His Holiness, Leo XIV, chose a name which recalls Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903. The major encyclical associated with Leo XIII is Rerum Novarum, written in 1891. For the first time, a pope addressed the social and economic issues of his time, marking the beginning of the Church's social encyclicals. In the decades that followed, popes developed a set of principles of justice concerning all aspects of social life—relationships between individuals and governments, between workers and employers, and more broadly, among people.
These principles, formulated and developed from Pope Leo XIII to the present day, would bring happiness to individuals, families, and nations—if only they were applied. This body of principles is known as the Social Doctrine of the Church.
With rare exceptions, papal encyclicals are named after the first few words of the original Latin text. Thus, Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical begins: "The spirit of revolutionary change", which in Latin translates to Rerum novarum semel excitata cupidine. The words rerum novarum mean "new things," or more broadly, "change."
Society in 1891 was facing new conditions in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Leo XIII's encyclical condemned both the poverty endured by much of the working class and the political movements inspired by socialism and Marxism, which falsely claimed to liberate workers. At the same time, Leo XIII also denounced the excesses of capitalism and the unjust conditions faced by workers. He encouraged the formation of Christian trade unions and a socially engaged Catholicism.
The popes who succeeded Leo XIII continued to develop the body of social teaching in response to changing societal conditions. New documents—mostly encyclicals—were released roughly every ten years to mark the anniversaries of Rerum Novarum.
May 15, 1931: On the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Pius XI published Quadragesimo Anno (in Latin, "Forty Years"). Written in the context of the Great Depression, it focused on "the reconstruction of the social order" and introduced key concepts such as the principle of subsidiarity.
It was in this encyclical that the term "Social Doctrine of the Church" was used for the first time. It also contains some of the strongest language ever used by a pope to denounce the workings of the modern financial system:
"Those who hold and control money govern credit and dispense it at their pleasure. In doing so, they distribute the lifeblood of the economic body, holding its very life in their hands, so that no one can breathe against their will.
"This power becomes particularly irresistible when exercised by those who, because they hold and control money, are able also to govern credit and determine its allotment, for that reason supplying so to speak, the lifeblood of the entire economic body, and grasping, as it were, in their hands the very soul of production, so that no one dare breathe against their will."
June 1, 1941 (Pentecost Sunday): Pope Pius XII issued a radio message marking the 50th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, emphasizing the right of all people to material goods.
May 15, 1961: For the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope St. John XXIII issued Mater et Magistra ("Mother and Teacher"), on "the recent evolution of the social question in light of Christian principles," highlighting the increasing variety of associations responding to human needs.
May 14, 1971: On the 80th anniversary, Pope St. Paul VI issued the apostolic letter Octogesima Adveniens, addressing the dawn of the post-industrial age and the new social problems that came with it.
September 15, 1981: For the 90th anniversary, Pope St. John Paul II published Laborem Exercens, on human work. It reflects on the dignity of work and the issue of unemployment. Initially scheduled for May 15, the release was delayed due to the assassination attempt on the pope's life on May 13, 1981.
May 15, 1991: Exactly 100 years after Rerum Novarum, Pope St. John Paul II issued Centesimus Annus ("The Centenary"), revisiting the entire body of Catholic social teaching since Leo XIII, and examining the failure of communism and the limits of liberal capitalism.
Also relevant to this body of teaching is the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes ("Joy and Hope") on the Church in the modern world, released on December 8, 1965, particularly its third chapter on socio-economic life.
More recently, Pope Francis'encyclical Laudato Si'("Praise be to You, Lord"), published on May 24, 2015 deals with "the care of our common home," and advocates for an "integral ecology" that puts human beings at the center.
Two years after the Second Vatican Council, a new type of encyclical appeared, focusing on a specific theme within the Social Doctrine. This marked the beginning of a new category of papal documents, whose significance was underlined by later encyclicals issued on its anniversaries:
March 26, 1967 (Easter Sunday): Pope St. Paul VI released Populorum Progressio ("On the Development of Peoples"), addressing the growing gap between the Global North and South. Many Third World nations had recently gained political independence but lacked financial means.
