▪ Jesus’ justice is compassionate justice
Theology 3: Finals Period
CHRISTIAN JUSTICE
The Concept of Justice
What is Justice?
• a virtue/habit that inclines one with a
constant and perpetual will to give to the
other person his due, his right
• its correct praxis requires a correct doctrine
of justice
o Otherwise, it is activism
▪ Thus, it must be based on
the right and authentic
sources:
• revelation
• its dynamic
theological
development
Justice from the Scripture
A. Old Testament
is the attitude or virtue that makes one conform to
the moral norm which is found in the covenant
• For the Israelites – it is Divine Justice
• Faithfulness to God is human justice
actuated in social relationships
• Fidelity to God = justice
God’s Justice demands;
• Concern for the poor
• Protection of widows and orphans (i.e., the
defenseless)
• Protection of the strangers (i.e., immigrants
and refugees)
• Respect for wage earners
• Attending to the condition of servants and
slaves
• Prohibition of lending at higher interest
• Avoiding giving bribes to judges and officials
“The just individual then is the one who loves God
with all his hearts, with all his soul and with all his
strengths and his neighbor as himself.”
B. New Testament
The emphasis is on inner rectitude in relation to
God.
▪ Jesus’ teaching on justice is not the limited
understanding of “giving to each person
what is his, but giving to him what is yours.”
▪ Charity
Division of Justice
• First – the relations among individual
persons or group within society;
• Second – the relations between society and
its members;
• Third – the relations of the members of
society with society itself
St. Thomas Division of Justice
• Commutative Justice
o applies to the relationship between
individuals
o commands that the exchange of
goods and services take place
according to strict equality
o operates in commercial exchange
like buying and selling and just
regulation of price
o Violations of this are the following:
▪ Selling goods higher than its
actual worth
▪ Low wages
▪ Hoarding
• Distributive Justice
o refers to the obligation of the
community to the individuals
o demands that those in authority see
to it that there is equitable
distribution of the benefits and
burdens of community life
o Rerum Novarum states that the first
and foremost duties of rulers is to
protect equitably each and every
citizen and keep distributive justice
inviolate
• Contributive Justice
o concerned with the general good of
the community and obliges the
members of a community to comply
with the demands of the common
good
o also known as legal justice
o situational examples:
▪ paying of taxes
▪ compliance with social
legislations
▪ military service
• Social Justice
o requires authorities to look into the
real situation of different groups of
people in the society and give them
 their due as members of a human
community
o regulates social relationships
according to the criterion of
observance to the law
o a requirement related to the social
question which today is worldwide in
scope
o concerns the social, political and
economic aspects and above all, the
structural dimension of problems
and their respective solutions (St.
John Paul II, Laborem Excercens)
o serves as the Vigor of the other
kinds of Justice
Relationship of Justice and
Charity/love
▪ Christian love of neighbor and justice are
inseparable
▪ Justice grants to each what is due him by
right.
o Christian charity perfects the work of
justice
▪ Love implies an absolute demand of Justice
(i.e., recognition of the dignity and rights of
one’s neighbor)
▪ There should be no gap between love of
neighbor and desire for justice
▪ While the demand of justice is implied in
love; justice attains its fullness only in love
▪ For in justice, the other person can remain
“another”, an alien.
▪ But in love the other is a friend, a brother
and a sister in Christ.
Christian Responsibility Towards
Justice
▪ Be aware of his moral duty to society
▪ Holds a primary responsibility in building a
just society
▪ Has the grave duty in reducing or
eliminating grave injustices that plague the
country
▪ Involve in social programs for justice and
promotion of peace in all levels
▪ Always, should never resort to violent
means and abuse of the individual person’s
rights in the pursuit of the common good.
▪ Therefore, Silence is a sin of omission.
o silence and indifference –
unchristian
o “It is not the repression of the bad
people that hurts it is the Silence of
the good.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian Responsibility demands
three things
▪ First - Awareness of the root causes of
injustices
o More often, the three most common
causes of injustices are:
▪ superabundance of few
nations and groups of people
(e.g., poverty as a result of
underdevelopment of poor
countries and the “super-
development” of the rich and
powerful nations)
• Described by St. John
Paul II as “the
external neo-
colonizers” or the new
“economic dictators”
▪ The indifference and
passivity of the poor nations
and peoples
• the poor themselves
are partly to be
blamed for their
unjust situation.
