Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the
Church
Introduction:
An Integral and Solidary Humanism
Chapter
One: God’s Plan of Love for Humanity
·
God’s
Liberating Action in the History of Israel
·
Jesus
Christ, the Fulfilment of the Father’s Plan of Love
·
The
Human Person in God’s Plan of Love
·
God’s
Plan and the Mission of the Church
Chapter
Two: The Church’s Mission and Social Doctrine
•
Evangelization
and Social Doctrine
•
The
Nature of the Church’s Social Doctrine
•
The
Church’s Social Doctrine in Our Time: Historical Notes
Chapter
Three: The Human Person and Human Rights
•
Social
Doctrine and the Personalist Principle
•
The
Human Person as the “Imago Dei”
•
The
Many Aspects of the Human Person
•
Human
Rights
Chapter
Four: Principles of the Church’s Social Doctrine
•
Meaning
and Unity
•
The
Principle of the Common Good
•
The
Universal Destination of Goods
•
The
Principle of Subsidiarity
•
Participation
•
The
Principle of Solidarity
•
The
Fundamental Values of Social Life
•
The
Way of Love
Chapter
Five: The Family, the Vital Cell of Society
•
The
Family, the First Natural Society
•
Marriage,
the Foundation of the Family
•
The
Social Subjectivity of the Family
•
The
Family as Active Participant in Social Life
•
Society
at the Service of the Family
Chapter
Six: Human Work
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
The
Prophetic Value of “Rerum Novarum”
•
The
Dignity of Work
•
The
Right to Work
•
The
Rights of Workers
•
Solidarity
Among Workers
•
The
“New Things” of the World of Work
Chapter
Seven: Economic Life
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
Morality
and the Economy
•
Private
Initiative and Business Initiative
•
Economic
Institutions at the Service of Man
•
The
“New Things” in the Economic Sector
Chapter
Eight: The Political Community
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
Foundation
and Purpose of the Political Community
•
Political
Authority
•
The
Democratic System
•
The
Political Community at the Service of Civil Society
•
The
State and Religious Communities
Chapter
Nine: The International Community
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
The
Fundamental Rules of the International Community
•
The
Organization of the International Community
•
International
Cooperation for Development
Chapter
Ten: Safeguarding the Environment
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
Man
and the Universe of Created Things
•
The
Crisis in the Relationship Between Man and the Environment
•
A
Common Responsibility
Chapter
Eleven: The Promotion of Peace
•
Biblical
Aspects
•
Peace:
the Fruit of Justice and Love
•
The
Failure of Peace: War
•
The
Contribution of the Church to Peace
Chapter
Twelve: Social Doctrine and Ecclesial Action
•
Pastoral
Action in the Social Field
•
Social
Doctrine and the Commitment of the Lay Faithful
Conclusion:
For a Civilization of Love
+++++++
The Compendium
is based squarely on a document from the Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et
Spes. Here’s an outline of the issues from G&S that show up in the Compendium.
G&S,
PART II: SOME PROBLEMS OF SPECIAL URGENCY
46. This
council has set forth the dignity of the human person, and the work which men
have been destined to undertake throughout the world both as individuals and as
members of society. There are a number of particularly urgent needs
characterizing the present age, needs which go to the roots of the human race.
To a consideration of these in the light of the Gospel and of human experience,
the council would now direct the attention of all.
Of the
many subjects arousing universal concern today, it may be helpful to
concentrate on these: marriage and the family, human progress, life in its
economic, social and political dimensions, the bonds between the family of
nations, and peace. On each of these may there shine the radiant ideals
proclaimed by Christ. By these ideals may Christians be led, and all mankind
enlightened, as they search for answers to questions of such complexity.
