Matthew 18, 1-14 + CSDC and CV

Matthew Chapter 18 

Matthew 18, 1-14 + CSDC and CV

(CV 25e) In comparison with the casualties of industrial society in the past, unemployment today provokes new forms of economic marginalization, and the current crisis can only make this situation worse. Being out of work or dependent on public or private assistance for a prolonged period undermines the freedom and creativity of the person and his family and social relationships, causing great psychological and spiritual suffering. I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world's economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: “Man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life”[61]. 

  

Notes: [61] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 63. 

In response to the first great social question, Pope Leo XIII promulgated the first social Encyclical, Rerum Novarum

CSDC 89a. In response to the first great social question, Pope Leo XIII promulgated the first social Encyclical, Rerum Novarum [143]. This Encyclical examines the condition of salaried workers, which was particularly distressing for industrial labourers who languished in inhumane misery. The labour question is dealt with according to its true dimensions. It is explored in all its social and political expressions so that a proper evaluation may be made in the light of the doctrinal principles founded on Revelation and on natural law and morality.

Notes: [143] Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 97-144.

(Mt 18, 1-14) Church's social doctrine condemns the exploitation of children

[1] At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" [2] He called a child over, placed it in their midst, [3] and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. [5] And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. [6] "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. [7] Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come! [8] If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. [9] And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna. [10] "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. [11]. [12] What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? [13] And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. [14] In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.

CSDC 296. Child labour, in its intolerable forms, constitutes a kind of violence that is less obvious than others but it is not for this reason any less terrible.[639] This is a violence that, beyond all political, economic and legal implications, remains essentially a moral problem. Pope Leo XIII issued the warning: “in regard to children, great care should be taken not to place them in workshops and factories until their bodies and minds are sufficiently developed. For, just as very rough weather destroys the buds of spring, so does too early an experience of life's hard toil blight the young promise of a child's faculties, and render any true education impossible”.[640] After more than a hundred years, the blight of child labour has not yet been overcome. Even with the knowledge that, at least for now, in certain countries the contribution made by child labour to family income and the national economy is indispensable, and that in any event certain forms of part-time work can prove beneficial for children themselves, the Church's social doctrine condemns the increase in “the exploitation of children in the workplace in conditions of veritable slavery”.[641] This exploitation represents a serious violation of human dignity, with which every person, “no matter how small or how seemingly unimportant in utilitarian terms”,[642] is endowed. 

     Notes: [639] Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 1996 World Day of Peace, 5: AAS 88 (1996), 106-107. [640] Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 129. [641] John Paul II, Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace, 6: AAS 90 (1998), 153.[642] John Paul II, Message to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the occasion of the World Summit for Children (22 September 1990): AAS 83 (1991), 360.

[Initials and Abbreviations.- CSDC: Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church; -  SDC: Social Doctrine of the Church; - CV: Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth)]