Principles of CST

“In a world characterized by growing prosperity for some and pervasive poverty for others, Catholic teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring.”

• life and dignity of the human person

• option for the poor and vulnerable

• call to family, community, and participation

• the dignity of work and the rights of workers

• solidarity

“In the Catholic social tradition, the human person is central. Every human life has inherent value and dignity, independent of race, gender, age, or economic status. . . . In the Catholic tradition, people are more important than things.”

• life and dignity of the human person

• option for the poor and vulnerable

• call to family, community, and participation

• the dignity of work and the rights of workers

• solidarity

“We believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected—the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.”

• Solidarity

• rights and responsibilities

• the dignity of work and the rights of workers

• care for God's creation

• option for the poor and vulnerable

“The Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. . . . We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God's creation.”

• call to family, community and participation

• option for the poor and vulnerable

• rights and responsibilities

• solidarity

• care for God's creation

“Because of our social nature, all human beings have a right and a responsibility to participate in society and in the institutions that make up our communities. . . . A central moral test of political, legal, and economic institutions is what they do to people, what they do for people, and how people might participate in them.”

• solidarity

• rights and responsibility

• call to family, community and participation

• life and dignity of the human person

• option for the poor and vulnerable

“We are one human family, regardless of our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. . . . . As our world grows more and more interdependent, these responsibilities cross national and regional boundaries. Violent conflict, poverty, and the denial of dignity and rights to people anywhere on the globe diminish each of us.”

• call to family, community, and participation

• the dignity of work and the rights of workers

• solidarity

• rights and responsibilities

• care for God’s Creation

“Each person, reflecting their God-given dignity, has basic rights and responsibilities that flow from our human nature and belong to us as humans regardless of any social or political structures. These rights begin with the right to life. . . . These rights carry corresponding responsibilities—to one another, to our families, to our communities, and to the larger society—to respect the rights of others and to work for the common good.”

• rights and responsibilities

• life and dignity of the human person

• option for the poor and vulnerable

• call to family, community, and participation

• the dignity of work and the rights of workers