Documents of United States Bishops
The central message is simple: our faith is profoundly social. We cannot be called truly “Catholic” unless we hear and heed the Church’s call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace. We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus unless we take up his mission of bringing “good news to the poor, liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind.”
Selected Statements
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, 1993
- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, 1998
- Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice, 1998
Citizenship
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 2007, 2012
Criminal Justice
- Capital Punishment, 1980
- Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, 2000
- A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death, 2005
Diversity and Racism
Economic Justice and Local Poverty Issues
- Economic Justice for All, 1996
- A Decade after “Economic Justice for All:” Continuing Principles, Changing Context, New Challenges, 1996
- A Place at the Table: A Catholic Recommitment to Overcome Poverty and Respect the Dignity of all God’s Children, 2002
- For I Was Hungry and you Gave Me Food: Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers, and Farmworkers, 2003
Elders
Blessings of Age: A Pastoral Message on Growing Older Within the Faith Community, 1999
Environment
- Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, 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)
Human Trafficking
Immigrants/Refugees
- Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity, 2001
- Strangers no Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, 2003
- Statement on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 2012
Global Solidarity
Peace and Non-Violence
- The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, 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, 1994
- When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women, 2002
Documents of local bishops
In God’s Image, Pastoral Letter on Racism by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, 2003