Catholic social doctrine emphasizes the role each individual
plays in contributing directly to the common good. Pope Francis also
addressed this in his recent apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, where the Holy Father
addressed both institutional as well as individual failings to serve the
poor.
Certainly, the question of how to help the poor is not an
issue which is being ignored by secular society. It is often
contentiously debated, pitting policy makers and commentators against each
other. However, through all the debate surrounding the best policies
to improve the lives of the poorest among us, it is often easy to forget the
calling that Catholics have to advocate for and live according to Catholic
social doctrine.
The following question, taken from A Catechism for
Business, serves as a reminder that we are all called to
support Catholic social doctrine and promote the common good.
Who bears responsibility for fulfilling the principles of
Catholic social teaching?
“The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society… is
proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to
take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot
relinquish their participation ‘in the many different economic, social,
legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote
organically and institutionally the common good.’” –Benedict XVI, Deus
caritas est, 29 (quoting John Paul II, Christifideles laici, 42)
“The first act of the Christian business leader, as of all
Christians, is to receive; more specifically, to receive what God has done for
him or her. This act of receptivity,
particularly for business leaders, can be particularly difficult. As a group, business leaders tend to be more
active than receptive, especially now in a globalized economy, under the
effects of sophisticated communications technologies and the financialization
of business. Yet without receptivity in
their lives, business leaders can be tempted by the quasi-Nietzschean
“superman” complex. The temptation for
some is to regard themselves as determining and creating their own principles,
not as receiving them. Business leaders
may only see themselves as creative, innovative, active, and constructive, but
if they neglect the dimension of receiving, they distort their place within the
world and overestimate their own achievements and work.” – Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Vocation of the Business
Leader, 66
“It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church to
intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social
life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting
on their own initiative with their fellow citizens. Social action can
assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in
view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of
the Church. It is the role of the laity ‘to animate temporal realities
with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and
agents of peace and justice.’” –Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2442
(586) (quoting John Paul II, Sollicitudo rei socialis, 47)
