The Common Good is one of the central themes in Catholic Social Teaching, grounded in the belief that the common fatherhood of God creates a common brotherhood amongst men. The Common Good, then, is bound up not merely with ethical or political ideas about what is required for a society to flourish. It is bound up with our most deeply held doctrinal beliefs about who God is.
The Common Good is not the only cornerstone of Catholic Social Teaching. Human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity are all key elements in that body of teaching. These different principles, too, our rooted in our beliefs about human nature and about who God has revealed himself to be. Our human dignity is based upon the belief that we are created in God's image and likeness, the Imago Dei. Solidarity, like the Common Good, flows from our belief that we are bound up with each other in this human and divine drama, that we have claims upon each other, that our gifts and our goods are intended to be shared, especially with those who are poor and vulnerable. And subsidiarity is the idea that social problems should be resolved at the lowest level of social organization possible, and that government should only intervene when those lower levels of social organization are unable to adequately address the problems at hand. This seemingly technical rationale is rooted in the belief that our social relations, like our familial relations and like our relationship with God, are deeply personal.
All four of these principles are related one to another. The Common Good cannot ignore human dignity and human dignity is compromised whenever the Common Good is ignored. Subsidiarity and solidarity are flip-sides of the same coin: Both posit a relationship among persons. And, the Common Good cannot be achieved unless subsidiarity and solidarity characterize our culture.
The four principles are also reflected in the Church's commitment to labor, specifically to organized labor. In his landmark encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II wrote: "[Work] is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy; it is also good as being something worthy, that is to say, something that corresponds to man's dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it. If one wishes to define more clearly the ethical meaning of work, it is this truth that one must particularly keep in mind. Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes 'more a human being'." Work is a part of what confirms, and imparts, dignity to human kind.
In that same encyclical, Pope John Paul II noted that the Church must stand in solidarity with workers. He wrote, "In order to achieve social justice in the various parts of the world, in the various countries, and in the relationships between them, there is a need for ever new movements of solidarity of the workers and with the workers. This solidarity must be present whenever it is called for by the social degrading of the subject of work, by exploitation of the workers, and by the growing areas of poverty and even hunger. The Church is firmly committed to this cause, for she considers it her mission, her service, a proof of her fidelity to Christ, so that she can truly be the 'Church of the poor'." Those who seek to deprive workers of their rightful solidarity with one another, for example those who bust unions, are therefore showing their lack of fidelity to Christ. It is one thing for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to take on AFSCME. Does he recognize that his union-busting efforts are an affront to Christ? One suspects not. It is the Church's mission, as Pope John Paul II wrote, to remind him of that fact.
Subsidiarity is a concept often invoked by Catholic conservatives to oppose government intervention in the economy. These same conservatives tend to oppose organized labor, but organized labor is precisely the kind of intermediate social actor subsidiarity requires. Unions help raise and administer pensions, they help negotiate for and facilitate access to health care, they use mediation to resolve disputes. And, let it be said, that subsidiarity is a two-way street: When a social problem persists, such as the lack of adequate health care in this country, the government is obligated to step in. That is the part of subsidiarity today's conservatives tend to overlook.
You cannot look at the history of America in the 20th century without recognizing the many ways that unions have contributed to the Common Good. Did you enjoy your weekend? Thank a union member. Do your children enjoy going to school, and not having to be sent out to work at age fourteen, because it is against the law to make children work? Thank a union member. Do you and your neighbors enjoy higher wages than you might if business owners were the only ones with any say in setting prevailing wages? Thank a union member. Are you glad that our government has finally passed legislation to provide health care to all Americans, a law that was only passed with the help of organized labor? Thank a union member. There is scarcely a single progressive policy adopted in the last one hundred years that has not been fought for by organized labor.
As mentioned last week here at the Common Good Forum, Catholic University is sponsoring a conference on May 2 and 3 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the encyclical of Pope Leo XIII that is a sort of Magna Carta for Catholic Social Teaching. That conference will also examine more thoughtfully the issues touched upon in this short essay, specifically, how the Church's relationship with organized labor flows from our Catholic Social Teaching and, most importantly, what that teaching means for us today when unions are again under attack. What is clear is that many Catholics do not know our own teachings about unions or about the Common Good. Sad to say, there are some Catholics among those Tea Partyers. The Common Good Forum here at Catholics in Alliance helps articulate those teachings and apply them to current political debates, but it is incumbent upon progressive Catholics to reach beyond the choir and to spread the good news: The Church stands with labor because any failure to do otherwise would undermine our fidelity to Christ. Don't take my word for that. Take Pope John Paul II's.
