Who Popes Ecumenical Councils Synods
Regional conferences of bishops
Local synods, conferences, bishops

7. CST: How Developed? See, Judge Act Consultation with experts
Circulation of drafts
Definitive publication
Actions to implement

8. Vatican II’s Ecclesiology
A community whose purpose is to help bring about the reign of God in history.
The Church is a sign and a safeguard of the dignity of the human person.
The social mission is “constitutive” not extra-curricular or optional.
The Church carries out its religious mission by engaging in concrete struggles of society. To work for social justice and human dignity, therefore, is a religious act.

9. Justice in the World, 1971 Synod
Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.

10. U.S. Bishops:
The central message is simple: our faith is profoundly social. We cannot be called truly “Catholic” unless we hear and heed the Church's call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace.
Communities of Salt and Light, U.S. Bishops, 1993

11. Constitutive Elements of Catholicism
Scripture hear and proclaim the Good News
Tradition reflect, teach texts in contexts: role of natural law in this tradition
Sacraments -- inculturated worship, prayer life
Social Mission -- faith-based action for social justice
Word – Scriptures, tradition, religious ed, etc.
Worship – Sacraments, prayer, etc.
World -- social mission, action for social justice

12. Biblical themes of justice
God is active in human history
Creation as gift for all
Covenant relationships
Community responsibilities
Challenge of the prophets
Anawim -- "the widows, orphans and aliens”
The example of Jesus – reign of God, healing
creation, covenant, community
the challenge of the prophets
"the widows, orphans and aliens”
the example of Jesus

13. Biblical Justice Fidelity to the demands of relationships With God
With neighbors
Especially with those left out
A primary source for the Judaeo Christian tradition, is, of course, the bible. An excellent resource on Biblical themes of Justice in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures is the work of Fr. John Donahue, SJ, where he discusses the fundamental biblical definition of Justice as “fidelity to the demands of relationships.”
This is not the same as the Enlightenment’s more individualistic view of justice.

14. Justice: Biblical Enlightenment
Restorative
Biased to the poor
Personalistic
Need-based
Covenant relationship
Distributive
Punitive
Blind and impartial
Individualistic
Merit-based
Social contract
Private property absolute

15. Vatican II
This split between the faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.
Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against this scandal and even more so did Jesus Christ Himself in the New Testament threaten it with grave punishments.

16. Catholic Social Teaching (CST)
Rooted in the Bible
Continually developed in new contexts
See, judge, act: basic method of CST
Rooted in the Bible
Continually developed in Catholic Social Teaching Seeing, judging, acting

17. Modern Catholic Social Teaching
1891 Rerum Novarum (New Things) Leo XIII Quadragesimo Anno (Social Order) Pius XI Mother and Teacher John XXIII Peace on Earth John XXIII Church in the Modern World Vatican II The Development of Peoples Paul VI A Call to Action Paul VI Justice in the World Synod of Bishops 1979 Redeemer of Humanity John Paul II On Human Work John Paul II On Social Concern John Paul II The One Hundredth Year John Paul II The Gospel of Life John Paul II
See, Judge and Act as organizing framework.
13 documents with global implications; many others with more local import, e.g., racism in U.S.
Catholic Social Thought, the Documentary Heritage, by David O’Brien and Thomas Shannon, (Maryknoll, NY, Orbis Books, 1995) is an excellent one volume resource, containing all of the major documents in this 110 year tradition, as well as introductory essays on each document.
Claretian Publications, provides “The Busy Christian’s Guide to Catholic Social Teaching” and other materials.
Professor Gerald Darring, at provides comprehensive information on the documents of Catholic Social Teaching, including bibliographies on each principal document.
The Office of Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, at provide a comprehensive bibliography and teachings aids on Catholic social teaching.

