<\/p>\n
The Social Teaching of the Church as a Compass for Young Generations<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n <\/p>\n
Read the Original Address<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Parolin-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A Focus on Youth and the Impact of CST on Culture by Cardinal Parolin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Problem: Accelerating change causes a reduction of opportunities to create wisdom \u2013 from experiences.<\/span><\/p>\nYouth are subjected to having to make continuous decisions that affect their lives (majors, professions, emotional relationships, politics, integration into civil society, purchase decisions, drugs, sex, etc., etc.)<\/span><\/p>\nThese choices are not freedom as they are \u2018forced\u2019 to choose. Choice as a necessity is not freedom!<\/span><\/p>\nThe Falsehood of Three Myths Affecting Young People<\/span><\/h2>\nMYTH 1 – TECHNOLOGICAL<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe Problem: A belief that all that is possible must be achieved \u2013 because doing so generates value.<\/span><\/p>\nThis may be OK as regards material progress but when it extends to morality \u2013 where choices concern the ends of the action (\u201cWhat is the good I want?\u201d) – reason and \u2018technology\u2019 no longer suffice, for they are not the criteria for making a moral judgement.<\/span><\/p>\nOur youth, however, think the criteria are the same. But \u201cHow do I spend my life?\u201d cannot be addressed this way!<\/span><\/p>\nIf \u201call that is possible must be achieved\u201d is extended to the moral realm youth turn to \u2018ritual\u2019 practices (clubbing, alcohol, drugs, sex) which, while providing \u201can exit, momentary relief\u201d are \u201cfollowed by disinterest in everything\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nThe result of this way of thinking is the whole of existence can become without purpose and without meaning.<\/span><\/p>\nMYTH 2 – INCENTIVES<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe Problem here is thinking we are \u201cdriven [only] by self-interest\u201d and believing this is \u201cthe only way to ensure a free and economically advanced social order\u201d; i.e.: the only path to success \u201cis to intervene with incentives\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nSuch a vision leads to belief that \u201crationality has no value in and of itself\u201d. \u201c[I]f you want an individual to do something, there is no better way than to offer them the incentive appropriate to the situation.\u201d Consent, in effect, is \u2018bought\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile this may be true and proper for, say, production goals, it can be damaging when used to \u2018incentivize\u2019 basic and expected ends; e.g., reward an employee for being honest and some will no longer attribute a moral value to honesty at work \u2013 thereby displacing one\u2019s intrinsic motivation.<\/span><\/p>\nIn such cases incentives \u201calways hide a power relationship\u201d and lead one to think that preexisting \u201cgood reasons\u201d for doing what has been requested do not exist. <\/span><\/p>\nThis view has entered \u201careas of life (families, schools, politics) [which are] not constitutively equipped to resist it\u201d. It has grown to include every human need and activity and seriously affects the \u201ccognitive map\u201d of our youth and<\/span> their emotional lives.<\/span><\/p>\nOur youth are being \u201csaturated with economic noise\u201d but where is the call to educate about the spiritual dimension of life – to help them remain free from the pitfalls of money and consumption? This problem is not fully grasped.<\/span><\/p>\nMYTH 3 – APPEAL TO ETHICS<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nThe Problem – An insistent appeal to a limited understanding of ethics pervades the world view of our youth.<\/span><\/p>\nThe preponderance of modern ethics is based on a search for rules (“as happens with multiple versions of positivist natural law\u201d which \u201cis borrowed from the legal norm\u201d) or \u201caction (based on utilitarian and contractualist theory).”<\/span><\/p>\nThis leads to a \u201cprimacy of ethics\u201d of the sort which \u201cdoes not lead to ethical consensus\u201d!<\/span><\/p>\nThe Solution<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Catholic Social Doctrine 2 (CSD), which shows \u201cthe irreducible falsehood of these myths\u201d. \u201cWe owe the expression ‘Social Doctrine of the Church’ to Pius XII, when he said, in his radio message of June 1, 1941, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Novarum, that the masterful document of Leo XIII is \u2018the fruitful seed, from which Catholic social doctrine takes place\u2019 (n. 5)\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2. \u201c[T]he witness of commitment and joy of young believers\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nCSD IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nCSD is not just another moral or social theory \u2013 it offers a \u201ccommon grammar\u201d to all other theories and approaches. A grammar based on \u201ctaking care\u201d, of \u201cbeing together\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEthics, even before dealing with enunciating principles and suggesting rules, is a dwelling, a \u2018house\u2019 in which one takes care of oneself, and of others; in a word, where one takes care of the human good\u201d.