Catholic Social Teaching and Its Interpretation by the Liberation Theologians - Essay Example

?Catholic Social Teaching and the interpretation of it by the liberation theologians Introduction The church has been involving with the teachings ofChrist in the areas where and the social evils are predominating over the general goodness of the common people. Christ says the words of prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”(Luke 4: 18) So church had taken up the responsibility of bringing up the poor and the downtrodden from the social evils and inequality and wanted to make a single flock. The social discrimination and inequality were harshly criticized by the church through its doctrines and Catholic Social teaching is considered as one of the major doctrines of the church on social concerns. Catholic Social Teaching is a term to denote the Catholic’s relationships between the state and the religion. Precisely speaking it is the teaching of the Church on many social justice issues which are there in the society. The teachings of the church have been taken by many organizations and so the church gives a vivid picture of its social teaching based on the true faith in the son of God. The present article tries to bring out the salient features of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and makes out the differences between the Catholic theology and Liberation theology in the CST. Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Social teaching is considered as the greatest gift of the Roman Catholic Church to the world. The concern of Church over the social justice is visible in the teaching. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states that, “Catholic social teaching is based on and inseparable from our understanding of human life and human dignity. 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” (United States conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011). So the teaching is to redeem the people from social anarchies and economic inequalities. The term was first coined by Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical letter named Revum Novarum. Patrick Harrington considers the letter as “one of the cornerstones of Catholic Social teaching, laying down a set of principles governing working rights” (Cooney, 2002, p.9). Pope in the letter stresses the concepts of equality and dignity in the social realm. He in a way stood for the common people who were working in many factories and land owners. He said in the letter as given in the article by Patrick Harrington as, “To defraud a man of the wage which is his due is to commit a grievously sinful act which cries out to heaven for vengeance” (Cooney, 2002, p.9). So by the term the Church wanted to involve state for upholding justice in the society thereby giving justice to workers in terms of wage and equality. The present Pope Benedict XVI through his Encyclical letter, ‘Caritas in Veritate’ (Charity in Truth) speaks a new dimension to the social teaching of the Catholicism. In the Encyclical Pope recalls “charity is the heart of Church’s social doctrine.” He added, “a Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance” (Catholic Social Teaching, n.d.). So the present Pope gives utmost importance to the truth in life and in social circles. He adds the gospel’s teachings to the social teaching which makes out more clarification to the doctrine. Principles of Catholic Social Teaching The Church has well established the principles of the social teaching through its different letters and books. The key principles, based on the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, proclaim the Christian beliefs intact. The Church in no way supports the ideologies of communism and capitalism with its social teaching. The atheistic aspect of communism is strongly objected by the church and on the other hand it does not support the individualistic aspects of capitalism. The church stands as separate from both these in its interpretation of the social teaching. What Catholicism speaks is the fight against the evilness of the society. It is a religion which takes the noble teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and as Christ and what he had taught his disciples to fight against the sins of the society. So the Church speaks a few principles as its prime one in the social teaching. The writers like William J. Byron and Thomas Massaro have put forward ten and nine principles respectively. All these principles are primarily concerned about the economic social issues and human dignity. Catholicism’s point of view is a little bit different from the principles of the other writers. Fred Kammer in his book, Doing faith justice: an Introduction to Catholic social thought gives out the key principles of Catholic social teaching by the bishops of United States in 1991. The writer takes out the principles drawn by the bishops on the hundred anniversary of Revum Novarum. They are, “1. The life and dignity of the human person: 2.The rights and responsibility of the human person: 3.The call to family, community, and participation: 4.The dignity of work and the rights of workers: 5. The option for the poor and vulnerable: and 6.Solidarity” (Kammer, 2004, p.127). The writer further says that seven years later the bishops added one more principle to the former six. The seventh is “Care for God’s creation” (Kammer, 2004, p.127). In analyzing the key principles of the bishops it can clearly be noted that church is very clear about the teachings. It is not acting solely as a social group but it takes the roots in the Holy Scriptures. The six principles may seem to be of a social group’s concerns but the seventh principle is the unique teaching of the Catholic Church. The Church does not go away from its original teachings that God is always protecting His images (Man is made upon the image of God) through different means. Christianity is the religion of peace and so it always stands for the peace. In the social teachings of the church also the original teachings of the church can be seen. Liberation theologians’ interpretation of catholic social teaching Liberation theology is a movement that interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of social, economic and political scenario. The liberation theology considers Jesus as a social revolutionary who fought for the injustice in the then society. The theologians consider poverty as an unjust and so taking upon the words of Jesus it fights against the poverty thereby believing that with poverty eradication sin can be permanently omitted from the society. According to them, “God is encountered in the people’s struggle for liberation” (Berryman, 1987p.26). The liberation theologians are not the radicals. “They are not fomenting hatred, as critics contend; class conflict already exists. Through solidarity in struggle with the poor, class division must be transcended in a new type of society” (Berryman, 1987, p.26). The liberation theology focuses much on the liberation of poverty from the society. Charles E. Curran retorts that “the Vatican also has been critical of some aspects of liberation theology, such as too heavy a reliance on Marxism and politicization of faith brought about by a loss of transcendence and future eschatology” (Berryman, 1987, p.26). The Catholic social teaching, 1891-present: a historical, theological, and ethical analysis Curran CE 2002). The strong criticism on the liberation theology rests with its importance on the practical side of poverty eradication. The writer says, “The more theoretical approach and universalist perspective of Catholic social teaching differ greatly from the praxis approach and more particular perspective of liberation theology” (Berryman, 1987, p.26). The Catholic social teachings adhere to the ways of Christ whereas the liberation theology fails to see the God in Christ. So the liberation theology has failed in its attempts to spread the teachings of Christ. Conclusion The church speaks the voice of God and in the social teachings church acts as a good shepherd by bringing all the sheep in the correct fold. Jesus speaks, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”(John10: 12) And further he says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there well be one flock, one shepherd.”(John10: 17) The Popes starting from Leo XIII to the present Benedict XVI the social principles are the attempt to bring the sheep that have gone astray from the righteousness path. The Catholic social teachings focus mainly on the well being of the human kind through its constant appeal to the states of the world. The good spell of the Son of God is well established with the teaching of the Church. The margin of social teachings of Catholic Church seem to be very narrow with communism and capitalism it by no way spreads any false message to the human kind; rather it adheres to peace, charity, truth, and finally considering all as the same. To sum up it can be mentioned that the Catholic Social Teaching (CST) ranks as the key element of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern world and it is through this the Church teaches the gospel to the mankind. Reference list United states conference of Catholic Bishops 2011, Catholic social teaching, United states conference of Catholic Bishops, viewed 6 February 2012, . Cooney, A 2002, Catholic Social Teaching, Patrick Harrington, Third Way Publications. Catholic Social Teaching, Adelaide Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, viewed 6 February 2012, . Kammer, F 2004, Doing faithjustice: an introduction to Catholic social thought, 2nd rev.illustrated edn. Paulist Press. Berryman, P 1987, Liberation theology: essential facts about the revolutionary movement in Latin America--and beyond, Temple University Press. Curran CE 2002, Georgetown University Press. Read More