18. Common Good Social Justice Distributive Contributive Individual
Catholic social teaching, like most philosophical reflection, distinguishes three dimensions of basic justice: commutative justice, distributive justice, and social justice [24].
COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE DEMANDS FIDELITY TO AGREEMENTS, CONTRACTS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND AMONG PRIVATE GROUPS.
69. Commutative justice calls for fundamental fairness in all agreements and exchanges between individuals or private social groups. It demands respect for the equal human dignity of all persons in economic transactions, contracts, or promises. For example, workers owe their employers diligent work in exchange for their wages. Employers are obligated to treat their employees as persons, paying them fair wages in exchange for the work done and establishing conditions and patterns of work that are truly human [25].
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE RELATES TO ALL PERSONS RIGHTS TO BASIC NECESSITIES AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO RESPECT THESE: E.G., GOVERNMENT,
70. Distributive justice requires that the allocation of income, wealth, and power in society be evaluated in light of its effects on persons whose basic material needs are unmet. The Second Vatican Council stated: "The right to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one's family belongs to everyone. The fathers and doctors of the Church held this view, teaching that we are obliged to come to the relief of the poor and to do so not merely out of our superfluous goods" [26]. Minimum material resources are an absolute necessity for human life. If persons are to be recognized as members of the human community, then the community has an obligation to help fulfill these basic needs unless an absolute scarcity of resources makes this strictly impossible. No such scarcity exists in the United States today.
SOCIAL JUSTICE RELATES TO THE INSTITUTIONAL ORDER AND HOW THE BASIC INSTITUTIONS ARE ORGANIZED.
71. Justice also has implications for the way the larger social, economic, and political institutions of society are organized. Social justice implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way. This form of justice can also be called "contributive," for it stresses the duty of all who are able to help create the goods, services, and other nonmaterial or spiritual values necessary for the welfare of the whole community. In the words of Pius XI, "It is of the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual all that is necessary for the common good" [27]. Productivity is essential if the community is to have the resources to serve the well-being of all. Productivity, however, cannot be measured solely by its output in goods and services. Patterns of production must also be measured in light of their impact on the fulfillment of basic needs, employment levels, patterns of discrimination, environmental quality, and sense of community.
72. The meaning of social justice also includes a duty to organize economic and social institutions so that people can contribute to society in ways that respect their freedom and the dignity of their labor. Work should enable the working person to become "more a human being," more capable of acting intelligently, freely, and in ways that lead to self-realization [28].
Justice
Individual
Individual
Commutative (Contractual)

19. Major Themes from Catholic Social Teaching
Human dignity
Community
Rights and duties
Preferential option for the poor
Participation
Dignity of work and the rights of workers
Stewardship of creation
Solidarity
Role of government
Promotion of peace
From these rich biblical and documentary sources, I’d like to choose ten major themes to at least provide a taste, and for some of you a refresher, on the richness of this tradition. These 10 themes will be introduced in the next ten slides.
There are many other ways of summarizing these themes. Byron, Network, U.S. Catholic Bishops, etc. all have different summary schemes.

20. 1. Human dignity Every person is sacred, made in the image of God.
A network of basic rights flow from this human dignity
This is the absolute foundation stone of all that follows.

21. 2. Community / Common Good The social nature of the human person
The fact that human beings are social by nature indicates that the betterment of the person and the improvement of society depend on each other.…humanity by its very nature stands completely in need of life in society.
Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World
“Every man for himself,” said the elephant as he danced among the chickens. Charles Dickens

22. 3. Rights and duties Civil/political Economic/social
Every person has a right to the basic material necessities that are required to live a decent life.
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pacem in Terris by John XXIII. David Hollenbach’s work “Claims in Conflict.”
Civil/political
Economic/social

23. Preferential Option for the Poor
Remember the “widows, orphans, and aliens.”
A necessary element of the common good
Remember the “widows, orphans, and aliens.”
A necessary element of the common good

24. 5. Participation
All people have a right to a minimum level of participation in the economic, political, and cultural life of society

25. 6. The dignity of work and the rights of workers
Work has dignity because it is performed by the human person.
People are more important than things; labor is more important than capital.
Work has dignity because it is performed by the human person.
People are more important than things; labor is more important than capital.

26. 7. Stewardship of Creation
The goods of the earth are gifts. We hold them in trust, as stewards.
The Second Vatican Council has reminded us: “God destined the earth and all it contains for all people and nations so that all created things would be shared fairly by all humankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity.” All other rights, whatever they are, including property rights and the right of free trade must be subordinated to this norm….
On the Development of Peoples

27. 8. The Virtue of Solidarity
“It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all ...because we are all really responsible for all.” Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern, 1987

28. Role of Government
The state has a positive moral function. It is an instrument to promote human dignity, protect human rights, and build the common good
Subsidiarity
As small as possible
As big as necessary
Importance of civil society’s intermediate institutions

29. 10. Promotion of Peace Peace is not just the absence of war;
shalom is a set of relationships
“If you want peace, work for Justice”
Paul VI
If you want peace, work for justice

30. Major Themes from Catholic Social Teaching
Human dignity
Community
Rights and duties
Preferential option for the poor
Participation
Dignity of work and the rights of workers
Stewardship of creation
Solidarity
Role of government
Promotion of peace

31. “Nine Commandments” for Social Teaching
Rooted in prayer and worship.
Integrate, don’t isolate.
Content counts – know the documents.
Competency really counts.
Charity (social service) is not enough for justice.
Thou shalt observe, judge, act.
Feeling right.
Thinking right.
Acting right.

