24 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

288 It is in that way that the Christian conscience is formed into

maturity.When properly formed, it can bring its moral force to bear
upon the social environment. Individuals would then be moved by
their consciences to critique the social environment, reject and move
against sinful social structures, and set up in their stead those that allow
and promote the flowering of fuller life.
289 So that conscience may confront effectively the socio-
economic and political problems of the country, knowledge and the
interiorization of the social teachings of the Church are necessary.
When knowledge is valued, becomes one’s own, is interiorized, it
becomes the wisdom of the heart.

7. The Social Doctrine of the Church

290 What does the social doctrine of the Church offer to

conscience? From the wellspring of the Church’s social doctrine
emerges a moral and spiritual vision of the human person and of
society. This doctrinal corpus challenges the imbalances of society
and the attitudes of individuals. It offers guidelines to persons on
how to live the Gospel of Jesus. It presents “principles of reflection”,
“criteria of judgment”, and “directives for actions, oriented towards
moral conduct.”38
291 In the light of our situation, we believe that certain truths in
the social doctrine of the Church stand out as urgent and necessary.
These truths, needing emphasis today for the development of the
just life and of the just society, which serves that life, are: Integral
Development based on Human Dignity and Solidarity; Universal
Purpose of Earthly Goods and Private Property; Social Justice and
Love; Peace and Active Non-Violence; Love of Preference for the
Poor; the Value of Human Work; the Integrity of Creation; and the
Empowerment of People.
292 We need to proclaim these principles,“whether convenient or
inconvenient—correcting, reproving, appealing—constantly teaching
and never losing patience.”39

38
LC 72.OA4.
39
2 Tim 4:2.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 25

a) Integral Development - Human Dignity and Solidarity

293 Today, the emphasis that is by far dominant in developing

programs is their economic impact. Cultural and social consequences
are often ignored. But generating jobs for the unemployed, raising the
standard of living, increasing the gross national product, and providing
economic sufficiency are laudable objectives only to the extent that
they do not sacrifice the integrality of authentic development.
294 For development to be integral40 it must serve the total
person in all dimensions including the interior,41 that is the spiritual
dimension and eternal salvation of the human person.There is simply
no justification for promoting economic sufficiency through immoral
activities, as in the flesh trade or sex-oriented tourism programs or in
the immoral repression of human rights that workers, both agricultural
and industrial, are often subjected to, or in the excessive external and
foreign dependence that diminishes our dignity and sovereignty, and
erodes international solidarity. Fidelity to the interior dimension of
life and its openness to its transcendent vocation42 from and towards
God is essential for development to be integral. Such inner values as
righteousness and freedom are not economically compensable.
295 Nor can development be integral if it does not serve the good
of the whole community and of all its members, an insight which Pope
John Paul II has underlined by his emphasis on solidarity, i.e. “a firm
and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common
good; that is to the good of all and of each individual because we are
really responsible for all.”43 Hence, if development causes the widening
of the morally scandalous gap between the rich and poor of our society,
development is simply unauthentic and misdirected. This is why we
cannot help but mention the neglect and even exploitation of the
poorest of the poor, such as members of tribal Filipino communities,
of seasonal sugarcane workers, or landless tillers and industrial workers
and slum dwellers.
296 Each person, no matter how poor and uneducated, is
endowed with an inalienable dignity as an image of God, a child of
40
PP 14.
41
SRS 29.
42
Cf. SRS 31.
43
SRS 38.
26 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

God,44redeemed by God and entrusted with an eternal destiny.45 Each

person has to be respected as an equal member of the human family,46
actively participating towards the common good in solidarity with
others. A situation such as the concentration of economic wealth and
political power in the hands of the few is an affront to human dignity
and solidarity. It runs counter to the truth that all human beings and
not just a few are “the source, the center, and the purpose of all socio-
economic life.”47 Human dignity and solidarity are fundamental values
from which our development as a people must proceed.