Paul VI advocated for "integral development"—that is, the development of all people and the whole person—and affirmed that "development is the new name for peace."
December 30, 1987: To mark the 20th anniversary of Populorum Progressio, Pope St. John Paul II released Sollicitudo Rei Socialis ("The social concern of the Church"), noting that the gap between rich and poor had only widened and that poverty existed even in super-developed countries. The encyclical introduced the theological concept of "structures of sin" and clearly articulated the essence of the Church's social doctrine.
June 29, 2009: On the 40th anniversary of Populorum Progressio, Pope Benedict XVI issued Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth"), on human development rooted in charity and truth. (Benedict noted that its release had been postponed by two years to account for the 2007–2008 global economic crisis.)
The encyclical addressed globalization, corporate outsourcing to low-wage countries, sustainable development and the financial crisis.
The Church engages in social issues and has developed a body of principles known as the Social Doctrine of the Church. According to Pope Benedict XV, the Church intervenes in social matters because it is "in this field that the salvation of souls is in jeopardy." Hence a Social Doctrine.
His immediate successor, Pope Pius XI, also wrote: "It may be said with all truth that nowadays the conditions of social and economic life are such that vast multitudes of men can only with great difficulty pay attention to that one thing necessary, namely their eternal salvation" (Quadragesimo Anno, n. 130).
Pius XII spoke similarly, in his June 1, 1941 radio broadcast: "How could the Church — a so loving Mother who cares about the well-being of her sons — be permitted to remain indifferent when she sees their hardships, to remain silent or pretend not to see and not to understand social conditions which, voluntarily or not, make it difficult and practically impossible a Christian conduct in conformity with the Commandments of the Sovereign Lawgiver?" Through the years, different Popes have continued to repeat this message.
On October 25, 2004, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace published the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. It states:
"The Church's social doctrine is an integral part of her evangelizing ministry....nothing that concerns the community of men and women, situations and problems regarding justice, freedom, development, relations between peoples, peace, is foreign to evangelization. Evangelization would be incomplete if it did not take into account the mutual demands continually made by the Gospel and by the concrete, personal and social life of man" (n. 66). The Church has the right to be a teacher for mankind, a teacher of the truth of faith: the truth not only of dogmas but also of the morals whose source lies in human nature itself and in the Gospel (n. 70)
"On the one hand, religion must not be restricted'to the purely private sphere'; on the other, the Christian message must not be relegated to a purely other worldly salvation incapable of shedding light on our earthly existence. Because of the public relevance of the Gospel and faith, because of the corrupting effects of injustice, that is, of sin, the Church cannot remain indifferent to social matters. To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls" (n. 71).
The Social Doctrine of the Church can be summarized by the four principles, or four pillars, upon which a stable social system must be built. The following is taken from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, paragraphs 160 and 161:
"The permanent principles of the Church's social doctrine constitute the very heart of Catholic social teaching. These are the principles of:
1. The dignity of the human person, which is the foundation of all the other principles and contents of the Church's social doctrine.
2. The common good
3. Subsidiarity
4. Solidarity
The Social Doctrine rests on a fundamental principle which is the primacy of the human person:
"The Church's teaching on social matters has truth as its guide, justice, as its end, and love as its driving force... the cardinal point of this teaching is that individual men are necessarily the foundation, cause, and end of all social institutions" (Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961; nn. 219 and 226).
All systems must be at the service of men, including financial and economic systems. In his first encyclical letter, Redemptor Hominis (March 4, 1979, n. 15), Pope Saint John Paul II said:
"The indispensable transformations of the structures of economic life of poverty amidst plenty that brings into question the financial and monetary mechanisms... Man cannot relinquish himself or the place in the visible world that belongs to him; he cannot become the slave of things, the slave of economic systems, the slave of production, the slave of his own products."
