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World Day of Social Justice

 In declaring 20 February as World Day of Social Justice, the UN General Assembly recognised that the attainment of social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security and yet cannot be attained without peace, security and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

• Posted on Feb 16, 2010

  In declaring 20 February as World Day of Social Justice, the UN General Assembly recognised that the attainment of social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security and yet cannot be attained without peace, security and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

  The Assembly recognised that broad-based and sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social development and social justice, but that serious challenges remain, including serious financial crises, insecurity, poverty, exclusion and inequality within and among societies, and considerable obstacles to the further integration and full participation of developing countries and some countries with economies in transition in the global economy.

The Church and Social Justice

  Catholic Social Teaching is the term given to the teachings of the Church on social justice issues. Catholic Social Teaching promotes a vision of a just society that is grounded in biblical revelation, the teachings of the leaders of the early church, and the wisdom gathered from experience by the Christian community as it has responded to social justice issues through history.

Catholic Social Teaching

  The permanent principles of the Church's social doctrine ... are: the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity. These principles, the expression of the whole truth about the human person known by reason and faith, are born of "the encounter of the Gospel message and of its demands summarised in the supreme commandment of love of God and neighbour in justice with the problems emanating from the life of society".

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #160

The Dignity of the Human Person

God has imprinted his own image and likeness on human beings (cf. Gen 1 :26), conferring on them an incomparable dignity... In effect, beyond the rights which one acquires by one's own work, there exist rights which do not correspond to any work performed, but which flow from one's essential dignity as a person. John Paul II, CentesimusAnnus, 1991, #11

• Recognises the sacredness of life and the dignity of each human person
• Ensures that every person has reasonable access to more than just the basic necessities of life
• Promotes the human rights especially of those who lack access to services and those who cannot participate or are refused the opportunity to participate in significant national, state or community activities and discussions
• Brings with it natural rights and duties.

The Common Good

It grows increasingly true that the obligations of justice and love are fulfilled only if each person, contributing to the common good, according to one's own abilities and the needs of others, also promotes and assists the public and private institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions of human life.

Gaudium et Spes, 1965, #30

• Actively seeks conditions that enhance the good of all and contribute to the achievement of a quality common life together
• Requires that the poor and marginalised should be the focus of concern
• Takes the issue of poverty beyond charitable acts and into the questioning and challenging of social values and structures
• Fosters collaboration rather than hierarchical management, ensuring a cohesive engagement of all involved
• Takes responsibility for the environment.

Subsidiarity

Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organisations can do.

Pius XI, QuadragesimaAnno, 1931, #79

• Fosters life within the group, without undue social control and interference
• Ensures participation in decision-making processes affecting personal, communal and organizational life
• Promotes decision-making that is empowering of those involved and affected in the process
• Ensures that decision-making processes include consultation with those who will be most affected by them.

Solidarity

In 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 neighbour 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.

John Paul II, Salicituda Rei Sacialls, 1987 #40

• Acknowledges that our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, cultural, economic and ideological differences
• Respects and promotes personal, social, economic, cultural and political rights
• Presents a spiritual and material solidarity with all people, especially those who are marginalised, vulnerable or distressed, giving priority to those in greatest need.