May 15, 1991, marks the centenary of Roman Catholic social teaching. One hundred years ago, then-pope Leo XIII took up the cause of working people in his ground-breaking letter Rerum Novarum (literally About New Issues; papal letters carry as their titles the first words of the Latin text). With his defense of workers' rights, including that of striking for better wages and working conditions, Leo inaugurated a facet of Roman Catholic life that has come to be known as its social doctrine. Fully 11 similar documents have followed Rerum Novarum during this century, issued either by popes themselves or in collaboration with Catholic bishops throughout the world, and dealing with divergent subjects.
The uniqueness of this often-described "new grace" in the church lies in the fact that in our century, the Christian vocation is seen as including concern for the way societies are structured. No longer can God's Word be understood and lived only in individualistic terms. Whatever impacts on the human person -- be it economics, government, law, labor, international relations, politics -- all stand under a gospel judgment as either enabling or deterring fully human lives for all.
Looked at from the vantage point of 1991, this expanded understanding of Christ's call to his followers and to all men and women of good will may not strike us as novel. However, had one enjoyed foreknowledge a century ago and seen the ever-growing list of societal questions that would be studied in the light of scripture during the next 10 decades, the appellation "new grace" in the church would not have seemed exaggerated. So it is that in Roman Catholic and many other circles, heartfelt celebrations of the centenary are taking place.
One example of the depth and challenge represented in this social teaching comes from the 1971 Synod (assembly) of Roman Catholic bishops. They declared: "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel." This often-quoted statement places work for social betterment at the very center of gospel life and ministry, alongside Communion and indeed God's very Word. It is a measure of the enormous strides that Catholic social teaching has made since 1891.
As might be expected, such a sweeping statement from the highest authorities of the Roman Catholic Church has been complemented by more specific analyses and reflections on regional levels. Bishops' conferences all over the world have taken the church's social teaching and applied it to their particular circumstances. These statements, too, form part of this Catholic legacy. Without doubt, the most familiar and far-reaching example of this can be found in the Medellin and Puebla statements of the Latin American Roman Catholic bishops.
The Medellin documents, issued in 1968 from the Colombian city for which they are named, reflect a radical questioning of Latin America's social structures in light of universal Catholic teaching on justice. They describe the situation as "institutionalized violence" against the poor and call their people to live and minister in ways that will combat such violence. This breakthrough conclusion was ratified 11 years later when the bishops gathered at Puebla in Mexico and called all sectors of their church to "a preferential option for the poor."
Other examples of universal social teaching applied to regional church life appear in three letters from U.S. Roman Catholic bishops. These letters deal with racism, the morality of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, and the American economy.
BUT TWO GLARING ANOMALIES overshadow the commemoration of this bright chapter in Roman Catholic history. The first, which is especially true of U.S. Catholics, is the almost total ignorance of these teachings. The reasons for this are many, but the overwhelming one is that the teachings are not presented to them by their pastors. Many Catholic priests and even bishops are themselves ignorant or uninterested in this "constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel."
And this scandalous situation promises to continue. Roman Catholic seminaries these days do not show significant signs of producing new ministers who consider social morality on a par with personal morality. Quite the contrary. Everything points to another generation of lay and clerical Catholic ministers who limit their gospel mandate to making affluent First World people happy with themselves.
The second anomaly facing the Catholic Church as it celebrates 100 years of social teaching is the inherent contradiction between that very teaching and the church's official policy toward women within its household of faith. Not only are Catholic women excluded from their church's clerical ranks, but they are for the most part left out of all decision making, even on matters that uniquely affect their own lives.
There is a cruel irony here. The very church that in many ways has provided leadership against social ills carries out a system of apartheid within its own ranks. When one reviews the high-sounding phrases of Catholic social pronouncements, one is struck time and again by the contradiction between these and this church's exclusionary policies toward women.
As this centenary year of Roman Catholic social teaching unfolds, the question inevitably arises: What shape will this teaching take in the next century? Surely with realignments among international blocs and the breakdown of familiar East-West equations, with the growing consciousness of the Middle East as the world's tinderbox, with a new world order touted by an America that considers itself the supreme superpower, with ecological problems ever more pressing, living faithfully will increasingly require the kind of analysis, insight, theological reflection, and prophetic call that Catholic social teaching provided during the 20th century.
Yet the fact remains that unless rank-and-file Catholics incorporate this new grace into daily spirituality, phrases such as "pearls before swine," "seed that fell on rocky ground," and "salt which loses its savor" will have to be applied to what comes from Catholic authorities.
And just as serious, this is a church whose pope once said, "It is not enough to recall principles, state intentions, point to crying injustice, and utter prophetic denunciations; these words will lack real weight unless they are accompanied ... by effective action." If such a church cannot take steps to end discrimination against more than half its members, the second century of Catholic social teaching will prove more scandalous than grace-filled.
Joe Nangle, OFM, was executive assistant of Sojourners when this article appeared.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!