▪ The sinful attitudes and
deeds that create oppressive
structures (e.g., pride and
selfishness)
▪ Second – condemnation of injustice
however must not be done for the sake
of denunciation
o One must discern the issues
involved, be aware of the situation
and seek the truth.
o Authentic condemnation of injustice
demands announcing of
justice/witnessing to justice
▪ Third – conversion (i.e., personal and
social change in mentality and heart)
o Change of mentality is demanded
from those who live, maintain and
survive or take advantage of
 situations and their participation in
creating sinful structure
o Change of heart demands a radical
and total change of the person
▪ A change in one’s
fundamental options,
attitudes and concrete
actions so that the heart
becomes the positive change
and personal renewal is
imperative
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE
CHURCH
Biblical Roots of the Catholic Social
Teachings
The BIBLE is the foundation of a Judeo-Christian
vision of life... [Bible] discloses the kind of God… [a
God who is] interested in the world, in human
history, and in the manner in which humans live in
community. (Donahue, 2005)
The BIBLE is a source of CATHOLIC SOCIAL
TEACHING
Justice in the Old Testament
• TWO HEBREW TERMS: sedeq and
mishpat
o sedaqah – often translated as
righteousness
▪ (sedeq = justice)
▪ Righteousness in the biblical
sense, goes beyond personal
rectitude of following rules,
laws and commands
▪ It has social character
▪ “The biblical idea of justice
can be described as fidelity
to the demands of a
relationship.” – Donahue
o mishpat (or mispat) – to judge
▪ Characterized not simply as
the judgment of God and his
capability to punish and
reward individuals but again
it has a social dimension (i.e.,
God’s governance that
places order in the society)
• The Old Testament concepts of justice as
both mishpat and sedaqah, that are
understood primarily within the context of
Yahweh’s governance and one’s
relationship both with Yahweh and his fellow
human beings in the community, allows us
to appreciate more the New Testament
emphasis on the link between justice and
charity.
Christ’s Active Role in the Society
Christ as a Teacher
• Christ’s teaching gives emphasis on
‘persons’ over the law, and on the virtues of
justice and charity over the legal code.
(Luke 10:25-37)
• Christ preaches the KINGDOM OF GOD
o Calls people for metanoia
(conversion of heart)
o Conversion which is non-violent
o Hopeful preparation for its realization
in the future
Christ as a Liberator
• Christ heals and liberates people both from
physical and spiritual illness.
• Christ’s liberation is also at the same time a
restoration (personal and communal).
The Early Christians’ Ability to Instruct One
Another on the Social Involvement
• The early Christian community has
endeavored to follow the examples of
Christ.
o Duty to give (Act 2:44-45; 20:35; Tim
6:17-19)
• “It is not right for one to live in luxury while
others live in want.” – Clement of Alexandria
• Deposits of piety according to Tertullian is
used in feeding the needy, in burying them,
in support of youths and maidens destitute
of means and deprived of their parents, in
the care of the aged, and the relief of the
shipwrecked.
o Endeavor to establish unity and
solidarity (Gal 3:28; Col 3:11)
The Middle Ages and the Continuing
Catholic Social Teaching Tradition
• Even with the institutionalization of the
Church within the Roman Empire, she
remained to be an active agent for social
justice.
St. Thomas Aquinas on:
• Distribution of Wealth
 o Requires JUSTICE which is a “habit
whereby man renders to each one
his due by a constant and perpetual
will.”
• Just War
o There are three (3) requirements:
▪ Legitimate Authority
▪ Just Cause
▪ Right Intention
The Emerging Ideologies of the
Modern Time
Dark Ages (Medieval Period) vs. Age of
Enlightenment
• Two things are easily identified with the age
of enlightenment
o use of reason (as opposed to faith)
o the autonomy (as opposed to
obedience)
• The Church during the Middle Ages,
according to enlightenment-thinkers, values
faith and obedience, which are instruments
of ignorance and oppression.
• Enlightenment period brought about
changes in the society including the
Industrial Revolution and the two ideologies
of Capitalism and Socialism
Industrial Revolution
• Roughly 1760 to 1850
• Started parochially in England
• Introduction of new technology
• Rise of factories and salaried workers
• Mass production leads to surplus
• Surplus that results to profit
• Emergence of market
• Gave birth to capitalism
The Birth of Capitalism and the Critique of
Socialism
• Capitalists aimed towards profit
• Markets are constructed for the interest of
those who have the capital, who makes use
of the same capital in order to generate
more income or more profit, and thereby
further enlarging the initial capitals.