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nCSD aims at a social order that is not only just but also \u201cfraternal\u201d. \u201cSocio-economic action\u2026cannot be reductively conceived in terms of everything (institutions, rules, tools) that serves to ensure social coexistence, but also (and above all) life in a communal perspective.\u201d A \u201crelentless pressure to commodify work \u2014 and to reduce all human endeavor to a bottom-line calculation\u201d must be avoided.<\/span><\/p>\nCSD places the person at the center while other ethics are neutral to the human person. Other ethics confuse the common good with \u201cthe maximization of total utility as the purpose of economic activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nCOMMON GOOD VS. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC GOOD<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\u201cIn the common good\u2026the interest of each is realized together with others, not against (as happens with the private good) or regardless of the interest of others (as happens with the public good).”<\/span><\/p>\nWHAT IS THE ENEMY (AND FRIEND) OF COMMON GOOD?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\u201cSo, what is the enemy of the common good?…[1] those who behave as opportunists, that is, those who live on the shoulders of others\u2026 [2] those who behave as pure altruists, that is those who ignore their own interest in favor of the interest of others\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBoth behaviors do not feed the common good\u201d and neither \u201care capable of making sustainable – by themselves \u2013 a social order of humans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWhat then is the friend of the common good? Behavior inspired by the principle of reciprocity.\u201d (\u201cI give you something freely so that you in turn can give something, according to your possibilities, to others or possibly to me\u201d. The principle of exchange proposes instead that \u201cI give you something on condition that you give me the equivalent value in exchange.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe acceptance at the cultural level and the translation into practice at the political level of the principle of reciprocity are the sure guarantee of a harmonious coexistence\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nConclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n
“The great contribution of the Social Doctrine of the Church is to make people understand how it is possible\u2026to obtain significant results by operating in the market without severing the relationship with the other.\u201d<\/strong> How is this possible?<\/span><\/p>\nThe CST Principle of Solidarity, Fraternity, Mercy & Gratuitousness<\/span><\/h2>\nSOLIDARITY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nSolidarity, a prime principle of CST, is fundamental to the Christian view of social and political organization. It confirms that each person is connected to – and dependent on – all humanity, collectively and individually: \u201c[A]ll men and women are called to live as one, each taking care of the other\u201d. (Pope Francis, 2)<\/a> Solidarity \u201crequires you to look at another and give yourself to another with love\u201d. (Pope Francis)<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\nAnd Catholics should remember that Solidarity flows from faith: \u201cLove of neighbor\u2026consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even persons whom I do not like or even know.\u201d How is this possible? \u201cThis can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI, 18)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt is no small merit of Pope Francis\u2019 magisterium to have been able to apply the principle of fraternity in both institutional and economic terms, making it become a cornerstone of the social order.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nFRATERNITY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nFraternity both complements and completes Solidarity: \u201c[S]olidarity is the principle of social organization that allows unequal people to become equals\u201d. However, \u201ca society that is only in solidarity\u2026would be a society from which everyone would try to distance themselves\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe principle of fraternity\u2026allows already equals to be different\u201d. It \u201centails weaving a fabric of fraternal relationships marked by reciprocity, forgiveness and complete self-giving, according to the breadth and the depth of the love of God offered to humanity\u201d. (Pope Francis, 10)<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\nMERCY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\u201cCultivating mercy is an indispensable task\u201d not only in regards civil society but also the economy. \u201c[I]t is necessary to ensure that the economic-institutional structure of society encourages\u2026 the widest possible diffusion of the practices of mercy among citizens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nGRATUITOUSNESS<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\u201cTrue and lasting success\u201d within the market \u201cis attained through the gift of ourselves, our intellectual abilities and our entrepreneurial skills, since a \u2018livable\u2019 or truly human economic development requires the principle of gratuitousness.