1.1 Why should the Church concern itself with non-spiritual questions?
1.2 What is the Church's mission with regard to social questions?
The Church has a MISSION--an obligation--and a RIGHT to concern itself with social problems which can be summarised as follows:
1.3 What is the scope of this teaching?
The Church's social teaching aims at the FORMATION OF CONSCIENCES. It does not go into the technical aspects of problems. Neither does it try to promote or endorse particular systems of social organisation. The Church accepts any social system that respects human dignity.
1.4 What would be opposed to the social doctrine of the Church?
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCCC 512; cf CCC 2424-2425) replies:
Opposed to the social doctrine of the Church are economic and social systems that sacrifice the basic rights of persons or that make profit their exclusive norm or ultimate end. For this reason the Church rejects the ideologies associated in modern times with Communism or with atheistic and totalitarian forms of socialism. But in the practice of capitalism the Church also rejects self centred individualism and an absolute primacy of the laws of the marketplace over human labour.
Jesus taught His Apostles to respect not only authorities in the Church, but also civil authorities. He summarised it in the following maxim: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mt 22:21)
One might ask, "Is there a real need for an authority in society?" The CCCC (405; cf CCC 1897-1902, 1918-1920) replies,
Every human community needs a legitimate authority that preserves order and contributes to the realization of the common good. The foundation of such authority lies in human nature because it corresponds to the order established by God.
What do we mean by "common good?" The CCCC (408; cf CCC 1907-1909, 1925) explains:
The common good involves: respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person, the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of persons and society, and the peace and security of all.
The relation between the Church and the State should be characterised by distinction, not separation. This relation will bear fruit if three basic principles are observed:
2.1 Ethics and Politics
There are two opposing errors that should be avoided:
2.2 Different in Nature, Origin, Aims, and Means
2.3 Harmony, Not Opposition
*The autonomy of the State with respect to ecclesiastical laws is called SECULARITY. This is not the same as SECULARISM, which (1) seeks the autonomy of politics from the moral order and the divine design, and (2) tends to restrict religion to the purely private sphere. True secularism avoids two extremes: (1) the imposition of a moral theory by the State, and on the other (2) the rejection of moral and spiritual values. With regard to the latter, it is both naive and unjust to ask believers to act in politics "as if God did not exist". It is naive, because everyone acts on the basis of his cultural convictions (religious, philosophical, political, and so on), whether they come from religious faith or not. They are, therefore, convictions that necessarily affect the social behaviour of citizens. It is unjust because non-Catholics make use of their own beliefs, irrespective of where those beliefs come from.
Relations between the Church and the State will vary according to circumstances, e.g., countries with a Catholic tradition and others in which Catholics are a minority. Nonetheless, the right to religious freedom must always be safeguarded; social and civil freedom in religious matters is the source and synthesis of all of the rights of the human person (cf John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 1 May 1991, 47).
3.1 Through the Constitution
In many countries, the Constitution guarantees the religious freedom of their citizens and that of religious groups.
3.2 Concordats
Concordats are agreements between the Church and each State where specific solutions are agreed upon in matters such as freedom of the Church and its entities to exercise their mission, education, marriage of Catholics, financial aid, observance of religious holidays, and so on.
4.1 Marriage
4.1.1 Church
The Church has right to regulate marriage of Catholics, even if only one of the contracting parties is Catholic. Since marriage is a sacrament and the Church establishes norms for its validity and licitude. The State, on the other hand, regulates the effects of marriage in the civil sphere (Code of Canon Law, 1059).
In some concordats, the Church obtains a certain civil recognition for its matrimonial legislation.
Under certain circumstances, it has to tolerate (never approve) that some of its rights in this matter are not recognised by civil law (e.g., indissolubility or unity) without prejudice to the immediate force of the divine natural and positive law.
4.1.2 State
Marriage is a natural contract. Hence, the State regulates its effects in the civil order (cf Code of Canon Law, 1059). It is the State's duty to recognise the right of Catholics to contract a Church marriage, and to give it civil validity without obliging them to go through a civil marriage ceremony, since they are already married.
4.2 Education
Education (including religious upbringing) is primarily a right and responsibility of parents. They are the ones who determine the kind of education that their children will receive and who choose the means to achieve this end. When the initiative of parents or of social groups does not suffice, the State should--in a subsidiary way--set up its own schools, while always respecting the right of the parents to orient the education of their children.