32. Teaching for justice is rooted in faith, prayer and worship
Teaching for justice is rooted in faith, prayer and worship. Cultivate a spirituality that is not just private, but also public and social.
Catholicism does not call us to abandon the world, but to help shape it. This does not mean leaving worldly tasks and responsibilities, but transforming them.
Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice U.S. Bishops, November, 1998

33. Integrate, don’t isolate
The commitment to human life and dignity, to human rights and solidarity is a calling every Catholic educator must share with his or her students. It is not a vocation for a few religion teachers, but a challenge for every Catholic educator.
Therefore, we emphasize that the values of the Church's social teaching must not be treated as tangential or optional. They must be a core part of teaching and formation.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching:
Challenges and Directions, U.S. Bishops, 1998
Just as the social teaching of the Church is integral to our faith as Catholics, the social justice dimensions of teaching are integral to Catholic education. They are not fringe, optional, or tangential. They are an essential part of educational teaching responsibility. This is not a vocation for a few educators, but a challenge for every educator.
Often when I talk to educators, I worry that they see the social justice dimensions of their jobs as one more thing to feel bad about, one more set of expectations they have trouble fulfilling. This need not be the case. The social dimensions of our faith are exercised in the everyday responsibilities of educators.
Teachers should not be asked to go far out of their way to teach about justice. They need to simply look for opportunities provided by the curriculum and experience to share our teaching on social values.

34. Content counts Study the documents.
There is a universal need to be more explicit in teaching the principles of Catholic social thought and helping people apply and act on those principles.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions
U.S. Bishops, 1998
Relate the content of your profession to this tradition. History, Literature, the arts, social science, environmental and natural sciences, business, all provide ample opportunities to relate the content of your discipline to this tradition.
Thomas Plante, chair of the Psychology department at Santa Clara, has published an issue of Blueprint for Social Justice on this topic.

35. Competency really counts
We strongly urge Catholic educators and administrators to create additional resources and programs that will address the lack of familiarity with Catholic social teaching among many faculty…. Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions U.S. Bishops, 1998

36. Charity (social service) is not enough for justice.
There is a need for Catholic educational programs not only to continue offering direct service experiences, but also to offer opportunities to work for change in the policies and structures that cause injustice.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions U.S. Bishops, 1998
Contrast and Complementarity between Charity and Justice.
Charity is : Justice is
Accidental Systemic
Occasional Persistent
Spontaneous Structural
Arbitrary Universal
Non controversial Engaged in controversies from faith perspective
Good Samaritan generosity Build healing and liberating structures
Love your neighbor so much that you work against oppressive structures
and for a society of dignity and rights
Love people (neighbors, strangers) so much that you work to change the structures which oppress.

37. Thou shalt see, judge, act
See, observe the facts; know the reality
Use social analysis and moral values to make judgments about the facts
Plan a realistic and effective strategy for action

38. Why so little implementation? Dormant social conscience
Apathy: what can I do?
Ignorance: intellectual roots in
Dualism
Individualism
Inadequacy: band aids, not justice

39. Apathy - Feeling Right Experience is the best teacher Service learning
Community service
Immersion in the realities

40. Ignorance – Thinking Right
Oppression: personal and social
Liberation: personal and social

41. Adequacy – Acting Right
One on one band aid “solutions” not enough
Changing social structures
Research
Political advocacy
Hope

42. Internet Resources on Catholic Social Teaching
The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought,
Judith A. Dwyer, ed.

43. Blueprint For Social Justice
Only seven pages each article
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Only one article each month
Our brevity is not our only strength
Now in our 55th year of publication
Sign up here, or at
Two recent issues of Blueprint: Daoust and Locatelli.

44. Conclusion Salt and Light for the World
“You’re supposed to be the leaven in the loaf, not part of the lump.”

45. Implications for Legal Profession ?
See
Judge
Act