Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I endorse practically everything in Mr. Costello's rather extended review (above). Charles's little book is an extremely useful primer for approaching Catholic social teaching. If you are looking for something which ventures into the fringes of avant garde activism, you won't find it here. The book serves up the teaching of the Church straight -- no chasers.
The book makes no attempt to "see both sides" of social issues; it just spells out the teaching, making liberal use of direct quotations from Church documents and the Fathers. If you are a political ideologue (of any stripe), you are going to be disappointed.
The only reason the book does not get the fifth star from me is that I'm a tough grader.

This rather terse book summarizes Catholic teachings on social justice, usually in a paragraph or two, then gives excerpts from the original Catholic documents. The book is faithful to the magisterium of the Church. The author cites many references, including his two volumes: Christian Social Witness and Teaching: the Catholic Tradition from Genesis to Centesimus Annus (1998). The two volumes are divided at the year 1878.

Underlying all of the other principles are the following: 1. All social organizations must serve the human person, made in God's image and likeness. The human person possesses inherent rights and duties. 2. Human beings are by nature social and need an organized society in which to develop. The primary society is the monogamous family. 3. Man is born into freedom and for freedom. He must have political and economic freedom. 4. Freedom, to be worthy of man's dignity as a child of God, must be lived according to God's law, known to him through conscience, which is both objective and subjective. We have a right to oppose a seriously unjust government, even, in the last analysis and with many qualifications, to the point of revolution.

To make the book more interesting, its best use is as a reference for discussions of social issues. You can find many issues just by perusing the daily newspaper... The numbers in parentheses at the end of the line is the page on which you can find principles that may apply. You can see how useful the book is to everyday issues. 1. Human genome work: are there limits on research? On applications? (15) 2. Cloning of human beings (15) 3. Racial profiling (30) 4. Poverty (Conservatives as compassionate; the Nanny state) (30-35, 43,63) 5. Unions and the right to work (34,63,80,83) 6. Immigration (Fox-Bush meeting) (86) 7. FDA's pending approval of the "morning-after" pill for over-the-counter sale (20-21,87-89) 8. Removal of sex, violence and bad language from videos, then renting the clean versions (19-21,71) 9. School Board allowing a sexually explicit book in high schools (19-21,71) 10. Art (Guiliani decency plan for New York) (19-21,71) 11. The tax cut (32) 12. The California power crisis (91) 13. The fat police (government specification of school lunches) (43) 14. Government funds to religious organizations (45,50-54,101) 15. Election finance (McConnell alters tactics to fight finance reform) (40-41) 16. Judge Thomas' warning activists against self-censorship (40-41) 17. Iraq bombing (54-57) 18. Military deterence (MAD) (54-57) 19. Kosovo bombing (and possibly other U.S. interventions, including Rwanda) (57-59) 20. Drought in Tajikistan (86-94) 21. Haiti (86-94) 22. Palestine (86-94) 23. U.S. trade with Vietnam (despite human-rights violations) (86-94)

One might first notice that this small book is an Introduction, not a compendium. I think the author succeeds admirably in introducting this very complicated topic of Catholic Social Teaching. He has done much more extensive work, including a large volume dedicated to the Catholic Social Teaching from the Vatican II Council.

If you are one who has been at all unsure about the precise nature of Catholic Social Doctrine, as opposed to "social justice" which is mercilessly bandied about by the less understanding catholic activist, this book is an excellent and in fact challenging place to start. Fr. Rodgers, while not writing above anyone, does not water down these ideas.

I would not hesitate to give this the highest recommendation as an introduction to Catholic Social Teaching. Anyone interested in beginning to cultivate a vocabulary and grammar of CST would be edified by this small volume.

This book makes proper notice of the principle of Subsidiarity. Most of the modern advocates of so-called 'Social Justice' make great show of Solidarity but forget that all that is good in government comes from the grass-roots. This book is a bit weak on Subsidiarity but it does give proper note of the concept.

Remember 'Big is often Bad'.

Solidarity without Subsidiarity is Socialism; and Socialism brings Slavery! An Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching