Easter is the longest celebration of the Church -- 50 days of celebrating, longer by 10 than the 40 days of fasting in Lent. This extended time of feasting is symbolic of the triumph of life over death, of joy over sorrow.
This year, the US bishops are proposing a particularly timely way to mark the 7 weeks of this season: dedicate each week to one of the core principles of Catholic social doctrine.
In a Compendium of the Church's Social Doctrine released just over two decades ago, the Vatican notes: "The Church is an expert in humanity" and "the Church cannot fail to make her voice heard concerning the 'new things' (res novae) typical of the modern age, because it belongs to her to invite all people to do all they can to bring about an authentic civilization oriented ever more towards integral human development in solidarity."
What does this mean? What is Catholic social doctrine?
Many claim that this body of teaching is one of the great secrets of our time. Even those with theology degrees might find they have studied relatively little from this set of Catholic teachings.
Catholic social doctrine is not legislation or concrete directives. It is not a step-by-step recipe to solve the problems of society today, such as accessibility of health care, the challenges of migration, or the problems of poverty.
Instead, as the Compendium notes, it offers:
-- principles for reflection
-- criteria for judgment
-- directives for action which are a starting point
In other words, it spells out basic principles that must always be respected, held in balance, and applied in concrete ways.
The principles can be phrased in various ways, but the US bishops summarize them with the following 7:
The bishops have a variety of resources to go deeper in each of these principles and consider the ways in which they are or are not applied in any given legal structure or legislation.
On social media, they are guiding a week-by-week reflection. See here for Facebook or here for Instagram.
You can also see reflections on social doctrine here at Aleteia, clicking here.
We join the US bishops in encouraging this Easter initiative, particularly as Pope Leo XIV, by choosing the name Leo, situates himself in the great tradition of Catholic social doctrine. Read more about that below:
