Second Principle: Subsidiarity
"But God did not create man as a solitary, for from the beginning 'male and
female he created them'. Their companionship produces the primary form of
interpersonal communion. For by his innermost nature man is a social being, and
unless he relates himself to others, he can neither live nor develop his potential."
(Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 12).
“The final demand is that relations between citizens and public authorities be
described in terms of rights and duties. It must be clearly laid down that the
principal function of public authorities is to recognize, respect, co-ordinate,
safeguard and promote citizens' rights and duties.” (Pope St John XXIII, Pacem in
Terris, 77)
"Subsidiarity respects personal dignity by recognizing in the person a subject who
is always capable of giving something to others." (Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in
Veritate, 57)
If one member suffers, all suffer. If one member is honored, all rejoice. (cf. 1
Corinthians 12:12-26)
“Whatever house you enter, first say ‘peace to this house!’” (Luke 10:5)
The next principle or idea within Catholic Social Teaching (CST) I’d like to highlight
for our discernment leading up to the election is Subsidiarity. This is, hands down,
my favorite idea within CST, and I could go on for pages, but I will try to be
succinct in helping you understand the idea. Perhaps more than any other idea
we’ll talk about, this highlights just how far away, not only the two candidates are,
but our entire society has become from the Catholic ideal. Subsidiarity calls for a
full-court press change in how we understand society and our role within it.
To put simply, Subsidiarity is the principle that problems are to be solved and
handled at the lowest possible tier of society. To rephrase that, Subsidiarity is the
principle that the lowest tier of society, or the most basic unit of society, is the
individual and the family. Thus, the individual and the family are to have the rights
and freedoms to take care of as much as they can. Then, when their abilities and
resources have been exhausted, they go up the ladder – reach out – to neighbors,
then the church, then local social organizations / clubs / associations, then, and
only then, do you reach out to the various tiers of government: local, state,
federal. To rephrase again, Subsidiarity simply says that because of Human Dignity,
humans are created to take care of each other and to form and join communities
that look out for and care for all those within and near them. By the time the
highest tier of government gets involved (think Federal), there really isn’t much
that is left for them to do or for us to rely upon them for. This is why getting so
worked up over politicians in the Federal Government – even President – just
works against this principle, because this principle lays out the idea that, truly,
those at the Federal level should have very little impact on our lives. Truly, your
Borough Council, Mayor, or even KOC Grand Knight should be 10x more impactful
on your life than your US Senator or President.
This is a different conversation than ‘limited vs big’ government or ‘social
programs v no-social programs’. Those conversations, largely, are rooted in
spending and budgetary principles. What we’re talking about here is an entire
change in how we think about our relationship to others. If every person is
created in the Image of God and possesses an incredible Divine Dignity, then what
is my role or relationship with them supposed to be and look like? Subsidiarity
shows us it’s a radical form of relationships that our current society simply starves.
When it comes to discerning an election and your vote, Subsidiarity can play a
tremendous role in giving you a lens for which to discern various policies and
agendas and platforms. Obviously, no one is running with this as an explicit
campaign promise. But we can take the principle and ask ourselves if whether a
candidate’s policies they are offering aligns with Subsidiarity. Will their platform or
policy lead us to more greatly invest in our families, neighbors, churches, clubs,
and community; or will it make us more dependent on a non-tangible idea of
government? In other words, will this policy give me back my right and obligation
to feed, care for, protect, nurture, and rally around those in my community so that
I can help sustain the life of my neighbor, or will this strip more of that right and
opportunity away from me? The individual, the family, the neighborhood, the
parish, the local community all precede the State and the State is at service to
them, not the other way around. If we are made in the Image of God, then like
God, we are to love like God, nurture like God, care for and tend to others like
God. We do that for our families, first, then to our neighbors, parish, local
organizations, and then wherever my limited human capacity stops, I invite the
State to come in and help me in what I can’t do for others – not what I don’t want
to do for others.