b) Universal Purpose of Earthly Goods and Private Property

297 Related to human solidarity is the fundamental principle that

“God destined the earth and all it contains for all men and all peoples
so that all created things would be shared fairly by all mankind under
the guidance of justice tempered by charity.”48 Such a teaching is an
indictment of the international economic system that has resulted
in the many serious imbalances between North and South or the
developed world and the less developed world. The “injustice of the
poor distribution of the goods and services originally intended for
all” is “one of the greatest injustices in the contemporary world”.49
Because earthly goods are meant for all, there is a responsibility for
developed countries to aid developing countries and to correct the
terms of commercial relationships that presently favor the richer and
more powerful countries.
298 For our own situation, the same principle underscores the
social dimension of private property.An almost exclusively privatistic
view of private property has contributed to the wide chasm between
the poor and the rich and the increasingly oppressive deprivation of
thousands of Filipino families. Orthopraxis, and not rejection, of the
Catholic social teaching on private property is a burning imperative
in our situation.

44
Gn l:26-27; cf. GS 12, 14-17; Jn 1-13; 1 Jn 3:1-2; Rom 8:14-17; cf. John Paul II,
To the People of the Sugar Plantations, Bacolod City, Feb. 20, 1981, no. 8.
45
GS 22.
46
PP 17.
47
GS 63.
48
GS 69.
49
SRS 28.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 27

299 We need to re-affirm the truth that private property is

derived from the nature of the human person, “is valid and necessary
in itself,”50and “ought to be considered an extension of human
freedom”.51 This is a constant teaching of the Church. But equally
constant, and—sadly—not so faithfully practiced is the perennial truth
that private property has a social dimension.
300 This social dimension is the clear implication of evangelical
Christian love:

“If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need

and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain
in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in
deed and truth.”52

301 Furthermore, Christian tradition “has always understood

this right within the broader context of the right common to all to
use the goods of the whole creation: the right to private property is
subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are
meant for everyone.”53 As St. Ambrose declared:

“You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor

person.You are handing over to him what is his. For what has
been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated
to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the
rich.”54

302 This is the social dimension of private property. Private

property is thus subordinated to the universal destination of goods.
As an element of its social dimension, it prompted Pope John Paul II
to refer to private property as under a “social mortgage.”55

50
Congregation for Catholic Education, Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the
Church’s Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests, 1988, no. 42.
51
GS 71.
52
1 Jn 3:17-18.
53
LE 14.
54
St. Ambrose, De Nabuthe, 3. XIII, PL 14, 747, as quoted in Populorum Progressio,
no. 23.
55
SRS 42.
28 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

303 Respect for this dimension and respect for the fundamental
principle of universal destination are absolutely demanded in our
situation.They would dictate, for instance, not the hoarding of capital
nor its flight, but its use to create jobs for the unemployed.They would
demand that the use and ownership of the goods of our land be more
and more diffused for the benefit of all. In the agricultural sphere,
the same principles would require a truly comprehensive agrarian
reform.

c) Social Justice and Love

304 Development cannot be achieved unless it is thoroughly

imbued with justice and love.56 These are “the principal laws of social
life”.57 Justice rejects such situations as dishonesty in the market place,
graft and corruption in private and public life, and unjust wages for
employees. As important as justice is in individual relationships, we
need to emphasize even more today than in our past, in the light of
our national disorder, the moral value of social justice. Nationalist
desires, ecological concerns, issues of integrity and transparency in
public and private life, rampant gambling with its attendant evils
affecting the family, the youth and public authorities, conflicts created
by favoring short term benefits for the few which can only bring
long term disaster for the many are issues that involve social justice.
It is the justice of the common good. It is not only enshrined in our
Philippine Constitution in a very emphatic way but it is also the
hopeful and poignant cry of the land as expressed in such slogans as
“Bayan muna bago sarili.”58
305 But for our interpersonal relationships and social structures
to be put in order, justice is not sufficient.”59 Love is necessary.
While the demand of justice is implied by love, still justice “attains

