The principles of Catholic Social Teaching: Human Dignity. Solidarity. Subsidiarity.
The threefold cornerstone of CST contains the principles of human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity. It is the foundation on which to form our conscience in order to evaluate the framework of society and is the Catholic criteria for prudential judgment and direction in developing current policy-making.
Learn from the wisdom found in the four sources of NETWORK’s Catholic Social Justice principles: Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Social Tradition, and Lived Realities.
Catholic Social Teaching Research Guide: The 7 Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
- Life and Dignity of the Human Person.
- Call to Family, Community, and Participation.
- Rights and Responsibilities.
- Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.
- The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers.
- Solidarity.
- Care for God’s Creation.
The first social teaching proclaims the respect for human life, one of the most fundamental needs in a world distorted by greed and selfishness. The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation for all the social teachings.
Catholic social teaching is based on and inseparable from our understudying of human life and human dignity. Every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family.
The social teachings are made up of three distinct elements:
- Principles of reflection;
- Criteria for judgement; and.
- Guidelines for action.
The principles of Catholic social doctrine have their roots in the social teachings of the New Testament, in teachings of the Church Fathers, and of course in the Old Testament and Hebrew scriptures generally.
What is the sources of CST?
Primary Sources. Meta Sites. Papal Encyclicals.
What are the sources of Catholic ethics?
Sources of Catholic moral theology include both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and philosophical ethics such as natural law that are seen as compatible with Catholic doctrine.