On September 26, 1985, Pope Saint John Paul II addressed the following message to the 6th U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, held in Geneva, Switzerland:
"Again, I want to tackle a very delicate and painful issue. I mean the torment of the representatives of several countries, who no longer know how to face the fearful problem of indebtedness. A structural reform of the world financial system is, without doubt, one of the initiatives that seem the most urgent and necessary"
Therefore, according to the Church, the goal of the financial system and the economy must be in the service of men. The goal is the satisfaction of human needs. This is what Pope Pius XI wrote in Quadrageimo Anno (n. 75).
"For then only will the economic and social organism be soundly established and attain its end, when it secures for all and each those goods which the wealth and resources of nature, technical achievement, and the social organization of economic affairs can give.
"These goods must be sufficient to supply all needs and an honest livelihood, and to uplift men to that higher level of prosperity and culture which, provided it be used with prudence, is not only no hindrance but is of singular help to virtue".
Let's talk now about the second principle, or pillar, of the social doctrine of the Church, namely the common good. According to its primary and broadly accepted sense, the common good indicates "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (Gaudium et Spes, 26).
One can read in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, paragraph 167: The common good therefore involves all members of society; no one is exempt from cooperating, according to each one's possibilities, in attaining it and developing it. Everyone also has the right to enjoy the conditions of social life that are brought about by the quest for the common good. The teaching of Pope Pius XI is still relevant: "The distribution of created goods, which, as every discerning person knows, is labouring today under the gravest evils due to the huge disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered propertyless, must be effectively called back to, and brought into conformity with, the norms of the common good, that is, social justice" (Quadragesimo Anno, 197).
The numbers in the following paragraphs refer to the paragraphs in the Compendium cited above:
168. The responsibility for attaining the common good, besides falling to individual persons, belongs also to the State, since the common good is the reason that the political authority exists. (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1910.) The State, in fact, must guarantee the coherency, unity and organization of the civil society of which it is an expression, in order that the common good may be attained with the contribution of every citizen. The individual person, the family or intermediate groups are not able to achieve their full development by themselves for living a truly human life. Hence the necessity of political institutions, the purpose of which is to make available to persons the necessary material, cultural, moral and spiritual goods. The goal of life in society is in fact the historically attainable common good.
170. The common good of society is not an end in itself; it has value only in reference to attaining the ultimate ends of the person and the universal common good of the whole of creation. God is the ultimate end of His creatures, and for no reason may the common good be deprived of its transcendent dimension, which moves beyond the historical dimension while at the same time fulfilling it.
171. Among the numerous implications of the common good, immediate significance is taken on by the principle of the universal destination of goods: "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" (Gaudium et Spes, 69). This principle is based on the fact that "the original source of all that is good is the very act of God, who created both the earth and man, and who gave the earth to man so that he might have dominion over it by his work and enjoy its fruits" (Gen 1: 28-29).
God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favouring anyone. This is the foundation of the universal destination of the earth's goods… The human person cannot do without the material goods that correspond to his primary needs and constitute the basic conditions for his existence; these goods are absolutely indispensable if he is to feed himself, grow, communicate, associate with others, and attain the highest purposes to which he is called (Cf. Pius XI, Radio Message, June 1, 1941).
172. The universal right to use the goods of the earth is based on the principle of the universal destination of goods. Each person must have access to the level of well being necessary for his full development. The right to the common use of goods is the "first principle of the whole ethical and social order" and "the characteristic principle of Christian social doctrine" (Saint John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 42).
God has placed on earth all that is needed to feed everyone. But, because of a lack of money, products do not reach the hungry and poverty stricken. Mountains of products accumulate while people starve and do without. This is the paradox of poverty amidst plenty.
"It is obvious that a fundamental defect, or rather a series of defects, indeed a defective machinery is at the root of contemporary economics and materialistic civilization, which does not allow the human family to break free from such radically unjust situations" (Saint John Paul II, encyclical Dives in Misericordia, n. 11).
"So widespread is this phenomenon (wealth for some, poverty for the rest) that it brings into question the financial, monetary, production and commercial mechanisms that, resting on various political pressures, support the world economy. These are proving incapable either of remedying the unjust social conditions inherited from the past or of dealing with the urgent challenges and ethical demands of the present... We have before us here a great drama that can leave nobody indifferent" (Saint John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, n. 16).
