March, 2023

Lesson
on
Catholic Social Teaching
Grade 11 – STEM/HUMSS/ABM/TVL-HE/ICT
Opening Song

Mercy Me
Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit, / fill the hearts of your faithful / and enkindle in
them / the fire of your love./ Send forth Your Spirit / and they shall be
created./ And You shall renew the face of the earth./
Let us Pray: /
O, God, / who by the light of the Holy Spirit,/ did instruct the hearts
of the faithful,/ grant us by the same Holy Spirit / that we may be truly
wise and ever rejoice / in His consolation/ through Christ Our Lord./
Amen.

Mary, Seat of Wisdom, Pray for us.

Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching (CST)
- is the officially proclaimed teaching
of the Catholic Church on social, cultural
political, and economic issues.
- promotes a vision of a just society that
is grounded in the Bible and in the wis-
dom gathered from experience by the
Catholic Christian Community as it has res-
ponded to social justice issues throughout
history.
 Catholic Social Teaching and other Terms

❖ “social doctrine”
❖ “Catholic Social
Thought”
❖ “Catholic Social
Tradition”
 Three Elements
principles for
reflection (SEE)
criteria for judgement
(JUDGE)
guidelines for action
(ACT)
 The Social Encyclicals
- The word encyclical comes from the
Greek enkyklios which means
“circular” or “general”.
- Thus, an encyclical is a “circular” or
letter of the pope to a group of
bishops or to all the bishops of the
world on matters of faith and morals.
The major documents issued by the Catholic Church from
1891-2009
Rerum Novarum (On the Condition
of Labor) – Pope Leo XIII, 1891
Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty
Years) – Pope Pius XI, 1931
Mater et Magistra (Christianity and
Social Progress) – Pope John XXIII,
1961
Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth)
– Pope John XXIII, 1963
Gaudium et Spes ( Joy and Hope –
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World) - Vatican Council II, 1965
Populorum Progressio (On the Develop-
ment of Peoples) – Pope Paul VI, 1967
Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to
Action) – Pope Paul VI, 1971
Justicia in Mundo (Justice in the
World) – Synod of Bishops, 1971
Laborem Exercens (On Human
Work) – Pope John Paul II, 1981
Solicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social
Concern) – Pope John Paul II, 1987
Centesimus Annus (The Hund-
reth Year) – Pope John Paul II,
1991
Deus Caritas Est (God is Love)
Pope Benedict, XVI, 2005
Caritas in Veritate (Love in
Truth) – Pope Benedict XVI,
2009
 Evangelium Vitae - (The Gospel of Life)
March 25, 1995 by St. John Paul II

Encyclicals which are written by Pope Francis:

Lumen Fidei - (The Light of Faith), June 29,
2013
Laudato si - (Praise be to you – On Care For
Our Common Home), May 24, 2015
Fratelli tutti - (On Fraternity and Social
Friendship – All Brothers), 3 October 2020
The Seven Principles of the Catholic Social
Teaching
1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person
2. Call to Family, Community, and
Participation
3. Rights and Responsibilities
4. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
5. The Dignity of Work and the
Rights of Workers
6. Solidarity
7. Care for God’s creation
CST Part 1

CST Part 2

CST Part 3
 The Ten Principles of the
Catholic Social Teaching

1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person

2. Common Good
3. Call to Family, Community, and
Participation
4. Rights and Responsibilities
5. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
 6. The Dignity of Work and the
Rights of Workers
7. Solidarity
8. Care for God’s creation
9. Subsidiarity
10. Universal Destination of
Goods
 The 10 Principles of the CST
1.a. The Principle of Respect for Human Dignity
- Every person is created in the image of God and redeemed by
Jesus Christ.
- Consequently, every person is worthy of respect ,simply by virtue of
being a human being.
- People do not lose the right to being treated with respect because of
disability, poverty, age, lack of success or race, let alone gain the right
to be treated with greater respect because of what they own or
accomplish. “People can never forfeit their right to be treated with
respect because God, not us, assigns it.”
1.b. The Principle of Respect for Human Life
- An implication of the first principle is that
every person, from the moment of conception
to natural death has an inherent dignity and a
right to life consistent with the dignity that is
ours as human beings.
- The Catholic tradition sees the sacredness of
human life as part of any moral vision for a just
and
good society.
2. The Principle of Common Good
- A community is genuinely healthy when all
people, not only one or several segments,
flourish.
- The Russian novelist Dostoevski put it this
way: “The degree of civilization in a society
can be judged by entering its prisons”. “Every
social group must take account of the needs
and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and
even of the general welfare of the entire human family.
3. Call to Family, Community, and Participation

