Issues

The Church affirms the right to migrate in search of safety and a dignified life, the duty of receiving nations to welcome migrants to the extent possible, and the obligation to treat all migrants with the dignity owed to human persons (CCC 2241; Laudato Si §175; Strangers No Longer).

Work is a fundamental expression of human dignity. The right to organize, to receive just wages, and to safe working conditions are not privileges but duties owed by society (Rerum Novarum; Laborem Exercens §§6–10; Centesimus Annus §15).

Punishment must serve rehabilitation and reintegration, not retribution. The Church calls for restorative justice, humane conditions of incarceration, and investment in healing broken social bonds (Compendium of the Social Doctrine §§402–405).

Access to healthcare is a right rooted in human dignity. Society has an obligation to ensure that all people, especially the poorest, can receive the medical care necessary to live a dignified life (Caritas in Veritate §43; Compendium §166).

Adequate shelter is a fundamental human right. Society must ensure that no person is left without a home through active public investment, fair housing enforcement, and protection of the vulnerable from displacement (Gaudium et Spes §26; Compendium §167).

The goods of the earth are destined for all of humanity. Wealthy nations bear a positive duty of solidarity to the global poor through foreign aid, debt relief, fair trade, and international development investment (Populorum Progressio §§43–55; Caritas in Veritate §§36–38).

Economic systems must be evaluated by their treatment of the poorest. The Church demands a preferential option for the poor, condemns structural sin that produces inequality, and calls for economic institutions that serve human dignity rather than profit alone (Centesimus Annus §§11–12; Laudato Si §§109–110).

Care for creation is a moral obligation, not a political preference. The earth belongs to all, and environmental degradation is a form of injustice that disproportionately harms the poor. Climate change is a moral crisis requiring urgent collective action (Laudato Si §§24–26, 49–52; Laudate Deum).

War is permissible only as a last resort, when all peaceful means have been exhausted, and only when conducted with strict proportionality and discrimination between combatants and civilians. Arms sales without humanitarian conditionality are complicit in unjust violence (CCC 2309; Gaudium et Spes §§78–82; Compendium §§438–442).