Numerous pontiffs have denounced the dictatorship of money and advocated for the reform of the financial and economic systems. They seek that the economic system be placed at the service of people.
"One must denounce the existence of economic, financial and social mechanisms which, although they are manipulated by people, often function almost automatically, thus accentuating the situation of wealth for some and poverty for the rest" (Saint John Paul II, encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, n. 16).
"I appeal to those in positions of responsibility, and to all involved, to work together to find appropriate solutions to the problems at hand, including a restructuring of the economy, so that human needs be put before mere financial gain" (Saint John Paul II's address in St. John, Newfoundland, September 12, 1984).
This brings us to the third principle of the social doctrine of the Church, subsidiarity, which demands that higher and remote tiers of government not take over functions that families and lesser institutions, closer to the individual, can perform. This is in contrast to centralization and a one-world government where smaller entities, such as nation-states, will not exist. Subsidiarity implies that the government exists to help parents and families rather than take their place. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states:
186. The necessity of defending and promoting the original expressions of social life is emphasized by the Church in the Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, in which the principle of subsidiarity is indicated as a most important principle of'social philosophy'. "Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice, and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order, to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the social body, and never destroy and absorb them."
On the basis of this principle, advanced social entities must adopt a helpful attitude ("subsidium") — of support, promotion and development — with regard to lower ordered entities. In this way, intermediate bodies can properly perform the functions that fall to them without having to transfer their duties to the higher level organization, by which they would be absorbed and substituted and thus stripped of their dignity and function.
Subsidiarity is best understood in the positive sense that economic or juridical institutions should offer assistance and support to lower level social entities. There is an implication that the state should refrain from actions that would restrict the functions of the smaller essential cells of society. Initiative, freedom and responsibility must not be supplanted.
In one of his articles, Louis Even explained the growth of the so-called welfare state: "To accomplish his own functions, Caesar must not resort to means that prevent individuals and families from fulfilling theirs... However, Caesar has not taken on the reform which is his duty: ending the monopoly of the creation of money by private banks and creating the nation's debt-free money. As he has not taken on that which is his responsibility, he takes on other duties and uses these as a pretext to levy burdensome and sometimes ruinous taxes on citizens and families. Caesar thus becomes the de facto tool of the very financial dictators which he should take down and the oppressor of citizens and families whom he should protect."
The state accumulates new functions and responsibilities instead of changing the financial system, including an enormous bureaucracy and an army of public servants that harass the population rather than serve it. In his encyclical Centesimus Annus (n. 48), Saint John Paul II denounced the abuses of the welfare state.
We have already concluded that reforming the financial system is a duty of the state. Money must be created by society and not by private bankers for their own profit, as Pope Pius XI wrote in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (n. 114):
"For certain kinds of property, it is rightly contended, ought to be reserved to the State since they carry with them a dominating power so great that cannot without danger to the general welfare be entrusted to private individuals."
The principle of subsidiarity implies that families are more important than the state. Governments must not destroy the family nor undermine parents'authority. The Church teaches that children belong to their parents and not to the state:
"Hence we have the family, the `society'of a man's house — a society very small, one must admit, but nonetheless a true society, and one older than any State. Consequently, it has rights and duties peculiar to itself which are quite independent of the State... The contention, then, that the civil government should at its option intrude into and exercise intimate control over the family and the household is a great and pernicious error... Paternal authority can be neither abolished nor absorbed by the State... The socialists, therefore, in setting aside the parent and setting up a State supervision, act against natural justice, and destroy the structure of the home" (Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, nn. 12-14).
Solidarity—the fourth principle of the social doctrine of the Church—refers to the love of neighbour. We must care about the fate of all our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is on solidarity, love of neighbour, that we will be judged at the end of our earthly lives.