The right and responsibility of parents in education includes establishing and managing schools in which their children can receive an adequate education. Since these schools contribute to the common good, the State should recognise, support and subsidise them (cf John Paul II, Familiaris consortio, 22 November 1981, 36). Children, whatever school they may be in, have the right to receive an education that is in consonance with their religious convictions (cf CCC 2229).
4.2.1 Church
The Church has to determine and watch over everything that refers to teaching and spread of the faith: programs, content, books, suitability of teachers. It is an aspect of the power of the Magisterium that belongs to the Hierarchy, and a right of the Church to defend and guarantee her identity and the integrity of her doctrine. No one can teach Catholic doctrine unless he is approved by the ecclesiastical authority (cf Code of Canon Law, 804-805).
The Church can also establish its own centres of instruction, and be recognised and if possible receive state aid under the same conditions as other private schools without losing its Catholic educational philosophy and its dependence on Church authorities (cf Code of Canon Law, 800).
The Church can also promote social initiatives compatible with its religious mission (hospitals, communication media, orphanages, shelters) with same conditions as initiatives of this type (e.g., tax exemption, certification of personnel, subsidies, collaboration of volunteers, possibility of collecting contributions).
4.2.2 State
The State lays down norms of education necessary for common good (levels, grades, access of all to instruction, content, recognition of degrees). It will have to respect the principle of subsidiarity, respecting the rights of parents to oversee the orientation of their children's education.
It would be tyrannical for a state to try to maintain, even if only indirectly (e.g. withholding subsidies) a monopoly over education.
5.1 Acting in Accordance with One's Belief
Society has to recognise the right and obligation of Catholics to act in the political arena in accordance with their faith. If politics respects the dignity of persons, it does not mean that it is subjugated to religion. What it means is that politics is at the service of the person, and should, therefore, respect moral norms. This is the same thing as saying that one should respect and foster the dignity of every human person. Moreover, to engage in political activity for reasons beyond the merely material and temporal--transcendental motives--is very much in line with the full development of human nature.
5.2 Freedom in Temporal Matters
Spirit unites, matter divides. There is a possibility of many positions, diverse opinions, plurality in temporal matters. None of these positions can claim to be the only adequate alternative. The Church has to recognise this legitimate autonomy of lay people to manage their temporal affairs, as long as they act in accordance with Catholic doctrine. Furthermore, this also means that they should on their own personal responsibility; they do not drag the Church in their personal decisions and social behaviour, making sure not to present their personal solutions as THE Catholic solution.
PLURALISM is not a lesser evil, but a positive element. It is rooted in man's freedom. It is preferable to accept a diversity in temporal matters, rather than achieve uniformity at the cost of personal freedom. Pluralism, however, should not be confused with ETHICAL RELATIVISM. Ethical relativism does not take moral principles into account, unlike real pluralism. It ignores the Natural Law, public order, and the basic human rights.
5.3 Exercise of Civil Rights and Fulfilment of Duties
The CCCC (519; cf CCC 2442) asks, "In what way do Christians participate in political and social life?" It replies as follows:
The lay faithful take part directly in political and social life by animating temporal realities with a Christian spirit and collaborating with all as authentic witnesses of the Gospel and agents of peace and justice.
St Josemaría Escrivá wrote in Forge (715):
We children of God, who are citizens with the same standing as any others, have to take part fearlessly in all honest human activities and organizations, so that Christ may be present in them.
Our Lord will ask a strict account of each one of us if through neglect or love of comfort we do not freely strive to play a part in the human developments and decisions on which the present and future of society depend.
Catholics should learn to exercise their civil rights and fulfil their duties in society. By imbuing all their actions with love of God and love of men, they sanctify society from within, they make it holy and pleasing to God. Hence, they need to have a great spirit of initiative and responsibility. They cannot abdicate their participation in many human endeavours, including politics. All these can be purified of human imperfection, elevated to the supernatural order, sanctified, and turned into a means of bringing souls closer to God, and bring God closer to souls.
5.3 Charity above all
The CCCC (404; cf CCC 1886-1889, 1895-1896) asks: "What else is required for an authentic human society?"
Authentic human society requires respect for justice, a just hierarchy of values, and the subordination of material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones. In particular, where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and for the grace of God to obtain social changes that may really serve each person and the whole person. Charity, which requires and makes possible the practice of justice, is the greatest social commandment.
As Pope Benedict XVI taught in the Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (nos 1 & 2): "Charity in truth ... is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. ... Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine."