Joseph Cardinal Höffner CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ... - Ordo Socialis

the priority over individual interests belong to the common good of the state. Many speak
with almost mystical emotion of „the“ common good (which exists just as little as „the“ tree)
without differentiating whether they mean the common good of a city, a state, or of all mankind.
Even less does a priority attach to the common good of an earthly social body when
faced by goods of the supernatural order. „The good of grace in one is greater than the good
of nature in the whole universe“ 19 .
c) The ultimate purpose of all sociality is the perfection of personhood. Society ultimately
serves the person, since „in the plan of the world, only the spiritual being is willed for its own
sake and everything else for its sake“(Thomas Aquinas, In Eth. Nic.I.1) „In the plan of the
Creator, society is a natural means which man can and must use to reach his destined end.
Society is for man and not vice versa“ (Pius XII, Divini Redemptoris. 29). Nevertheless one
may say that in a certain sense society also has an end in itself. For when a social body such
as a state develops in reverence for the divinely appointed order and blossoms, it fosters not
only the well-being of its members, but also serves as the realization of the divine idea of the
Creator’s glory and honor.
§ 3 Authority
1. With the help of the organism analogy, Christian social philosophy usually illustrates the
fact that every society requires a uniform authority conducing its members to the realization
of the common good, although this is not the case for the duo-personal community (e.g.,
friendship), which lacks an authoritarian structure. As the organism starts to break down with
the dwindling of its immanent vital forces, so no society can exist if everyone pursues his or
her particular interests. „Now a social life cannot exist among a number of people unless under
the governance of one to look after the common good; for many, as such, seek many
things, whereas one attends only to one“ (Thomas Aquinas, I, 96,4). If it is the task of authority
to take the necessary measures in the interest of the common weal as well as to assure the
continuance of the society by planning in advance.
The public authority can and should, according to „Centesimus annus“, be constituted exclusively
on the basis of an ethos that is equally binding on that authority and all members of
society. That ethos has its core in the „transcendent anchorage“ of human dignity. Without
such an anchorage, there would be a danger of „class interests, group interests, and national
interests inevitably bringing people into conflict with one another.“ „lf one does not acknowledge
transcendent truth: then the force of power takes over (44, 2). This applies equally to
disputes between citizens and, as a logical consequence, to the shape of public authority: „As
history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised
totalitarianism“ (CA 46,2).
2. The social authority (e.g. of the state), which is founded by the common good and tied to
the common good, is to be distinguished from the authority of origin as it exists prototypically
in the relationship of God to his creatures and analogously in the relationship of parents to
their children and in the relationship of the Church to those born of her womb in the sacrament
of baptism. It is the task of the social authority to order the coexistence of the individual
and of the groups through the promulgation and application of lawful norms. The Second
Vatican Council laments the fact that many today „use the name of freedom as the pretext for
refusing to submit to authority.“ The world of today needs people who „will respect the moral
order and be obedient to lawful authority“ and who „will be lovers of true freedom“ as well
(Dignitatis humanae, 8). The Council in no way has a triumphalistic glorification of the „divinely
appointed magistracy“ in mind. Every bearer of authority is exposed to error and fail-
19 Thomas Aquinas, S. Th. I-II, 113, 9 ad 3
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