The Principle of Solidarity

Solidarity serves as a counterbalance to the focus on human rights and helps prevent
destructive individualism. Human rights should be exercised in the context of solidarity and
concern for the broader well-being of the community. It is important to remember that individual
rights always paired with duties. What a person claims for one's self as a right must also be
available to others. The Catholic social encyclicals teach that to be human is to experience not
only rights but also an obligation to others.

Solidarity, from a Christian perspective, means treating every person as one's brother and
sister in one family of God and as fellow members in the one Body of Christ. Solidarity is a
virtue that moves us to make the concerns of others our concerns, motivating us to work for the
welfare of others, especially the disadvantaged, and contribute to the common good.

Solidarity calls attention to the fact that people are interdependent; they rely on each
other for almost their biological and social needs. Using the term solidarity means we recognize
human interdependence not only as a necessary fact but a positive value in our lives. We cannot
realize our fullest potential or appreciate the full meaning of our dignity unless we share our lives
with others and cooperate on projects that hold the promise of mutual benefit.

Solidarity begins with an inner attitude, and when it has taken root within us, it expresses
itself through numerous external activities that demonstrate our commitment to the well-being of
others. Catholic social teaching portrays each person as naturally fitting into the larger society.
Human flourishing is always communal and social. The full features of our human nature and
dignity come to maturity only in the context of community life.

Solidarity does not only apply to relationships between individuals but also to
relationships among communities and nations, between the State and members of society, and
between the present and future generations.

SCRIPTURE

Solidarity of God with his people

The perfect example of solidarity is God's own solidarity with humanity. Scripture shows
us how God accompanied his people through their difficulties and came to their aid in their time
of need, reaching fullness in the incarnation of Christ and his passion, death and resurrection.

Exodus 3:7-8
The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them
crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have
come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land
into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey."

Psalm 23: 1-4

 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He
leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his
name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

Isaiah 53: 5
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment
that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet "Behold, the 
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will all Him Immanuel" 
(which means, "God with us").

John 15: 5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much
fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-13

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though
many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—
Jews or Greeks, slaves[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Solidarity with one another

In imitation of Christ and in obedience to His commands, we are to live and act in
solidarity with others. We are to care for the welfare of individuals and communities for the
present and the future.

Matthew 25: 40
 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you
did for me.'

John 13: 34-35

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

1 Corinthians 12: 27-28

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 John 3: 16-18
The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses
him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or
speech but in deed and truth.

CHURCH TEACHING

The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes  it
impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger,  misery and poverty of
other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even  elementary human rights. The nations of
the world are becoming more and more dependent  on one another and it will not be possible to
preserve a lasting peace so long  as glaring economic and social imbalances persist. Mater et
Magistra #157

there is a need for ever new movements of solidarity of the workers and with the workers. This
solidarity must be present whenever it is called for by the social degrading of the subject of
work, by exploitation of the workers, and by the growing areas of poverty and even hunger. The
Church is firmly committed to this cause, for she considers it her mission, her service, a proof of
her fidelity to Christ, so that she can truly be the "Church of the poor". 
Laborem Execens, #8

[Solidarity] is not a feeling of vague compassion or  shallow distress at the misfortunes of so
many people, both near and far. On  the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to
commit oneself to  the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, 
because we are all really responsible for all. Sollicitudo rei Socialis, #38

Interdependence must be transformed into solidarity, based upon the principle  that the goods of
creation are meant for all. That which human industry  produces through the processing of raw
materials, with the contribution of  work, must serve equally for the good of all. Sollicitudo rei
Socialis, #39

To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take  effective steps to secure it.  Besides 
the good of the individual, there is the good that is linked to living in  society: the common
good.  It is the good  of "all of us", made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups
who  together constitute society.  … To desire  the common good and strive towards it is a
requirement of justice and charity. Caritas in Veritate, #7

In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of
people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the
common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a
preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters. This option entails recognizing the
implications of the universal destination of the world's goods, but, as I mentioned in the
Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, it demands before all else an appreciation of the
immense dignity of the poor in the light of our deepest convictions as believers. We need only
look around us to see that, today, this option is in fact an ethical imperative essential for
effectively attaining the common good. Laudato Si, #158