Contemporary Issues
Caring for Our Common Home
The Problems with Democratic Socialism
How We Must Approach Healthcare
Forming Responsible Immigration Policies
Abortion is Never Acceptable
We Must Address Today’s Ills
It is our special task to order and throw light upon all the affairs of the world in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ: “let the laity also by their combined efforts remedy the customs and conditions of the world.”
The Church’s Role vs. My Role
The Church’s role is to guide our consciences. “This is where Catholic social doctrine has its place…its aim is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgement and attainment of what is just.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 28)
Our role is to implement Catholic social teaching in the public square. As Pope St. John Paul II said, “To destroy structures and replace them with more authentic forms of living in community is a task which demands courage and patience.” (Centesimus Annus, 38)
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There are structures of society that need to be destroyed. There are structures that need to be built. This “Just ordering of society… is proper to the lay faithful”. (Pope Benedict XVI, 29)
Catholic social teaching is not a theory, it is “above all else a basis and a motivation for action.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 57)
“We, Christians, cannot ‘play Pilate’ and wash our hands…We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics.” (Pope Francis)
Indeed, “Politics is an essential means of building human community and institutions”. (Pope Francis)