56
EN 35.
57
John XXIII, MM 39.
58
Country first before self.The slogan reacts to the crass selfishness and individualism
that often characterize public behavior to the detriment of the common good. It remains
true however, that all social organizations and the common good itself are ordered to
the good of the human person.
59
OA 23; JW 34.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 29

its inner fullness only in love.”60 For in justice, the other person
can remain “another”, an alien. In love, the other is a friend, even a
brother or sister61 in Christ. Love is fraternity. Love is at the heart of
solidarity.62
306 In the concrete, if our nation and the world are ever to
overcome the age-old hostilities which divide ethnic and religious
groups, it will not be done on the basis of justice alone.The histories
are too long, the wrongs done date too far back, the episodes of
revenge and counter-revenge are too complicated ever to be sorted
out on that basis.The only hope is rather solidarity, an acceptance of
the fact that we are all members of one community—local or national
or international—and that we must therefore be willing to sacrifice
something of what we see as our rights for the sake of the common
good. It is for this reason perhaps that John Paul II has enriched the
phrase of Pius XII,“Opus justitiae pax,” expressing it as “Opus solidaritis
pax”63 “the fruit of solidarity is peace.”

d) Peace and Active Non-Violence

307 As Church, we must show the way of justice and love, in

solidarity with all but particularly the poor and the weak, in the
building of peace. The Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus is not
a Kingdom to be imposed by the force of arms.64 It is a Kingdom to
be built by love,65 the love of the suffering servant.66 Love bears peace
by way of peace. Peace cannot be equated with the absence of war
nor with a certain balance of power. It is a harmony in the human
heart and in the social order brought about by justice,67requiring
respect for human dignity and human rights, the promotion of the
common good by one and all, and the constant practice of solidarity.
Peace is likewise “the fruit of love which goes beyond what justice

60
JW 34.
61
Mt 23:8; GS 32.
62
SRS 40.
63
SRS 39.
64
Cf. Jn 18:36; Mt 26:52.
65
1 Cor 13:11-13.
66
Is 53.
67
Cf. Is 32:17; “Justice will bring about peace.”
30 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

can provide.”68 In the final analysis, the real peace we must seek is the
Lord’s because he Himself is our peace.69
308 The context of our socio-economic and political situation
today is partly one of violence and counter-violence, institutionalized
or otherwise.70 In such a context, it is easy to succumb to the
temptation to use conflict as the means to liberation. But history
teaches that “there are sources of progress other than conflict, namely
love and right.This priority of love in history draws other Christians
to prefer the way of non-violent action. . . .”71 Non-violence is a
quality of the love of Jesus Christ.72 So radically new was his love that
he obliged his followers: “Love your enemies.”73
309 The 1971 Synod of Bishops, therefore, urged the Church to
foster “a strategy of non-violence.”74 Peaceful but persuasive rallies,
assemblies, marches, demonstrations, strikes and acts of “passive
resistance” to unjust laws can be very effective even if non-violent.
A strategy of non-violence requires solidarity of spirit as well as of
action. For this reason, we reemphasize the lesson of our recent historic
liberating moment. The active non-violence of “people power” in
1986 begot freedom.The move towards a “gunless society” advocated
by many concerned Filipinos is illustrative of the strategy and of the
spirit of active non-violence.
310 Recourse to armed violence as a method to bring about social
transformation cannot be justified in the present situation.“The road
to total liberation is not the way of violence, class struggle or hate; it
is the way of love, brotherhood and peaceful solidarity.”75
311 To remove social ills, active non-violence is our moral
countersign to the ideologies of today that espouse armed violence
to change the status quo. It is likewise our moral countersign to the

68
GS 78
69
Eph 2:14.
70
CBCP, Seek Peace, Pursue It, Jan. 31. 1990; CBCP, Solidarity for Peace, July 12,
1988.
71
JW 40; see also GS 78.
72
Cf. Mt 5:38-45; Lk 6:27; Rom 12:19-21; GS 78; CBCP, Post-Election Statement,
Feb. 1986.
73
Lk 6:27; Mt 5:44.
74
JW 65.
75
John Paul II, To the People of Tondo, Feb. 18, 1981, no. 7; cf. also his speech To the
People of the Sugar Plantations, Bacolod City, Feb. 20, 1981.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 31

ideologies that institutionalize violence in order to preserve the status

quo.We consider the peaceful alternative as a mandate of evangelical
discipleship.

