Eleventh question

Is the Church an old political bloc out to control the world?

“It controls women's bodies.” “It hates LGBTQ people.” “It's fallen behind science and human rights.” Let's start with the sensitive questions.

The Church's social teaching is not a party platform. It is the work of examining, in the light of the Gospel, the dignity of every person, life, the common good, and our responsibility toward the poor and toward creation. Nor will we hide the times the Church itself has broken that teaching.

A watercolor of little lambs talking over their questions in a field of blue flowers

First, a few promises

  • We do not mock, insult or threaten anyone, or justify violence, in the name of explaining doctrine.
  • We do not reduce complex policy questions to one line: “if you're Catholic, this is your party.”
  • We do not erase the Church's wrongs, past and present, by pointing to good intentions or the spirit of the age.
  • Above all, we listen first to the experience and the safety of the people directly concerned, and we do not treat a person as nothing but a topic of debate.

Talking through society's sharpest questions

  1. See the person before the issue. Listen to the safety and the experience of the person concerned, then explain the doctrine.
  2. Distinguish principle from policy. Human dignity cannot be conceded, but several judgments are possible about how to bring it about.
  3. Admit the Church's wrongs first. Don't produce the good record to offset the silence and the complicity of the past.
  4. Don't abandon one person while claiming to protect another life. Along with the words, have housing, medical, legal and financial support ready.
  5. Draw a stop line at insults. Doctrinal debate is possible, but hatred, harassment and violence stop immediately and the safeguarding procedure is followed.

A 30-second answer “Catholic social teaching isn't a party platform for controlling people; it's a teaching meant to protect the dignity and life of every human being, the common good and the poor. The Church also has to admit its history of wronging women, LGBTQ people, Indigenous peoples, scientists and the victims of political repression. When it speaks its doctrine it can't permit hatred or coercion, and it has to show that through real responsibility — caring for the unborn child and the woman, for refugees and the local community, for the people of today and the generations to come, all together.”

For parents and catechists: how to guide the conversation

  • When you take up abortion, LGBTQ people or contraception, remember that someone directly concerned, or a family that has been hurt, may be in the room, and never turn a person into a case study or a joke.
  • Rather than having them memorize the Church's conclusions, practice the process of judgment: human dignity; the intention, object and circumstances of an act; the common good.
  • If you hear a disclosure of violence, a risk of self-harm, a coerced relationship or a pregnancy crisis, stop the discussion and connect the person immediately with a safe guardian and with professional medical and protective agencies.
  • Don't turn social teaching into grounds for supporting a particular party; compare the advantages and disadvantages of the various policy options that follow from the same principles, factually.
  • Check the Church's historical wrongs and its good contributions each against the sources, but don't run a scorecard in which one erases the other.

Read more in the official documents

This is a catechetical aid; it does not stand in for a choice of party or for an individual medical or legal judgment. For urgent or specialist matters such as safety, pregnancy, violence, discrimination or refugee status, ask for help from trustworthy local medical, protective and legal services.