THY3 Lecture Notes - Catholic Social Teaching, Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo Xiii
Document Summary
Catholic social encyclicals a design for a just society. The social teachings are made of three elements: Important: the teachings follow the principle of see judge act. [major documents issued by the church from 1891 to 2015: rerum novarum (tl. Canticle of the creatures poem: written in medieval italian dialect, praises god for brother sun, sister water, brother wind, and sister mother. [from introduction to the social teaching of the church, michel schooyans (june 1992), paris, france] The teaching of the church on social concerns is anything but a cerebral and theoretical construction. This teaching is in part a reflection of the action and commitment of christians in society. Between doctrine and action, there exists a give-and-take and constant enrichment. Just as action cut-off from its doctrinal sources would be empirical, so a teaching disconnected from practice would be completely sterile.
