Catholic Social Teaching

An extensive list of links to major social justice documents of the Catholic Church. Includes: 

Papal encyclicals

Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor), 1891

Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty Years), 1931

Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress), 1961

Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), 1963

Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), 1965

Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples), 1967

Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to Action), 1971

Justicia in Mundo (Justice in the World), 1971

Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), 1981

Solicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern), 1987

Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year), 1991

Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), 1995

Fide et Ratio (Faith and Reason), 1998

Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), 2005

Sacramentum Caritatis (Apostolic Exhortation o the Eucharist), 2007 

Other Papal and Vatican Statements of Note

The Participation of Catholics in Political Life, 2002

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992

Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation,1986

U.S. Bishops' Statements

Program of Social Reconstruction, 1919

Pastoral Letter of 1919

Brothers and Sisters to Us, 1979

Capital Punishment, 1980

Economic Justice All, 1986

The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, 1993

Communities of Salt and Light, 1993

A Decade after Economic Justice for All, 1996

Called to Global Solidarity, 1997

Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, 1998

Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics, 1998

Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, 2001

Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice, 2001

Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility, 2003

Other Statements of Note

The Common Good and the Catholic Church's Social Teaching, 1996

This Land is Home to Me, 1975

Beyond violence : religious sources of social transformation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Heft, James L..
McNichols Campus Library
BL 65 .P4 B49 2004

Religious sources for social transformation in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam / James L. Heft -- Notes on the sources of violence : perennial and modern / Charles Taylor -- Judaism, Christianity, Islam : hope or fear of our times / Mustafa Ceric -- God is the all-peace, all-merciful / Mohamed Fathi Osman -- Judaism on violence and reconciliation : an examination of key sources / Reuven Firestone -- Religion as a force for reconciliation and peace : a Jewish analysis / Irving Greenberg -- Disciples of the Prince of Peace? : Christian resources for nonviolent peacebuilding / R. Scott Appleby.

Catholic social teaching, 1891-present

Curran, Charles E.. (Washington, D.C. : Georgetown University Press, c2002)
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1753 .C865 2002

Analysis and criticism of the development of modern Catholic social teaching from the perspective of theology, ethics, and church history.

Catholic social teaching : our best kept secret

Henriot, Peter J.. (Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1988.)
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1753 .H46 1988

A century of social teaching : a common heritage, a continuing challenge

Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Washington, D.C. : United States Catholic Conference, 1990.)
McNichols Campus Library
HN 37 .C3 C32 1990

A pastoral message of the bishops of the United States on the 100th anniversary of Rerum novarum.

Christianity, social change, and globalization in the Americas

Peterson, Anna Lisa.
McNichols Campus Library
BR 625 .S2 C47 2001

Contributors from the fields of religion, anthropology, political science, and sociology draw on fieldwork in Peru, El Salvador, and the United States to show the interplay of economic globalization, migration, and growing religious pluralism in Latin America.

Christians in society : Luther, the Bible and social ethics

Lazareth, William Henry.
McNichols Campus Library
BJ 1253 .L395 2001

Studies how Luther’s principles of biblical interpretation fueled his understanding of the church’s life and mission. Challenges contemporary Christians to affirm common biblical ground for theological ethics and to facilitate more public social witness.

Dictionary of ethics, theology, and society

Clarke, Paul A. B..
McNichols Campus Library
BJ 63 .D53 1996

Illustrates "aspects of what might be called the `Western mind'" through an interdisciplinary focus. Essays detail the history of the topic and its relevance to modern thought and practice.

