Exegesis & Precepts

The social doctrine of the Catholic Church - SDC/DSE.

The social teaching designates the precepts of the Catholic Magisterium in order to reflect the Gospel in the socio-economic and political realities. Catholic social doctrine is made up of fourteen « social » encyclicals (Encyclius, ἐνκύκλιος), written by the Popes and assembled in a Compendium.

The encyclical Rerum novarum (Evolutionary Change), signed by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, represents the birth certificate of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. Rerum novarum discusses the relationships and mutual duties between labor and capital, as well as government and its citizens. Of primary concern is the need for some amelioration of "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class. ».  It supports the rights of labor to form unions, rejects both socialism and unrestricted capitalism, while affirming the right to private property. Rerum Novarum is considered a foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching. Many of the positions in Rerum novarum are supplemented by later encyclicals, in particular Pius XI’s Quadragesimo anno (1931), John XXIII’s Mater et magistra (1961) and John Paul II’s Centesimus annus (1991), each of which commemorates an anniversary of the publication of Rerum novarum.

The social doctrine of the Catholic Church (SDC/DSE) is based around major regulatory principles : the Human Dignity, the Common Good, the Subsidiarity and the Solidarity.

According to the Catholic Church : 

« The Church’s social doctrine was not initially thought of as an organic system but was formed over the course of time, through the numerous interventions of the Magisterium on social issues. The fact that it came about in this manner makes it understandable that certain changes may have taken place with regard to its nature, method and epistemological structure. With significant allusions already being made in Laborem Exercens, a decisive clarification in this regard was made in the Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis: the Church’s social doctrine « belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly of moral theology ». It cannot be defined according to socio-economic parameters. It is not an ideological or pragmatic system intended to define and generate economic, political and social relationships, but is a category unto itself. It is « the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church’s tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behaviour » . The Church’s social doctrine is therefore of a theological nature, specifically theological-moral, « since it is a doctrine aimed at guiding people’s behaviour ». « This teaching ... is to be found at the crossroads where Christian life and conscience come into contact with the real world. [It] is seen in the efforts of individuals, families, people involved in cultural and social life, as well as politicians and statesmen to give it a concrete form and application in history » . In fact, this social doctrine reflects three levels of theological-moral teaching: the foundational level of motivations; the directive level of norms for life in society; the deliberative level of consciences, called to mediate objective and general norms in concrete and particular social situations. These three levels implicitly define also the proper method and specific epistemological structure of the social doctrine of the Church. ».  Compendium SDC/DSE, 72-73

« The term «social doctrine »  goes back to Pope Pius XI and designates the doctrinal « corpus »  concerning issues relevant to society which, from the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum  of Pope Leo XIII, developed in the Church through the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiffs and the Bishops in communion with them. The Church’s concern for social matters certainly did not begin with that document, for the Church has never failed to show interest in society. Nonetheless, the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum marks the beginning of a new path. Grafting itself onto a tradition hundreds of years old, it signals a new beginning and a singular development of the Church’s teaching in the area of social matters. In her continuous attention to men and women living in society, the Church has accumulated a rich doctrinal heritage. This has its roots in Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels and the apostolic writings, and takes on shape and body beginning from the Fathers of the Church and the great Doctors of the Middle Ages, constituting a doctrine in which, even without explicit and direct Magisterial pronouncements, the Church gradually came to recognize her competence. In the nineteenth century, events of an economic nature produced a dramatic social, political and cultural impact. Events connected with the Industrial Revolution profoundly changed centuries-old societal structures, raising serious problems of justice and posing the first great social question — the labour question — prompted by the conflict between capital and labour. In this context, the Church felt the need to become involved and intervene in a new way: the res novae («new things » ) brought about by these events represented a challenge to her teaching and motivated her special pastoral concern for masses of people. A new discernment of the situation was needed, a discernment capable of finding appropriate solutions to unfamiliar and unexplored problems. ». Compendium SDC/DSE, 87-88.

In her permanent attention to Man in Society, the Church has accumulated a rich tradition and a doctrinal heritage, rooted in the Holy Scriptures, The Gospel, the writings of the Apostles  and the Fathers of the Church or the Great Doctors .

In this new context of the economic nature of events that occur in the XIXth century and the social, political and cultural instability, the Church feels the need to intervene, to discern and to define the appropriate solutions.