e) Love of Preference for the Poor

312 It is also a demand of Christ for his disciples to follow

his own love of preference for the poor. This option takes on the
greatest urgency in our country where a very great number of our
people wallow in abject poverty and misery while tremendous social
privileges and deference are accorded the rich and the powerful.The
common good dictates that more attention must be given to the less
fortunate members of society.76 We as a Church, indeed, opt for all
men, women and children of the world. Above all, preferentially, we
opt like Jesus for the “little ones,” the poor and marginalized of our
societies.77This is an essential option of Christian faith, an obligatory
choice.78 Eternal salvation depends on the living out of a love of
preference for the poor because the poor and needy bear the privileged
presence of Christ.79
313 Our present Holy Father tells us that solidarity “must be
present whenever it is called for by the social degrading of the subjects
of work, by exploitation of the workers, and by the growing areas of
poverty and even hunger.” He goes on to say that for the Church,
this solidarity is “her mission, her service, a proof of her fidelity to
Christ, so that she can truly be the ‘Church of the poor’.”80
314 Such a love is a basic attitude that must pervade all plans and
legislation for development,81 long skewed to favor the better off
sectors of our society. In the Scriptures, the prophets were known

76
John XXIII, PT 56.
77
SRS 39, 42; PP 47; LC 68; cf. GS l; FABC, Evangelization in Modern Day Asia,
1974, no. 19; FABC, The Church as a Community of Faith in Asia, 1984, no. 16; CBCP, A
Dialogue for Peace, February 1983; CBCP, Thirsting for Justice, July 1987.
78
The Church will not hesitate to take up the cause of the poor and to become the
voice of those who are not listened to when they speak up; not to demand charity but
to ask for justice.Yes, the preference for the poor is the Christian preference!” John Paul
II, To the People of the Sugar Plantations, Bacolod City, Feb. 21. 1981.
79
Mt 25:31-34; cf. GS 27; JW 31; EN 12; LE 8.
80
LE 8.
81
Cf. SRS 47.
32 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

for their denunciations of injustices against the poor.82 The Old

Testament, in fact, views God as a “liberator of the oppressed and the
defender of the poor.”83 And the Beatitudes clearly indicate how Jesus
considered the poor and the lowly.84 The value of being “pro-poor”
has a truly evangelical basis. It urges us to be more concerned about
the substantive issues concerning street children, the unemployed,
poor fishermen, farmers and workers, exploited women, slum dwellers,
sidewalk vendors and beggars, tribal Filipinos and others at the margins
of human and social life.

f) The Value of Human Work

315 A just development would have to give full recognition to

the dignity of human work, which the Church has always recognized.
Jesus worked as a carpenter. He was known as the carpenter’s son.
The Church honors St. Joseph as the Patron of all Workers.
316 Apart from its product “human work has an ethical value of its
own” simply because the one who works is the human person.85This
subjective dimension of work has to be “the primary basis of the
value of work,” and not what work objectively produces.86The human
person is the subject of work and must not be treated as an instrument
of production. The person has primacy over things.87
317 Work, in fact, should enable the person to “subdue the earth,”
“to have dominion over the visible world,” “to transform the earth,
and to achieve fulfillment as a human being.”88 This is the productive
dimension of stewardship: that as stewards of the earth and its goods,
we labor in order not only to make the earth productive but, with
the Holy Spirit also to “renew the face of the earth.” These ideas are
basic to every kind of work, industrial or agricultural, material or
intellectual.They also suggest a certain spirituality of work by which
work is a way of sanctification, a way of discipleship, of heeding the