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI, 5)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn the light of faith, solidarity seeks to go beyond itself, to take on the specifically Christian dimension of total gratuity, forgiveness and reconciliation. One’s neighbor is then not only a human being with his or her own rights and a fundamental equality with everyone else but becomes the living image of God the Father\u2026One’s neighbor must therefore be loved\u201d. (Pope St. John Paul II, 40)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nWhat does that mean? \u201cConcretely, in economic activity\u201d that businesswomen and men \u201cengage in economic activity for the sake of the common good and they experience this commitment as something transcending their self-interest, for the benefit of present and future generations.\u201d (Pope St. John Paul II, 40)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nPut another way, gratuitousness is \u201cthe readiness to do more than what is necessary, not to tally costs but to go beyond merely legal requirements.\u201d And \u201c[t]his is what it means to give freely: a willingness to take the first step; to be the first to reach out to the other, to offer reconciliation, to accept the suffering entailed in giving up being in the right.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nAs Pope Francis said, \u201cIn this sense, the various grave economic and political challenges facing today\u2019s world require a courageous change of attitude that will restore to the end (the human person) and to the means (economics and politics) their proper place. Money and other political and economic means must serve, not rule, bearing in mind that, in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn the wider life of society, we come to see that \u2018gratuitousness\u2019 is not something extra, but rather a necessary condition of justice\u2026Who we are, and what we have, has been given to us so that we can place it at the service of others.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a> \u201cThe goods of the earth are meant for everyone, and however much someone may parade his property, which is legitimate, it has a social mortgage \u2013 always.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nCardinal Parolin\u2019s Address to CAPP, September 2022<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nCardinal Tomasi\u2019s Address to CAPP, December 2021<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” 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!important;”][et_pb_slide heading=”Three Key Principles” button_link=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/catholic-social-teaching-principles\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Three-Principles.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” image_alt=”Three circles containing symbols of the three principles of catholic social teaching: human dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity.” image_tablet=”” image_phone=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/3-Key-principle-icons-resized.png” image_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” z_index=”0″ overflow-x=”hidden” overflow-y=”hidden” link_option_url=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/catholic-social-teaching-principles\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 300px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n
Catholic social teaching is built on three foundational principles –\u00a0<\/strong>Human Dignity<\/strong>,\u00a0Solidarity\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Subsidiarity.\u00a0<\/strong>Human Dignity, embodied in a correct understanding of the human person, is the greatest. The others flow from it. Good governments and good economic systems find ways of fostering the three principles.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Human Dignity” button_link=”\/human-dignity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Human-Dignity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/human-dignity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n
This means a correct understanding of the human person and of each person\u2019s unique value. All Catholic social teaching flows from this: the inherent dignity of every person that comes from being made in God\u2019s image.\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Solidarity” button_link=”\/solidarity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solidarity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/solidarity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n
Solidarity is not \u201ca feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others. It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good\u201d. (Pope St. John Paul II, 38)<\/a> Love of God and love of neighbor are, in fact, linked and form one, single commandment.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Subsidiarity” button_link=”\/subsidiarity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Subsidiarity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/subsidiarity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n