CHAPTER
I: FOSTERING THE NOBILITY OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY
CHAPTER
II: THE PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE
- SECTION 1: The Circumstances of Culture in the
World Today
- SECTION 2: Some Principles for the Proper
Development of Culture
- SECTION 3: Some More Urgent Duties of Christians
in Regard to Culture
CHAPTER
III: ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
CHAPTER
IV: THE LIFE OF THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY
CHAPTER
V: THE FOSTERING OF PEACE AND THE PROMOTION OF A COMMUNITY OF NATIONS
+++++++
The list
of specific issues in Gaudium et Spes recurs in the Compendium, with one
addition – the environment.
The right
to life is found throughout the document, but especially in chapter 3, on human
rights generally.
Migration
is addressed especially in the chapter on work, but also in the chapter on the
environment.
There is
one major alteration in presenting a topic. G&S refers to “progress” or
development; this idea shows up throughout the Compendium but in a diffused
way, often in passages about education or culture, in the teaching about rights
(3), family (5), work (6), economics (7), environment (11), and social doctrine
(12).
|
Gaudium et Spes |
Compendium of SJ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Life (ch 3) |
|
|
Family |
Family (ch 5) |
|
|
(economic life) |
Work (ch 6) |
|
|
|
(ch 6 includes immigration) |
|
|
Progress, development |
Civilization of love (conclusion) |
|
|
Economic life |
Economic life (ch 7) |
Solidarity, equal |
|
Social life |
Social doctrine (ch 12) |
|
|
Political life |
Political life (ch 8) |
|
|
International
life (inc immigration) |
International community (ch 9) |
|
|
|
Protecting the environment (ch
10) |
|
|
Peace |
Peace (ch 11) |
|
|
|
|
|
Health and
welfare: in common good (ch 4), in family (ch 5), in work (ch 5), international
community (ch 9), environment (ch 10)
The Compendium is not a
laundry list of issues. It’s a carefully constructed explanation of the way
social justice fits into evangelization, and a careful explanation of the
development of the Social Gospel since 1891. Still, the Compendium does
pay attention to some specific issues – mostly the same ones that were singled
out by the Second Vatican Council. (Gaudium et Spes, 40 years before the
Compendium, stated, “Of the many subjects arousing universal concern today, it
may be helpful to concentrate on these: marriage and the family, human
progress, life in its economic, social and political dimensions, the bonds
between the family of nations, and peace.”) It may be interesting and useful to
pull out from the Compendium a dozen specific issues for discussion, so
that honest and thoughtful pro-lifers can see how abortion fits into the social
doctrine of the Church.
So, 12 issues:
1.
abortion
(see especially chapter 3)
2.
universal
healthcare: a right (see especially chapters 4 and 9)
3.
family
life (see chapter 5)
4.
labor
(see chapter 6)
5.
immigration
(see especially chapter 6)
6.
inequality:
wealth exists to be shared (see chapter 7)
7.
racism:
democracy and defense of minorities (see chapter 8)
8.
one
world government (see chapter 9)
9.
environment
(see chapter 10)
10.
nuclear
disarmament (see chapter 11)
11.
doctrine
and Rerum Novarum (see chapter 12)
12.
civilization
of love (see conclusion)
Abortion. The right to life does
not have its own chapter, but it is addressed throughout the Compendium,
but especially in chapter 3 which focuses on human rights. See especially
paragraph 155, which has a list of rights taken from John Paul II’s encyclical Centesimus
Annus. A key idea in the pro-life movement is affirmed here: “The first
right presented in this list is the right to life, from conception to its
natural end, which is the condition for the exercise of all other rights and,
in particular, implies the illicitness of every form of procured abortion and
of euthanasia.”
A key idea in my determination to
understand the incredible urgency of understanding the right to life within the
context of the Church’s social doctrine or some such larger framework of
justice is affirmed in the next paragraph (in 156): “Those, therefore, who
claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their
respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the
other.”
Universal healthcare.
