SOCIAL JUSTICE - A MORAL VISION-COMMITMENT TO THE COMMON GOOD by Joan Foo Mahony in Kuala Lumpur
Smitten By Faith Issue # 000042 21st May 2022
The above artwork ‘Allegory on Social injustice’ was created in 1526 by the famous German printmaker, painter and writer Albrecht Durer in the northern Renaissance style. This print showing the plight of workers during Europe’s Industrial Revolution is one of his incredible highly detailed wood-cut prints.
I recently made a presentation on ‘Social Justice in the context of Catholic Social Doctrine’ to a Hong Kong Catholic group, ‘The Catholic Leaders Multi-Cultural Environment’ (CLME ), a multi-cultural extension of the French ‘Entrepreneurs et Dirigeants Chretiens’ ( EDC) in Paris. The members of CLME are Christian business leaders and managers who believe that we must always act with a view to the common good and that leaders should use their positions, influence and innovation to improve the lives of others – especially in the workplace. I was more than delighted to write my little piece and today I would like to share this presentation with my readers in Smitten By Faith.
I would like to qualify that I am no expert on this topic at all; just someone who believes that as a Christian, we as individuals have a moral duty to respect fundamental human rights and the dignity of man; to practise Social Justice with Christian hearts.
For the secular world at large, the generic words ‘justice’ and ‘social justice’ seem to involve a lot of political rhetoric and activism. You just need to switch on the television or read the newspapers and every day, we see a demonstration somewhere in the world calling for ( some even demanding for ) the expansion of all kinds of entitlement programs, and in extreme cases, calls for redistributing wealth.
What does the term ‘Social Justice’ mean ? There is lack of a clear definition and the many conflicting views circulating in the secular world have left many Christians uncertain whether to embrace or oppose the deluge of NGO and social/political programs which are loosely bundled under the banner of ‘Social Justice’. For Catholics, the unravelling seems to be ‘easier’ because we can simply look at the concept of true Social Justice within the parameters of the Catholic Social Doctrine alone; the teachings of the Church on this subject.
Universally, the term ‘Social justice’ is a type of justice which is rooted in the 5 basic principles which can be summarised as :
- access to resources
- equity
- participation,
- diversity
- human rights.
What does the concept Social Justice mean when used in Catholic Social Doctrine ?
The Christian approach to the 5 principles above is simply that all Christians view Social Justice as an affirmation of human rights, the dignity of the human person and commitment to the common good. All Christians must be fair to others and treat mankind with dignity and respect - in church, our homes, schools, work places and in our community.
Let’s look at the Bible to see what God has said about “ Justice”.
Above : The Old Testament
Left : The Book of Micah, the 8th century BCE prophet whose name is Mikayahu which means ‘who is like Yahweh’, the 6th of the 12 minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible
Right : The Book of Isaiah,a Hebrew prophet who lived 70 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah.
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow's cause,” Isaiah 1:17.
“What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Big Government ?
The egalitarian concept of Social Justice and a mandated government re-distribution of wealth which involves the state is NOT the Catholic Church’s concept of Social Justice and Catholic Social Teaching. In fact, for the Catholic Church Social Justice is already a concept which has been part of the Church’s philosophical thinking for centuries. So, let’s go back and discover some of these from the Church’s greatest scholars and theologians :-
A. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
St. Thomas Aquinas - an altar piece in Ascoli Piceno, Italy by Carlo Crivelli 15th century - (picture from the public domain)
The Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225–1274), offers the concept of justice as a personal virtue rather than a virtue of social institutions. For Aquinas, justice is more about inter-personal morality than civic or social obligations. He argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith. For Aquinas, justice is a cardinal virtue which he defines as "a habit whereby man renders to each one his due by a constant and perpetual will". Together with the other virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude and charity, justice provides the complete structure of good works for a Christian to abide by.
B. LUIGI TAPARELLI SJ
Luigi Taparelli SJ - an engraving by a Jesuit priest, Angelo Secchi 1818-1878 ( picture from the public domain)
The actual term ‘Social Justice’ was in fact first used by the great theologian and Italian Jesuit priest, LUIGI TAPARELLI SJ ( 1793-1862). His writings on Social Justice and of ‘Subsidiarity’ are fundamental to modern Catholic Social Teaching. Taparelli lived during the time of Europe’s Industrial Revolution which brought with it immense social turmoil when agriculture and the rural lifestyle catapulted to the high speed of modernization and industrialization. Factories mushroomed, workers became part of uniform assembly lines and this sudden life turnaround brought along with it an increase in poverty for those not able to cope or benefit from this huge social upheaval in their working environment. Indeed, Taparelli was right to be concerned about the welfare of workers. However, true to the Catholic Social Doctrine, his focus was not on the state providing relief but on the individual within the small circle of the family, Church and local community groups. In his “just society”, Taparelli did not see the need to call for big government and its intrusion. His Christian view was based simply on mankind’s faith and reason; that we are all good men and women and we are guided by the precepts of the Church, especially that of charity.
Subsidiarity And Social Justice - ‘Subsidiarity’ is the natural right of persons to associate with one another. According to Taparelli, this was a fundamental Christian concept - subsidiarity was not just the relationship of higher levels of society to the lower ones but that society exists for each person in his/her perfection as a free and rational being, made in the image of God .
