Exploring Catholic Social Teaching

6 Recount or find an example
of someone, or a group, being
given preferential treatment
that another person might not
receive. Why do you think a
rightly-formed conscience is
troubled by such things? Students
may suggest injustices such as
the quality of legal defense that
is provided by overworked public
defenders compared to that which
is provided by expensive private
lawyers, celebrities receiving special
treatment when accused of crimes,
racist policies like segregation
withholding resources from specific
groups, discrimination against Asian
Americans in higher education, and
so forth. Someone with a rightlyformed
conscience is troubled
and, hopefully, moved to action,
whenever a person or group of
people faces injustice.
178 Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
Vocabulary
Law (n.): An ordinance of
reason promulgated by
a proper authority for the
common good.
to those in need, especially concerning public goods and infrastructure,
such as access to water, energy, transportation, clean air and water, and
green spaces. In addition, the distribution of wealth cannot accrue to the
powerful at the expense of the powerless, as when individuals conspire
to pay an artifi cially low wage to workers.
There are many common examples of distributive justice. For instance,
a nation owes its soldiers honor and gratitude, and we observe this duty
when we erect monuments to our fallen heroes and provide care and support
to our veterans and their families. Governments and judicial authorities
are obliged to uphold and enforce the rule of law for their people and
never oppress them or submit to corruption. If a judge were to go easy in
prosecuting a celebrity yet bring down the full weight of the law on a poor
man who could not afford adequate defense, society would not be distributing
justice fairly. Within the business community, a corporation owes its
workers a just wage and safe working conditions. (And workers owe their
employers an honest day’s work, which we will discuss in the next section).
In the family, parents must provide for the basic needs of their children to
Authority is exercised
legitimately only when
it seeks the common
good and administers
justice accordingly.
Allegory of Justice by Filippo Tarchiani, Matteo Rosselli,
and Ottavio Vannini (1620–1625).
© Sophia Institute for Teachers
148 Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
© Sophia Institute for Teachers