Catholic Social Traditions

People often see the scripture, Tradition of the Church and social situations as completely different entities. However, this is not true, the Catholic Social Teachings (CST) bridges these worlds together. The scripture is our main source of revelation, explaining how to reach the kingdom of heaven. For this reason, the Catholic Social Teachings rely heavily upon the scriptures as this leads to the Tradition of the Church. The Tradition and the scripture are highly intertwined.The Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church states: “the Church has accumulated a rich doctrinal heritage. This has its roots in Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels and the apostolic writings, and takes on shape and body beginning from the Fathers of the Church” (Catholic
As the Social Doctrine continues to state : “ Because of the public relevance of the Gospel and faith, because of the corrupting effects of injustice, that is, of sin, the Church cannot remain indifferent to social matters[98]: “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order” (Pope John Paul ll). The Catholic Social Teachings apply the Tradition and the scripture to current social situations and thus bridging them all together.

For instance, in the case of human trafficking the Catholic Social Teachings use the scripture to create the Tradition and then applies this to social situations. The CST expresses a strong stance against human trafficking. The UN has stated that “People trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved, the fastest growing international crime, and one of the largest sources of income for organised crime” (The UN Office on Drugs and Crime). This is a serious issue that unfortunately does not receive enough recognition. This heinous crime shows no regard