331 INJUSTICE AMONG MEN

YOUCAT Lesson 331

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

331  Why is there nevertheless injustice among men?

All men have the same dignity, but not all of them meet with the same living conditions.  In cases where injustice is man-made, it contradicts the Gospel.  In cases where men have been endowed by God with different gifts and talents, God is asking us to rely on one another: in charity one should make up for what the other lacks.  [1936-1938, 1946-1947]

A child laborer gathering cocoa. .....126 ...331

There is a kind of inequality among men that does not come from God but rather originates in societal conditions, especially in the unjust distribution of raw materials, land, and capital worldwide.  God expects us to remove from the world everything that is plainly contrary to the Gospel and disregards human dignity.  Yet there is another sort of inequality among men that is quite in keeping with God’s will:  inequality in talents, initial conditions, and opportunities.  These are an indication that being human means being there for others in charity so as to share and to promote life.  61

“Love the poor, and do not turn your back on them, for if you turn your back on the poor, you turn your back on Christ.  He made himself hungry, naked, homeless, so that you and I would have an opportunity to love him.”  Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

[1936-1938, 1946-1947]

II. EQUALITY AND DIFFERENCES AMONG MEN

1936 On coming into the world, man is not equipped with everything he needs for developing his bodily and spiritual life. He needs others. Differences appear tied to age, physical abilities, intellectual or moral aptitudes, the benefits derived from social commerce, and the distribution of wealth.( Compare Gaudium et Spes 29 § 2.)⁴¹ The "talents" are not distributed equally.( Compare Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:27.)⁴² –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1937 These differences belong to God's plan, who wills that each receive what he needs from others, and that those endowed with particular "talents" share the benefits with those who need them. These differences encourage and often oblige persons to practice generosity, kindness, and sharing of goods; they foster the mutual enrichment of cultures:

I distribute the virtues quite diversely; I do not give all of them to each person, but some to one, some to others. . . . I shall give principally charity to one; justice to another; humility to this one, a living faith to that one. . . . And so I have given many gifts and graces, both spiritual and temporal, with such diversity that I have not given everything to one single person, so that you may be constrained to practice charity towards one another. . . . I have willed that one should need another and that all should be my ministers in distributing the graces and gifts they have received from me.( St. Catherine of Siena, Dial. I,7.)⁴³ –CCC

1938 There exist also sinful inequalities that affect millions of men and women. These are in open contradiction of the Gospel:

Their equal dignity as persons demands that we strive for fairer and more humane conditions. Excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and peoples of the one human race is a source of scandal and militates against social justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social and international peace.( CS 29 § 3.)⁴⁴ –CCC

IN BRIEF

1946 The differences among persons belong to God's plan, who wills that we should need one another. These differences should encourage charity. –CCC

1947 The equal dignity of human persons requires the effort to reduce excessive social and economic inequalities. It gives urgency to the elimination of sinful inequalities. --CCC