Four Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

What are the Four Principles of Catholic Social Teaching?

Catholic social teaching is a central and essential element of our faith. From the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 160, “the permanent principles of the Church’s social doctrine constitute the very heart of Catholic social teaching. These are the principles of: the dignity of the human person, . . . the common good; subsidiarity; and solidarity. These principles [are] the expression of the whole truth about man known by reason and faith . . .”. 

What is the definition of Catholic Social Teaching? From the USCCB:

“Catholic social teaching is a central and essential element of our faith. Its roots are in the Hebrew prophets who announced God’s special love for the poor and called God’s people to a covenant of love and justice. It is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind”(Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45). Catholic social teaching is built on a commitment to the poor. This commitment arises from our experiences of Christ in the eucharist.”

The central and enduring themes of Catholic social teaching are organized under four principles that provide a moral framework for decisions in public life.

From Robert J. Matava in the Arlington Catholic Herald:

“The principles of Catholic social teaching specify the demands of justice as it pertains to the social, political and economic order. Therefore, while many of the principles are factual states of affairs, such as a fair wage or the universal destination of goods, implicit in them is a practical norm — a directive claim — about what persons ought to do, such as paying employees fairly or treating one’s private property as ordained for the good of all. While over a dozen such principles — for example, the preferential option for the poor — may be discerned within the body of Catholic social teaching, the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” (160) lists four foundational principles: (1) the dignity of the human person, (2) the common good, (3) solidarity and (4) subsidiarity. Of these four, the first two — in stated order — are the most pivotal.”

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