“If you want peace, work for justice.” Pope Paul VI’s invitation in the encyclical Populorum Progressio or “The Development of Peoples” in 1967 marks a significant articulation of one of the keystones of Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity. The core of solidarity is this, ‘God asks us to look at our lifestyles and to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with those in poverty.’
Catholic Social Teaching is often described as one of the hidden treasures of the Catholic Church. The tradition of solidarity has been intensively engaged with over the history of the Church, but the reforms and invitations of the Second Vatican Church propelled Catholic Social Thought into the forefronts of theology and education.
It is grounded in the evangelical invitation of Jesus in Matthew 25: In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers [or sisters] of mine, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)
I love the resources from Caritas Australia on our Catholic Social Teaching:
https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst/solidarity
Catholic Social Teaching.org.uk is a livesimply initiative, a network of 60+ charities who support the radical idea that God calls us to look hard at our lifestyles and live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with poor people at home and overseas:
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/solidarity/
Check out this fantastic article that explores solidarity in the context of Laudato Si.
https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/laudato-si-joins-tradition-catholic-social-teaching
CST 101 is a collaborative 7-part video and discussion guide series presented by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services on Catholic social teaching. The videos bring the themes of Catholic social teaching to life and inspire us to put our faith into action.
https://www.crs.org/resource-center/CST-101?tab=solidarity
Finally, I wanted to share some glimpses of some of the wisdom of the Church that engages and explains the concept of solidarity in a concise manner. If you have made it this far (who knows who reads this!), thanks for being in solidarity with me as we journey into this important awareness!
Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.
- Saint Pope John Paul II, On Social Concern [Sollicitudo rei Socialis], 38
It is a word that means much more than some acts of sporadic generosity. It is to think and to act in terms of community, of the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few. It is also to fight against the structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labour rights. It is to confront the destructive effects of the empire of money: forced displacements, painful emigrations, the traffic of persons, drugs, war, violence and all those realities that many of you suffer and that we are all called to transform. Solidarity, understood in its deepest sense, is a way of making history, and this is what the Popular Movements do.
- Pope Francis, World Meeting of Popular Movements 2014
To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is the good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of "all of us", made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. … To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.
- Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], 7
It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in- hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise. Consumers should be continually educated regarding their daily role, which can be exercised with respect for moral principles without diminishing the intrinsic economic rationality of the act of purchasing… It can be helpful to promote new ways of marketing products from deprived areas of the world, so as to guarantee their producers a decent return.
- Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], 66
At another level, the roots of the contradiction between the solemn affirmation of human rights and their tragic denial in practice lies in a notion of freedom which exalts the isolated individual in an absolute way, and gives no place to solidarity, to openness to others and service of them. . . It is precisely in this sense that Cain’s answer to the Lord's question: "Where is Abel your brother?" can be interpreted: "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen 4:9). Yes, every man is his "brother's keeper", because God entrusts us to one another.
- St. Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life [Evangelium Vitae], no. 19
Interdependence must be transformed into solidarity, based upon the principle that the goods of creation are meant for all. That which human industry produces through the processing of raw materials, with the contribution of work, must serve equally for the good of all.
- St. John Paul II, On Social Concern [Sollicitudo rei Socialis], 39
We have to move from our devotion to independence, through an understanding of interdependence, to a commitment to human solidarity. That challenge must find its realization in the kind of community we build among us. Love implies concern for all - especially the poor - and a continued search for those social and economic structures that permit everyone to share in a community that is a part of a redeemed creation (Rom 8:21-23).
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, 365
The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes it impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger, misery and poverty of other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even elementary human rights. The nations of the world are becoming more and more dependent on one another and it will not be possible to preserve a lasting peace so long as glaring economic and social imbalances persist.
St. Pope John XXIII, On Christianity and Social Progress [Mater et Magistra], 157
III. HUMAN SOLIDARITY (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
(Please note: excuse the outdated gendered language: this is the language of the Church at a specific time in history and has not been retranslated)
1939 The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.
1940 Solidarity is manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work. It also presupposes the effort for a more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced and conflicts more readily settled by negotiation.
1941 Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples. International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this.
1942 The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new paths for, the development of temporal goods as well. And so, throughout the centuries has the Lord's saying been verified: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well":