82
Cf. for instance Am 5:12, 8:4-7; Is 1:11-17.
83
See OA 30.
84
Lk 6:20; cf. SRS 47; To the People of Tondo, Feb. 18, 1981, nos. 3-4.
85
LE 6; for this discussion see also LC 81-88.
86
LE. loc.cit.
87
LE 12.
88
LE 9.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 33

word of God, of cooperating with the Lord, as a co-worker building

His house, and thereby following one’s vocation as a gift of God.
318 The subjective dimension of human work connotes as a
necessary corollary that labor has priority over capital,”89 for labor is
the primary efficient cause of production while capital is a “mere
instrument.” The resources of this world have been placed here to
serve the human person through work.
319 The twin principles of the dignity of human work and the
priority of labor over capital need to be urgently applied to our
situation where workers’ rights are too often sacrificed for profit and
workers discarded as chattels according to the demands of capital.
The principles of human work mandate, among other things, suitable
employment for all, just remuneration for work that is sufficient to
establish or properly maintain a family and to provide security for the
future, various social benefits that would ensure the life and health
of workers and their families. These include the right to rest and the
right to a decent work environment.The principles, moreover, support
the right of association, the right to participate in the fruits of work
and in management (e.g. profit sharing, sharing in the ownership of
the enterprise or of the means of production, participatory decision-
making), and the right to strike under certain conditions.90
320 Solidarity, among workers and with workers to protect and
promote their fundamental rights and discharge their responsibilities
properly, is necessary. Likewise necessary is just legislation to ensure
the entire range of workers’ rights. Without such assistance, a just
development in the world of work will not take place.

g) Integrity of Creation

321 A true and just development must fundamentally be concerned

with a passionate care of our earth and our environment.91 Fishing,
mining, and logging contribute enormously to the national coffers but
when done with inadequate safeguards for ecological integrity, moral
issues are involved. Our natural resources are not to be exploited as
89
LE 12.
90
LE 20.
91
OA 21; SRS 26,34; CBCP, What is Happening to Our Beautiful Land? Jan.
29,1988.
34 Readings for Theology 141: A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision

though they were inexhaustible. Destruction can be irreparable and

irreversible.
322 Much environmental destruction may be attributed to the
survival needs of the poor, as in slash and burn upland agriculture and
dynamite fishing. But the greater sin against the integrity of God’s
creation must be placed at the doorsteps of those who, with impunity,
cause the pollution of rivers, seas and lakes by industrial wastes, and
who for profit systematically destroy our forest covers to the point
of unrenewability.
323 Because the integrity of God’s creation is violated, our people
suffer the destruction brought about by droughts and floods. Those
disasters cannot be traced merely to the uncontrollable powers of
nature, but also to human greed for short term economic gain. The
physical limitations of our natural resources imply a moral demand,
the duty of responsible dominion over nature.
324 The sovereignty granted to us by the Creator is not a license
to misuse God’s creation.92 We are but stewards of creation, not its
absolute master. And stewards are accountable to the Creator and
giver of all good things.

h) People Empowerment

325 No social transformation is genuine, and lasting where people

themselves do not actively participate in the process.This is not only a
sociological axiom but it also stems from the nature of human dignity
and solidarity.“Persons are the active and responsible subjects of social
life.”93
326 In the context of our society today, where the poor and
marginalized have little genuine participation, and when the brief but
brilliant moments of our liberation have been made possible because
of “people power,” we realize that the integral development of people
will be possible only with their corresponding empowerment.Today
we understand “people power” to subsume basic ideas that go beyond
the mere gathering of people in support of a cause. We understand
“people power” to include greater involvement in decision-making,

92
SRS 34; CBCP, ibid.
93
LC 82.
 CBCP, Part III: A Renewed Integral Evangelization 35

greater equality in both political and economic matters, more

democracy, more participation.
327 People’s participation is a recognition of God’s fundamental
gifts of freedom and responsibility.The repression of such gifts has led
to the collapse of pro-democracy movements in some of our Asian
neighbors.
328 We need to activate these fundamental charisms of freedom and
responsibility, and encourage the emergence of people’s organizations,
sectoral associations and the like, inspired by the principle of solidarity
and empowered by the principle of subsidiarity. The possibilities of
people power are enormous in the economic and political fields,
such as in determining the directions of change, deciding policies,
implementing projects and monitoring them so that the common
good may be truly served.
329 The building of God’s Kingdom begins, after all, on earth and
depends on human cooperation with the grace of God. Empowering
people is thus a prerequisite in the renewal of our country. Without
it, our destiny as a people would remain in the hands of the few.