Pillars of human dignity

The Catholic Church identifies three pillars of the dignity of the human person in a truly human society: the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity. These also form the principles of the social teaching which the Church uses as yardstick in interpreting and evaluating relations between persons at all levels of society. What contribution do these principles bring to society?

Let us begin with the principle of the common good. The fact that a human person lives in relation with others, therefore the good of one person is in some way related to the common good, which is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people…to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1905-6).

Thus, society will attain its goals when by its actions it arrives to be at the service of the human being—that is, the good of all people and of the whole person (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 165). This principle obliges the government of any country to ensure that the national wealth benefits all citizens.

No wonder that the universal destination of material goods is the first direct implication of the principle of the common good, which is based on the understanding that “God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favouring anyone” (CSDC, 171).

So it is the universal right of every person to have access to the goods of the earth in order to live well in dignity. However, the universal destination of goods does not mean that everything belongs to all in the sense of communism or socialism. Rather, it develops moral awareness in people that goods of the earth are ultimately meant for all and not just for the privileged few.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in Libertatis Conscientia (1987) clarifies by saying that the “progress of some will no longer be an obstacle to the development of others, nor a pretext for their enslavement”.

The universal destination of goods is not opposed to private property. In fact, the Church acknowledges that “private property is an essential element of an authentically social and democratic economic policy” (CSDC 176) as it allows any individual to own goods.

Nevertheless, the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use (CSDC 177). Private ownership therefore has implications of social responsibility. Morally, owners of goods cannot leave them idle, they must use them or entrust them to those in need or capable of using them (CSDC 178).

Connected to the principle of the common good is that of subsidiarity which defends the right of every person or group to contribute to the well-being of all.

The Church observes: “Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and high association what lesser and subordinate organisations can do” (CSDC 186).

This principle protects “little people” from being absorbed by much stronger ones. Every person has something original to offer, and consequently they must be helped to fulfil their duties.

The typical implication of subsidiarity is participation. Every citizen is given an enabling ground to contribute to the community by means available to them; it is the cooperation of all people for the good of all. Such participation somehow touches also the need to change political leaders so that positions in government do not become a prerogative of just a few privileged people (CSDC 189).

The third principle is solidarity, which is rooted in the intrinsic social nature of the human person who lives in relation with others.

Solidarity seeks to eliminate the “structures of sin” that dominate relationships between individuals and peoples. In his 1987 encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis,  John Paul II says  that solidarity “is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good…because we are all responsible for all.”

It is a commitment to the good of one’s neighbour, and therefore it is an aspect of social justice.

A Catholic, called to live and apply this spirituality of the social teaching, has the duty to allow his relations with other people to be inspired by these principles of human social relationships, conscious that the goods of the earth are meant for all.

The rule of the jungle— the notion of “survival of the fittest” — just does not have a place in a truly human society.

We share common humanity and therefore we should be sensitive to the needs of others and be ready to share the common heritage.