Catholic Social Teaching

Caring for God’s creation is not a political stance, but a moral and spiritual responsibility at the heart of our Catholic faith.

In 1965, Catholic priests and nuns joined the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for voting rights for African Americans. In 2025, we may be facing similar moral challenges against social justice.

The modern tradition of Catholic social teaching (CST) — the toolbox of principles the church calls us to draw upon to build the just social order — was instigated by Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). We now have a new pope, Leo XIV, who is reminding us of this corpus of teaching as a resource as the world is torn by war and faces the challenge of a new digital industrial revolution.

The May 1 study estimating the potential effects of a mass deportation program estimated that 3.8 percent of all U.S. citizen children — about 2.7 million in total — face the potential of being left without either parent in their home as a result of such a program, while 4.71 million — 6.7% of all citizen children — are at risk of losing from their household one parent who is in the U.S. without documents.

Liz Hamak: I pray that each of us seek ways to embody the teachings of the Church, and to offer our time, talent and treasure to support those in need.

To help Catholics prepare to vote, the Minnesota Catholic Conference has created a collection of resources, including specific information on Catholic Social Teaching, faithful citizenship, human dignity and political guidelines for parishes.

A political climate hostile to the needs and existence of immigrants is not only morally wrong, it also weakens the structures of democratic governments, said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston.

A federal judge ruled March 1, 2023, Starbucks violated the law with aggressive tactics to stop a unionization effort that began in Buffalo.