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SOCIAL JUSTICE
As taughtand
promoted inthe Old
Testament
As part of Jesus
ministry to the
poor, outcast,weak,
oppressed
As continued bythe early
Christiancommunity, the
CHURCH
We are part of theChurch.
We are called to work
for social justice.
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SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE CONTEXT
OF THE CHURCHS MISSION
1.THE EARLY CHURCH
2.THE MEDIEVAL ERA
3.CAPITALIST ERA
4.THE FIRST SOCIAL
ENCYCLICAL
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JESUS CHRIST WAS POOR Born in a manger and died an outcasts death
He loved the poor and fought for the rights of thepoor
He attacked the powerful people of his time
Criticized them
lovers of money Lk 16:14
Devour the houses of widows
Called them thieves Mk 11:17; chief priestsmade the Temple a market where theysucked the peoples money
Why thieves?
For his work for the poor, he was persecutedand ultimately killed
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1. EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
Like Jesus, the early church was poor.
Majority of the members belonged to the
poorer class, some were slaves
It was a persecuted church; many were
martyred.
Christians had to meet secretly for
meetings and worship
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of
Christianity.
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Medium aevum-- Medieval or The
Middle Ages
The period from 5001500 A.D. in Europeis known as the Middle Ages or Medieval
period.
2. Medieval era
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2. Medieval era
313 ADEmperor Constantine granted
religious freedom to the Christiansthrough the Edict of Milan
Turned the Church from a poor
persecuted church to one that waswealthy and powerful
Constantine made Christianity as theofficial religion of the Roman empire
The state or the empire gave the churchwealth and power; huge lands andproperties were given to the Pope
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Social Structure of Feudalism
1. Explain the mutualobligations of
the feudal system.
Land-lord (noble) owns a Manor(huge
estate of land).
He gives a grant of land(fief) to
someone who promises in exchangeto
provide military protection to the lord and
his family, work the lords lands, and serve
in other ways.
A person who receives land from a lord
is avassal.
2. Why did thefeudal system
create complicated
alliances?
The same noble might be a vassal
himself to several different lords.
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Social Structure of Feudalism
3. Describe feudal social classes.
Those who fought : nobles, knights, and
kings
Those who prayed : the Churchs Clergy
(priests, bishops, monks)Those who worked : Peasants (serfs)
Social class was usually inherited.
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The Middle Ages are aptly sometime called The
Age of Faith.
While Feudalism and the Manor system
created divisions among Medieval people
Shared beliefs and the teachings of the Churchwas a stable force,
establishing unity among Europeans.
Whoever you were, whatever your lot in life,
everyone could still follow the same path to
Salvation (everlasting life in Heaven).
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
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3. CAPITALIST ERA
o Brought down the king and feudal lordsthrough war
o Capitalism vs. church (possessed
political power)o Capitalists wanted to conquer State power,
so the Church had to be conquered toobecause they possessed political power
o Monasteries were closed, church propertieswere confiscated, priests were killed
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3. CAPITALIST ERA
o Capitalism reconciled with the churcho Through concordats or treaties
o Church regained wealth even more wealth
than it owned during medieval times
o Sin of omissionchurch stood at theside of the capitalists
o Church focused its apostolate on thingsof eternity;o sin of omissionworking for justice
o Taking care of the masses
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INDUSTRIALIZATION the process of change from an agrarian,
handicraft economy to one dominated byindustry and machine manufacture. Thisprocess began in England in the 18thcentury and from there spread to other
parts of the world.
More machines = less jobs =unemployment = a new social
problem Conflict between capital and labor
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L XIII itt d th Ch h t th f
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o Leo XIII committed the Church to the cause ofthe poor
o From non-commitment to the side
of justiceo Justice became part of the Churchsevangelization
o Who is Leo XIII?
(March 2, 1810July 20, 1903),
was the 257th Pope of the Roman
Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903,
Reigning until the age of 93, he was the oldest pope,and had the third longest pontificate
Leo XIII brought normalcy back to the Church after
the tumultuous years of Pius IX.
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He tried to reconcile the Church with the
working class, particularly by dealing with the
social changes that were sweeping Europe.The new economic order had resulted in the
growth of an impoverished working class,
with increasing anti-clerical and socialistsympathies. Leo helped reverse this trend.
He wrote the first social encyclical.
RERUM NOVARUM
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RERUM NOVARUM (POPE LEO XIII, 1891) Res novae (new things)
Beginning of a new path
Brought about by the IndustrialRevolution in the 19thcentury
The social problemlabor
The church felt the need to become
involved and intervene Thus, the first SOCIAL
ENCYCLICAL. What is an
encyclical?
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MAGISTERIUM teachingauthority of the Church
-through the Pope and bishops
- grounded on the Word of God
PASTORALLETTERS
written by the
bishopsaddressed to
the local church
ENCYCLICALS
Papal letters
Written by thePope addressed to
the universalChurch
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WHAT ARE CHURCH SOCIALTEACHINGS?
CHURCH SOCIAL DOCTRINES
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHINGS
CST the Churchs body of teachings onsocial, economic, political and culturalmatters
social doctrine
goes back to Pope Pius XI
-Church teachings in the area of social
matters
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CHURCH CHALLENGES INDIVIDUALHUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL SYSTEMSAND STRUCTURES THAT RUN IN CONFLICT
WITH THE GOSPELS VISION OF THEHUMAN PERSON AND SOCIETY
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CONTENT OF CSTs:
1. Principles for reflection
2. Criteria for evaluating systems
3. Guidelines for fostering activepursuit of the common good
TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF CSTs:
1. PERMANENTBased on the Gospel
Values are timeless
2. CHANGING Context ofpeople changes
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