Catholic Social Teaching

Every person is sacred and deserves to be treated with dignity. People are more important than things, and the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

The ways in which we organize our society impacts human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. All people have a right and a duty to participate in society, which must be aimed at bringing about the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable. The role of government and other institutions is to protect human life and dignity, and promote the common good.

A world of dignity and well being can only be created if human rights are protected and individual and collective responsibilities are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. However, in addition to these rights, we have duties--to one another, to our families, and to the larger society. Both personal responsibility and social responsibilities must be honored to create the common good.

Our world is characterized by the growing prosperity of a few while the many suffer extreme poverty. Our tradition teaches that the basic moral test is how the most vulnerable members are faring. In a society scarred divisions between rich and poor, Catholic social teaching instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

Too often the bottom line takes precedence over the rights of workers, we believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God's creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected,the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property, and to economic initiative. Respecting these rights promotes an economy that protects human life, defends human rights, and advances the well-being of all.

Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are one human family under God. As such, we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, wherever they live, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are called to practice the virtue of solidarity, understanding that "loving our neighbor" has global dimensions in an interdependent world. 

Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth and all of its creatures is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God's creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.