The Social Teachings of the Church

The Social teachings of the church

-A body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state. Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, which advocated economic Distributism and condemned both Capitalism and Socialism, although its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine of Hippo, and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible.

-The entire teaching of the ecclesiastical Magisterium which applies revealed truth and Christian moral principles to the social order is called the social doctrine of the Church. It applies the Gospel message to social reality. The purpose of the Church's social teaching is to present to men God's plan for secular reality. It enlightens men's minds with truth and guides them in building up the earthly city according to the divine plan.

Documents of the Social teaching of the church

Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor) -- Pope Leo XIII, 1891

Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty Years) -- Pope Pius XI, 1931

Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress) -- Pope John XXIII, 1961

Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) -- Pope John XXIII, 1963

Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)

Vatican Council II, 1965

Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) -- Pope Paul VI, 1967

Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to Action) -- Pope Paul VI, 1971

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