• Two values promoted by Capitalism:
o Social Mobility
▪ Capacity to rise from one
social status to a better one
depending on the effort one
exerts
o Self-Direction
▪ One’s own future = one’s
own responsibility
▪ It also highlights the principle
of private property
• However, there were those who were not
convinced with the capitalist ideology. An
alternative ideology has flourished,
SOCIALISM, and it has several objections
against the capitalist ideology:
o The capitalist principles of self-
direction and social mobility are
myths and are only true for the rich
and able members of the community
o Capitalism ignores, tolerates and
even perpetuates unjust situations of
resource distribution
▪ unequal distribution of goods
▪ gap between rich and poor
o Capitalism endorses the pathology
of isolated existence
• Socialism promotes two (2) alternative
principles:
o Common ownership
▪ To replace and abolish the
concept of private property
o Personal freedom must be replaced
by the government control that
seeks for the implementation of the
common good
POVERTY
• Christianity is the critique of our poverty
“The Lord, your God will bless you abundantly in
the land he will give you to occupy as your heritage.
There should be no one of you in need.” -
Deuteronomy 15:4
God’s Will for Man
Fidelity to the One God
• “You must keep my statutes and
commandments which I enjoin on you today
that you and your children after you may
prosper, and that you may have long life.” –
Deuteronomy 4:40
• “If you but heed the voice of the Lord, your
God, and carefully observe all these
commandments which I enjoin on you
today, you will lend to many nations, and
borrow from none; you will rule over many
nations, and none will rule over you, since
the Lord, your God, will bless you as he
promised.” – Deuteronomy 15:5
Fidelity to Fellow People of the Covenant
 • The Right of the Poor
o “If there is among you a poor man,
one of your brothers, you shall not
harden your heart or shut your hand
against your poor brother, but you
shall open your hand to him, and
lend him sufficient for his need.” –
Deuteronomy 15:7-8
o “The needy will never be lacking in
the land, that is why I command you
to open your hand to your poor and
needy brothers in your country.” –
Deuteronomy 15:11
Fidelity to Fellowmen
• Right of the Stranger
o “When a stranger sojourn with you in
your land, you shall not do him
wrong. The stranger who sojourns
with you shall be to you as the native
among you, and you shall love him
as yourself; for you were strangers
in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord
your God.” - Leviticus 19:33-34
Jubilee
• the salvific Exodus event and Covenantal
fidelity
o foundation of social, political and
economic life
o how to deal with poverty and social
injustice
Reflect
• Yahweh declared in Deuteronomy
o “There will be no poor among you if
you obey me.”
• Jesus Christ warned
o “The poor you will always have with
you; but you will not always have
me.” -Matthew 26:11
Poverty
• Negative Poverty
o income deprivation when human
labor has become a commodity
o indiscriminate contractualization of
labor
o causes
▪ no relationship between
employer and laborer
▪ no security of tenure
▪ absence of full benefits
▪ no opportunity for growth
o the requirements of social justice are
more than the requirements of legal
justice
o capability deprivation
▪ when a person is deprived of
essential human capabilities
to attain minimum well-being
due to oppressive and
dehumanizing conditions
• social, moral,
intellectual, spiritual,
physical, cultural, etc.
▪ can be due to poverty as
income deprivation
▪ can also be the
underdeveloped capabilities
of the wealthy
o People live miserably because
others live extravagantly.
o “The glory of God is man fully alive.”
- St. Irinaeus
o underdeveloped, unhealthy
functioning
▪ Cause
• consumeristic
mentality nourished
by media that vitalizes
greed
▪ Consumerism – “Being is
having.”
• You are, because you
have quantitatively
and qualitatively
• Blurred distinction
between needs and
wants
Business of Exaggerated Capitalism Dictates
Greed for Profit
• acquire and consume more and more
quantitatively and qualitatively, especially in
information technology and social
communications media
• Latest cell phone with the most advanced
multiple features, fastest and smallest,
foldable computers, amazing audio-visual
effects, etc.
• Reflect:
o “In truth, Divine Justice does not
seem to be as demanding as human
justice.”