- People have a right, indeed a duty to participate in

shaping a more just and human society,
seeking together the common good and well-being
of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
- “All people need to take an active role in the
development
of socio-economic, political and cultural life.
- They should be shapers of history (subjects), not just
passive recipients of other people’s decisions (objects).
4. The Principle of Preferential Option
for the Poor and Vulnerable
- In a society marred by deepening divisions
between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the
story of the last judgement (Mt 25.31-46) and
instructs us to put the needs of the poor and
vulnerable first.
- The United States’ Bishops put it well: “The needs of the
poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights
of workers over the maximization of profits; the preservation
of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion.”
5. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers/Association

-The human person is not only sacred, but also social.

- We are born in the image and likeness of God, whose essence
is
community, the diverse community of Father, Son and Spirit.
- There are three persons in God, but only one God.
- At the heart of God we find diversity that is a cause of
liveliness
rather than of division.
- To put it bluntly: we are our true selves when we relate well to
others, not when we are isolated individuals.
6. The Principle of Solidarity
- We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Learning
to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that
‘loving our neighbor’ has global dimensions in an
interdependent world.
- As Pope John Paul II has said: “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.”
7.The Principle of Stewardship/Care for God’s Creation
- We show respect for the Creator by our stewardship of
creation.
- We have a responsibility to care for the world’s goods as
stewards and trustees, not primarily, let alone merely, as
consumers.
- The Queensland Catholic Bishops issued a Pastoral
Letter on the Great Barrier Reef in June 2004.
They write: “We are all in the process of learning how to
better
safeguard creation, respect the rhythms of nature and live
more sustainably.
 - In the interests of planetary health we are all
called
to participate in respectful dialogue, to leave a
lighter ecological footprint and firmer spiritual
one,
so that generations yet unborn will inherit a world,
in
the words of the Pope, ‘closer to the design of
the Creator’.
8. The Principle of Subsidiarity
- The word subsidiarity comes from the Latin word
subsidium which means help, aid or support.
- The principle of subsidiarity means being wide-eyed,
clearly determining the right amount of help or support that
is needed to accomplish a task or to meet an obligation:
“not too much” (taking over and doing it for the other:
thereby creating learned helplessness or overdependence)
and “not too little” (standing back and watching people thrash
about, thereby increasing frustration and perhaps hopelessness).
“Instead of ‘the less government the better’, the principle might be
better summarized as ‘no bigger than necessary, no smaller than appropriate’.
9. Rights and Responsibilities
Human dignity can be protected and a healthy
community can be achieved only if human rights
are protected and responsibilities are met. Every
person has a fundamental right to life and a right
to those things required for human decency –
starting with food, shelter and clothing,
employment, health care, and education.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and
responsibilities -- to one another, to our families,
and to the larger society.  
 10.Universal Destination of Goods
“The universal destination of goods remains primordial”.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2403)
- It is necessary to state once more the characteristic principle of
Christian social doctrine: the goods of this world are originally meant
for all.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 42)
- “The goods of the earth are destined for the whole human
race”. (CCC, 2403)
- “The goods which were created by God for all men should flow to all
alike, according to the principles of justice and charity”. 
(Pope Pius XII, Mater et Magistra, 43)
Research Work

Enumerate the encyclicals and other writings which are

written by the following popes.
a. St. Pope John Paul II
b. Pope Benedict XVI
c. Pope Francis
Write the meaning of each and the date when it was written.
Date of Submission: January 5, 2023
(MS Word - Document)
 Closing Prayer

Song:
Lord I Need You