Subsidiarity \u201cis a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry. So, too, it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and a disturbance of right order to transfer to the larger and higher collectivity functions which can be performed and provided for by the lesser and subordinate bodies\u201d. (Pope Pius XI)<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_slide][\/et_pb_slider][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” admin_label=”Image & Text” module_id=”newsletter” module_class=”mosaic_width” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_color=”#eb7525″ z_index=”950″ display_conditions=”W3siaWQiOiI2MmUwMjk2ZS1lYmY5LTQwYWYtYmM0Mi0zZmEzYzUyNGNlYTEiLCJjb25kaXRpb24iOiJwYWdlIiwiY29uZGl0aW9uU2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiZGlzcGxheVJ1bGUiOiJpc05vdCIsImR5bmFtaWNQb3N0cyI6W3sibGFiZWwiOiJDYXJpdGFzIGluIFZlcml0YXRlIiwidmFsdWUiOiI0NzIxNCJ9XSwicG9zdFR5cGVMYWJlbCI6IlBhZ2VzIiwiYWRtaW5MYWJlbCI6IlBhZ2VzIiwiZW5hYmxlQ29uZGl0aW9uIjoib24ifSwib3BlcmF0b3IiOiJPUiJ9XQ==” custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”0px||0px||false|false” animation_direction=”left” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_module=”45073″ saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ make_equal=”on” module_class=”mosaic_width” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” animation_style=”fade” animation_delay=”200ms” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ module_class=”ds-vertical-align” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Playfair Display||||||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#eb7525″ header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font_size=”30px” header_4_font=”Playfair Display|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_font_size=”32px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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A Focus on Youth and the Impact of CST on Culture by Cardinal Parolin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Problem: Accelerating change causes a reduction of opportunities to create wisdom \u2013 from experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n Youth are subjected to having to make continuous decisions that affect their lives (majors, professions, emotional relationships, politics, integration into civil society, purchase decisions, drugs, sex, etc., etc.)<\/span><\/p>\n These choices are not freedom as they are \u2018forced\u2019 to choose. Choice as a necessity is not freedom!<\/span><\/p>\n The Problem: A belief that all that is possible must be achieved \u2013 because doing so generates value.<\/span><\/p>\n This may be OK as regards material progress but when it extends to morality \u2013 where choices concern the ends of the action (\u201cWhat is the good I want?\u201d) – reason and \u2018technology\u2019 no longer suffice, for they are not the criteria for making a moral judgement.<\/span><\/p>\n Our youth, however, think the criteria are the same. But \u201cHow do I spend my life?\u201d cannot be addressed this way!<\/span><\/p>\n If \u201call that is possible must be achieved\u201d is extended to the moral realm youth turn to \u2018ritual\u2019 practices (clubbing, alcohol, drugs, sex) which, while providing \u201can exit, momentary relief\u201d are \u201cfollowed by disinterest in everything\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The result of this way of thinking is the whole of existence can become without purpose and without meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n The Problem here is thinking we are \u201cdriven [only] by self-interest\u201d and believing this is \u201cthe only way to ensure a free and economically advanced social order\u201d; i.e.: the only path to success \u201cis to intervene with incentives\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Such a vision leads to belief that \u201crationality has no value in and of itself\u201d. \u201c[I]f you want an individual to do something, there is no better way than to offer them the incentive appropriate to the situation.\u201d Consent, in effect, is \u2018bought\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n While this may be true and proper for, say, production goals, it can be damaging when used to \u2018incentivize\u2019 basic and expected ends; e.g., reward an employee for being honest and some will no longer attribute a moral value to honesty at work \u2013 thereby displacing one\u2019s intrinsic motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n In such cases incentives \u201calways hide a power relationship\u201d and lead one to think that preexisting \u201cgood reasons\u201d for doing what has been requested do not exist. <\/span><\/p>\n This view has entered \u201careas of life (families, schools, politics) [which are] not constitutively equipped to resist it\u201d. It has grown to include every human need and activity and seriously affects the \u201ccognitive map\u201d of our youth and<\/span> their emotional lives.<\/span><\/p>\n Our youth are being \u201csaturated with economic noise\u201d but where is the call to educate about the spiritual dimension of life – to help them remain free from the pitfalls of money and consumption? This problem is not fully grasped.<\/span><\/p>\n The Problem – An insistent appeal to a limited understanding of ethics pervades the world view of our youth.<\/span><\/p>\n The preponderance of modern ethics is based on a search for rules (“as happens with multiple versions of positivist natural law\u201d which \u201cis borrowed from the legal norm\u201d) or \u201caction (based on utilitarian and contractualist theory).”<\/span><\/p>\n This leads to a \u201cprimacy of ethics\u201d of the sort which \u201cdoes not lead to ethical consensus\u201d!<\/span><\/p>\n 2. \u201c[T]he witness of commitment and joy of young believers\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n CSD is not just another moral or social theory \u2013 it offers a \u201ccommon grammar\u201d to all other theories and approaches. A grammar based on \u201ctaking care\u201d, of \u201cbeing together\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEthics, even before dealing with enunciating principles and suggesting rules, is a dwelling, a \u2018house\u2019 in which one takes care of oneself, and of others; in a word, where one takes care of the human good\u201d.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n CSD aims at a social order that is not only just but also \u201cfraternal\u201d. \u201cSocio-economic action\u2026cannot be reductively conceived in terms of everything (institutions, rules, tools) that serves to ensure social coexistence, but also (and above all) life in a communal perspective.\u201d A \u201crelentless pressure to commodify work \u2014 and to reduce all human endeavor to a bottom-line calculation\u201d must be avoided.<\/span><\/p>\n CSD places the person at the center while other ethics are neutral to the human person. Other ethics confuse the common good with \u201cthe maximization of total utility as the purpose of economic activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the common good\u2026the interest of each is realized together with others, not against (as happens with the private good) or regardless of the interest of others (as happens with the public good).”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, what is the enemy of the common good?…[1] those who behave as opportunists, that is, those who live on the shoulders of others\u2026 [2] those who behave as pure altruists, that is those who ignore their own interest in favor of the interest of others\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBoth behaviors do not feed the common good\u201d and neither \u201care capable of making sustainable – by themselves \u2013 a social order of humans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat then is the friend of the common good? Behavior inspired by the principle of reciprocity.\u201d (\u201cI give you something freely so that you in turn can give something, according to your possibilities, to others or possibly to me\u201d. The principle of exchange proposes instead that \u201cI give you something on condition that you give me the equivalent value in exchange.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe acceptance at the cultural level and the translation into practice at the political level of the principle of reciprocity are the sure guarantee of a harmonious coexistence\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Solidarity, a prime principle of CST, is fundamental to the Christian view of social and political organization. It confirms that each person is connected to – and dependent on – all humanity, collectively and individually: \u201c[A]ll men and women are called to live as one, each taking care of the other\u201d. (Pope Francis, 2)<\/a> Solidarity \u201crequires you to look at another and give yourself to another with love\u201d. (Pope Francis)<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n And Catholics should remember that Solidarity flows from faith: \u201cLove of neighbor\u2026consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even persons whom I do not like or even know.\u201d How is this possible? \u201cThis can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI, 18)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is no small merit of Pope Francis\u2019 magisterium to have been able to apply the principle of fraternity in both institutional and economic terms, making it become a cornerstone of the social order.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Fraternity both complements and completes Solidarity: \u201c[S]olidarity is the principle of social organization that allows unequal people to become equals\u201d. However, \u201ca society that is only in solidarity\u2026would be a society from which everyone would try to distance themselves\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe principle of fraternity\u2026allows already equals to be different\u201d. It \u201centails weaving a fabric of fraternal relationships marked by reciprocity, forgiveness and complete self-giving, according to the breadth and the depth of the love of God offered to humanity\u201d. (Pope Francis, 10)<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCultivating mercy is an indispensable task\u201d not only in regards civil society but also the economy. \u201c[I]t is necessary to ensure that the economic-institutional structure of society encourages\u2026 the widest possible diffusion of the practices of mercy among citizens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTrue and lasting success\u201d within the market \u201cis attained through the gift of ourselves, our intellectual abilities and our entrepreneurial skills, since a \u2018livable\u2019 or truly human economic development requires the principle of gratuitousness.