Cardinal Tobin: Building the City of God
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Vol. 7. No. 2
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
What is “the common good” that we seek to achieve as faithful citizens who vote according to our informed consciences? As described by Pope Leo XIV in his recent message to International Catholic Legislators (see selection below), it is the vision provided by the great Saint Augustine in his magnum opus, The City of God, which “built on love of God unto selflessness, is characterized by justice, charity and humility.”
According to Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes (#26), this vision of God’s kingdom here on earth refers to the actual conditions of human life, those conditions that promote, in every way, the full development of human flourishing. To achieve this state, Gaudium et Spes teaches that “constant changes in society are needed to bring it everywhere in line with truth, justice, love and freedom. The guiding Spirit of God working through the Gospel message arouses all of us to build our society to this end.”
The Catholic Church has articulated an extensive body of social teaching on nearly all the social, economic, and human rights issues facing people in every corner of the modern world. Pope Leo XIII, the namesake of our current pope, is known for establishing the foundations of modern Catholic social teaching with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution. When he explained his choice of name, our new pope drew a parallel between the societal upheaval of the late 19th century and the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st century and the importance of the Church’s social teaching as a means of addressing contemporary issues.
Vatican II helped set the agenda for our current reflections on critical human issues of freedom, justice and peace. The Council affirmed that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has important things to say on matters of political, economic, and moral concern. It also challenged each of us to be faithful citizens of our respective communities and to be fully engaged in promoting the general welfare of all (the common good). What his predecessor began 134 years ago, Pope Leo XIV is committed to continuing.
Ideologies, social theories, and political agendas often fail to yield practical results. Actions based on fundamental principles of human dignity are required to achieve the common good. “And because each of us is a person with human dignity, there must be at hand to each of us all things necessary for living a life that is really human: physical security, rights to free choice in family life, education, employment, [and] rights to respect, to information, to act according to conscience, to privacy and to religious freedom” (Gaudium et Spes #26).
As Pope Leo teaches, “the future of human flourishing depends on which ‘love’ we choose to organize our society around – a selfish love, the love of self, or the love of God and neighbor.” Every economic, social and political issue that we struggle with today finds its ultimate solution in the love of God and in respect for human dignity, for concrete persons made in God’s image and likeness. That’s why Catholic social teaching compels us, in the words of Pope Leo, “to work for a world where power is tamed by conscience, and law is at the service of human dignity” and, at the same time, “to reject the dangerous and self-defeating mind-set that says nothing will ever change.”
Our society urgently needs a renewed politics that focuses on moral principles, the defense of life, the needs of the weak, and the pursuit of the common good. This kind of political participation reflects both the social teaching of our Church and the best traditions of our nation. The social teachings of Vatican II and the subsequent writings of popes and synodal gatherings can guide us in our efforts to envision and build the City of God here on earth—in our homes, our neighborhoods, our nation, and throughout the world.
Let us join together in pursuing the common good and building God’s city here and now in the circumstances of our lives. And let us place our hope in the One who never disappoints us, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Sincerely yours in Christ the Redeemer,
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R.
Archbishop of Newark
What is Catholic Social Teaching?
Catholic social teaching is a central and essential element of our faith. Its roots are in the Hebrew prophets who announced God’s special love for the poor and called God’s people to a covenant of love and justice. It is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind”(Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45). Catholic social teaching is built on a commitment to the poor. This commitment arises from our experiences of Christ in the eucharist.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, “To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren” (no. 1397).
Catholic social teaching emerges from the truth of what God has revealed to us about himself. We believe in the triune God whose very nature is communal and social. God the Father sends his only Son, Jesus Christ, and shares the Holy Spirit as his gift of love. God reveals himself to us as one who is not alone, but rather as one who is relational, one who is Trinity. Therefore, we who are made in God’s image share this communal, social nature. We are called to reach out and to build relationships of love and justice.
Catholic social teaching is based on and inseparable from our understanding of human life and human dignity. Every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ and, therefore, is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family. Every person, from the moment of conception to natural death, has inherent dignity and a right to life consistent with that dignity. Human dignity comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment.
Our commitment to the Catholic social mission must be rooted in and strengthened by our spiritual lives. In our relationship with God, we experience the conversion of heart that is necessary to truly love one another as God has loved us.
(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions)
A Message from Pope Leo XIV: In the one Christ, we are one
[Saint Augustine] taught that within human history, two “cities” are intertwined: the City of Man and the City of God. These signify spiritual realities – two orientations of the human heart and, therefore, of human civilization. The City of Man, built on pride and love of oneself, is marked by the pursuit of power, prestige and pleasure; the City of God, built on love of God unto selflessness, is characterized by justice, charity and humility. In these terms, Augustine encouraged Christians to infuse the earthly society with the values of God’s Kingdom, thereby directing history toward its ultimate fulfilment in God, while also allowing for authentic human flourishing in this life.
This theological vision can anchor us in the face of today’s changing currents: the emergence of new centers of gravity, the shifting of old alliances and the unprecedented influence of global corporations and technologies, not to mention numerous violent conflicts. The crucial question before us believers, therefore, is this: how can we accomplish this task?
To answer this question, we must clarify the meaning of human flourishing. Today, a flourishing life is often confused with a materially wealthy life or a life of unrestricted individual autonomy and pleasure. The so-called ideal future presented to us is often one of technological convenience and consumer satisfaction. Yet we know that this is not enough. We see this in affluent societies where many people struggle with loneliness, with despair and a sense of meaninglessness.
Authentic human flourishing stems from what the Church calls integral human development, or the full development of a person in all dimensions: physical, social, cultural, moral, and spiritual. This vision for the human person is rooted in natural law, the moral order that God has written on the human heart, whose deeper truths are illuminated by the Gospel of Christ. In this regard, authentic human flourishing is seen when individuals live virtuously, when they live in healthy communities, enjoying not only what they have, what they possess, but also who they are as children of God. It ensures the freedom to seek truth, to worship God and to raise families in peace. It also includes a harmony with creation and a sense of solidarity across social classes and nations. Indeed, the Lord came that we “may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
(A selection from the address of Pope Leo XIV to participants in the 16th annual meeting of the International Catholic Legislators Network, Saturday, August 23.)
My Prayer for You
Please join me in this prayer for peace using the words of Pope Leo XIV:
May the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace, bless and guide our efforts for the true flourishing of the human family. May our Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, inspire us to seek truth, to worship God and to raise families in peace. Amen.