324 SOCIAL JUSTICE

YOUCAT Lesson 324

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

324  On what principles does a society build?

 Every society builds on a hierarchy of values that is put into practice through justice and love.  [1886-1889, 1895-1896]

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. ~ Martin Luther King  …..The term "Social justice" was coined by Jesuit priest Luigi Taparelli in the 1840s. …324

No society can last unless it is based on a clear orientation toward values that are reflected in a just ordering of relationships and an active implementation of this justice.  Thus, man may never be made into a means to an end of societal action.  Every society needs constant conversion from unjust structures.  Ultimately this is accomplished only by love, the greatest social commandment.  It respects others.  It demands justice.  It makes conversion from inequitable conditions possible.  449

 “Today’s justice is yesterday’s charity; today’s charity is tomorrow’s justice.”  Bl. Etienne-Michel Gillet (1758-1792, priest and martyr)

 “The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices and guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate.”  Pope St. John Paul  II (1920-2005), Encyclical Centesimus annus

 1886-1889, 1895-1896

II. CONVERSION AND SOCIETY

1886 Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which "subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones:"(Centesimus Annus 36 § 2.)⁸

 Human society must primarily be considered something pertaining to the spiritual. Through it, in the bright light of truth, men should share their knowledge, be able to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations, be inspired to seek spiritual values; mutually derive genuine pleasure from the beautiful, of whatever order it be; always be readily disposed to pass on to others the best of their own cultural heritage; and eagerly strive to make their own the spiritual achievements of others. These benefits not only influence, but at the same time give aim and scope to all that has bearing on cultural expressions, economic, and social institutions, political movements and forms, laws, and all other structures by which society is outwardly established and constantly developed.( Pope St. John XXIII, Pacem in Terris 36.)⁹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1887 The inversion of means and ends,( Compare Centesimus Annus 41.)¹⁰ which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a means for attaining it, or in viewing persons as mere means to that end, engenders unjust structures which "make Christian conduct in keeping with the commandments of the divine Law-giver difficult and almost impossible."( Pius XII, Address at Pentecost, June 1, 1941.)¹¹ –CCC

 1888 It is necessary, then, to appeal to the spiritual and moral capacities of the human person and to the permanent need for his inner conversion, so as to obtain social changes that will really serve him. The acknowledged priority of the conversion of heart in no way eliminates but on the contrary imposes the obligation of bringing the appropriate remedies to institutions and living conditions when they are an inducement to sin, so that they conform to the norms of justice and advance the good rather than hinder it.( Compare Lumen et Gentium 36.)¹² –CCC

 1889 Without the help of grace, men would not know how "to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse."( Centesimus Annus 25.)¹³ This is the path of charity, that is, of the love of God and of neighbor. Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice, and it alone makes us capable of it. Charity inspires a life of self-giving: "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it."( Luke 17:33.)¹⁴ –CCC

 IN BRIEF

1895 Society ought to promote the exercise of virtue, not obstruct it. It should be animated by a just hierarchy of values. –CCC

1896 Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just reforms. There is no solution to the social question apart from the Gospel (compare Centesimus Annus 3, 5).