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| Public policy needs to be built on values-based principles Photo: Kelly L |
Catholic Social Teaching arises from close involvement with nations and institutions over the two thousand years of the Church's existence. In a very practical way it speaks from what it has experienced, but its social teaching has come into its own as a valuable resource for humanity since its withdrawal from the government of extensive territory under its own jurisdiction and its transformation into a partner of all those throughout the world dedicated to enabling the human family to thrive.
As well as reaping the fruit of its own experience, what the Church brings to human affairs today is what is written in each person's conscience, the natural law expressed by the Medes and ancient Greeks, and performed within cultures all around the world. The Church also learns from observing and, most importantly, by applying the guidance of God in identifying what is true, good, and just.
Therefore, even though the Church is vexed by the sins of its members and the metaphysically opposed forces at play in the world, as are other institutions, like them it encapsulates a set of basic values that can guide decision-making in the public arena.
How this can play out in the real world is the subject of a book by constitutional lawyer and former vice chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, Greg Craven. The author makes his point this way:
Our own challenge is that we live in a world, particularly in the context of government, that literally is starving for basic values to guide policy choices.
[...] It becomes soulless game-playing. I have been told to achieve a particular policy outcome, and you are trying to stop me. My objective is to beat you, regardless of the consequences. Usually, this tendency is accompanied by name-calling, and false characterizations: You are a leftie... fascist... lunatic.
Craven identifies four social values that the Catholic Church offers the world. These are the dignity of the human being; the common good; solidarity; and subsidiarity.
Take the common good. It is not mere utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number. Of course, people should be fed, educated, have proper health care and be allowed to vote. Yet the common dignity of human beings is at the heart of Catholic social teaching, not in operative applications, however worthy.
All humans — however vulnerable or socially useless — remain human, and are to be valued as such. This applies to the elderly, the dying, the unborn, the sick, the poor and even criminals. As Catholics we are called to defend them. We cannot plead inconvenience or calumny as an excuse.
The notion of the common good is closely related to the value of human beings. In one sense, it is the generalization of the individual proposition, but the Catholic notion of the common good goes beyond the incidental adequacy of a society. It is moral, as well as a material proposal. People should live in a ‘good society’.
From a Catholic perspective, a society acting in the common good cannot support abortion or euthanasia, however popular these causes may be. By debasing the moral quality of that society and its respect for life, these cannot be for the common good.
Craven talks next of the importance of solidarity as a public value, a matter highlighted by the heat generated among some over Covid-19 public health regulations. Solidarity would put the needs of the community over one's own preferences, all things being equal with regards the rules being legitimately put in place. Craven says:
Ultimately, [solidarity] is about connectedness. The actions of every person affects, at whatever degree of remoteness, every other person. Therefore, we should act with the interests of other people firmly in mind.
The connection with the dignity of the human person and the common good are obvious, but solidarity goes further. It demands that we be with the poor, the sick and the dying, not merely around them. It requires an intimacy with suffering that many of us find emotionally very difficult.
Subsidiarity is the final value considered in the book:
Subsidiarity demands that decisions be taken at the lowest possible effective level of governance. This reflects the inherent value of the human being, but also the common good, as decisions made at a local level are most likely to reflect local needs and values.
Subsidiarity as a principle is rather popular these days, as it is thought to encourage local experimentation and independence. But one needs to understand its inherent limitation: decisions should be taken at the lowest effective level.
These values need to be at the forefront of public policy, but cannot be used just for good "optics". Each must be the foundation for comprehensive action. Subsidiarity, for example, can be abused by central government handing over to a lower authority an essential task such as housing or health, without giving the necessary resources to fulfil the responsibility.
Catholic Social Teaching is a body of work that is directed toward integral human development in solidarity, that lifts the individual and family to a protected status not possible under the morally handicapped market economy.
Finally, just as only love can completely transform the human person, the Church holds love as the greatest social value because it respects others and their rights, requires the practice of justice and it alone makes us capable of charity to all in the sense of self-giving. Our relationship with God propels love's full effectiveness in human relationships and social relations, including public policy.*
*See Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church para 383
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