Raffaele Renato Martino: Compendiul de Doctrină Socială a Bisericii
In October 2004, the Pontifical Council Justitia et pax published the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. This document sketches in an unitary framework and in a synthetically way the Social teaching of the Church which is the result of the magisterial reflection and of the permanent involvement of the Church in defending the principles of the Gospel. In this study the author exposes briefly why it was necessary this document, the questions and the challenges addressed to the theologians who wrote it, the principles which uphold the doctrine we read in it: person’s pre-eminence and dignity, the principles of common good, solidarity and subsidiarity. In the conclusion, the author expresses his conviction that the social doctrine is unbreakably united with charity which God manifested toward the people and which we imitate in the reciprocal relations. This teaching does not represent an abstraction, but a principle which tries also today to create a civilization of love.