Catholic Social Teaching a Secret or Not?

Did you know that the Catholic Church has letters (encyclicals) written by various Popes, on Catholic Social Teaching? You didn’t? That is not surprising, this is one of the best kept secrets of our church according to the book “Catholic Social Teaching: Our Best Kept Secret” by authors Peter J. Henriot, Edward P. DeBerri and Michael J. Schultheis.

Why is this such a big secret? I think we all believe in the idea of Social Justice. That we are all created equal and we should all be treated the same. The Catholic Church’s teaching on this goes so much deeper than this basic belief. Over the next few weeks I am going to discuss some of the teachings and where the Church stands on them. As a disclaimer this is something dear to me, but I am by no means an expert and may stumble at times as I try to convey what the teachings are and why they are just as meaningful today as they were when they were written whether it be 2 or 3 decades ago or over a hundred years ago.

One of the earliest encyclicals was written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is titled, The Condition of Labor (in Latin: Rerum Novarum). I know this was written over a hundred years ago so how on earth could it pertain to life today? Well first a little tidbit of history. At the end of the 19th century in Europe and North America there was devastating exploitation and rampant poverty among the working peoples in both countries. Does this sound familiar? We certainly hear of the poverty and, yes, even exploitation of workers throughout the world still today.

Pope Leo XIII looked at the wealth of a few and the devastating situations of the poor when he wrote his encyclical. He wanted us to know that we have all been created equal and the goods of nature belong to everyone equally, not just those that have wealth. We all have talents, though they are not necessarily the same for everyone, but even with that God has given us all the gift of equal dignity, which means no matter how much different my situation is from my neighbor’s situation that does not make either one of us more or less of a person than the other.

We all have the right to benefit from the fruits of our labor, and in turn we should use those fruits as best we can to benefit our fellow man. That is not to say that labor is not necessary, we all need to earn our way to feel the dignity we have through God. Although, that does not mean that everything will be handed to us. There will be hardships throughout our lives and we must trust in God to help us through the trying times.

Pope Leo XIII went on to tell us that the Church has the right to speak out on matters of social justice, particularly the ones that affect religion and morality. And the Church, through use of the Gospel, can help to reconcile and unify all rich, middle class and poor. The Church also needs to take the lead on educating people to act justly or, in the words of Jesus, to treat one another as we would like to be treated.

This sounds overwhelming doesn’t it? And in many ways it is. We need to remember that with each of us doing our part to ensure that our fellow human beings are being treated fairly and equally in the work place the easier it is. It may be as simple for some of us as greeting a fellow worker or a person on the street with a smile and a hello rather than putting our head down and keeping on keeping on. By ignoring those around us whether the working poor, the unemployed, the homeless, or yes even those with the means to support themselves and help others, we are adding to the failure of how our world ignores the dignity of each of us.