Orysya Blaga CTH 243-201 August 18, 2013 The Church Cannot Remain Indifferent to Social Matters The

question whether the Church should stay indifferent to social matters or has a right and duty to contribute to the wellbeing of society is one of the most important and controversial questions. In the contemporary world of globalization and capitalism, there are constant arguments for and against Churchs relevance to the public. Despite the fact that the Church has personal and spiritual purposes, there is also a strong connection between the Catholic tradition of natural law and its conception of social justice. Its core principles, when applied to current economic and social conditions, form the foundation for guiding the human behavior towards achieving the common good. The Church cannot remain indifferent to social matters because it has a duty God entrusted to her to interpret and teach the moral law, contribute to a defense of human rights, and apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to new demands and necessities of social and economic life. First of all, the core principles and fundamental values of Catholic social teaching contribute to the wellbeing of every individual as well as the wellbeing of society in general by teaching its moral law and guiding every person through the realities of social life. Catholic social teaching endeavors to teach a human to act from motive of duty and good will. According to Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the Catholic Social Teaching possesses the instruments by which it is able to contribute to a true understanding of justice, virtue, and freedom. Its spiritual mission is also a source of guidance, establishment of responsibility and strength for society according to a law of God. The grounding of Catholic Social Teaching finds

itself in the truth of faith which is truth not only of beliefs but also of the morals in the context of society. It is Churchs Social Doctrines duty to proclaim its proper definition, principles, and importance of justice. In addition to its task of proclamation of these principles, its teaching is central to the norms of specific human action. It reveals the truth of human nature and helps to solve unfamiliar problems. Its primary purpose is to explain, reflect, and reveal the realities of human existence, promoting greater awareness of moral duties. Her crucial intention is to help humans on their way of salvation by defining the right guidelines and regulations (29-31). Catholic Social Teaching emphasizes the importance of human choice and action in the path of achieving the common good. Furthermore, the Church has a duty to contribute to a defense of human rights through its global social and institutional presence. In his article Human Rights and Pluralism in Catholic Social Thought, David Matzko McCarthy defines the Churchs idea of human rights as dependent on the permanent existence of institutions, which endeavor to be responsive and helpful in the world of purely materialistic and egocentric interests (1-3). The concept of human rights in Catholic Social Teaching originated from the theory of natural law. The foundation of natural law is in eternal law of wisdom and God. Therefore, Catholic Social Teaching offers a system of the norms of social conduct based on human natural obligations and achievement of the common good (9-10). The accomplishment of the duties of justice is key way of attaining true understanding of freedom and harmony. The received truth of faith and offered way of applying the principles of Catholic Social Teaching propose a different way of protecting human rights. These bases also expose a new enlightened value to a social tradition that recognizes standard canons of righteousness in terms of Gods devotions for human being (13).

The Church has also authority and obligation to apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to new demands and necessities of social and economic life. It adds the important spiritual value to the act of justice and charity. We can observe the great and powerful faculty of the Church throughout the history, evoking its intentions, functions, influences, and contributions to the social life in every period of human existence. One of these periods, in which the Catholic Church moved from being a guardian of Christians to growing into an enlightened and a powerful improver in world affairs, is the movement of social justice and rights over the period of two hundred years since the French Revolution. Thomas Bokenkotter describes the passionate and courageous representatives of the Catholic Social Thought who were extremely concerned and occupied by the political and social upheavals in his book Church and Revolution. The revolution started in the late 1780s with the fiscal cliff in France and completely changed French economic and political life. An attempt to reform financial system ended up in collapse of the absolute monarchy. The Church survived consequent damage of the unity of the country, the conflict between the Church, and deChristianization. Despite precise inconsistency between the Church of that time and rising capitalism and change of power from the Church to the state, the Catholic social conscience was able to awake and continue to pursue its primary goals. (1-38). In this extremely harsh time of recovery of the Church and as well as the entire nation, the devotees of Catholic social conscience established its core understanding of freedom, including freedom of education, freedom of the press, and freedom of association. They also emphasized the importance of the separation of the Church from the state and renunciation of the privileges (40-53). These bighearted individuals of Catholic society helped people in need and promoted better future by passionately stimulating and following the core principles and fundamental

values of Christian Social Teaching. It was back in 1833 when a pioneer of Social Catholicism, Frederick Ozanam, with friends founded a charitable Catholic association, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which was committed to helping the poor in the slums of Paris. Frederick Ozanam was also extraordinarily dedicated teacher who devoted himself particularly to the spiritual interests of his students (116-121). This and many other examples of distinguish contributions of the Church prove the necessity of the Churchs involvement in the social matters. Such principles of the Church as the principle of the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity, identified in Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, have universal implication and are permanent. Even though the fundamental ideologies and values of Catholic Social Teaching stay helpful and relevant for human conduct, the knowledge inherent of Catholic tradition is living entity and cannot be explained or applied to the social matters as in the past (54-56). In the contemporary world of globalization, there arise numerous new question and challenges that need to be questioned, answered and solved. Exploitation of unprotected people, increasing gap between rich and poor, government deregulation, expanding government and military influence, and many other destructive results of contemporary social and economic conditions all are the reason for redefining our concept of social justice and human rights. According to Kenneth R. Himes, in the knowledge of the Catholic Church we can find helpful moral guides for a standard of righteousness in our appraisal of globalization (1-10). Catholic Social Teaching endeavors to response to these violations of human rights, dignity, and moral law by expressing its huge concern about the lack of human spiritual values and faith. It emphasizes the importance of unconditional love, continuality of existing institutions for charity for people in need, and for unity for protection.

Besides many spiritual and individual purposes of Catholicism in life of individual human being, the Church cannot remain indifferent to social matters. It has a duty assigned to her by God to communicate and teach the word of Gospel and help to apply it to the complex realities of human existence. There is also a tight link between the Catholic conception of natural law and its idea of social justice. It is important to remember the members of the Catholic Church who helped people in need and promoted better future by passionately stimulating and following its core principles and fundamental values. We can be confident in the necessity of the involvement of the Catholic Social Teaching in social and economic affairs by observing its contribution to a defense of human rights through its institutional presence, and applying its principles to new demands and necessities of social and economic life. The Church is also the main contributor of spiritual value to human conduct that emphasizes the importance of faith and morality in our true understanding of virtue and justice.

Works Cited Bokenkotter, Thomas S. Church and Revolution. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.

"Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church." Vatican.va. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

McCarthy, David Matzko. "Human Rights And Pluralism In Catholic Social Thought." New Blackfriars 90.1025 (2009): 72-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

R. Himes, Kenneth. "Globalization With A Human Face: Catholic Social Teaching And Globalization." Theological Studies 69.2 (2008): 269-289. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.