What is Social Justice?

Why Social Teachings?

The social teachings of the Church are at the very heart of the Christian message. They are, as any other Church teaching, rooted in the life-experience of the first Christian communities, formed by the life, death and resurrection of Christ. As these communities began to reflect on how these events and their participation in the new life of the Risen Lord transformed their lives, they started to articulate their understanding of issues such as who Christ is, the Eucharist and other Sacraments, prayer, spirituality and, of course, of the distinctly Christian way of living. The latter became the foundation of what we know today as the social teachings of the Church. As we can see from their common foundation, all these teachings are intimately related. We simply cannot talk about one without talking about the other.

This insight is well illustrated by Pope John Paul II in his letter Mane Nobiscum Domine (Stay with Us, Lord), written for the occasion of the current Year of the Eucharist. In paragraphs 28 and 29, he cautions us that the authenticity of our participation in the Eucharistic celebration is going to be judged by our actual and practical participation in building a just society, and by our commitment to and care for the poor and the suffering.

These are strong words but they should not come as a surprise to us. In our baptism, we die with Christ to sin and selfishness, and rise with him to the new life of the Risen Lord, a life lived for others in selflessness and love. It is this dying to oneself and rising for the other with Christ in which we participate as we re-enter the mystery of the death and resurrection of the Lord in every Eucharistic celebration. Pope John Paul II’s words only remind us of the reality of this central act of our faith, and of the reality and concreteness of its necessary consequences.

What is Social Justice?

Social justice refers to ‘right human relationships’ in society, shaped and regulated by our baptismal and Eucharistic experiences. It seeks to establish and uphold these right relationships between individuals, where the individual is understood as an image and likeness of God, and as a member of a group (family, profession, nation), with corresponding rights and responsibilities. A right relationship implies that we give everyone what is his or her due, as an image and likeness of God, and as his or her justified needs as a member of a community require.

Social justice seeks to identify and remove any obstacle from human relationships in society which prevent these relationships from being right relationships. By doing so, it advocates social change which will help human relationships reflect more accurately God’s relationship with us in Jesus Chris

Basic Principles

The Dignity of the Human Person

The inherent dignity of every human being is based on two separate, yet related, major principles. First, we have been created in the image and likeness of God. Second, we have learned from Jesus that the most perfect image and likeness of God is the human being. In the perfect humanity of Christ do we encounter his perfect divinity. Therefore, as an expression of God’s divine life, human life is sacred and it deserves protection and a dignified treatment, from its beginning to its very end.

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Call to Community and the Common Good

Only a community can form a human being into an individual. Therefore, the dignity of a human person depends on how dignified and just the organization of the community is. The dignified and just organization of a community is the “common good”, which allows the human person to choose a dignified life. The family is the foundation of every society. Therefore, the healthy and dignified function of the family is foundational to the common good, to society and to the dignity of the human person.

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Human Rights and Responsibilities

When we encounter the image and likeness of God in another person, it places concrete demands on us. We owe a basic respect and dignity to this presence, which has been articulated in terms of basic human rights, such as the right to life and the right to those things which are required for human decency. This, however, is reciprocal. My rights are the other person’s responsibilities and the other person’s rights are my responsibilities.

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The Principle of Solidarity

In the Incarnation, God has brought the promise of the solidarity of the Covenant with Moses to its fulfillment. In Jesus Christ, God has expressed complete solidarity with humanity: God has shared the very divine life with us, showing us that God will never forsake us and that God wants to share in every aspect of our lives except sin. As Christ-like people, we are called to do the same with others.

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Option for the Poor and the Suffering

In the spirit of the principle of solidarity, we are called to share our lives especially with the poor and the suffering. As God has shared God’s divine life with us in Jesus, we too are called to share our lives (not only our money) with the poor and suffering. The greater the need and suffering of the poor, the deeper is the love and commitment which is required from us. Indeed, we are called to show a preferential option for the poor and suffering, just as God has opted preferentially for us in the Incarnation.

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The Dignity of Human Work

Human work is dignified because a human person is doing it. Human work is more than just making a living. It is an occasion for creative self-expression and self-realization for the human person in his or her effort to become more fully human, and a better image and likeness of God. This requires a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property and to economic justice.

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Right to Private Property

The right to private property is not an absolute right. Everything we have has been entrusted to us, and we have the right to it as long as it helps us to become a better image and likeness of God. Therefore, if my possessions only satisfy my selfishness and greed in the face of the need of another person, I do not have a right to it. However, we need to have some private possessions in order to learn how to become a giving, selfless person. Indeed, it is degrading to be so poor, that we cannot even give, and practice charity.

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Care for God’s Creation

Our relationship to God is best illustrated by our relationship to others, and to creation as a whole. Therefore, a right relationship to God demands an unselfish, caring and respectful relationship not only to others, but also to the environment and to the whole created world.

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Principle of Subsidiarity

The principle of subsidiarity refers to the practice that decisions should be made at the lowest possible level. In other words, people should take as much responsibility for their actions as much it is possible. This practice highlights human freedom and dignity.

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