Religious Education 107 The Catholic Social Teaching of the Church

Mr. Russel Joseph T. Tenerife Faculty, Christian Formation

1. Basis of Human dignity

A. Genesis 1:26 - Let us make man in our

image and likeness Man should be taken absolutely

this aspects refer to man not only as the good

and beautiful, but also of the bad and the ugly.
This includes even the UNBORN

LET US..
Implies the majestic and deliberate will of God to create man Being the last to be created suggests that he is the crown of creation

Man by his innermost nature is a social being, a relational being

Unless he relates himself to others, he can neither live nor develop his potentials

Woman, as being taken from the ribs of man simply means:

1. A woman is close to mans heart 2. Woman completes humanity 3. Complete humanity means man and woman together

The Dignity of the Human Person

Human dignity is the result of human existence.

Human dignity is not earned by achievements or bestowed by any authorities other than GOD.

Each person has a divine vocation- to further the development of human society as a whole.

The catholic social teaching stressed that economic development can impede authentic human development.

Why authentic human development should not be understood as economic development?

The sacred character of human dignity involves the development of ones skills and gifts for service to the common good.

to have possessions can be the worst enemy to grow in the depth and quality of personal being.
(Pope John Paul II )

GREED is the most deliberate form of moral underdevelopment.

(Pope Paul VI )

The great challenge to authentic human development is to overcome miseries of poverty amidst inadmissible super development of consumerism.
(Pope John Paul II )

The human development involves a commitment of solidarity with all people, especially with those in poverty and situations of oppression.

Human dignity is grounded in Gods creative love and invites love.

Love of neighbor and love of God are indispensable to authentic human development

Love of neighbor towards social justice is essential to love God; and love of God and neighbor are essential to the work for justice.

To promote justice is to transform structures which obstruct love.

The sacred dignity of each person and the call to love ones neighbor is an essential element of loving God which can be manifested through respectful dialogue.

Demonizing rhetoric destroys the conditions of dialogue and violates human dignity

Human dignity transcends any social order as the basis for rights, and it is the conceptual basis for human rights.