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23. One of the salient features of the modern world is the growing
interdependence of men one on the other, a development promoted chiefly
by modern technical advances. Nevertheless brotherly dialogue among
men does not reach its perfection on the level of technical progress,
but on the deeper level of interpersonal relationships. These demand a
mutual respect for the full spiritual dignity of the person. Christian
revelation contributes greatly to the promotion of this communion
between persons, and at the same time leads us to a deeper
understanding of the laws of social life which the Creator has written
into man's moral and spiritual nature.
Since rather recent documents of the Church's teaching authority have
dealt at considerable length with Christian doctrine about human
society,[42] this council is merely going to call to mind some of the
more basic truths, treating their foundations under the light of
revelation. Then it will dwell more at length on certain of their
implications having special significance for our day.
24. God, Who has fatherly concern for everyone, has willed that
all men should constitute one family and treat one another in a spirit
of brotherhood. For having been created in the image of God, Who
"from one man has created the whole human race and made them live all
over the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26), all men are called
to one and the same goal, namely God Himself.
For this reason, love for God and neighbor is the first and greatest
commandment. Sacred Scripture, however, teaches us that the love of
God cannot be separated from love of neighbor: "If there is any
other commandment, it is summed up in this saying: Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself.... Love therefore is the fulfillment of
the Law" (Rom. 13:9-10; cf. 1 John 4:20). To men
growing daily more dependent on one another, and to a world becoming
more unified every day, this truth proves to be of paramount
importance.
Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all
may be one. . . as we are one" (John 17:21-22) opened up
vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness
between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons
in truth and charity. This likeness reveals that man, who is the only
creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find
himself except through a sincere gift of himself.[43]
25. Man's social nature makes it evident that the progress of the
human person and the advance of society itself hinge on one another.
For the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions
is and must be the human person which for its part and by its very
nature stands completely in need of social life.[44] Since this
social life is not something added on to man, through his dealings with
others, through reciprocal duties, and through fraternal dialogue he
develops all his gifts and is able to rise to his destiny.
Among those social ties which man needs for his development some, like
the family and political community, relate with greater immediacy to
his innermost nature; others originate rather from his free decision.
In our era, for various reasons, reciprocal ties and mutual
dependencies increase day by day and give rise to a variety of
associations and organizations, both public and private. This
development, which is called socialization, while certainly not
without its dangers, brings with it many advantages with respect to
consolidating and increasing the qualities of the human person, and
safeguarding his rights.[45]
But if by this social life the human person is greatly aided in
responding to his destiny, even in its religious dimensions, it cannot
be denied that men are often diverted from doing good and spurred toward
and by the social circumstances in which they live and are immersed from
their birth. To be sure the disturbances which so frequently occur in
the social order result in part from the natural tensions of economic,
political and social forms. But at a deeper level they flow from
man's pride and selfishness, which contaminate even the social
sphere. When the structure of affairs is flawed by the consequences of
sin, man, already born with a bent toward evil, finds there new
inducements to sin, which cannot be overcome without strenuous efforts
and the assistance of grace.
26. Every day human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and
spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good,
that is, the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social
groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access
to their own fulfillment, today takes on an increasingly universal
complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to
the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the
needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the
general welfare of the entire human family.[46]
At the same time, however, there is a growing awareness of the
exalted dignity proper to the human person, since he stands above all
things, and his rights and duties are universal and inviolable.
Therefore, there must be made available to all men everything
necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and
shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a
family, the right to education, to employment, to a good reputation,
to respect, to appropriate information, to activity in accord with the
upright norm of one's own conscience, to protection of privacy and
rightful freedom. even in matters religious.
Hence, the social order and its development must invariably work to
the benefit of the human person if the disposition of affairs is to be
subordinate to the personal realm and not contrariwise, as the Lord
indicated when He said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man
for the Sabbath.[47]
This social order requires constant improvement It must be founded on
truth, built on justice and animated by love; in freedom it should
grow every day toward a more humane balance.[48] An improvement in
attitudes and abundant changes in society will have to take place if
these objectives are to be gained.
God's Spirit, Who with a marvelous providence directs the unfolding
of time and renews the face of the earth, is not absent from this
development. The ferment of the Gospel too has aroused and continues
to arouse in man's heart the irresistible requirements of his dignity.
27. Coming down to practical and particularly urgent consequences,
this council lays stress on reverence for man; everyone must consider
his every neighbor without exception as another self, taking into
account first of all His life and the means necessary to living it with
dignity,[49] so as not to imitate the rich man who had no concern for
the poor man Lazarus.[50]
In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the
neighbor of every person without exception. and of actively helping him
when he comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by
all, a foreign laborer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee, a child
born of an unlawful union and wrongly suffering for a sin he did not
commit, or a hungry person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the
voice of the Lord, "As long as you did it for one of these the least
of my brethren, you did it for me" (Matt. 25:40).
Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of
murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or wilful self-destruction,
whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as
mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the
will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living
conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery,
prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as
disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for
profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things
and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human
society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those
who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are supreme dishonor to
the Creator.
28. Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or
act differently than we do in social, political and even religious
matters. In fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of
thinking through such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be
able to enter into dialogue with them.
This love and good will, to be sure, must in no way render us
indifferent to truth and goodness. Indeed love itself impels the
disciples of Christ to speak the saving truth to all men. But it is
necessary to distinguish between error, which always merits
repudiation, and the person in error, who never loses the dignity of
being a person even when he is flawed by false or inadequate religious
notions.[51] God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts, for
that reason He forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of
anyone.[52]
The teaching of Christ even requires that we forgive
injuries,[53] and extends the law of love to include every enemy,
according to the command of the New Law: "You have heard that it
was said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I
say to you: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who persecute and calumniate you" (Matt.
S:43-44).
29. Since all men possess a rational soul and are created in God's
likeness, since they have the same nature and origin, have been
redeemed by Christ and enjoy the same divine calling and destiny, the
basic equality of all must receive increasingly greater recognition.
True, all men are not alike from the point of view of varying physical
power and the diversity of intellectual and moral resources.
Nevertheless, with respect to the fundamental rights of the person,
every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether
based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion,
is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent. For in
truth it must still be regretted that fundamental personal rights are
still not being universally honored. Such is the case of a woman who
is denied the right to choose a husband freely, to embrace a state of
life or to acquire an education or cultural benefits equal to those
recognized for men.
Therefore, although rightful differences exist between men, the equal
dignity of persons demands that a more humane and just condition of life
be brought about. For excessive economic and social differences
between the members of the one human family or population groups cause
scandal, and militate against social justice, equity, the dignity of
the human person, as well as social and international peace.
Human institutions, both private and public, must labor to minister
to the dignity and purpose of man. At the same time let them put up a
stubborn fight against any kind of slavery, whether social or
political, and safeguard the basic rights of man under every political
system. Indeed human institutions themselves must be accommodated by
degrees to the highest of all realities, spiritual ones, even though
meanwhile, a long enough time will be required before they arrive at
the desired goal.
30. Profound and rapid changes make it more necessary that no one
ignoring the trend of events or drugged by laziness, content himself
with a merely individualistic morality. It grows increasingly true
that the obligations of justice and love are fulfilled only if each
person, contributing to the common good, according to his own
abilities and the needs of others, also promotes and assists the public
and private institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions of human
life. Yet there are those who, while possessing grand and rather
noble sentiments, nevertheless in reality live always as if they cared
nothing for the needs of society. Many in various places even make
light of social laws and precepts, and do not hesitate to resort to
various frauds and deceptions in avoiding just taxes or other debts due
to society. Others think little of certain norms of social life, for
example those designed for the protection of health, or laws
establishing speed limits; they do not even avert to the fact that by
such indifference they imperil their own life and that of others.
Let everyone consider it his sacred obligation to esteem and observe
social necessities as belonging ta the primary duties of modern man.
For the more unified the world becomes, the more plainly do the
offices of men extend beyond particular groups and spread by degrees to
the whole world. But this development cannot occur unless individual
men and their associations cultivate in themselves the moral and social
virtues, and promote them in society; thus, with the needed help of
divine grace men who are truly new and artisans of a new humanity can be
forthcoming
31. In order for individual men to discharge with greater exactness
the obligations of their conscience toward themselves and the various
group to which they belong, they must be carefully educated to a higher
degree of culture through the use of the immense resources available
today to the human race. Above all the education of youth from every
social background has to be undertaken, so that there can be produced
not only men and women of refined talents, but those great-souled
persons who are so desperately required by our times.
Now a man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of responsibility,
unless his living conditions allow him to become conscious of his
dignity, and to rise to his destiny by spending himself for God
and for others. But human freedom is often crippled when a man
encounters extreme poverty just as it withers when he indulges in too
many of life's comforts and imprisons himself in a kind of splendid
isolation. Freedom acquires new strength, by contrast, when a man
consents to the unavoidable requirements of social life, takes on the
manifold demands of human partnership, and commits himself to the
service of the human community.
Hence, the will to play one's role in common endeavors should be
everywhere encouraged. Praise is due to those national procedures
which allow the largest possible number of citizens to participate in
public affairs with genuine freedom. Account must be taken, to be
sure, of the actual conditions of each people and the decisiveness
required by public authority. If every citizen is to feel inclined to
take part in the activities of the various groups which make up the
social body, these must offer advantages which will attract members and
dispose them to serve others. We can justly consider that the future
of humanity lies in the hands of those who are strong enough to provide
coming generations with reasons for living and hoping.
32. As God did not create man for life in isolation, but for the
formation of social unity, so also "it has pleased God to make men
holy and save them not merely as individuals, without bond or link
between them, but by making them into a single people, a people which
acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness."[54] So
from the beginning of salvation history He has chosen men not just as
individuals but as members of a certain community. Revealing His mind
to them, God called these chosen ones "His people" (Ex.
3:7-12), and even made a covenant with them on Sinai.[55]
This communitarian character is developed and consummated in the work
of Jesus Christ. For the very Word made flesh willed to share in
the human fellowship. He was present at the wedding of Cana, visited
the house of Zacchaeus, ate with publicans and sinners. He revealed
the love of the Father and the sublime vocation of man in terms of the
most common of social realities and by making use of the speech and the
imagery of plain everyday life. Willingly obeying' the laws of his
country He sanctified those human ties, especially family ones, which
are the source of social structures. He chose to lead the life proper
to an artisan of His time and place.
In His preaching He clearly taught the sons of God to treat one
another as brothers. In His prayers He pleaded that all His
disciples might be "one." Indeed as the redeemer of all, He
offered Himself for all even to point of death. "Greater love than
this no one has, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John
15:13). He commanded His Apostles to preach to all peoples the
Gospel's message that the human race was to become the Family of
God, in which the fullness of the Law would be love.
As the firstborn of many brethren and by the giving of His Spirit,
He founded after His death and resurrection a new brotherly community
composed of all those who receive Him in faith and in love. This He
did through His Body. which is the Church. There everyone, as
members one of the other. would render mutual service according to the
different gifts bestowed on each.
This solidarity must be constantly increased until that day on which it
will be brought to perfection. Then, saved by grace, men will offer
flawless glory to God as a family beloved of God and of Christ their
Brother.
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