Order Number |
5467754344 |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
Human Dignity
1929 Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. the
person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him:
What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have
been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of
history are strictly and responsibly in debt.35
1930 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a
creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the
moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its
positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy.36 If it does not respect them,
authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the
Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from
unwarranted or false claims.
1931 Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that “everyone
should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as ‘another self,’ above all bearing in
mind his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity.”37 No legislation could by itself
do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitudes of pride and selfishness which obstruct the
establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that
finds in every man a “neighbor,” a brother.
Human Dignity
1929 Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. the
person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him:
What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have
been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of
history are strictly and responsibly in debt.35
1930 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a
creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the
moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its
positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy.36 If it does not respect them,
authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the
Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from
unwarranted or false claims.
Human Dignity
1929 Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. the
person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him:
What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have
been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of
history are strictly and responsibly in debt.35
1930 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a
creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the
moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its
positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy.36 If it does not respect them,
authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the
Church’s role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from
unwarranted or false claims.
1932 The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even
more urgent when it involves the disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. “As you did it to
one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”38
1933 This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. the teaching of Christ
goes so far as to require the forgiveness of offenses. He extends the commandment of love,
which is that of the New Law, to all enemies.39 Liberation in the spirit of the Gospel is
incompatible with hatred of one’s enemy as a person, but not with hatred of the evil that he does
as an enemy.
Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P6O.HTM
The Common Good
2
is to attain its fullest meaning, stems from the dignity, unity and equality of all people. According
to its primary and broadly accepted sense, the common good indicates “the sum total of social
conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more
fully and more easily”.[346]
The common good does not consist in the simple sum of the particular goods of each subject of a
social entity. Belonging to everyone and to each person, it is and remains “common”, because it
is indivisible and because only together is it possible to attain it, increase it and safeguard its
effectiveness, with regard also to the future. Just as the moral actions of an individual are
accomplished in doing what is good, so too the actions of a society attain their full stature when
they bring about the common good. The common good, in fact, can be understood as the social
and community dimension of the moral good.
is a society that has the common good — the good of all people and of the whole person [347] —
as its primary goal. The human person cannot find fulfilment in himself, that is, apart from the
fact that he exists “with” others and “for” others.
This truth does not simply require that he live
with others at various levels of social life, but that he seek unceasingly — in actual practice and
not merely at the level of ideas — the good, that is, the meaning and truth, found in existing
forms of social life. No expression of social life — from the family to intermediate social groups,
associations, enterprises of an economic nature, cities, regions, States, up to the community of
peoples and nations — can escape the issue of its own common good, in that this is a constitutive
element of its significance and the authentic reason for its very existence [348].
period and are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his
fundamental rights[349]. These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the
organization of the State’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment,
and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights:
food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the
freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom[350]. Nor
must one forget the contribution that every nation is required in duty to make towards a true
worldwide cooperation for the common good of the whole of humanity and for future
generations also[351].
cooperating, according to each one’s possibilities, in attaining it and developing it[352]. The
common good must be served in its fullness, not according to reductionist visions that are
subordinated by certain people to their advantages; own rather it is to be based on a logic that
leads to the assumption of greater responsibility. The common good corresponds to the highest
of human instincts[353], but it is a good that is very difficult to attain because it requires the
constant ability and effort to seek the good of others as though it were one’s own good.
3
Everyone also has the right to enjoy the conditions of social life that are brought about by the
quest for the common good. The teaching of Pope Pius XI is still relevant: “the distribution of
created goods, which, as every discerning person knows, is labouring today under the gravest
evils due to the huge disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered
propertyless, must be effectively called back to and brought into conformity with the norms of
the common good, that is, social justice”[354].
belongs also to the State, since the common good is the reason that the political authority
exists[355]. The State, in fact, must guarantee the coherency, unity and organization of the civil
society of which it is an expression[356], in order that the common good may be attained with
the contribution of every citizen. The individual person, the family or intermediate groups are not
able to achieve their full development by themselves for living a truly human life. Hence the
necessity of political institutions, the purpose of which is to make available to persons the
necessary material, cultural, moral and spiritual goods. The goal of life in society is in fact the
historically attainable common good[357].
harmonize the different sectoral interests with the requirements of justice[358]. The proper
reconciling of the particular goods of groups and those of individuals is, in fact, one of the most
delicate tasks of public authority. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that in the democratic State,
where decisions are usually made by the majority of representatives elected by the people, those
responsible for government are required to interpret the common good of their country not only
according to the guidelines of the majority but also according to the effective good of all the
members of the community, including the minority.
Everyone also has the right to enjoy the conditions of social life that are brought about by the
quest for the common good. The teaching of Pope Pius XI is still relevant: “the distribution of
created goods, which, as every discerning person knows, is labouring today under the gravest
evils due to the huge disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered
propertyless, must be effectively called back to and brought into conformity with the norms of
the common good, that is, social justice”[354].
belongs also to the State, since the common good is the reason that the political authority
exists[355]. The State, in fact, must guarantee the coherency, unity and organization of the civil
society of which it is an expression[356], in order that the common good may be attained with
the contribution of every citizen. The individual person, the family or intermediate groups are not
able to achieve their full development by themselves for living a truly human life. Hence the
necessity of political institutions, the purpose of which is to make available to persons the
necessary material, cultural, moral and spiritual goods. The goal of life in society is in fact the
historically attainable common good[357].
harmonize the different sectoral interests with the requirements of justice[358]. The proper
reconciling of the particular goods of groups and those of individuals is, in fact, one of the most
delicate tasks of public authority.
Moreover, it must not be forgotten that in the democratic State,
where decisions are usually made by the majority of representatives elected by the people, those
responsible for government are required to interpret the common good of their country not only
according to the guidelines of the majority but also according to the effective good of all the
members of the community, including the minority.
attaining the ultimate ends of the person and the universal common good of the whole of
creation. God is the ultimate end of his creatures and for no reason may the common good be
deprived of its transcendent dimension, which moves beyond the historical dimension while at
the same time fulfilling it[359].
This perspective reaches its fullness by virtue of faith in Jesus’
Passover, which sheds clear light on the attainment of humanity’s true common good. Our
history — the personal and collective effort to elevate the human condition — begins and ends in
Jesus: thanks to him, by means of him and in light of him every reality, including human society,
can be brought to its Supreme Good, to its fulfilment.
A purely historical and materialistic vision
would end up transforming the common good into a simple socio-economic well-being, without
any transcendental goal, that is, without its most intimate reason for existing.
Source: The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church,
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20
060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html#I.%20MEANING%20AND%20UNITY