Social Conditions - Digging Deeper>

Should We Seek Economic Equality?
Principles of Social Doctine on Dignity and Work
SAN FRANCISCO, November 23, 2011-- “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others,” declared the revised commandment of the animals in Orwell’s Animal Farm. Some of the more vocal members of the so-called Occupy Movement point to the vast disparity of incomes in the United States and see there an Orwellian scenario.

The Past and the Future
of the United States of America
FALL RIVER, MA, August 16, 2011-- Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles is quickly becoming one of the most persistently prophetic voices in the Church of the United States. He is as cheerful, amiable and accessible as any bishop in the country, but at the same time he is earning a reputation as a truth-telling boat-rocker, unafraid to call to mind inconvenient truths that many outside the Church and some inside would prefer to ignore. On no issue has he been more candid and challenging than that of immigration.

Liberals and Conservatives
Apply Social Teaching Principles Differently
SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2011--There is a tension between how liberals and conservatives apply Catholic social teachings that sometimes devolves into questions about who is authentically Catholic in their approach to public policy. While there are some moral areas in which the application of Catholic teaching is so clear there is little room for prudential judgment among Catholics who fully accept the teachings of the Church, most leave a lot of latitude for different approaches or strategies to serve the common good. In these cases, it is common for Catholics of good will to have diamentrically opposed positions on issues. Stephen White of the Ethics and Policy Center provides some very helpful insights into this in an article entitled "Catholic Conservatives and the Common Good".

A Commentary on Challenges Facing Organized Labor Today
MENLO PARK, CA, March 2011-- Catholic social teaching should guide our responses to the social and economic challenges of our day. For example, Catholic social doctrine teaches that the economy, government and technology are made to support men and women; men and women are not simply objects made to support these entities.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan Tribute to Dorothy Day
NEW YORK, November 9, 2010 -- "Dorothy Day is one of the most significant women in the life of the Church in the United States." That's how Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York began a moving and inspiring talk about the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement on the anniversary of her birthday Nov. 9 at St. Joseph's Church in Greenwich Village. The video clip below is worth watching to the end. Archbishop Dolan labeled six "insights" we can take from Dorothy Day.

Poverty --  The High Cost of Marriage Breakdown
ROME, September. 26, 2010 - The U.S. Census Bureau released the latest figures on income and poverty on Sept. 16. According to the report the official U.S. poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3%, up from 13.2% in 2008. In raw numbers this adds up to 43.6 million people in poverty in 2009, compared to 39.8 million in 2008.

Pope Urges Responsibility for Creation
An Integral Human Development (Video)

Roots of Discrimination
The Universal Nature of the Human Being
John Paul II, in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, refers to “the great anthropocentric shift in philosophy,” in which Descartes redefines the human being in terms of consciousness. Referring to St. Thomas Aquinas, John Paul reiterates that “it is not thought which determines existence, but existence, ‘esse,’ which determines thought!” In other words, it is man who thinks, not thinking that is man.

Benedict XVI: Combating Hunger a Pro-life Issue
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 3, 2008-- In a world replete with resources, hunger and malnutrition are simply unacceptable, says Benedict XVI.