Challenge to the Christian
Evangelical Poverty
 • individually and communally:
o Live simply that others may simply
live.
o living in full dependence on God
o having full confidence in God
o sharing our resources to others
• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the Kingdom of Heaven.
• Eschatological sign of the qualified for
heaven
We have a lot to learn from the Poor:
• Hope
• Joy
• Simplicity
• Cheerfulness
• Humor
• Sharing
• Kindness
• Helpfulness
Remember:
• Our poverty is not related to our Christianity.
• The Church is separate from the economy.
• Pope Benedict XVI on 8/5/2006:
o “The real problem of our historical
moment lies in the imbalance
between the incredibly fast growth of
our technical power and that of our
moral capacity, which has not grown
in proportion.”
o The faith provides the basis for a
discussion about the fundamental
purposes of human life, which in turn
can guide public policies and private
decisions.
PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
Human Dignity
• The human person is at the center of our
talk about social, political and economic
progress.
• In his original vocation, man, placed at the
center of God’s creation, is ordered towards
serving the whole of creation instead of
abusing them.
Common Good
• the “sum total of social conditions which
allow people either as groups or as
individuals to reach their fulfillment more
fully and more easily” (GS, 26 and CSDC,
164)
• Church’s response to both the extremes of
any form of totalitarianism and of a kind of
individualism.
Universal Destination of Goods
This principle:
• Calls to facilitate the conditions necessary
for integral human development
• Reminds us of our responsibility to look
after the decency of life of other people and
the provision of their basic needs
• Reminds us of the legitimacy of our private
properties but only as a means
Subsidiarity
• This is the Church’s alternative to
imperialism, totalitarianism, and
managerialism.
• The Superior order must adopt attitudes of
HELP (support, promotion, development)
with respect to lower-order societies.
Participation
• direct consequence of the principle of
subsidiarity and the practice of social
inclusion.
Solidarity
• Firm and persevering determination to
commit oneself to the common good, not a
mere feeling of vague compassion of
shallow distress (CSDC, 193)
• Church’s response to growing culture of
apathy and indifference
Fundamental Values of Social Life
Truth
• We are called to proclaim the message of
Christ within a culture of openness and
dialogue that remains faithful to the
demands of justice and truth
• Part of our Christian vocation is to speak the
truth even during those moments when
being truthful is inconvenient and difficult
Freedom
• the highest sign in man of his being made in
the divine image and consequently, is a sign
of the sublime dignity of every human
person. (CSDC, 199)
 • Christian freedom is aware of its limitations
and responsibility.
• Its expression is limited by the moral order.
Justice and Love
• Christian justice is transformational and
liberative.
• Justice has to lead to the CONVERSION of
both the victim and the oppressor; but
CONVERSION is best guaranteed by the
act of love.
• Following the social teachings of the
Church, we can affirm the following:
o It is true that the world is not a
perfect place.
o The Human Person is by nature
good, and such goodness could
never be totally corrupted.
o There is the invitation to
continuously attempt to build a
CIVILIZATION of love and make our
world a better place to live in.
THE PHILIPPINE CHURCH AND
THE POLITICAL SPHERE
Christian Vision of the Church in the
Society
The Issue on ‘Political Interference’ of the
Church
• Political Interference
o the Church being true to her mission
• Pastoral prudence and the Law of the
Church
o forbidding clerics to assume public
offices which entails a participation
in the exercise of civil power
• relationship of church and state not as a
separation but as mutual autonomy and
cooperation
• ‘critical collaboration or solidarity’ with the
State
Church Realization and Guiding Principles in
Philippine Political Involvement
• “The Church, in carrying out Christ’s
redemptive work is convinced that to
penetrate and perfect the temporal sphere,
including the realm of politics, with the spirit
of the Gospel” is essential to her mission.
This includes "passing moral judgments
even in matters related to politics, whenever
the fundamental rights of man or the
salvation of souls requires it.” - Apostolicam
Actuositatem 15 & Catechism of the
Catholic Church 2246
• Principle of Human Dignity
o It is noted that the sufferings and
demoralization of Filipinos is due to
the lack of respect accorded to the
human person as the center of all
social activities
▪ Individual and group self-
interests have rendered the
moral principles of justice,
truth, charity, concern for the
poor and the weak
ineffective.
• Integral Evangelization
o The Filipino faithful needs to reflect
on the dichotomy of faith and
individual and social life.
• Politics has a Moral and Religious
dimension
o Politics is a divine trust for service
and that all authority and power
come from God.
• Salvation of the human person is not only
from Personal but also from Social sin
o “Personal sins like pride,
selfishness, greed, and hatred come
to infect habitual patterns of human
interaction and produces
institutionalized “sinful social
structures”
• Option for the Poor
o “Politics in the Philippines has
played a big role in keeping the
majority of the population in poverty.
Unless the Church pursues this
urgent task of evangelizing politics, it
will continue to militate against the
poor. “
The Church Assessment on Philippine
Politics
• “The present Filipino political environment,
characterized by its continuous and
relentless corruption of values, is still
perceived as the ‘biggest bane in the
Philippine society as a nation and the most
serious obstacle in achieving full
development.” - Catechism for Filipino
Catholics 732
The Philippine Political Scene
• Political Peddling
 o the practice of using political
influence in government or
connections with persons in
authority to obtain favors or
preferential treatment for another to
obtain something in return
o “The Philippine political order is
accused too often of moral
bankruptcy which manifests itself in
the acts of deceit and dishonesty,
corruption, manipulation and a
deadening preoccupation with
narrow political interests, observed
in practically all branches and at all
Signs of Hope in Philippine Politics
levels of government. “
The Philippine Political Culture
• Political Culture
o refers to the usual ways of thinking
and the corresponding behavior, the
value system and the resulting way
of life
▪ Patronage Politics
• a system based on a
feudal master and
Urgent Calls of the Church in Philippine
servant relationship
Political Life
where the relationship
between public official
and ordinary citizen is
that of a patron and
client
▪ Political Dynasty
• succession of political
power by individuals
belonging to the same
heritage or multiple
members of the same
family occupying
different positions in
the governing sector
of a province or city
▪ Politics of Personalities
• a system where the
popularity counts
more than knowledge
and competence of
political candidates
▪ Pay-Off Politics
• a system where a
political stand
depends on what the
supporters or funders
can get in return for
supporting a
candidate
Active Political Involvement of the Laity
The Philippine Electoral Process
• Before Elections
o Diverse electoral maneuvers
o Trivialization of campaign period
o Lies and deception
• During Elections
o Threatening cultural elements of
Philippine Elections
o Corruption of various forms
• After Elections
o Politics debased and prostituted to
the low level
• Sound Individual Filipino Values
o moral outrage in the face of
violence, injustice, untruth
o formation of circles of discernment
• “These people, united by a vision of heroic
citizenship, are reasons for hope amidst the
creeping cynicism and apathy to the political
system of the country.” - Catechism for
Filipino Catholics 1139
• As the shepherd and teacher of the flock,
the Church, vows to continue building the
three (3) C’s among the faithful: Character,
Capability, and Community.” - CBCP,
Building A “Civilization of Love”: A Pastoral
Exhortation for the Year of Social Concerns,
May 11, 2006
• Character
o to deepen the Filipino sense of:
▪ honesty
▪ integrity
▪ service
▪ responsibility
▪ stewardship
▪ solidarity
• Capability
o Individuals and groups should
continuously grow in their capacities
to:
▪ govern themselves
▪ develop their abilities
▪ make leadership accountable
• Community
o the need of promoting a spirituality
of citizenship, which is a concrete
way of living out the social virtue of
solidarity
“The Church calls upon those who are competent, Pastoral Statement on the 2007 National Elections,
persons of integrity, and committed to change to July 8, 2007; Building A “Civilization of Love”, May
get involved directly in principled partisan politics, 11, 2006.
and even become candidates for political election
and be a leaven of social transformation for the THE CHURCH ON THE
country.“ - CBCP, Pastoral Statement on Lay
Participation in Politics and Peace, July 12, 2009.
PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC SPHERE
“The intimate relationship of economics with the
Education on Politics as Public Service
moral and spiritual life urges all the faithful ‘to
“There is a need for a change of attitudes, the need renew economic life with the values of the Gospel
for belief and real acceptance that public service is so that even ‘economy and progress can be
a sacred trust. Dishonesty and corruption must be transformed into places of salvation and
eradicated and avoided from every level of social sanctification.” - Compendium on the Social
life.” - CBCP, Man, Our Way: The Human Person In Doctrines of the Church, 326.
Philippine Society: Pastoral Letter On Social
Transformation, 1985 CBCP: 1998 Exhortation on
Philippine Economy: A Revisit
On the Exercise of the Right of Suffrage
• ‘trickle down economics’; ‘a faceless
“This sacred right must be exercised according to
development’
the dictates of informed, enlightened and politically
o ‘jobless growth’
mature social conscience for it is the starting point
▪ without new opportunities for
for infusing Christian morality and spirituality into
employment
the electoral process.” - CBCP, Statement on The
o ‘ruthless growth’
Coming National and Local Elections Transforming
▪ benefiting mainly the wealthy
Election Through A Solidarity of Conscience, May
o ‘voiceless growth’
4,2010
▪ without extension of
On the Choice of Political Candidates democracy or empowerment
o ‘rootless growth’
The common qualifications of a candidate issued ▪ causes cultural identities to
by the Church in its exhortations and statements wither
ever since the Marcos era up to the present are, by o ‘futureless growth’
and large, similar in content. They are summed up ▪ destroys the environment
into five (5) categories:
Kinds of dehumanizing ‘poverty of
• Competence (May Kakayahan) economic exclusion’ in the Philippines
• Pro-God (Maka Diyos) (CBCP)
• Pro- Poor (Maka-Tao)
• Pro-Country (Maka-Bayan) • Exclusion from:
• Pro- Environment (Maka-Kalikasan) o gainful livelihood
▪ unemployment
Other Specific Ways of Active Political ▪ underemployment
Participation ▪ contractual labor
“Citizens can pursue principled political o sufficient shelter
participation in many specific ways apart from ▪ informal settlers and
responsible voting. Any competent and homeless by natural and
conscientious lay person with a talent or potential man-made calamities
for elective office should seriously consider o rural development
preparing in a systematic way to become ▪ rural poverty
candidates, or at least to campaign actively for the o adequate health care
excellent or superior candidates. Some can join o privatization of public hospitals and
and be active in civil society groups or citizens rising population of the elderly
organizations that pursue social -political • Exclusion from quality education:
awareness, social justice, good governance and o out-of–school youths and
equality.” - A Pastoral Statement on Lay overcrowded schools
Participation in Politics and Peace, July 12, 2009;
“In a world where there is so much wealth, so many ▪ “Work is for the worker’ and
resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that not ‘the worker for work.” -
there are so many hungry children, so many Pope John Paul II, Laborem
without an education, so many are poor. It is, Exercens (On Human Work),
indeed, a scandal.” Pope Francis, World Youth Day #6
Rio, 2013. ▪ Threefold significance of
work
CST Principles for a Philippine ‘caring • Personal
economy’ and a ‘development with a human o for the good of
face’ the worker
o Work is a
• Centrality of the Human Person and
‘fundamental
Solidarity
right’ of man
o Filipino as a society’s right to
necessary for
participate or at least to be consulted
man’s self-
in decisions that affect their lives
expression
o calls for the authorities to evaluate
and
the possible negative impacts of
transformation
projects in the name of progress,
by ‘becoming
industrialization and development
more of a
• Preferential Option for the Poor human being’
o Poverty, misery and social injustice
• Familial
are still widespread and the standing
o a worker
normal phenomena in the country
becomes
• Universal Purpose of Created Goods accountable
o The richest 10% of the Philippine not only to
population is earning 10 times more himself but to
than the poorest ten percent, with others as well,
the income of the richest families especially to
soaring way beyond the income of his wife and
the poorest children who
o The bottom line is basically the are precisely
refusal of the more privileged of the dependent on
“universal destination of goods” that him for their
ultimately brings about this social well-being
disorder, unrest, dissent, even
• Societal
violence in society
o for the welfare
• Recognition of the Meaning and Dignity of society and
of Work building
o Objective Sense communion
▪ includes the acts done, the o Work is a
resources utilized, the builder of
instruments used and social relation
technology adopted in order because it
to produce something for takes place
temporal advantages within social
o Subjective Sense relations and
▪ refers to the human person leads to social
engaged in or attending to a relations
job
• Spirituality of Work
▪ the activity of a worker as
o Participation of Christ’s Redemptive
individual capable of
Act
undertaking a variety of
▪ Work should make one
actions necessary for his/her
closer to God
self-realization in accordance
• a participation in the
with his role or mandate
creative power of God
 through changing,
developing, ennobling
and beautifying things
on earth