Dimensions of poverty and the common good

Vincentian Center for Church and Society.
McNichols Campus Library
HM 216 .V56 v.5 1999

The common good and urban poverty / David Hollenbach -- Inequality and poverty / James K. Galbraith -- The ethical and spiritual dimensions of the poor / John E. Kavanaugh -- Poverty and the moral imperative / Joseph M. Sullivan -- Poverty in the U.S., the richest country in the world / Mary Rose McGeady -- Charity, justice and emergency food / Janet E. Poppendieck -- Does a rising tide lift all boats? / Charles M.A. Clark -- Equity in state education spending: "Money doesn't talk, it swears" / Robert F. Pecorella -- Determining the economic impact of international migration and immigration in the United States / Lydio F. Tomasi -- Immigrants and the economic revitalization of New York City / Angelica O. Tang and Madeleine Tress -- Is poverty permanent? / William DiFazio -- What does the South Bronx experience have to tell us about community development? / Frank Braconi -- Employment assessment for the millennium: a survey of residents in Southeast Queens / Janet E. Mangione, Cheryl M. La Rouech and Frank A. Biafora.

Doing faithjustice : an introduction to Catholic social thought

Kammer, Fred. (New York : Paulist Press, 1991)
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1753 .K34 1991

A fresh perspective on the action necessary to implement Catholic social teaching.

Economic justice for all : pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy

Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Washington, D.C. : United StatesCatholic Conference, 1986.)
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1795 .E27 C37 1987 Suppl.4

Failing America's faithful : how today's churches mixed God with politics and lost their way

Otwnsend, Kathleen. (Warner Books, 2007)
McNichols Campus Library
BF 526 .T72 2007

Educator and philanthropist Kennedy Townsend documents how America's churches have been in the forefront of the fight for social progress: from the struggle for independence, to the abolitionist movement, to the support of women's suffrage, better working conditions, and civil rights. And she shows how today's churches, allied with the political right, have become obsessed with fighting legal and legislative battles about personal and private issues, while the neediest are forgotten.

The gospel of peace and justice : Catholic social teaching since Pope John

Gremillion, Joseph (ed.). (Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1976.)
McNichols Campus Library
HN 37 .C3 G66

Collection of major documents 1961-1974, with introductory essay and detailed index.

Handbook of U.S. theologies of liberation

De La Torre, Miguel A..
McNichols Campus Library
BT 30 .U6 H36 2004

Just peacemekers

Jegen, Mary Evelyn.
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1795 .J87 J44 2006

Reflects on the church as a community of disciples, discusses active nonviolence and its treatment in Catholic social thought, and provides texts from modern Catholic social teaching as primary sources.

Option for the poor : a hundred years of Vatican social teaching

Dorr, Donal. (Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1983)
McNichols Campus Library
BX 1753 .D66 1983

Analysis of each of the major papal and conciliar documents.

The priority of labor : a commentary of Laborem exercens, encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II

Baum, Gregory.
McNichols Campus Library
HD 6338 .B34

Commentary on John Paul II's On human labor and Catholic social teaching.

Rediscovering abundance

McNichols Campus Library
BR 115 .W4 R43 2006

Provides a complex and interdisciplinary analysis of the question of wealth creation and distribution in the light of the moral and spiritual insights of Catholic social tradition.

Regulating religion : case studies from around the globe

Richardson, James T.. (Kluwer.Plenum, 2004)
McNichols Campus Library
BL 65 .S8 R43 2004

Presents a global examination of how a number of contemporary societies are regulating religious groups. It focuses on legal efforts to exert social control over such groups, especially through court cases, but also with selected major legislative attempts to regulate them. Includes Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.

Rerum novarum : a hundred years of Catholic social teaching

Dental School Library
BX 1753 .R47 1991

Restoring justice in the 21st century

Vincentian Center for Church and Society.
McNichols Campus Library
HM 216 .V56 v.6 2000-2001

The social teaching of Vatican II : its origin and development : Catholic social ethics, an historical and comparative study

Charles, Rodger.
McNichols Campus Library
BJ 1249 .C3 1982

Examines the social teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed in the documents of Vatican II, tracing their evolution in scripture and history.

Vital Christianity : spirituality, justice, and Christian practice

Weaver-Zercher, David.
McNichols Campus Library
BV 4501.3 .V58 2005

Looks at the connections that exist between Christian spirituality and endeavors for social justice.