OVERVIEW
The United States bishops have stated the Church’s social teaching is integral
to its identity and mission and they seek a renewed commitment to integrate
and to share the riches of the Church’s social teaching. Modern Catholic
social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar,
and episcopal documents. A selection of statements by U.S. bishops on various
social issues is offered here.
General Catholic Social Teaching
- Program of Social Reconstruction 1919
- Pastoral Letter of 1919
- Communities of Salt and Light, November 1993
- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, 1998
- Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice, November 1999
- In All Things Charity: A Pastoral Challenge for the New Millennium, November 1999
- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, June 1999
Care for Creation
- Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, June 2001
- The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good (An International Pastoral Letter by the Catholic Bishops of the Watershed Region, 2001)
- Renewing the Earth, 1991
Citizenship
Criminal Justice
- Statement on Capital Punishment, November 1980
- Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspectiveon Crime and Criminal Justice, November 2000
- A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, 2005
- A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty, April 1999
Domestic Violence
Diversify & Racism
Economic Justice & Local Poverty Issues
- Economic Justice for All, November 1986
- A Decade After Economic Justice for All, November 1995
- A Place at the Table: A Catholic Recommitment to Overcome Poverty and to Respect the Dignity of All God’s Children, December 2002
- “For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food” Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers, and Farmworkers, December 2003
- A Catholic Framework for Economic Life, November 1996
Elders
Human Trafficking
Immigrants/refugees
- Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity, 2001
- Strangers No Longer, January 2003, Joint Statement from Bishops of the United States and Mexico
- Statement on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 2012
Global Solidarity
Labor/rights Of Workers
Peace & Non-violence
- The Challenge of Peace, 1983
- The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, 1993 (A Reflection of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on the
Tenth Anniversary of The Challenge of Peace) - Confronting a Culture of Violence, November 1994
- Sowing Weapons of War, June 1995
- When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against
Women, 2002 - Statement on Israeli-Palestinian Violence, March 2002
- Resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis, June 2001
Respect Life
- Living the Gospel of Life, November 1998
- A Matter of the Heart, November 2002 (USCCB Statement on the 30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade)