Matthew 25, 14-18 + CSDC and CV

(CV 39a) Paul VI in Populorum Progressio called for the creation of a model of market economy capable of including within its range all peoples and not just the better off. He called for efforts to build a more human world for all, a world in which “all will be able to give and receive, without one group making progress at the expense of the other” [94]. In this way he was applying on a global scale the insights and aspirations contained in Rerum Novarum, written when, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, the idea was first proposed — somewhat ahead of its time — that the civil order, for its self-regulation, also needed intervention from the State for purposes of redistribution.

Notes: [94] No. 44: loc. cit., 279. 

The principles of the Church's social doctrine in their unity, interrelatedness and articulation

CSDC 162a. The principles of the Church's social doctrine must be appreciated in their unity, interrelatedness and articulation. This requirement is rooted in the meaning that the Church herself attributes to her social doctrine, as a unified doctrinal corpus that interprets modern social realities in a systematic manner.[344] Examining each of these principles individually must not lead to using them only in part or in an erroneous manner, which would be the case if they were to be invoked in a disjointed and unconnected way with respect to each of the others.

Notes: [344] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1 AAS 80 (1988), 513-514 .

(Mt 25, 14-18) Human work has a twofold significance: objective and subjective

 [14] "It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. [15] To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one - to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately [16] the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. [17] Likewise, the one who received two made another two. [18] But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.

CSDC 270. Human work has a twofold significance: objective and subjective. In the objective sense, it is the sum of activities, resources, instruments and technologies used by men and women to produce things, to exercise dominion over the earth, in the words of the Book of Genesis. In the subjective sense, work is the activity of the human person as a dynamic being capable of performing a variety of actions that are part of the work process and that correspond to his personal vocation: “Man has to subdue the earth and dominate it, because as the ‘image of God' he is a person, that is to say, a subjective being capable of acting in a planned and rational way, capable of deciding about himself, and with a tendency to self-realization. As a person, man is therefore the subject of work”[586]. Work in the objective sense constitutes the contingent aspect of human activity, which constantly varies in its expressions according to the changing technological, cultural, social and political conditions. Work in the subjective sense, however, represents its stable dimension, since it does not depend on what people produce or on the type of activity they undertake, but only and exclusively on their dignity as human beings. This distinction is critical, both for understanding what the ultimate foundation of the value and dignity of work is, and with regard to the difficulties of organizing economic and social systems that respect human rights.

  Notes: [586] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 6: AAS 73 (1981), 589-590.

[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)]