It does seem intuitively obvious
that the right to life includes the right to healthcare. Healthcare can almost
be defined as the collection of techniques for protecting life. But the
sociological and political fact remains: many pro-lifers are vehemently opposed
to universal healthcare, or Obamacare, or any such “Socialist” idea. Is it easy
to separate socialism from socialized medicine? Social control of the means of
production is one thing, and it is indeed a prominent target, clearly condemned
by the Catholic Church. On the other hand, the Church’s social doctrine begins
with a clear and forceful denunciation of Socialism tied to a clear and
forceful defense of social action – strikes – on behalf of workers. The Church
does not claim any special expertise in labor relations, but does claim
expertise in human dignity; if the dignity of workers requires strikes, the
Church supports strikes. Social control of production is one thing; social
services and social justice are another. This is not complicated.
Pro-lifers are justifiably proud of
pregnancy aid programs, including sidewalk counseling. But notice what
pro-lifers offer in these settings. We offer, first and foremost, hope: it is
possible to protect the lives of helpless children and also lead a full and
successful life yourself. This is possible! Hope! To back up this proffer of
hope, pro-lifers also collect resources to ensure that women facing an unwanted
pregnancy can find ways to meet a list of needs. Medical needs and costs:
often, pro-lifers refer women to institutions and programs built and funded and
staffed and supported by broad coalitions loaded up with liberals and Democrats
and pro-choicers. Education: same. Housing: same. Emergency funds: same. If
pro-lifers depended exclusively on volunteer programs, funded and staffed
exclusively by pro-lifers, our offers of help would dramatically shrunken.
Universal healthcare coverage is
pro-life.
Family issues get an entire
chapter, “Chapter Five: The Family, the Vital Cell of Society.” Linking family
issues to the right to life is tricky. It is undeniable that the “contraceptive
mentality” – separating sexual activity from babies – looms large in the
background of abortion. But among the most important aspects of family life and
family rights is the drive to protect family decisions against intrusion by
government or other social entities. The decisions people make about sexual
expression are certainly grist for the mill of moral philosophy – but are not
obviously subject to legislation. If it is true that natural law, not just
Christian morality, asserts that a marriage is between one man and one woman,
then a large portion of the moral exemplars of our heritage were engaged in
grave evil – not just David the murderous adulterer, but also a list of
polygamists including Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Solomon. And don’t
overlook 1.5 billion Muslims throughout the modern world. Perhaps we don’t want
public school teachers explaining the mechanics of human sexuality to toddlers,
and we assert the authority of parents in this matter. Exactly how, then, do we
claim the right to regulate sexual behavior of consenting adults who do not
share our ideas of morality? And, most important for pro-lifers: do we want to
link issues that depend on a religious framework to abortion? Aren’t we
struggling valiantly to avoid that confusion?
Labor. A balanced picture of human
life and more specifically of family life includes a clear understanding of
work, and a vigorous defense of workers’ rights. An ikon of the Holy Family
includes (1) Jesus at the center as the guarantor of the overwhelming dignity
of the individual, flanked by (2) Mary the Mother of her own small family and
also the whole human family with zero exceptions, and (3) Joseph the Worker.
The teaching of the Church is balanced; social justice beginning with the
encyclical on labor is balanced with pro-life teaching that recalls Mary.
Immigration. The Compendium does
not have a carefully focused teaching about immigration; the teaching shows up
in various chapters, including “Chapter Ten: Safeguarding the Environment.” But
it is relevant and noteworthy that the apostolic exhortation Familiaris
Consortio includes a list of rights of the family, and the right to migrate
is among them.
The next generation of the world
comes from births, of course; but the next generation of the United States or
any nation comes from births and immigration. Any eugenic plan to shape the
next generation will focus on births and immigration. Hungary, for example, wants
Hungary to remain Hungarian; and so the current government was elected on a
platform with two explicit complementary pieces – encouraging Hungarian births
and excluding Muslim immigrants. This is not a pro-life plan; this is racist
eugenics.
