Albertus Magnus Academy

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Catholic social philosophy

The Catholic Church has a rich social philosophy tradition which includes wisdom by such great authors as St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P.  The Church's social philosophy culminates in its articulated Social doctrine, which is outlined in Catechism of the Catholic Church and provided for in more detail by the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.  The principles and values of that doctrine are:

Principles:
  1. The dignity of the human person (which is the foundation of the entirety of the Church's social doctrine)
  2. The common good (includes 2 sub-principles)
    1. The universal destination of goods
    2. The preferential option for the poor
  3. Subsidiarity
  4. Solidarity
Values:
  1. Truth
  2. Freedom
  3. Justice
  4. Love
Additionally, Catholic social doctrine holds to the truths that: innocent life must be protected from the moment of conception until natural death; the family is the vital cell of society; the perpetual marriage of a man and a woman is the foundation of the family; and society is only correctly ordered when it is at the service of the family.