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI, 5)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the light of faith, solidarity seeks to go beyond itself, to take on the specifically Christian dimension of total gratuity, forgiveness and reconciliation. One’s neighbor is then not only a human being with his or her own rights and a fundamental equality with everyone else but becomes the living image of God the Father\u2026One’s neighbor must therefore be loved\u201d. (Pope St. John Paul II, 40)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n What does that mean? \u201cConcretely, in economic activity\u201d that businesswomen and men \u201cengage in economic activity for the sake of the common good and they experience this commitment as something transcending their self-interest, for the benefit of present and future generations.\u201d (Pope St. John Paul II, 40)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Put another way, gratuitousness is \u201cthe readiness to do more than what is necessary, not to tally costs but to go beyond merely legal requirements.\u201d And \u201c[t]his is what it means to give freely: a willingness to take the first step; to be the first to reach out to the other, to offer reconciliation, to accept the suffering entailed in giving up being in the right.\u201d (Pope Benedict XVI)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n As Pope Francis said, \u201cIn this sense, the various grave economic and political challenges facing today\u2019s world require a courageous change of attitude that will restore to the end (the human person) and to the means (economics and politics) their proper place. Money and other political and economic means must serve, not rule, bearing in mind that, in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the wider life of society, we come to see that \u2018gratuitousness\u2019 is not something extra, but rather a necessary condition of justice\u2026Who we are, and what we have, has been given to us so that we can place it at the service of others.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a> \u201cThe goods of the earth are meant for everyone, and however much someone may parade his property, which is legitimate, it has a social mortgage \u2013 always.\u201d (Pope Francis)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Cardinal Parolin\u2019s Address to CAPP, September 2022<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Cardinal Tomasi\u2019s Address to CAPP, December 2021<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” 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button_alignment=”center” module_class=”hover-btn-border” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”30px” button_text_color=”#054368″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_font=”|600||on|||||” button_icon=”5||divi||400″ button_on_hover=”off” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”on” button_text_color__hover=”#054368″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”\/articles\/” button_text=”Back to Articles” button_alignment=”center” module_class=”hover-btn-border” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”30px” button_text_color=”#054368″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_font=”|600||on|||||” button_icon=”5||divi||400″ button_on_hover=”off” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”on” button_text_color__hover=”#054368″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Widget of Issues ” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px||” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_5,3_5,1_5″ use_custom_gutter=”on” module_class=” et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.13.0″ width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_css_main_element=”width: 100% !important;” make_fullwidth=”on” global_module=”31023″ saved_tabs=”all” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_slider show_image_video_mobile=”on” module_class=”three-principles” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ header_font=”Open Sans|700|||||||” header_text_color=”#084369″ header_font_size=”24px” header_line_height=”1.5em” body_text_color=”#084369″ width=”100%” width_last_edited=”off|desktop” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_css_slide_image_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_slide_image_phone=”width: auto;||margin: 0 auto !important;”][et_pb_slide heading=”Three Key Principles” button_link=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/catholic-social-teaching-principles\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Three-Principles.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” image_alt=”Three circles containing symbols of the three principles of catholic social teaching: human dignity, subsidiarity, and solidarity.” image_tablet=”” image_phone=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/3-Key-principle-icons-resized.png” image_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.19.5″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” z_index=”0″ overflow-x=”hidden” overflow-y=”hidden” link_option_url=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/catholic-social-teaching-principles\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 300px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n Catholic social teaching is built on three foundational principles –\u00a0<\/strong>Human Dignity<\/strong>,\u00a0Solidarity\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Subsidiarity.\u00a0<\/strong>Human Dignity, embodied in a correct understanding of the human person, is the greatest. The others flow from it. Good governments and good economic systems find ways of fostering the three principles.