Catholic Social Teaching on Life, Property, and Economic Systems
Bioethics: Moral Reflection on Life and Science
Origin and Purpose of Bioethics
Bioethics arises from the need to reflect morally on the rapid development of science and technology, particularly in the fields of medicine and biology.
As scientific progress began to make it possible to intervene directly in the origin, development, and end of human life, ethical questions emerged that could not be answered by technical knowledge alone.
Bioethics, therefore, seeks to evaluate scientific practices in the light of moral principles, placing the human person at the center of every decision.
From the Church’s perspective, bioethics is rooted in the recognition of the intrinsic dignity of every human being, which must be respected from conception until natural death. Scientific progress is welcomed, but only if it serves the human person and does not reduce life to an object of manipulation or control.
Relevance in Contemporary Society
Bioethics is highly relevant in contemporary society because decisions taken in the medical and scientific fields have profound consequences not only for individuals but also for families and society as a whole.
Modern culture often measures human life in terms of efficiency, autonomy, or quality of life, which can lead to the exclusion of the weak, the sick, the elderly, and the unborn.
The Church emphasizes that bioethical issues are not merely private choices but social matters that affect the common good.
Laws, healthcare systems, and cultural attitudes towards life reflect a society’s understanding of human dignity.
- Bioethics plays a crucial role in defending the most vulnerable and ensuring that technological progress remains at the service of humanity rather than becoming a source of new forms of injustice or discrimination.
Core Bioethical Issues and Human Dignity
Euthanasia: Rejecting False Compassion
Euthanasia is understood as an action which, intentionally, causes death in order to eliminate suffering.
It contradicts the fundamental respect owed to human life:
- Human dignity does not depend on health, productivity, or autonomy.
- Suffering or terminal illness can never justify the deliberate ending of life.
Euthanasia represents a false form of compassion, as it responds to suffering by eliminating the person rather than caring for them.
Instead, the morally acceptable response to pain and terminal illness is the provision of appropriate care, including palliative treatment, emotional support, and accompaniment, which respects the natural process of life.
Abortion and Eugenics: The Church’s Position
The Church unequivocally affirms that human life must be respected and protected from the moment of conception.
Abortion is therefore morally unacceptable, as it involves the deliberate termination of an innocent human life.
- The unborn child possesses full human dignity and the fundamental right to life, regardless of circumstances such as health, disability, or social conditions.
Eugenics, which seeks to select or eliminate human lives based on genetic characteristics or perceived quality, is likewise condemned.
Such practices reduce the human person to biological criteria and promote a culture that values individuals according to perfection, utility, or desirability.
Human Dignity, Family, and Social Structures
The Family as the Foundation of Dignity
The family is the primary place where human dignity is recognized, protected, and nurtured.
Every person is welcomed within the family not for what they possess or produce, but for who they are.
Rights and Dignity of Children
From childhood, individuals become aware of their dignity and learn to respect that of others.
Children have the right to be born and raised in a stable family environment marked by love, care, and moral guidance, which allows them to develop their potential and prepare for their personal and social vocation.
Responsibilities of Adults and Parents
Adults, particularly parents, have the right and responsibility to educate their children and to organize family life without unjust interference from the State.
At the same time, society has the duty to support families through appropriate assistance, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, without replacing or undermining them.
In this way, the family becomes the first place of “humanization,” where the dignity and rights of every person are concretely lived and safeguarded.
Economic Justice and Social Doctrine
The Right to Private Property
The Church recognizes the right to private property but firmly rejects the idea that this right is absolute or unlimited.
Property must always be subordinated to the common good and to the dignity of the human person.
The abuses of the 19th-century economic system showed how the unrestricted accumulation of wealth by a few led to widespread misery, exploitation, and social imbalance.
When property is detached from its social function, it becomes a source of injustice rather than development.
The Church therefore condemns economic systems that treat property as an untouchable right without moral responsibility, while affirming that ownership should serve both individual needs and the welfare of society. True economic justice requires that goods be used and distributed in a way that benefits all, particularly the most vulnerable.
Critique of Economic Systems
Capitalism and the Dictatorship of Capital
Capitalism is criticized when it is based on the idea of an absolute and unlimited right to private property, without reference to its social function.
The 19th century showed that this led to widespread poverty among workers, extreme inequality, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
This situation produced what the Church described as a “dictatorship of capital,” where those who controlled money also controlled labor and production.
When profit becomes the sole criterion of economic activity, the dignity of workers is endangered and human beings risk being treated as instruments rather than persons.
For this reason, the Church insists that private property must always be subordinated to the common good.
Liberalism and Unaccountable Freedom
Liberalism is rejected when it defends a concept of freedom detached from moral responsibility.
By prioritizing individual economic freedom and minimizing State intervention, liberalism often blocks necessary social reforms and allows serious injustices to persist.
It treats economic processes as automatic and morally neutral, ignoring the ethical dimension of economic life.
The Church affirms instead that freedom must be ordered toward justice, solidarity, and social responsibility.
Socialism and Collective Control
Socialism is firmly criticized because it subordinates the rights of individuals, families, and intermediate social groups to collective control of production.
By concentrating economic power in the hands of the State or the collective:
- Socialism suppresses personal freedom, private initiative, and responsibility.
This absorption of the individual into the collective:
- Violates human dignity.
- Undermines natural social structures, particularly the family, which precedes the State in importance.
Collectivism: Suppression of the Person
Collectivism represents an extreme form of socialism in which the collective or the State assumes total control over economic life and social organization. In this system, the individual person is reduced to a function of the collective, losing personal freedom, responsibility, and initiative.
The Social Doctrine of the Church condemns collectivism because it denies the primacy of the human person and suppresses natural social communities such as the family.
By subordinating personal rights entirely to collective goals, collectivism undermines human dignity and disrupts the proper balance between individual freedom and social responsibility.