RERUM NOVARUM
Pope Leo XIII ( picture from the public domain )
In his Papal encyclical RERUM NOVARUM which POPE LEO XIII published in 1891, Pope Leo did not use the term ‘Social Justice’ as such but he was clearly concerned about the spiritual and material welfare of workers. In fact, of his more than 80 encyclicals, Rerum Novarum is perhaps the most famous and Pope Leo XIII is often regarded as the first really modern pope who established and opened up modern Catholic Social Teaching.
For Pope Leo, God was uppermost and so he warned of us being consumed by materialism to the exclusion of God. He acknowledged workers’ rights and the natural right of persons to associate with one another for fellowship and mutual development. But, the Pope also made it clear that he was not advocating a type of socialism which would have meant the abolition of private property and absorption of social relations by the state. Pope Leo wrote that the key to overcoming the disparity between rich and poor is not to take away the property of some and give it to others, which “neither justice nor the common good allows,” but instead to enable larger numbers of people to become property owners; an approach beneficial to everyone.
According to Rerum Novarum, all people have a duty, after taking care of their own needs, to help their neighbours who are in need; but it underscored that this duty is one of charity rather than of legally enforced justice. The Pope said that while the State has a special obligation to protect and care for the poor because they lack the self-protection enjoyed by the more fortunate, such efforts should not also violate the rights of others.
QUADRAGESIMO ANNO
Pope Pius XI - oil on canvas by the Anglo-Hungarian painter, Philip Alexius de Laszlo ( 1869-1937) ( picture from the public domain) . The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Forty years later, the path taken by Pope Leo XIII was advanced further in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. In the QUADRAGESIMO ANNO often described as the ‘Social Justice Encyclical’, published by Pope Pius XI to mark the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. Pope Pius was the first to use the term ‘Catholic Social Doctrine’ and to say authoritatively that Catholic Social Doctrine was part of the Church’s teaching. For example, when it came to employers and employees, the Encyclical argued that a socially just wage would take into account the contract, the contribution made to the enterprise and the family situation of the worker. However, the Pope made it also clear that this was with respect to morality – not politics nor economic policy. This was in line with the same balanced approach taken by Pope Leo XIII 40 years earlier. Pope Pius saw nothing wrong in the acquisition of wealth, as long as in the process, one “renders service to the community” and violates no one else’s rights. But he also emphasized that the rich are bound by a very grave duty to practice almsgiving, beneficence, and munificence.
For Pope Pius XI, Social Justice meant “the norms of the common good” by which “one class is forbidden to exclude the other from sharing in the benefits.” However, he specifically rejected the notion that people have rights without responsibilities by recalling the Apostle Paul’s admonition:
“If any will not work, neither let him eat.” ( 2 Thessalonians 2)
Above : Tempera on poplar wood by ANDREA DI-BARTOLO ( 1389-1428)
Joachim and Anna giving food to the poor and offering to the temple. A perfect example of philanthropy from the parents of the Virgin Mary - 2 millennia ago !
(Picture courtesy of ‘Millennials Meet Mary’)
FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS
Did Jesus teach social justice ?
As Christians, we practice Social Justice with our Christian hearts; we live it.
And, if we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see Him engaged in Social Justice actions at every turn. He feeds the hungry. He defends the oppressed. He stands up for women’s rights. He loves the outcast, the despised, the rejected, the sinner, and calls on the rich and powerful to give their money to the poor and take care of the needs of the helpless. As human beings, we have a duty to see how we can alleviate the causes of why so many millions of humanity live in despair and poverty. As Jesus taught us through his own example and words, ‘Social Justice’ means nothing more than loving our neighbour and “doing right by one’s neighbour.”
The Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan by Jacob Jordaens, c. 1616
Jacob Jordaens was a leading Flemish Baroque painter ( 1593-1678) known for his large paintings and tapestries based on biblical themes and the parables of Christ.
In the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 10:25-37), Jesus tells the story of ‘The parable of the Good Samaritan’. It is about a traveller who is Jewish, accosted by robbers and brutally stripped of his clothing, beaten, and left for dead alongside the road. The following people then walk by him : First a Jewish priest; the second, a Levite ( from a Hebrew tribe which assists priests ). Both men assiduously avoid the beaten up man. They do not help him. Finally, a third passer by, a Samaritan ( from a region known as Samaria and looked down upon by the Jews as being a lowly tribe ) comes along and even though he sees that the injured man was a Jew, the Samaritan immediately stops to help the injured man. This parable was told by Jesus in response to a question by a lawyer who had earlier asked Jesus : "And who is my neighbour?" Jesus answered with this parable – that the Samaritan who showed mercy to his injured fellow man, even though not of his same tribe; even though his ‘enemy’ —that man is our neighbour. And Jesus said : “ Go and do likewise”.
I would like to conclude by saying that mankind is made in the Image of God ( Imago Dei). From this, we have the ‘Golden Rule’ as to what being a human being is and how he or she should be treated by his or her fellows. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Luke 6:31).
Most importantly, in addition to our individual duty to love our neighbour, as human beings let us not forget our broader social commitment to the common good. This surely is what the concept of Social Justice is all about.
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Wholly impressed by the depth of the analysis and the detail of Christian values of social justice from the acts of Christ and those who followed.