When the American eugenics movement
was at its peak in the 1920s, it launched several initiatives:
•
preventing
births among dysgenic people by compulsory sterilization of the
“feeble-minded”;
•
maintaining
the vitality and genetic purity of desirable families by prohibiting
“miscegenation,” marriage between whites and people of various colors;
•
sharply
limiting immigration from nations (“races”) of colored people.
The first and second of these
initiatives have ended in shame and disgrace, but the third initiative is still
prominent and powerful in American life.
It is impossible to offer a
rationale for limiting immigration into the relatively depopulated continent of
North America without promoting global population control. If America is too
crowded or too poor to welcome and embrace a robust influx of immigrants, then
the world is far too crowded to welcome and embrace a robust influx of babies.
Further, it is impossible to explain to a reluctant pregnant woman why she should welcome this
child, despite the lifelong challenges the birth will bring, while simultaneously
refusing to welcome healthy immigrants who will pose some challenges for a few
years and then offer great benefits for decades.
We
need a consistent ethic of hospitality – pro-life and pro-immigrant.
+++++++
6. inequality: wealth exists to be shared
(see chapter 7)
Decades
ago, a great pro-life leader, Mike Schwartz, pointed out that poverty and
overpopulation are actually the same thing, regarded from slightly different
angles. Both words refer to an imbalance of people and goods. But when we talk
about “poverty,” people of good will feel some challenge to help out, while the
word “overpopulation” seems to suggest that the problem is “their” fault.
Unequal distribution of wealth in America and throughout the world poses
challenges, and for some people population control and immigration restrictions
are among the tools available to confront the problem. The Church rejects those
“solutions,” and urges a commitment to solidarity – with those in need, with
facing an unplanned pregnancy, throughout the nation and throughout the world.
+++++++
7. racism: democracy and defense of
minorities (see chapter 8)
Who
exactly is chosen and protected “we” and who is the dreaded and rejected
“them”?
Both
abortion and racism are based on a blind spot: some isn’t quite right, isn’t
fully human – because they are black, or because they are small. The judgment
of otherness is based on perceptions that are experienced as “obvious” and
beyond question. And the people making the judgment can be completely
delightful and loving and intelligent except with regard to the semi-humans.
Escape from these prejudices often seems just about impossible right up until
the moment of an epiphany.
+++++++
8. one
world government (see chapter 9)
The Church asserts the principle of
subsidiarity – that the smallest social unit that can address a problem
effectively is the right one for that problem. But there are some problems that
can’t be faced effectively by any social unit smaller than the whole world.
Those problems include modern warfare, plague, famine, poverty, migration –
and, we see more and more clearly, abortion. Abortion is now a global
catastrophe, and – given the rapidly expanding availability and ease of global
travel – ending it within a nation is almost meaningless.
Government at every level is
subject to abuse and incompetence and corruption. Nonetheless, the quaint
villages of the past are, well, of the past. A global problem requires a global
solution, even if we have yet to build the structures we need.
Today, most nations refuse to
protect the unborn by law. And the United Nations shows itself to tend
pro-abortion whenever the question arises. This is a challenge, not a reason to
despair and walk away.
What is the largest global
organization today? It’s not the UN, nor the World Bank, nor the International
Court of Justice. Nor the USA. Nor the Gates Foundation. Without any serious
competition, it’s the Catholic Church. That doesn’t mean that the world is just
about to be perfect, but it does mean that people who despair of building
effective and just and peaceful global structures are simply not paying
attention to reality. We have a long way to go, but we have started.
+++++++
9. environment
(see chapter 10)
Who cares deeply about future
generations, and tries to protect the unborn? Pro-lifers, of course, are
focused on protecting the lives of the unborn. But environmentalists are also focused
on future generations, working to protect their property rights. The world in
which we live belongs to them as
well as to us; we must share it with them. Seizing irreplaceable goods from the
world for the use of one or two generations is theft, pure and simple.
Pro-lifers
and environmentalists protect the lives and the property of our descendants. It
is crazy that we are not trying to cooperate as often as possible.
