Catholic social teaching, which is a branch of Catholic Moral Theology, contains a set of principles to be used to form our conscience as we impact on the social structures around us. Charity is a theological virtue. It applies to all and involves engaging, directly, those around us who are in need.

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.

Catholic Social Doctrine has its place where faith and politics meet. The Church’s aim is to not replace the State, but to simply help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just.

Solidarity and Subsidiarity are both born in and expressions of human dignity and both are absolutely central to the implementation of Catholic social doctrine. You can’t have one without the other!

Are any of these wages just? In 2020 Tim Cook was paid approximately $238 million as Apple’s CEO, Alex Rodriguez was paid $32 million as the New York Yankee’s third baseman, Ann Snyder was paid $47,500 as a market researcher for a restaurant supply house, and Jason Alexander was paid $13,220 as a cashier at the Burger Palace restaurant.

Consumerism arises from a misunderstanding about the meaning of life and the real source of human happiness: It is an addiction to buying things, to spending money, as a solution to the lack of happiness and peace in one’s life, in one’s family.