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Human Dignity” button_link=”\/human-dignity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Human-Dignity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/human-dignity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n This means a correct understanding of the human person and of each person\u2019s unique value. All Catholic social teaching flows from this: the inherent dignity of every person that comes from being made in God\u2019s image.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Solidarity” button_link=”\/solidarity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Solidarity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/solidarity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n Solidarity is not \u201ca feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others. It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good\u201d. (Pope St. John Paul II, 38)<\/a> Love of God and love of neighbor are, in fact, linked and form one, single commandment.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_slide][et_pb_slide heading=”Subsidiarity” button_link=”\/subsidiarity\/” image=”https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Subsidiarity.png” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”off” _builder_version=”4.19.0″ header_font=”||||||||” background_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”on” link_option_url=”\/subsidiarity\/” custom_css_slide_image=”width: 200px !important;||margin: 0 auto !important;” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_transition=”on”]<\/p>\n Subsidiarity \u201cis a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry. So, too, it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and a disturbance of right order to transfer to the larger and higher collectivity functions which can be performed and provided for by the lesser and subordinate bodies\u201d. (Pope Pius XI)<\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_slide][\/et_pb_slider][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” admin_label=”Image & Text” module_id=”newsletter” module_class=”mosaic_width” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_color=”#eb7525″ z_index=”950″ display_conditions=”W3siaWQiOiI2MmUwMjk2ZS1lYmY5LTQwYWYtYmM0Mi0zZmEzYzUyNGNlYTEiLCJjb25kaXRpb24iOiJwYWdlIiwiY29uZGl0aW9uU2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiZGlzcGxheVJ1bGUiOiJpc05vdCIsImR5bmFtaWNQb3N0cyI6W3sibGFiZWwiOiJDYXJpdGFzIGluIFZlcml0YXRlIiwidmFsdWUiOiI0NzIxNCJ9XSwicG9zdFR5cGVMYWJlbCI6IlBhZ2VzIiwiYWRtaW5MYWJlbCI6IlBhZ2VzIiwiZW5hYmxlQ29uZGl0aW9uIjoib24ifSwib3BlcmF0b3IiOiJPUiJ9XQ==” custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding_phone=”0px||0px||false|false” animation_direction=”left” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_module=”45073″ saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” collapsed=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ make_equal=”on” module_class=”mosaic_width” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” animation_style=”fade” animation_delay=”200ms” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ module_class=”ds-vertical-align” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”Playfair Display||||||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#eb7525″ header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font_size=”30px” header_4_font=”Playfair Display|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_font_size=”32px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||” custom_padding=”||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ module_class=”ds-vertical-align” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.21.0″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]The Falsehood of Three Myths Affecting Young People<\/span><\/h2>\n
MYTH 1 – TECHNOLOGICAL<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
MYTH 2 – INCENTIVES<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
MYTH 3 – APPEAL TO ETHICS<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
The Solution<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Catholic Social Doctrine 2 (CSD), which shows \u201cthe irreducible falsehood of these myths\u201d. \u201cWe owe the expression ‘Social Doctrine of the Church’ to Pius XII, when he said, in his radio message of June 1, 1941, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the encyclical Rerum Novarum, that the masterful document of Leo XIII is \u2018the fruitful seed, from which Catholic social doctrine takes place\u2019 (n. 5)\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nCSD IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
COMMON GOOD VS. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC GOOD<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
WHAT IS THE ENEMY (AND FRIEND) OF COMMON GOOD?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n
“The great contribution of the Social Doctrine of the Church is to make people understand how it is possible\u2026to obtain significant results by operating in the market without severing the relationship with the other.\u201d<\/strong> How is this possible?<\/span><\/p>\nThe CST Principle of Solidarity, Fraternity, Mercy & Gratuitousness<\/span><\/h2>\n
SOLIDARITY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
FRATERNITY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
MERCY<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
GRATUITOUSNESS<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
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