Justice Matters: May 1st is Workers’ Day. 

This prompted me to look for the church’s teaching on employment. I found a body of work called Catholic Social Teaching (CST).  The church’s official teaching, it has two amazing purposes.  Firstly, “to set forth the requirements of just social action as they appear in the Gospel” and secondly “in the name of justice, to denounce social, economic, or political actions and structures whenever they contradict the Gospel message.”  

SEE:     CST began to emerge in response to the changing world following the Industrial revolution. Questions about just distribution of wealth and the rights to work, own property, just wage, and right to form unions began to arise. Rerum Novarum (1891) was the first Church document written solely to address questions of social justice.  Since then much has been written by the Bishops' Conferences and the Vatican. We are called to live by a set of principles which can be distilled down to personhood, common good, solidarity and subsidiarity. “They are interrelated and we, as human beings, must act in accordance with them. No human can reasonably situate himself outside of social life. We have responsibility through the Commandment of love of God and neighbour to help others, to serve the common good, to help every individual live a dignified life, and to protect the intrinsic rights of groups and associations.”

CST says that all life should be respected as we are created in God's image (Genesis 1:27). Pacem in Terris (1963), lists many of the rights we are entitled to including the right to life, food, shelter, clothing, work, and medical care. The list also includes economic rights and political rights. Pacem in Terris  says we all have a responsibility to ensure the common good both of our families and strangers. 

REFLECT:     What is the relevance of CST to us on a day to day basis?  How could it affect our view of workers’ rights and other political matters?  Do we know enough to “abide by the beauty and goodness of CST and to apply it .. or.. encourage the state, by way of…participation in the political process (voting, lobbying), to appreciate the goodness of CST and the values of truth, justice, freedom and love which underpin it” ?

ACT:     We could learn more about Catholic Social Teaching.  This short video from CAFOD gives an introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNcBCPVbYDU .  If you don’t know much about CST, you are not alone.  It is called the church’s “best kept secret” and this article deals with why this might be.  As we approach May 5th and local elections might CST guide our vote?   How do candidates envision the common good? How do they connect workers’ rights with the dignity of the individual? Watch Katherine Trebeck talk about the wellbeing economy. Is this a model compatible with CST values?

Tricia Kaminski