DOCSLIB.ORG

From Rerum Novarum Onward II. Issues Under Discussion III. Foundational Principles IV

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
From Rerum Novarum Onward II. Issues Under Discussion III. Foundational Principles IV Catholic Social Teaching v. Catholic Social Thought I. History: from Rerum Novarum onward II. Issues under Discussion III. Foundational Principles IV. Theoretical and Pragmatic Issues Facing CST V. Why does it matter? Thomas Aquinas, quoting the Philosopher, famously defined prudence as right reason applied to action. Put another way, prudence “applies universal principles to the particular conclusions of practical matters.”1 CST has traditionally sought to apply ethical principles within a specific historical context. This inevitably leads to two questions: what are these universal principles and what is the appropriate application to a particular circumstance? There are four “permanent principles” of CST which “constitute the very heart of Catholic social teaching.”2 The primary principle is the dignity of human life from conception until natural death. Secondly, individuals should pursue the common good. Thirdly, duties and rights should cohere at the appropriate level; institutions should not intrude on the rights and duties that are appropriately given to others. This concept is called subsidiarity. Finally, there must be an appreciation of solidarity. The United States Bishops Conference has expanded on these four permanent principles by detailing seven CST “themes.”3 These include the life and dignity of the human person, call to family community and participation, rights and responsibilities, option for the poor and vulnerable, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, solidarity, and care for God’s creation. Subsidiarity is included as a subcategory under “rights and responsibilities.” 1 St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican province, Summa Theologica (Allen, Texas: Thomas More Publishing, 1981), Q. 47, Art. 6. Aquinas discusses prudence in Questions 47-56. 2 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Chapter 4, Paragraph 160. 3 http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven- themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm. Reading Suggestions Boileau, David ed, Principles of Catholic Social Teaching (Marquette University Press, 1998). Boswell, McHugh, Verstraeten, eds, Catholic Social Thought: Twilight or Rennaissance? (Leuven University Press, 2000). This collection of essays is based on a 1999 conference and is a great collection of CST articles, largely from the theological left. Coleman, J.A. has several essays in Boswell (2000). He is particularly good at summarizing the history of CST. He argues for more radical change in CST. Grasso, Ken, “The Subsidiary State: Society, the State and the Principle of Subsidiarity in Catholic Social Thought,” in Jeanne Schindler ed., Christianity and Civil Society: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Perspectives (Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2008). Hittinger, Russell, “The Coherence of the Four Basic Principles of Catholic Social Doctrine: An Interpretation.” This can be found on the Vatican’s website. - “The Process of ‘Creative Destruction and Subsidiarity: A Response to Professors Archer and Donati,” in Archer,Donati, eds, Pursing the Common Good. Rather than give the official citation information, I will just note that this collection of essays can be found on the Vatican’s website. - For a great introduction to modern Catholic thought, see Hittinger’s “Introduction” in Witte, Alexander, eds, The Teachings of Modern Roman Catholicism on Law, Politics and Human Nature (Columbia University Press, 2007). As is the case with many of the academics on this list, Hittinger has a decently updated bibliography on his website. - “Social Pluralism and Subsidiarity in Catholic Social Doctrine,” in Jeanne Schindler ed., Christianity and Civil Society: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Perspectives (Lanham MD: Lexington Books, 2008). Fortin, Ernest, Human Rights, Virtue and the Common Good: Untimely Meditations on Religion and Politics, Vol. 3, Forward and edited by Brian Benestad (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1996). Hollenbach, David, The Common Good and Christian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Hollenbach argues for prioritizing solidarity over subsidiarity, while striving to balance between individualism and communitarianism. Krason, Stephen, The Public Order and the Sacred Order: Contemporary Issues, Catholic Social Thought, and the Western and American Traditions (Scarecrow Press, 2009). .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Quadragesimo Anno (The Fortieth Year ) on Reconstruction of the Social Order
    Quadragesimo Anno (The Fortieth Year ) On Reconstruction of the Social Order Pius XI, 1931 Encyclical of Pope Pius Xl issued on May 15, 1931 To Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Holy See, and Likewise to All the Faithful of the Catholic World. Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children, Health and Apostolic Benediction. 1. Forty years have passed since Leo Xlll's peerless Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, first saw the light, and the whole Catholic world, filled with grateful recollection, is undertaking to commemorate it with befitting solemnity. 2. Other Encyclicals of Our Predecessor had in a way prepared the path for that outstanding document and proof of pastoral care: namely, those on the family and the Holy Sacrament of Matrimony as the source of human society,[1] on the origin of civil authority[2] and its proper relations with the Church,[3] on the chief duties of Christian citizens,[4] against the tenets of Socialism[5] against false teachings on human liberty,[6] and others of the same nature fully expressing the mind of Leo Xlll. Yet the Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, compared with the rest had this special distinction that at a time when it was most opportune and actually necessary to do so, it laid down for all mankind the surest rules to solve aright that difficult problem of human relations called "the social question." 3. For toward the close of the nineteenth century, the new kind of economic life that had arisen and the new developments of industry had gone to the point in most countries that human society was clearly becoming divided more and more into two classes.
