Interrelationship of Self and Community in Catholic Social Teaching

This article explores the interrelationship between self and community in Catholic Social Teaching, emphasizing the principles of Human Dignity, Preferential Protection for the Poor and Vulnerable, Solidarity, and Stewardship. It highlights the importance of respecting the dignity of all human beings, prioritizing the needs of the poor and vulnerable, taking care of God's creations, and demonstrating solidarity to establish a just and fair society. The article also discusses the concepts of the Golden Rule and Ubuntu, which emphasize the importance of working together to form a peaceful, just, and sustainable society.

Running head: FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
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FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
Catholic Social Teaching explains interrelationship
of ‘self’ and ‘community’
Individuals have the responsibility to
commit to improving their society and
develop their community. In other words,
the self has a responsibility to uplift the
community in which it resides and develops.
The self cannot distinguish itself from the
community and neither can the community
distance itself from the self. This intricate
interrelationship between the two could be
fathomed by implementing the principles of
the Catholic Social Teachings. Nonetheless,
prior to doing so, it is imperative to identify
and explain the principles of the Catholic
Social Teaching. Due to the limited
appreciation, limited documentation and
communication of the CST principles, the
universal values of common good have not yet been realized. In this paper, the four principles of
CST out of the nine shall be discussed that explains the self and community interrelationship.
These four principles include Human Dignity, Preferential Protection for the Poor and
Vulnerable, Solidarity and Stewardship.
Understanding the connection between the self and community while explaining the four CST
principles serves two purposes. First, it brings forth the relationship between the self and
community and secondly, it helps document the under-documented principles propagated by the
church. Concepts like the Good Life and Human Flourishing are also closely related to the
concepts of self and community.

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FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
The first principle is Human Dignity. According to this principle, every individual must respect
the dignity of all human beings notwithstanding their social class, religion or community. “Every
human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and therefore is
invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family” (Americamagazine.org,
2018). The above quote reflects the foundation of the Human Dignity principle. It states that
individuals must treat everyone with respect and dignity as God resides in each individual.
The principle of Human Dignity also explains the principle of Preferential Protection for the
Poor and Vulnerable. According to this principle, people must prioritize the necessities of the
poor and vulnerable more than anything else must. The common good cannot be achieved if the
poor and vulnerable are left behind because each individual selves form a community. To ensure
good for all, preferential love and protection for the poor and vulnerable is essential.
The principle of Stewardship carries the above-mentioned principle forward. As per the
Stewardship principle, individuals are responsible for taking care of the creation of God. In an
era when the environment is facing its worst phase due to rising human activities, acting as a
steward for protecting the environment becomes necessary.
The fourth principle of is Solidarity, which explains that people must look after each other even
if they do not have any close affinity. The CST principle proclaims that every individual is the
keeper of his or her brothers and sisters no matter where they live. This principle is also closely
related to the Common Good principle according
to which, all individuals and groups have the right
to fulfill all their needs easily and completely.
Solidarity aligns with this principle in the sense
that it enlightens individuals with access to
resources to look after the ones who do not.
These four above-mentioned principles have one thing in common, to ensure the creation of a
just and fair society where everyone has the right to access all the earth’s resources and live
happily. When people are able to accumulate these principles in their lives, it would lead to
Human Flourishing. Human Flourishing takes place when individuals realize that helping others
have a good life is the best human activity they could perform. Soheil Abedin, in his TEDX Talk,

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FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
delves upon the reciprocity of good deeds that result in the achievement of Human Flourishing.
Abedin states that although people are different
from each other in terms of culture and religion,
values like love, understanding, humility and
unity brings them together
(Leocontent.acu.edu.au, 2018). The principle of
the Common Good speaks the same thing
(Cbcew.org.uk, 2018. Aristotle, the great
philosopher had made a good point about Human Flourishing. He had stated that the good life
meant that humans allowed the citizens to flourish. However, since humans are social beings,
stated Aristotle, others’ flourishing is equally important for them to flourish) Hauser, G. A.
(2018). Here, the concept of the self and community is clearly defined; for the self to flourish, it
has to ensure the flourishing of the community as well.
Coming back to the interrelationship between the self and the community, the principle of the
Common Good explains it clearly through the concepts of the Golden Rule and Ubuntu. The
Golden Rule, also known as the ‘ethic of reciprocity’ has its mention in different cultures and
religions, philosophies and ethical systems. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you” is the foundation of the Golden Rule. It explains that the self or the community must treat
others in the way they expect themselves to be treated. It has the capacity to establish a world
where human families work together and form a peaceful, just and sustainable society globally. It
is evident from the rule that in order to ensure this, the self and the community must work
together and not separately.
“I am who I am because of who we all are”, is the meaning of the African concept of Ubuntu.
Breaking down the meaning of this concept reveals
that humans are dependent on each other to
flourish. All these relate to the principle of Catholic
Social Teaching that uphold the values of humans,
their dignity and status in society. The four
principles that have been discussed in the previous sections explain that the self and the

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FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
community are interrelated and dependent on each other. They need each other to flourish, to
have a good life and to establish a prosperous society. Respecting the dignity of other humans,
preferring love and care for the poor and vulnerable over everything else, stewarding the God’s
creations and demonstrating solidarity, all lead to the formation of a society that God had built
for his citizens.

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FEATURE ARTICLE ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT
References:
Americamagazine.org. (2018). The 10 Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching. Retrieved
from https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/1998/10/31/10-building-blocks-catholic-
social-teaching
Cbcew.org.uk. (2018). Choosing the Common Good - 2010 / Publications / CBCEW Home /
CBCEW - The Conference of Catholic Bishops for England and Wales. Retrieved from
http://www.cbcew.org.uk/CBCEW-Home/Publications/Choosing-the-Common-Good-
2010/(language)/eng-GB
Hauser, G. A. (2018). Aristotle on Epideictic: e Formation of Public Morality. In Fifty Years of
Rhetoric Society Quarterly (pp. 110-128). Routledge.
Leocontent.acu.edu.au. (2018). Program Transcript: TEDx Human flourishing through
reciprocity by Soheil Abedian. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/29/notes-
transcripts/transcript-soheil.htm