Catholic Social Teaching: Core Principles and Ethics

Posted on Feb 4, 2026 in Philosophy and ethics

1. Fundamentals of Social Doctrine of the Church (SDC)

Definition and Purpose

  • Definition: A theological-moral model pertaining to the new evangelization, offering a propositional table based on reason directed toward the common good.
  • Purpose: It is not an ideology or a political program, but a tool for analyzing social, economic, and political contexts through a Christian lens.

Historical Origin and Sources

  • Historical Origin: Formally emerged in 1891 with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum to address the “labor question” and the abuses of the Industrial Revolution.
  • Sources:
    • Revelation: The Word of God interpreted by the Magisterium.
    • Reason: Integration of Greek philosophical models (Plato/Aristotle) where faith and reason coexist as “two wings”.
    • Social Sciences: Tools for analyzing social phenomena, provided they are checked for ideological prejudices.

2. Core Anthropological Principles

Human Dignity and Nature

  • Imago Dei (Image of God): The central pillar; man is “someone,” not “something,” endowed with dignity because he is created in God’s image.
  • Unified Totality: Man is a profound unity of soul (the spiritual principle) and body (the material principle).

Freedom and Law

  • The Double Meaning of Freedom:
    • Natural Freedom: The ability to choose means to achieve a determined end.
    • Moral Freedom: Not a license to do anything, but a faculty to be applied exclusively to the truth and the good.
  • Natural Law: A set of universal, permanent principles based on human nature, discoverable by reason, and unchangeable by state decree.

3. Key Social Principles

Pillars of Social Organization

  • Common Good: The sum of social conditions allowing individuals, families, and associations to attain their own perfection. It is the sole reason for the existence of civil authorities.
  • Subsidiarity: A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, but rather support it. This protects individual and family autonomy from state absorption.
  • Solidarity: A moral and social virtue arising from human interdependence; it is the firm determination to commit oneself to the common good.
  • Social Justice: The habit of giving each person their due share; it requires that economic progress be accompanied by social progress.

4. Economic Activity: Wealth, Labor, and Systems

Economics is a social science studying the production, exchange, and consumption of goods to satisfy human needs. The Church’s perspective is centered on the Common Good and the Dignity of the Person.

Key Definitions & Concepts

  • The Nature of Labor: Work is not a mere commodity or “merchandise” to be traded; it is a specifically human activity endowed with a spiritual dimension.
  • The Just Wage: Remuneration must be determined by justice and equity, not just market demand. It must allow a worker to live a “truly human life” and fulfill family obligations.
  • Universal Destination of Goods: A primary principle stating that the earth’s goods are originally meant for everyone.
  • Social Mortgage: The concept that private property is justified only if it serves a social function and does not harm the common good.
  • Principle of Respect for Work: This requires a constructive revision of property rights to ensure capital (the product of past work) serves the present generation of workers.

Critique of Economic Systems

  • Rigid Capitalism: Rejected when it defends an “untouchable dogma” of exclusive private ownership without social limits.
  • Economic Liberalism: Criticized as a “poisoned spring” when it claims economic life is altogether independent of public authority and governed only by self-direction/competition.
  • The “Invisible Hand” (Adam Smith): The Church opposes the idea that individual interest automatically leads to social good, arguing instead for conscious solidarity.
  • Marxism/Socialism: Rejected for its purely materialistic vision and the promotion of “class warfare,” which is contrary to the nature of man and Christian teaching.

5. Marriage and the Family

The family is the “original cell of social life” and the primary place of “humanization”.

Critical Definitions

  • Natural Institution: Marriage is not a creation of the State or culture; it is a reality prior to laws, inscribed in the very nature of man and woman.
  • Conjugal Love: A total, exclusive, and definitive gift of self between a man and a woman.
  • Sexual Complementarity: The ontological difference between “masculine” and “feminine” that allows for the fulfillment of the “human”.

The 5 Essential Traits of Marriage

  1. Wholeness: Fullness of self-giving in physical and spiritual aspects.
  2. Unity: The bond is unique and exclusive (monogamy).
  3. Indissolubility: Once the bond is established, it does not depend on the spouses’ will to break it.
  4. Fidelity: Total stability and commitment over time.
  5. Fertility: The natural openness to the procreation and education of children.

Family Rights vs. State Duties

  • Priority of Family: The State has a duty to sustain the family but must not subtract activities the family can perform itself (Subsidiarity).
  • Education: Parents have the primary and inalienable right to educate their children; state monopolies on education are unjust.
  • Family Wage: A salary sufficient to maintain a family decently and allow for the acquisition of private property as a guarantee of freedom.

6. Bioethics and the Protection of Life

Bioethics reflects on the moral limits of scientific developments regarding human life and nature.

Key Definitions & Principles

  • Ontological Status of the Embryo: From the moment of fertilization, the embryo is an individual living being of the human species; it is “someone,” not “something”.
  • Personal Unity: Every human being is a biological, spiritual, and moral unity.
  • Primacy of Life: The right to life takes precedence over economic, scientific, or political interests.
  • Principle of Justice in Healthcare: Guaranteeing equal medical conditions for everyone regardless of economic means.

Specific Moral Stances

  • Abortion: Defined as the provoked death of the fetus at any time; it is an “abominable crime” because it kills an innocent human life.
  • Reproductive Technology (IVF/FIVET): Evaluated based on human dignity. It is criticized if it replaces the sexual act or involves embryo destruction/selection (eugenics).
  • Stem Cells: Rejection of embryonic stem cell research because it destroys the original embryo. Support for adult stem cell research.
  • Euthanasia: An act or omission intended to cause death to end suffering. It is rejected because neither the patient nor the doctor has the power to decide death.
  • Palliative Medicine: The interdisciplinary care aimed at improving the quality of life without accelerating or postponing death.