the Catholic church has a wide ranging and many layered collection of teachings about social justice issues in order to help organize these ideas within the many Church documents about social teaching we have seven traditional principles that help introduce the major themes and easier to understand Concepts in this video we are going to look briefly at each principle or theme in order to introduce you to the foundational principles at the heart of Catholic Social teaching let's begin number one life and dignity of the human person this principle means that all life is sacred every person is precious in the eyes of God from conception to Natural death this principle is the foundation for the church's teaching on abortion euthanasia cloning embryonic stem cell research the death penalty and even the pursuit of peace and conflict in many ways all the other principles can be traced back to this first main idea all human life is sacred and deserving of dignity number two call a family community and participation all people have the right to participate as Citizens in society seeking the common good we are social beings and should protect the institutions that strengthen our community like marriage and family St John Paul II says Christian families can be a sign of unity for the World by presenting to their children a model life based on the values of Truth freedom justice and love this principle has been the central theme to the church's stance on marriage and family issues number three rights and responsibilities this principle challenges us to recognize our duty to protect the rights that all people have according to the human dignity given to them by God the only way to protect the community and the rights and dignity of the human person is for each of us to take responsibility and duty to another family in the society in which we live number four option for the poor and vulnerable this principle means putting the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society first and mending the divisions between the rich and the poor we think of the Lord Jesus's words what you did for the least one of my the brothers of mine you did for me and the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring Glad Tidings to the poor number five the Dignity of work and the rights of workers work is the way that we participate in God's creation to protect the Dignity of work we must protect the basic rights of all people to find jobs that pay a just wage to organize and join unions and to own private property in the late 19th century as the work in factories became ever present the church needed to take a stance for the rights of workers Pope Leo the 13th wrote what may be the scene as the first major Catholic Social teaching document Ram narum or rights and duties of capital and labor in order to protect the rights of workers in these situations and this it is a document that still has relevance today as we continue to seek protection for the Dignity of work and the rights of workers number six solidarity solidarity is an important Concept in Catholic Social teaching that means that we are one family whatever our national racial ethnic economic or ideological differences are we are our brothers and sisters Keepers wherever they may be we practice solidarity by promoting peace and Justice finally number seven care for God's creation we are to show respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation our faith and sense of morality must lead us to protect the environment and be considerate of future generations of those people living on this planet these principles which are a summary of the major Concepts in e social teaching should only be a starting point they should be the foundation on which our we place our understanding of our role in society they should Inspire us to take responsibility to protect the rights and dignity of all people especially those in most need these principles outline the church's response to God's call to take action in the world for others we are to love one another as Christ loved us we are to love our neighbors as ourselves