The Love of Jesus Christ

The Core of Catholic Social Teaching is Charity

by CAPP-USA

Catholics today find ourselves divided on nearly every social issue—immigration, economics, climate, healthcare, life issues. We debate policies, cite different Church documents, and sometimes wonder if we’re even reading the same teaching.

But beneath every debate lies one non-negotiable foundation: the love of Jesus Christ. Miss this, and we miss everything.

Catholic Social Teaching begins and ends with love—specifically, the love revealed in Jesus Christ. This love is not abstract or optional; it is the very heart of Christian discipleship and the foundation for all social action.

The Love of Jesus: The Meaning of Charity

The answer to the question, “what is love,” is the person of Jesus Christ. The love Christ models is the theological virtue of charity, defined as that “by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1822)

This love is not mere sentiment or almsgiving; Jesus makes it the new commandment: Christians are to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:35) This is the mark by which the world knows we are His disciples.

Catholic Social Teaching is the Institutional Path of Love

The love of Jesus (charity) is “at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 2)

The Church teaches that the practice of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is the “institutional path — we might also call it the political path — of charity,” making it “no less excellent and effective than the kind of charity which encounters the neighbor directly.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 7)

This foundation has been clear for decades. As Pope Pius XII stated, “The social program of the Catholic Church is based upon three powerful pillars: truth, justice and Christian charity.” (Message to German Catholics, September 4, 1949)

The Christian’s love for Jesus can be expressed through:

• Corporal works of mercy;
• Spiritual works of mercy;
• Implementing the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching in society.

It is this practical application of Christ’s love through CST that leads to social justice and the common good.

Consider how this works in practice. When Catholics advocate for living wages, they’re not merely promoting an economic policy—they’re institutionalizing Christ’s love for the dignity of workers and work itself.

When Catholics engage immigration policy, they must seek to honor both the rule of law and the corporal work of mercy—’welcome the stranger’—recognizing that Christ’s love must shape how we structure our common life.

Solidarity: Practicing the Love of Jesus Christ

The principle of Solidarity flows directly from Christ’s love: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9) The belief that Jesus loves me is at the core of this key CST principle.

Solidarity demands the “willingness to ‘lose ourselves’ for the sake of others.” (Pope Francis, 4) It is a “firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good” and is fundamental to the Christian view of social and political life. (Pope St. John Paul II, 38)

Receiving the love of Jesus makes us evangelists— “The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received.” (Pope Francis, 264) This gift of love must be freely given to others, even to those “whom I do not like or even know.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 18)

Once welcomed, Christ’s love “becomes the most formidable means of transforming our lives and relationships with others, opening us to solidarity and to genuine sharing.” (Pope Francis, 3)

Solidarity in Action: From Individuals to Nations

Solidarity is not “a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others”. (Pope St. John Paul II, 38) It applies not only to individuals but also to nations and governments.

It demands dedication to the poor and disadvantaged through both personal actions and collective efforts that make social, political, and economic structures more just and fraternal.

The Church reminds us that “Peace and prosperity…are goods which belong to the whole human race: it is not possible to enjoy them in a proper and lasting way if they are achieved and maintained at the cost of other peoples and nations.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 27)

This collective effort culminates in the central aim of CST: the common good. Indeed, “Civil society exists for the common good,” (Pope Leo XIII, 51) and “every civil authority must strive to promote the common good.” (Pope St. John XXIII, 56)

This played out powerfully in Pope John Paul II’s native Poland during the 1980s. Solidarity—both the virtue and the labor movement named after it—helped topple communism not through violence but through the persistent, organized love of ordinary people refusing to accept injustice. They gathered in churches, supported imprisoned activists’ families, and created parallel institutions of mutual aid. This is what the ‘institutional path of charity’ looks like when it threatens tyranny itself.

Ultimately, only through the love of Jesus Christ can the common good truly be achieved.

Living Charity: Implementing CST for Social Justice

When we root our social engagement in Christ’s love rather than political tribalism, we find unity not in identical policy prescriptions, but in shared commitment to the dignity of every person.

Since “Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others,” (Pope Francis, 127) we must weave “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 in the One who, crucified and risen, draws all to himself.” (Pope Francis, 10)

Living charity means embracing others and coming to their aid “in his spiritual and bodily necessities.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2447)

Without charity, social justice becomes a cold legalism. CST offers powerful principles for our time, but it lives only through love—the love of Jesus Christ.

We must therefore pray for the grace to awaken in ourselves “a responsibility for sharing the gift of self and for accepting others, as a sharing in the boundless love of Jesus Christ himself.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 76)

Here’s what living this love looks like on Monday morning:

• The Catholic teacher who sees Christ in the difficult student
• The legislator who crafts policy remembering that statistics represent real people made in God’s image
• The parent who explains to children why we give generously, serve locally, and vote with the vulnerable in mind

May our love for Jesus Christ inspire every work of justice, every act of mercy, and every effort for the common good.