Promoting social justice in an unjust world

Gaia in Nidaros Cathedral Trondheim 2022

The World Day of Social Justice is observed today, Tuesday 20 February. This is a day when countries are asked to recommit to address issues that stand as obstacles to social justice. For Catholics, "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appears to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation" (World Synod of Bishops, 1971).

Our Catechism teaches us that "Society ensures social justice when it provides the conditions that allow associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and their vocation. Social justice is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1928, 1929)."

When thinking about social justice, it is important to focus on the concept of intersectionality - including gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, height, age, weight, and physical appearance. And we must raise awareness of the difference between, for example, equity and equality. African-American civil rights advocate, Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, states that intersectionality is a lens for understanding reality, a concept for thinking about how the various criteria for discrimination interact and lead to many forms of injustice that are often embedded in institutional structures and also influence individual relationships.

I was fortunate to be present at the Vatican for the launch of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church in 2004. It offers "a complete overview of the fundamental framework of the doctrinal corpus of Catholic social teaching". Paras 132 and 247 remind us that:

"A just society can become a reality only when it is based on the respect of the transcendent dignity of the human person. The person represents the ultimate end of society. The social order and its development must invariably work to the benefit of the human person... not the other way around...It is necessary to consider every neighbour without exception as another self, taking into account first of all his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity[247]...Every political, economic, social, scientific and cultural programme must be inspired by the awareness of the primacy of each human being over society".

Love of God and neighbour requires that we play our part in our homes, communities, nation, and world to promote social justice equity, equality, and inclusion. The biblical parables of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), and the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) are worth studying. We cannot be indifferent in the face of injustice.

Our work to promote justice requires us also to embrace a concern for environmental justice. We are responsible for the earth that God has entrusted to us. Pope Francis makes it clear in his encyclical, Laudato Si', on the care of our common home, that: "We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental."

The US Bishops state in their Pastoral Statement (1991) "Renewing the Earth": "The web of life is one. Our mistreatment of the natural world diminishes our own dignity and sacredness, not only because we are destroying resources that future generations of humans need, but because we are engaging in actions that contradict what it means to be human. Our tradition calls us to protect the life and dignity of the human person, and it is increasingly clear that this task cannot be separated from the care and defense of all of creation."

Our world is sorely ill. Each day news of war fill our hearts with dread. Perhaps if we develop strategies that could prevent conflict, and make social justice an integral part of conflict resolution, we may succeed in our efforts to build a more just and peaceful world. Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, has rightly said: "Lasting peace depends on social justice, and the achievement of social justice depends upon peace. Those who resort to war deny social justice. And those who obstruct social justice endanger peace."

The promotion of right relationships requires us to reject greed, individualism, and other forms of 'isms'. Conscience formation is critical if we are to embrace the right values. "Our consciences... need to be converted to justice, equality, simplicity and sharing" (Pope Francis).

Leela Ramdeen, is a Consultant with Trinidad and Tobabo Catholic Commission for Social Justice & Attorney-at-Law