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Rueters Columnist Demonstrates
Universal Application of
Church Social Teaching Principles
June 24, 2015 -- Rueters columnist, Edward Hadas, provides a good discussion of principles of Catholic social teaching, in the context of the Pope's new encyclical, "Laudato Si." As one reads, also consider the debt we have to future children in defending their right to be born into a family with their mothers and fathers united in marriage and the debt to current children and young adults to enable them to discover the truth about love, sexuality, marriage and family. The author demonstrates the universal application of principles of social teaching.

Dorothy Day Had Nothing to Say
To This Theologian –
or So He Thought
FORT WAYNE, IN., June 20, 2015 -- Ever since entering the Church 27 years ago, theologian Lance Richey had always known about the Catholic social activist Dorothy Day in passing.

Pope Francis--
The Eucharist:
Practice What We Celebrate
VATICAN, June 7, 2015 -- In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis focused on the recent feast of Corpus Christi, saying the Eucharist is a “school of solidarity and charity,” which inspires us to care for the most vulnerable.

Pope Tells 'Haggard' Europe:
Human Dignity
Key to Renewal
VATICAN CITY, November 25, 2014 -- Pope Francis’ address to the European Parliament touched on a variety of issues, all of which, he said, ought to promote the “centrality” of the human person so that a true cultural renewal can be attained.

Need to Fight Secularism
“Justice is the fruit of faith
... an evangelized culture
will be a just culture.”
                Pope Francis
LINCOLN, NE., July 15, 2014 -- Despite the recent Hobby Lobby court victory, Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Neb. stressed the need for Catholics to continue to evangelize and fight against the prevailing culture of secularism.

Promoting the Dignity of the Person
Excerpted from the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici of His Holiness John Paul II: On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World.

Cardinal Says Peace Stems From 
Recognition of Human Dignity
WASHINGTON DC, April 12, 2013--Cardinal Peter Turkson marked the 50th anniversary of the papal encyclical “Pacem in Terris,” or “Peace on Earth,” by saying that peace stems from the dignity of the person and is meant for everyone.

Should We Seek Economic Equality?
Principles of Social Doctine on Dignity and Work
SAN FRANCISCO, November 23, 2011-- “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,” declared the revised commandment of the animals in Orwell’s Animal Farm. Some of the more vocal members of the so-called Occupy Movement point to the vast disparity of incomes in the United States and see there an Orwellian scenario.

The Past and the Future
of the United States of America
FALL RIVER, MA, August 16, 2011-- Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles is quickly becoming one of the most persistently prophetic voices in the Church of the United States. He is as cheerful, amiable and accessible as any bishop in the country, but at the same time he is earning a reputation as a truth-telling boat-rocker, unafraid to call to mind inconvenient truths that many outside the Church and some inside would prefer to ignore. On no issue has he been more candid and challenging than that of immigration.

Liberals and Conservatives
Apply Social Teaching Principles Differently
SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2011--There is a tension between how liberals and conservatives apply Catholic social teachings that sometimes devolves into questions about who is authentically Catholic in their approach to public policy. While there are some moral areas in which the application of Catholic teaching is so clear there is little room for prudential judgment among Catholics who fully accept the teachings of the Church, most leave a lot of latitude for different approaches or strategies to serve the common good. In these cases, it is common for Catholics of good will to have diamentrically opposed positions on issues. Stephen White of the Ethics and Policy Center provides some very helpful insights into this in an article entitled "Catholic Conservatives and the Common Good".

A Commentary on Challenges Facing Organized Labor Today
MENLO PARK, CA, March 2011-- Catholic social teaching should guide our responses to the social and economic challenges of our day. For example, Catholic social doctrine teaches that the economy, government and technology are made to support men and women; men and women are not simply objects made to support these entities.