▪ Vocation
• an expression of
man’s true nature as
being made in the
image and likeness of
God through working
creatively and
responsibly using • Rights of Workers
one’s talents and
abilities to the fullest
• not a necessary evil
nor a curse
▪ Personal and Social Sins in
Work
• becomes a source of
social sin when
accompanied by
anxiety concerning
competition for social
status, fame and
power
• when it leads to
alienation of the
worker-person from
their identity
o used when
profitable
o discarded
when no
longer needed
o made to work
with no
consideration
for his
intellectual
and moral
perfection
• when it becomes a
compulsion because
of the social tendency
to judge persons in
terms of work they do,
wage and economic
success
• Priority of Labor over Capital
o Labor
▪ refers to personal element of
the worker or strength of the
human resources:
knowledge, creativity and
capacity
o Capital
▪ refers to all material
resources, such as money
and tools or instruments for
production or manufacturing
o Labor has intrinsic priority over
capital
o Both parties should work in solidarity
toward creating a real "community of
persons" rather than be enemies in
the achievement of their respective
welfare and of the common good
o Right to Decent Work
▪ Freely chosen and effectively
associating workers with the
development of their
community;
▪ Enables the worker to be
respected and free from any
form of discrimination;
▪ Makes it possible for families
to meet their needs and
provide schooling for their
children, without the latter
being forced into labor;
▪ Permits the workers to
organize themselves freely,
and to make their voices
heard;
▪ Leaves enough room for
rediscovering one’s roots at a
personal, familial and
spiritual level;
▪ Guarantees those who have
retired a decent standard of
living.
o Right to Just Wage
▪ Determinants of just wage
• Should be a ‘family
wage’
o salary given to
the head of
the family
sufficient
enough for the
needs of the
family without
the other
spouse taking
a gainful
employment
outside of the
home
• Contribution of the
worker in the
economic effort
 • National common
good: state of the
enterprise and
country
• Universal common
good
o Healthy Working Environment
▪ The working environment
must be such that physical
health is not endangered and
morals are safeguarded
▪ Right to security in cases of
sickness, inability to work, old
age, and unemployment
▪ Right to sufficient rest and
leisure
▪ The Issue of
Contractualization and
outsourcing of labor
o Worker’s Associations, Assembly
and Unionism
▪ Importance of Unionism
• It serves as a weapon
of self-defense
against injustices of
employers
• It serves as
instruments of
education for
members
• It promotes the
interests of the
workers in attaining
better working
conditions
• It helps develop, in
the worker, a sense of
loyalty to and identify
with the enterprise
• It helps in the
implementation of
labor and social laws
• It helps the state by
relieving it of many
burdens that it has to
attend to
▪ Limitations of Unionism (not
an absolute right)
• Limited by the higher
and more basic rights
of religious, moral and
political freedom
• Guard against
abusing their strength
in an exploitative
manner by using
force to impose
conditions that are so
burdensome for the
overall economy and
for the entire
community or society
• Policies of the union
should not become
the affair of an
oligarchy within the
union.
o Collective Bargaining
▪ A mode of settling labor
disputes and a just means of
compromise between the
employer and the laborers
▪ It is always directed to some
issues and conditions of
employment which are over
and above those mandated
by law
▪ Both the union and
management negotiate a
compromise on issues of
wages and benefits on
principle of parity of strength
▪ It is unfair to expect unions to
make concessions to the
management if managers
and shareholders do not
make at least equal sacrifices
o Right to Stage a Strike
▪ There are instances,
however, that despite the
time and effort spent in
dialogue, labor and
management do not come to
terms. In these
circumstances, unions may
tend to resort to more forceful
measures to settle the issue
through strike
▪ Strike
• the collective and
concerted refusal to
work on the part of
the organized workers
to continue rendering
their services for the
purpose of obtaining
benefits
▪ Morality of Strikes:
Conditions for moral
justification
• Strikes must be for a
just cause
 • All other means must
have been exhausted
or consumed
• The good expected
from the strike should
be greater than its
negative
consequence
• There should be a
reasonable hope of
success
• The means employed
must be morally
acceptable
• The Principle of Profit Sharing
o Consciousness of Corporate Social
Responsibility
o Practical Benefits
▪ promotes:
• healthy employer-
employee relations
• loyalty
• equity and social
justice
• team spirit
▪ increases productivity
▪ results in reduction in labor
turnover
▪ results to less supervision.