Why Are There Three Key Principles of Catholic Social Teaching?
by CAPP-USA
Three Key Principles
There are three fundamental principles of Catholic social teaching, the greatest of which the Church insists is the first: A correct understanding of the human person, which is Human Dignity: this is the prime principle! Then there are Solidarity and Subsidiarity.
Pope St. John Paul II wrote and taught frequently about human dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity
Catholic social teaching is built on these three key principles. This is evident not only in the encyclicals from (Quadragesimo Anno) to (Centesimus Annus) to (Deus Caritas Est) to (Caritas in Veritate) but in Pope St. John Paul II’s continuing teachings, for example, when he told the American bishops in 1999 that:
“Her moral vision in this area ‘rests on the threefold cornerstone of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity’”. (Ecclesia in America, 55)
Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed his predecessor’s words by emphasizing:
“It is up to the lay faithful to demonstrate concretely in their personal and family life, in social, cultural and political life that…the fundamental principles of the social doctrine of the Church such as the dignity of the human person, subsidiarity and solidarity are extremely relevant and valuable in order to support new paths of development in service to the whole person and to all humanity.” (Address to the 24th Plenary Session of the Pontifical Council for the Laity)
“Her moral vision in this area ‘rests on the threefold cornerstone of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity’”. (Ecclesia in America, 55)
What Does One do with These Principles?
Pope St. John Paul II said we should use Catholic Social Teaching’s principles to form our consciences for acting in the public square. We should use these principles to evaluate the framework of society, and to provide the criteria for making our prudential judgments as regards current policy options.
Finally, we should then act on these evaluations.
