Exploring Catholic Social Teaching

180 Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
Vocabulary
Civil Law (n.): A rule
of conduct established
by legitimate human
authority. Just civil law
corresponds to right
reason and is derived
from the eternal law of
God. Unjust civil law
is contrary to reason.
Citizens are obligated
to obey just civil laws
because such laws are
in accordance with the
moral order. Citizens are
obligated in conscience
not to follow unjust civil
laws because such
laws are contrary to the
demands of the moral
order. Citizens must also
not cooperate in practices
allowed by civil law that
are contrary to the Law of
God.
resources provide a sense of security that allows the economy to function
properly. It is thus the duty of citizens “to contribute along with the civil
authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity,
and freedom. The love and service of one’s country follow from the
duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to
legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens
to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community” (CCC
2239). Obedience to higher authority and concern for the good of all are
the primary expressions of legal justice. Another example is when a worker
puts in a hard and honest day’s work for the pay he or she receives. An
old adage for the laborer is that one “ought not work slow for more dough.”
This violates the virtue of legal justice.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that not every law has the same
gravity or significance. Obviously, murder or dealing drugs is far more
harmful to society than jaywalking. There are even times when it can be
legitimate to break a civil law, especially in the case of an emergency. We
have to distinguish between moral laws that we may never violate — such
as the prohibition against murder, perjury, or treason — and civil laws that
are a matter of convention or custom. The latter laws will often admit exceptions
that do not result in a sin if we have a good and compelling reason
to break them. Think of a husband stopping and then passing through a
red light to get his pregnant wife to the hospital in the middle of the night.
While he breaks a civil law, he does so for a legitimate cause, and thus he
has not violated the virtue of legal justice.
Another function of legal justice is for citizens to participate in the political
process to the extent that they can. This can be through educating
themselves on the issues, voting (in a democracy or democratic republic
such as the United States), paying taxes, and working to ensure that
morally upright men and women govern the commonwealth. Participating
in the political process is an obligation of legal justice and of one’s membership
in a community. We sometimes elect leaders who do not have the
best interest of the commonwealth at heart. Perhaps they mismanage their
responsibilities or, even worse, are engaged in illegal activity. When this
is the case, legal justice obligates the governed to demand reform or a
change of leadership. Everyone is accountable to the rule of law according
to the demands of legal justice, even those in authority. They are not above
civil law, since they are subject to God’s law. In such cases of corruption,
citizens must use legitimate ways to bring about reform.
Legal justice, however, does not necessarily permit citizens to resort to
violent revolution as a means to bring about change. This very often makes
the situation worse by leaving behind a power vacuum filled by a government
even more corrupt. The Church provides several criteria for when a violent
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