Changing policies, structures, and institutions so they work for the common good.

We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus unless we take up his mission of bringing "good news to the poor, liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind" (Lk 4:18) Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 17, 1993.

• Abortion and euthanasia
• Embryonic stem cell research
• Death penalty

• Marriage and family

• Right to life

• Needs of poor and vulnerable come first (see story of Last Judgement, Mt 25:31-46)

• Economy must serve people

• One human family… global dimensions

• Stewardship of creation

Direct service:  charity
The church cannot neglect her service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word. Church’s deepest nature is expressed in the threefold responsibility:

• Proclaiming the word (kerygma-martyria),
• Celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia)
• Exercising ministry of charity (diakonia)

Structural change:  justice
The pursuit of justice (equal justice under the law) must be a fundamental norm of the state.  

Where do Faith and Politics Meet?
Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics.  Politics is more than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of public life:  its origin and its goal are found in justice, which by its very nature has to do with ethics.  The State must inevitably face the question of how justice can be achieved here and now.  But this presupposes an even more radical question:  what is justice?  The problem is one of practical reason; but if reason is to be exercised properly, it must undergo constant purification, since it can never be completely free of the danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests.

Here politics and faith meet.  Faith by its specific nature is an encounter with the living God-an encounter opening up new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason.  But it is also a purifying force for reason itself.  From God’s standpoint, faith liberates reason from its blind spots and therefore helps it to be ever more fully itself.  Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly.  This is where Catholic social doctrine has its place:  it has no intention of giving Church power over the State.  Even less is it an attempt to impose on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith.  Its aim is simply to help purify reason and contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgement and attainment of what is just.

Dec. 25, 2005 – Pope Benedict XVI – (1st year of his pontificate), Deus Caritas Est – God is Love.