+++++++
10. nuclear disarmament (see chapter 11)
Globally,
abortion kills tens of millions of children annually, and this level of
slaughter has been going on for about 60 years. The cumulative global death
toll since abortion exploded beyond Communist nations is well over two billion,
maybe three billion. The only way to exceed or even match numbers like that is
with an all-out nuclear war. Armageddon would catch up with the abortion toll
right away, but nothing else will.
Abortion
kills children without killing everyone else. Nuclear war kills children while
killing everyone else. Killing children is an abomination, either way.
The
Church asserts firmly that humanity is not caught permanently and hopelessly in
the trap of mutually assured destruction. For decades, the world has in fact
prevented nuclear war by ensuring all relevant parties that there will not be
any victors in a nuclear war: everyone will be devastated – so no rational
person will start it. But that scheme of deterrence depends on the tested and
credible will to carry out retaliation if attacked. And that means destroying
cities-full of children, among other horrors. So that’s inexcusable. Further,
the deterrence scheme has worked for decades but is still unstable. We need a
way out. And the way out that the Church promotes and that sane leaders
throughout the world have been working to build since 1948 is a global
authority that has enough authority to disarm nuclear states. We are not there
yet, obviously.
Curiously,
among the major obstacles to strengthening the United Nations are conservative
Americans, including most leaders of the pro-life movement.
It
is poss1ible that during the major shifts in the pro-life plans after the Dobbs
decision, pro-lifers may notice that abortion is now a global phenomenon that
cannot be solved by individual nations. It is possible that this realization,
once grasped firmly, will change the way pro-lifers think about an effective
global authority.
Post-Dobbs
reality may shove pro-lifers into listening to the wise (and, for some,
authoritative) teaching of the Church (Compendium, 441). “Concern
for an ordered and peaceful coexistence within the human family prompts the
Magisterium to insist on the need to establish some universal public authority
acknowledged as such by all and endowed with effective power to safeguard, on
the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect for rights.”
+++++++
11. doctrine and Rerum Novarum (see chapter
12)
Oftentimes,
it seems that the Church is threatened by a schism, setting pro-lifers against advocates
of social justice. But the Compendium places the right to life firmly
embedded within social justice teaching.
When
he asked for a new document collecting and disseminating the Church’s rich
teaching about social justice, St. John Paul II said that there was a gaping
hole in the catechesis that most Catholics received – cradle Catholics as well
as new converts. So, just exactly how important is this vast body of new
teaching that has grown up since the publication of Rerum Novarum in 1891? It’s
“indispensable.” Paragraph 524: “The Church's social teaching is the
indispensable reference point that determines the nature, modality,
articulation and development of pastoral activity in the social field. It
is the expression of the ministry of social evangelization, aimed at
enlightening, stimulating and supporting the integral promotion of the human
person through the practice of Christian liberation in its earthly and
transcendent dimension.”
civilization of love (see
conclusion)
Pro-lifers often invoke the words
of St. John Paul II about a “culture of life and a civilization of love” to
undergird their work. That’s great, perhaps – or anyway maybe half-way great –
or maybe 1/12 great – or maybe not. The fact is, the teaching from the Pope is
clear and forceful – and visible in the Compendium. The civilization to
which he refers is explicitly pro-life and pro-justice. The Compendium,
with all 12 chapters, offers his vision. To pull out a single piece of that
vision and then to ignore the rest and even oppose substantial parts, and then
to pretend that you and the Pope are talking about the same vision: that’s
either deplorably ignorant or flatly dishonest.
For a serious and educated and
honest Catholic, the pro-life movement belongs in a broader context – not just
the consistent ethic of life that so many pro-lifers deplore, but even more, much
more. It belongs within the entire social justice framework.
Building
the “civilization of love” … The immediate purpose of the
Church's social doctrine is to propose the principles and values that can
sustain a society worthy of the human person. Among these principles,
solidarity includes all the others.
