Often referred to as the best kept secret of Catholicism, Catholic Social Teaching (CST) refers to a body of official writings issued by popes, bishops, and other prominent faith leaders.  It reflects the Church’s teaching on the order of social life based of four key sources:

• Scripture
• Tradition
• Reason
• Experience

At the core of CST is the common good.  That is, the good of the community.  St Augustine describes the common good as one which is not diminished by being shared with others.

Catholic Social Teaching is summarized by seven key principles or themes which are meant to highlight key aspects of a healthy community.  Any good set of principles are going to be overlapping, and they will all point toward justice: right relationships among people.  A summary of each principle is listed below, each image links to a short 3 to 4 minute video discussing the principle in more detail.  

The summaries and videos are part of Catholic Relief Services CST 101, 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 principles.