Catholic Social Teaching

Drawing on his long experience of having lectured, written on and taught the topic, Kenneth Himes has gathered here some of the most frequently asked questions on Catholic social teaching. Using the always popular Responses to 101 Questions format, he introduces this important part of the Catholic tradition to students as well as inquiring believers.

Some of the topics covered in the questions are: human dignity and human rights; the kinds of justice; family and social structures; justice and political life; the meaning of human work; labor unions and the rights of labor; the just wage; capitalism, socialism and communism; the just war tradition; pacifism; the arms race; debt forgiveness; women in society; racism; immigration and the death penalty.

"Jim Bacik knows both his theological material and his flock. He has not simply written a book about Catholic social teaching; he has written a book that urges readers to reflect for themselves upon that tradition and to do so in the pastoral settings in which they live and work as American Catholics. The theologian and the pastor have both been at work in crafting this brief yet rewarding book."

--from the foreword

"This book illuminates the Catholic social tradition anew, situating its documents and themes in key historical, social, and cultural contexts and inviting readers into its moral and spiritual implications. This accessible yet substantive volume offers valuable insights for urgent signs of our times."

--Kristin E. Heyer, Joseph Chair in Theology, Boston College

"Catholic Social Teaching crosses the gaps existing for many Catholics between faith today and Catholic social tradition. Bacik sharpens that tradition's key themes, then engages it with U.S. life and politics. This work will be an enriching discovery for teachers, pastors, students, and every Catholic who wonders how their Church can speak effectively to the dilemmas and rifts we now face, both ecclesially and socially."

--Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan, SJ, Professor of Theology, Boston College

Fr. Jim Bacik is a priest of the Diocese of Toledo, ordained in 1962, and is the former pastor of Corpus Christi University Parish in Toledo. He has his doctorate in theology from the University of Oxford and has published numerous articles and fifteen books. Fr. Bacik has taught graduate theology courses at Notre Dame University, Fordham University, the University of San Francisco, and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has also lectured widely around the United States and internationally.

+