    [Show full text]
  • Rerum Novarum: New Things and Recent Paradigms of Property Law
    Florida International University College of Law eCollections Faculty Publications Faculty Scholarship 2016 Rerum Novarum: New Things and Recent Paradigms of Property Law M C. Mirow Florida International University College of Law, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/faculty_publications Part of the International Law Commons, and the Property Law and Real Estate Commons Recommended Citation M C. Mirow, Rerum Novarum: New Things and Recent Paradigms of Property Law , 47 U. Pac. L. Rev. 183 (2016). Available at: https://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/faculty_publications/268 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at eCollections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCollections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rerum Novarum: New Things and Recent Paradigms of Property Law M.C. Mirow* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 183 II. SPRANKLING’S THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF PROPERTY ............................. 184 III. LEO XIII’S RERUM NOVARUM ....................................................................... 188 IV. SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ........................................................... 196 I. INTRODUCTION In science, when someone discovers a new beetle, detects a new particle, or isolates a new element, we get tweets, blog posts, and articles in the Sacramento Bee,
    [Show full text]
  • June Summary of Quadragesimo Anno
    c. c. JUNE SUMMARY OF QUADRAGESIMO ANNO ENCYCLICAL By Rev. R. A. McGowan EPHESUS FIFTEEN CENTURIES AGO By Rev. Hubert L. Motry, D.D. POPE LEO'S MAGNA CHARTA OF LABOR By Rev. John A. Ryan, D.D. WORK OF THE HARRISBURG APOSTOLATE By Rev. Joseph Schmidt THE CATHOLIC LAYMAN'S LEAGUE OF VffiGINIA By John E. Milan THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE RURAL PROBLEM By Rev. W. Howard Bishop ADDITIONAL FEATURES Death Claims Director of N. C. W. C. New. Service- Diamond Jubilee of Seton Hall College-The "Coming-Of-Age Convention" of the C. P. A. at Baltimore-1931 Session of the Catholic Summer School of America- Colleges Join N. C. W. C. in Observing Rerum Novarum Anniversary-l,OOO Religious Vacation Schools Planned for 1931 Session-Bishop McDevitt Warns Against Evil Trends in Modern Life-Numerous Diocesan and State Meetings Mark N. C. C. W. Advance-N. C. C. W. Activities in Variou s Dioceses. Regular N. C. W. C. REVIEW Department. Subscription Price VOL. XIU, No. 6 Domes tic-$1.00 per year June, 1931 Foreign-'1.Z5 per year 2 N. C. W. C. REVIEW June, 1931 N. C. W. C. REVIEW OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WELFARE CONFERENCE N. c. w. C. Administrative {{This organization (the N. C. Purpose of the N. C. W. C. Committee W. C.) is not only useful, but IN THE WORDS OF OUR HOLY FATHER: MOST REV. EDWARD .1. HANNA, D.D. necessary. .. We praise all "Since you (the Bishops) reside in Archbishop of San FranciscQ cities far apart and there are matters who in any way cooperate in this of a higher import demanding your Chairman great work."-POPE PIUS XI.
    [Show full text]
  • Unlocking Catholic Social Doctrine: Narrative Is Key
    The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law CUA Law Scholarship Repository Scholarly Articles and Other Contributions Faculty Scholarship 2010 Unlocking Catholic Social Doctrine: Narrative is Key William J. Wagner The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/scholar Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation William J. Wagner, Unlocking Catholic Social Doctrine: Narrative is Key, 7 J. CATH. SOCIAL THOUGHT 289 (2010). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at CUA Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scholarly Articles and Other Contributions by an authorized administrator of CUA Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Unlocking Catholic Social Doctrine: Narrative as Key William Joseph Wagner I. Introduction In the case of the Catholic law school at least, Catholic social doctrine answers a need. The Catholic Church is in need of a program and Catholic law schools are there to advance that program, so for this reason there must be Catholic social doctrine. The stance of the Church, as reflected in the existence of these Catholic law schools, reflects a dual commitment of service to the good of the larger society, on essentially its terms, and, at the same time, to the integrity of the Church’s own perspective independent of the drift of society.1 The Church’s need for independence flows from the integrity of the faith.2 As a result of this dual requirement, the Church needs directives that travel light so that they can encapsulate and preserve the distinctive Catholic difference, but still be adopted within a law school structured to the needs of the William Wagner is Professor of Law and Director, Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture, Columbus School of Law, the Catholic University of America.
