Mainstreaming the social doctrine

THE Church’s social doctrine needs to be widely spread, known and practiced. The common impression is that it’s classified information or that it’s a subject proper only to those who like to dabble in social activism.

We have to redeem it from that predicament—quickly and relentlessly, since the effort surely involves a long and even agonizing process. It’s also a never-ending activity.

Since the Church’s social doctrine brings the true spirit of Christ into our social life in all its dimensions—from the family to our business and politics and to the most global aspects of our earthly life—it is indispensable and concerns us all.

In fact, with our increasingly challenging times, it is imperative that the social doctrine be systematically taught far and wide, its corresponding virtues developed and its appropriate structures and network built up progressively.

Given that living the Christian spirit in our social life is most tricky, it is necessary that the Church’s social doctrine be integrally learned and assimilated. Otherwise, we’ll have a terrible mongrel that can cause more evil than good.

That’s what we are seeing now. The few occasions when it’s cited by civil society leaders and even some Church officials show bias, improper selectivity and reductionism. All sorts of exaggerations and gratuitous assertions are made.

Thus, even Church pronouncements can sound politically partisan. And since they often lack interdisciplinary considerations, they end up becoming cliquey, insular and divisive, easily held hostage by the shenanigans of politicians, ideologues and mob forces.

Valid points in the smaller aspects of an issue often fail to reconcile with the demands of a larger picture. They easily get dogmatized and inflexible, powerless to flow with the streaming situations.

Many times, they just show more emotion than practical wisdom, indicating a reactive, not pro-active approach. Traces of agitation, obviously restrained, are all over, causing unease in many people. The net effect is confusion rather than relief.

The fragile link between the social and the spiritual, the personal good and the common good, truth and charity, justice and mercy, etc., is not duly monitored and constantly readjusted. The points come as a result mainly of reflex, rather than reflective reaction.

Thus, in many parts of the media today some statements of our Church leaders have been roundly criticized, aggravated by the fact that Church officials generally do not know how to handle the media.

For this difficult task, the Church’s Compendium of Social Doctrine says:

“The primary responsibility for the pastoral commitment to evangelize social realities falls to the Bishop, assisted by priests, religious men and women, and the laity.

“With special reference to local realities, the Bishop is responsible for promoting the teaching and diffusion of the Church’s social doctrine, which he should do through appropriate institutions.” (539)

This is, of course, a tall order, extremely demanding but not impossible. It requires nothing less than solid and authentic spiritual life. Otherwise, the anomaly will just surface sooner or later.

The teaching and spread of the social doctrine involves everyone in his proper ways, with clear distinctions between those of the clergy and those of the laity. The universal involvement should not blur the specific roles of each one.

Subsidiary institutions that can and should help are the families, parishes and other Church structures, schools, media, governmental and non-governmental agencies. Continuing education on the social doctrine, especially for those holding positions of influence, is a must.

So far, I have not seen any serious effort in this direction. It’s a neglect that certainly has very foreseeable tragic consequences. It’s like cultivating a crisis. This has to be corrected.

We should nurture the sense of constant vigilance and the skill to integrate the different flowing elements of our social life. This would enable us to read and foresee the signs of the times as they come, promptly noting their positive and negative features.

With the social doctrine, we can manage to keep distance from the predatory tendencies brought about by our own weaknesses, failures and sins, not to mention the very subtle snares of the devil and our world alienated from God.