Catholic Social Teaching Quotes

A selection of sample quotes related to the key themes of Catholic Social Teaching

The inviolability of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights-for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.

Pope John Paul II


Any human society, if it is to be well-ordered and productive, must lay down as a foundation this principle, namely, that every human being is a person, that is, his nature is endowed with intelligence and free will. Indeed, precisely because he is a person he has rights and obligations flowing directly and simultaneously from his very nature.

Pope John XXIII


It is imperative that no one…indulge in a merely individualistic morality. The best way to fulfill one’s obligations of justice and love is to contribute to the common good according to one’s means and the needs of others, and also to promote and help public and private organizations devoted to bettering the conditions of life.

The Catholic Bishops of the World at the Second Vatican Council


To overcome today’s individualistic mentality, a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity is needed, beginning in the family.

Pope John Paul II


Within the community of believers there can never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is needed for a dignified life.

Pope Benedict XVI


In teaching us charity, the Gospel instructs us in the preferential respect due to the poor and the special situation they have in society: the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others.

Pope Paul VI


Everyone has the right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which are suitable for the proper development of life; these are primarily food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and finally the necessary social services. Therefore a human being also has the right to security in cases of sickness, inability to work, widowhood, old age, unemployment, or in any other case in which one is deprived of the means of subsistence through no fault of one’s own.

Pope John XXIII


The common good is chiefly guaranteed when personal rights and duties are maintained. The chief concern of civil authorities must therefore be to ensure that these rights are acknowledged, respected, coordinated with other rights, defended and promoted, so that in this way everyone may more easily carry out their duties.

Pope John XXIII


Let us keep in mind the principle of subsidiarity, which grants freedom to develop the capabilities present at every level of society, while also demanding a greater sense of responsibility for the common good from those who wield greater power.

Pope Francis


The “principle of subsidiarity” must be respected: “A community of a higher order should not interfere with the life of a community of a lower order, taking over its functions.” In case of need it should, rather, support the smaller community and help to coordinate its activity with activities in the rest of society for the sake of the common good.

Pope John Paul II


There are needs and common goods that cannot be satisfied by the market system. It is the task of the state and of all society to defend them. An idolatry of the market alone cannot do all that should be done.

Pope John Paul II


Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past.

Pope John Paul II


God destined the earth and all it contains for all people and nations so that all created things would be shared fairly by all humankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity.

The Catholic Bishops of the World at the Second Vatican Council


Inequality eventually engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot and never will be able to resolve. It serves only to offer false hopes to those clamoring for heightened security, even though nowadays we know that weapons and violence, rather than providing solutions, create new and more serious conflicts.

Pope Francis


Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies. Nor is it brought about by dictatorship. Instead, it is rightly and appropriately called “an enterprise of justice” (Is. 32:7). Peace results from that harmony built into human society by its divine founder, and actualized by human beings as they thirst after ever greater justice.

The Catholic Bishops of the World at the Second Vatican Council


Peace must be born of mutual trust between nations rather than imposed on them through fear of one another’s weapons. Hence everyone must labor to put an end at last to the arms race, and to make a true beginning of disarmament.

The Catholic Bishops of the World at the Second Vatican Council


Excessive economic, social and cultural inequalities among peoples arouse tensions and conflicts, and are a danger to peace.

Pope Paul VI


Peace must be built on the basis of justice in a world where the personal and social consequences of sin are evident.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops


Condemning class struggle does not mean condemning every possible form of social conflict. Such conflicts inevitably arise and Christians must often take a position in the “struggle for social justice.”

Pope John Paul II


Participation constitutes a right which is to be applied both in the economic and in the social and political field.

World Synod of Catholic Bishops


Economic progress must be accompanied by a corresponding social progress, so that all classes of citizens can participate in the increased productivity. The utmost vigilance and effort is needed to ensure that social inequalities, so far from increasing, are reduced to a minimum.

Pope John XXIII


Justice is to be observed not merely in the distribution of wealth, but also in regard to the conditions under which all people engage in productive activity. There is, in fact, an innate need of human nature requiring that people engaged in productive activity have an opportunity to assume responsibility and to perfect themselves by their efforts.

Pope John XXIII


The demands of the common good on the international level include: the avoidance of all forms of unfair competition between the economies of different countries; the fostering of mutual collaboration and good will; and effective co-operation in the development of economically less advanced communities.

Pope John XXIII


It can happen that one country surpasses another in scientific progress, culture and economic development. But this superiority, far from permitting it to rule others unjustly, imposes the obligation to make a greater contribution to the general development of the people.

Pope John XXIII


The affairs of the world, including economic ones, cannot be separated from the spiritual hunger of the human heart.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops


Click on these links for more quotes:

Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis Catholic Charities Office