    [Show full text]
  • Spirit and Life
    SPIRIT AND LIFE MARK JOSEPH DAVIS, O.P. HE CATECHISM tells us that God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him in the next. The psychologist tells us that we cannot love anything unless we first know it. By faith we know that our perfection in heaven will consist in seeing God face to face, in loving Him with a perfect love, and will be proportioned to the degree of our love of God while on earth. This love, we say, is founded upon our knowledge of Him. It is true, of course, that we can know the existence of God, and even something of His perfections, by our own reason, but this is so difficult, and so few attain to it without error, that God Himself has provided two sources by which we may know Him and His perfection safely and easily. These are the two fonts of Revelation, viz., Tradition and Scripture. Now no one knows God better than He Himself, and no one can tell us about God better than God Himself. This He did, especially in the seventy-two Sacred Books of the Bible. These Books, since they have God for their Author, are totally free from error. He inspired the sacred writers to write as they did for our sake, for our instruction and for our training in good works, "that the man of God," as St. Paul says, "may be perfect, completely equipped for every good work."1 It would seem, then, since God has done this much, that any sincere seeker of heaven should make use of this provision of God by reading and studying the Bible.
    [Show full text]
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Catholicism, 1932-1936. George Quitman Flynn Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1966 Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Catholicism, 1932-1936. George Quitman Flynn Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Flynn, George Quitman, "Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Catholicism, 1932-1936." (1966). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1123. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1123 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-6443 FLYNN, George Quitman, 1937- FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND AMERICAN CATHOLICISM, 1932-1936. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1966 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND AMERICAN CATHOLICISM, 1932-1936 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by George Quitman Flynn B.S., Loyola University of the South, 1960 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1962 January, 1966 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank Professor Burl Noggle for his assistance in directing this dissertation. Due to the author's military obligation, much of the revision of this dissertation was done by mail. Because of Professor Noggle's promptness in reviewing and returning the manuscript, a situation which could have lengthened the time required to complete the work proved to be only a minor inconvenience.
    [Show full text]
  • “Une Messe Est Possible”: the Imbroglio of the Catholic Church in Contemporary Latin Europe
    Center for European Studies Working Paper No. 113 “Une Messe est Possible”: The Imbroglio of the Catholic Church 1 in Contemporary Latin Europe by Paul Christopher Manuel Margaret Mott [email protected] [email protected] Paul Christopher Manuel is Affiliate and Co-Chair, Iberian Study Group, Center for European Studies, Har- vard University and Professor and Chair, Department of Politics, Saint Anselm College. Margaret Mott is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marlboro College. ABSTRACT Throughout the contemporary period, the Church-State relationship in the nation-states of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal – which we will refer to as Latin Europe in this paper – has been a lively source of political conflict and societal cleavage, both on epistemological, and ontological grounds. Epistemological, in that the person living in Latin Europe has to decide whether his world view will be religious or secular; ontological, in that his mortality has kept some sense of the Catholic religion close to his heart and soul at the critical moments of his human reality. Secular views tend to define the European during ordinary periods of life, (“métro boulot dodo,”) while religious beliefs surge during the extraordinary times of life (birth, marriage, death,) as well as during the traditional ceremonial times (Christmas, Easter). This paper will approach the ques- tion on the role of the Catholic church in contemporary Latin Europe by first proposing three models of church-state relations in the region and their historical development, then looking at the role of the Vatican, followed by an examination of some recent Eurobarometer data on the views of contemporary Catholics in each country, and finishing with an analysis of selected public pol- icy issues in each country.
    [Show full text]
  • Concept of Nature from Rerum Novarum to Laudato Si’ Barbara E
    1 Concept of Nature from Rerum novarum to Laudato si’ Barbara E. Wall This chapter, from a philosopher, explores the treatment of the nature of the physical world in Catholic social teaching (CST) from Rerum novarum (RN) to Laudato si’ (LS). The concept of nature is not easy to understand. It is often identified with the physical world, which is ever changing. With regard to CST, the use of “nature,” or physis, refers to the physical world. In Plato’s Timaeus, we find that a craftsman creates the world according to the ideas, or universal forms,1 which is a kind of internal organizational principle that one might refer to as “the structure of things.” Aristotle’s view of nature and natural law provided a foundation for RN’s retrieval of a Thomistic philosophical foundation for restoring order in the tumultuous, if not chaotic, social world of the late nineteenth century.2 The language of CST uses the term “nature” to refer to the physical world—a world that has a relationship to God. However, it does not use the language of “creation” to speak of this world until the CST documents of the late twentieth century.3 Since 1 Plato, Timaeus 31b. 2 For treatment of the Neo-Thomistic influences on the early formation of natural law ethics, which provided a conceptual vehicle for exploring the moral guidance for understanding “natural law” as a mandate for the common good, see Stephen J. Pope, “Natural Law in Catholic Social Teachings,” and Thomas A. Shannon, “Rerum Novarum,” in Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Catholicism in Revolutionary Mexico, 1900–1926 Robert Curley
    POLITICAL CATHOLICISM IN REVOLUTIONARY Mexico, 1900–1926 Robert Curley* Working Paper #349 – May 2008 Robert Curley is professor of history in the Social and Urban Studies Department of the Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico, where he teaches and continues his studies on public Catholicism. Recent publications include “The First Encounter: Catholic Politics in Revolutionary Jalisco, 1917–19,” in Matthew Butler, ed., Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico (Palgrave MacMillan, 2007) and “Avanza el desierto: Espacio público y suicido político en el imaginario cristero,” in Julia Preciado Zamora, comp., A 80 años del levantamiento cristero (México: CIESAS, forthcoming). Curley holds an MA from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a PhD from the University of Chicago. This working paper draws on research conducted for his doctoral dissertation, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Catholics and the Political Sphere in Revolutionary Mexico” (2001). *The author wishes to thank the scholars at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and two anonymous readers whose comments enriched the text. ABSTRACT This paper argues that the Mexican revolution played a formative role in the construction of modern Mexican Catholicism, while Catholic politics fundamentally shaped the outcome of the 1910 revolution. The argument analyzes several distinct but related moments and their constitutive movements. Catholic social and political movements sought to 1) restore religion to secular society, 2) govern, 3) protest revolutionary fiat, 4) confront anticlericalism,
    [Show full text]
  • An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies
    An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies Edited by Orlando O. Espín and James B. Nickoloff A Michael Glazier Book LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press. Cover design by David Manahan, o.s.b. Cover symbol by Frank Kacmarcik, obl.s.b. © 2007 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies / edited by Orlando O. Espín and James B. Nickoloff. p. cm. “A Michael Glazier book.” ISBN-13: 978-0-8146-5856-7 (alk. paper) 1. Religion—Dictionaries. 2. Religions—Dictionaries. I. Espín, Orlando O. II. Nickoloff, James B. BL31.I68 2007 200.3—dc22 2007030890 We dedicate this dictionary to Ricardo and Robert, for their constant support over many years. Contents List of Entries ix Introduction and Acknowledgments xxxi Entries 1 Contributors 1519 vii List of Entries AARON “AD LIMINA” VISITS ALBIGENSIANS ABBA ADONAI ALBRIGHT, WILLIAM FOXWELL ABBASIDS ADOPTIONISM
    [Show full text]
  • Rerum Novarum
    The Holy See RERUM NOVARUM ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON CAPITAL AND LABOR To Our Venerable Brethren the Patriarchs, Primates,Archbishops, Bishops, and other ordinaries of places having Peace andCommunion with the Apostolic See. Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor That the spirit ofrevolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world,should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt inthe cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising. The elements of theconflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrialpursuits and the marvellous discoveries of science; in the changed relationsbetween masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals,and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and closermutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailingmoral degeneracy. Themomentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind withpainful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposingschemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busiedwith it - actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on thepublic mind. 2. Therefore, venerable brethren, as on former occasions when it seemed opportune to refute false teaching, We have addressed you in the interests of the Church and of the common weal, and have issued letters bearing on political power, human liberty, the Christian constitution of the State, and like matters, so have We thought it expedient now to speak on the condition of the working classes.(1) It is a subject on which We have already touched more than once, incidentally.
    [Show full text]
  • THE POCKET GUIDE to the Popes 
    THE POCKET GUIDE TO the Popes RICHARD P. McBRIEN Contents Introduction 1 The Popes 11 Index of Names 339 About the Author Other Books by Richard P. McBrien Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher introduction This book contains the abridged profiles of all of the popes of the Catholic Church organized chronologically according to the dates of their respective terms of office. For the complete profiles, readers should consult the full edition, originally published in hard cover by HarperSanFrancisco in 1997, subsequently released in paperback in 2000, and finally issued in an updated edi- tion that includes Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. The full edition contains many original features; this abridged edition is limited to profiles of individual popes that rely upon secondary source material for their factual and historical content. For a listing of these sources and an explanation of how they were incorporated into the pro- files, the reader should consult the Preface and the Select Bibliography of the full edition. WHAT IS A POPE? The offi ce occupied by the pope is known as the papacy. The pope’s principal title is Bishop of Rome. In addition to his immediate pastoral responsibilities as Bishop of Rome, the pope also exercises a special ministry on be- half of the universal Church. It is called the Petrine min- istry, because the Catholic Church considers the pope to be the successor of the Apostle Peter. As such, he has the 2 the pocket guide to the popes duty to preserve the unity of the worldwide Church and to support all of his brother bishops in the service of their own respective dioceses.
    [Show full text]