183. It is by what they have done for the poor that Jesus Christ will recognize His chosen ones... the poor remain entrusted to us, and it is this responsibility upon which we shall be judged at the end of time: "Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from Him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are His brethren" (Mt 25:31-46).
It is the duty and obligation of every Christian to work toward establishing justice and a better economic system:
"Anyone wishing to renounce the difficult yet noble task of improving the lot of man in his totality, and of all people, with the excuse that the struggle is difficult and that constant effort is required, or simply because of the experience of defeat and the need to begin again, that person would be betraying the will of God the Creator" (Saint John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, n. 30).
"Such a task is not an impossible one. The principle of solidarity, in a wide sense, must inspire the effective search for appropriate institutions and mechanisms... This difficult road of the indispensable transformations of the structures of economic life is one on which it will not be easy to go forward without the intervention of a true conversion of mind, will and heart. The task requires resolute commitments by individuals and peoples that are free and linked in solidarity" (Saint John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, n. 16).
There are many ways to help our needy brothers and sisters. We can feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit prisoners and the sick, etc. Some people send donations to local charitable organizations or send money to international aid agencies. Even though these donations are laudable and can bring relief to some people for a few days or a few weeks, the causes of poverty will not be eradicated by charity.
The problem must be solved at its root. We must tackle the very causes of poverty. Every human being must have their fundamental right to a minimum of earthly goods restored. The dignity that belongs to a person created in the image of God must prevail.
"More than any other, the individual who is animated by true charity labors skillfully to discover the causes of misery, to find the means to combat it, and to overcome it resolutely. A creator of peace, he will follow his path, lighting the lamps of joy and playing their brilliance and loveliness on the hearts of men across the surface of the globe, leading them to recognize, across all frontiers, the faces of their brothers, of their friends" (Saint Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, n. 75).
Apostles are needed to teach the Social Doctrine of the Church and concrete solutions are needed to implement what the Church teaches. Economic Democracy, also known as Douglas Social Credit financial proposals, spread by the Pilgrims of St. Michael, would achieve this. Saint Paul VI added:
"All of you who have heard the appeal of suffering peoples, all of you who are working to answer their cries, you are the apostles of a development which is good and genuine, which is not wealth that is self-centered and sought for its own sake, but rather an economy which is put at the service of man, the bread which is daily distributed to all, as a source of brotherhood and a sign of providence" (Populorum Progressio, n. 86).
Saint John Paul II wrote, in his encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (n. 38). "These attitudes and'structures of sin'(the thirst for money and power) are only conquered — presupposing the help of divine grace — by a diametrically opposed attitude: a commitment to the good of one's neighbour...".
The Church cannot remain indifferent to conditions that jeopardize the salvation of souls, such as hunger and indebtedness. This is why the Church calls for a reform of financial and economic systems so that they are placed at the service of people. The Church has provided the moral principles upon which all financial and economic systems must be judged.
In order that these principles be applied in a concrete way, the Church calls on the laity to assume their role in the renewal of the temporal order, bringing it into line with God's plan. The laity are to find concrete solutions and establish an economic system that conforms to the Gospels'teachings and the principles of the Church's Social Doctrine.
An economic system can only be good to the extent that it applies the principles of justice taught by the Church. That is why Saint John Paul II wrote in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis in 1987: "The tension between East and West is an opposition... between two concepts of the development of individuals and peoples, both concepts being imperfect and in need of radical correction... This is one of the reasons why the Church's social doctrine adopts a critical attitude towards both liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism."
It is easy to understand why the Church condemns communism or Marxist collectivism, which Pope Pius XI called "intrinsically evil" and anti-Christian (encyclical Divini Redemptoris, March 19, 1937). Their avowed goals are the destruction of private property, family and religion, but why would the Church condemn capitalism? Is capitalism not better than communism? This is what is explained in the article on page 12, Economic Democracy
seen in the light of the social doctrine of the Church.
Alain Pilote has been the editor of the English edition of MICHAEL for several years. Twice a year we organize a week of study of the social doctrine of the Church and its application and Mr. Pilote is the instructor during these sessions.
Subscribe