7 themes of catholic social teaching quiz

what are the seven themes of catholic social teaching?

1. Life and dignity of the human person

2. call to family, community, and participation

3. rights and responsibilities

4. preferential option for the poor

5. the dignity of work and rights of workers

6. solidarity

7. Care for God’s creation

what is life and dignity of the human person

every human was created in the image of God and their life deserves to be respected. This means catholics are against practices such as abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.

What is call to family, community, and participation

it means that we have a responsibility to participate in our community and take on an active role in our family which is the most essential structure. This can look like babysitting siblings, caring for sick wife, helping neighbors move in, bringing pie to a church picnic.

what is ‘rights and responsibilities’

this means that we are all given rights and we need to use our rights to ensure that others get theirs. Everyone has the right to a home, so we volunteer to make homes for habitat for humanity.

what is preferential option for the poor

It is putting the poor first and caring about our fellow neighbor. This differs from solidarity because it does not necessarily indicate we are taking an active role in the lives of the poor. This includes praying for the local mission or for those in the homeless shelters, calling local representatives about new property taxes.

dignity and rights of workers

acknowledging the importance of laborers and ensuring that they are treated with dignity and work in fair conditions. This includes supporting/starting labor unions, going on strike, protesting unfit working conditions.

Solidarity

solidarity involves a call to action where we recognize our shared humanity between us and the people we are serving. This could be getting to know every individual at the soup kitchen you volunteer for.

Care for God’s creation

keeping good care of the earth as we were instructed to do in genesis. This can look like trying to be more carbon neutral, planting trees to help the environment, taking the bus to school to avoid adding pollution to the air.