By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and Society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve Justice and peace. 93

It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of Society in a spirit of Truth, Justice, solidarity, and Freedom. the love and service of one's country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community.

God's fourth commandment also enjoins us to honor all who for our good have received Authority in Society from God. It clarifies the duties of those who exercise authority as well as those who benefit from it.

The fourth commandment illuminates other relationships in Society. In our brothers and sisters we see the children of our parents; in our cousins, the descendants of our ancestors; in our fellow citizens, the children of our country; in the baptized, the children of our mother the Church; in every human person, a son or daughter of the One who wants to be called "our Father." In this way our relationships with our neighbors are recognized as personal in character. the neighbor is not a "unit" in the human collective; he is "someone" who by his known origins deserves particular attention and Respect.

The importance of the Family for the life and well-being of Society 13 entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Civil Authority should consider it a grave duty "to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote domestic prosperity." 14

The Family should live in such a way that its Members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, Society to provide for their needs: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world." 12

The Family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural Society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for Freedom, security, and fraternity within society. the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.

In creating man and woman, God instituted the human Family and endowed it with its fundamental constitution. Its Members are persons equal in dignity. For the common good of its members and of Society, the family necessarily has manifold responsibilities, Rights, and duties.

In Respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days as legal holidays. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their traditions as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of Society. If a country's legislation or other reasons require work on Sunday, the day should nevertheless be lived as the day of our deliverance which lets us share in this "festal gathering," this "assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven." 125

The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, 37 but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of Society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right. 38

The term "merit" refers in general to the recompense owed by a community or a Society for the action of one of its Members, experienced either as beneficial or harmful, deserving reward or punishment. Merit is relative to the virtue of Justice, in conformity with the principle of equality which governs it.

Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae," 76 "by the very commission of the offense," 77 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. 78 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of Society.

The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil Society and its legislation:

Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that Society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

"It is necessary that all Members of Society meet the demands of Justice and charity in this domain. They should help, through the means of social communication, in the formation and diffusion of sound public opinion." 286 Solidarity is a consequence of genuine and right communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and Respect for others.

The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. 284 Society has a right to information based on Truth, Freedom, Justice, and solidarity:

Within modern Society the communications media play a major role in information, cultural promotion, and formation. This role is increasing, as a result of technological progress, the extent and diversity of the news transmitted, and the influence exercised on public opinion.

Since it violates the virtue of Truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another. It affects his ability to know, which is a condition of every judgment and decision. It contains the seed of discord and all consequent evils. Lying is destructive of Society; it undermines trust among men and tears apart the fabric of social relationships.

An increased sense of God and increased self-awareness are fundamental to any full development of human Society. This development multiplies material goods and puts them at the service of the person and his Freedom. It reduces dire poverty and economic exploitation. It makes for growth in Respect for cultural identities and openness to the transcendent. 229

Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination: men and women, healthy and disabled, natives and immigrants. 218 For its part Society should, according to circumstances, help citizens find work and employment. 219

Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible to Society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations. 217 They have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits. Profits are necessary, however. They make possible the investments that ensure the future of a business and they guarantee employment.

The responsibility of the state. "Economic activity, especially the activity of a market economy, cannot be conducted in an institutional, juridical, or political vacuum. On the contrary, it presupposes sure guarantees of individual Freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. Hence the principal task of the state is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and produce can enjoy the fruits of their labors and thus feel encouraged to work efficiently and honestly.... Another task of the state is that of overseeing and directing the exercise of human Rights in the economic sector. However, primary responsibility in this area belongs not to the state but to individuals and to the various groups and associations which make up Society." 216

The social doctrine of the Church developed in the nineteenth century when the Gospel encountered modern industrial Society with its new structures for the production of consumer goods, its new concept of society, the state and Authority, and its new forms of labor and ownership. the development of the doctrine of the Church on economic and social matters attests the permanent value of the Church's teaching at the same time as it attests the true meaning of her Tradition, always living and active. 200

Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the Family and into Society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.

Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is "an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of Society." 130 Chastity presupposes Respect for the Rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity. Physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the goods of marriage and the flourishing of Family life. the harmony of the couple and of Society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs, and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.

Respect for the human person entails respect for the Rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to Society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every Authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy. 36 If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church's role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.

Certain societies, such as the Family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man; they are necessary to him. To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a Society, the creation of voluntary associations and institutions must be encouraged "on both national and international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various professions, and to political affairs." 5 This "socialization" also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his Rights. 6

A Society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an assembly that is at once visible and spiritual, a society endures through time: it gathers up the past and prepares for the future. By means of society, each man is established as an "heir" and receives certain "talents" that enrich his identity and whose fruits he must develop. 3 He rightly owes loyalty to the communities of which he is part and Respect to those in Authority who have charge of the common good.

The human person needs to live in Society. Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus responds to his vocation. 2

The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. 141 From their covenant arises "an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of Society." 142 The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love." 143

"The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws.... God himself is the author of marriage." 87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, 88 some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian Society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and Family life." 89

"Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human Family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human Society." 640

Alongside the different forms of consecrated life are "societies of apostolic life whose Members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of their Society, and lead a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical counsels" according to their constitutions. 473

The faithful should "distinguish carefully between the Rights and the duties which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as Members of the human Society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously, remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a Christian conscience, since no human activity, even of the temporal order, can be withdrawn from God's dominion." 451

By her very mission, "the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human Society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the Family of God." 351 Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, 352 continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are "a sign of God's presence in the world," 353 and leads to the foundation of local churches. 354 It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people's culture. 355 There will be times of defeat. "With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic." 356

"Fully incorporated into the Society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but 'in body' not 'in heart.'" 321

"The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it.... This Church, constituted and organized as a Society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him." 267

"The one mediator, Christ, established and ever sustains here on earth his holy Church, the community of faith, hope, and charity, as a visible organization through which he communicates Truth and grace to all men." 184 The Church is at the same time: - a "Society structured with hierarchical organs and the mystical body of Christ; - the visible society and the spiritual community; - the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches." 185 These dimensions together constitute "one complex reality which comes together from a human and a divine element": 186

Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal Freedom and initiative. the teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of Society, always with a view to the common good." 7

Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, Respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which "subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones:" 8

Social Justice can be obtained only in Respecting the transcendent dignity of man. the person represents the ultimate end of Society, which is ordered to him:

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.

Participation is achieved first of all by taking charge of the areas for which one assumes personal responsibility: by the care taken for the education of his Family, by conscientious work, and so forth, man participates in the good of others and of Society. 31

Each human community possesses a common good which permits it to be recognized as such; it is in the political community that its most complete realization is found. It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil Society, its citizens, and intermediate bodies.

Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that Authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of Society and its Members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defence.

First, the common good presupposes Respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable Rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its Members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural Freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as "the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . . privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion." 27

Every human community needs an Authority to govern it. 16 The foundation of such authority lies in human nature. It is necessary for the unity of the state. Its role is to ensure as far as possible the common good of the Society.

"Human Society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate Authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all." 15 By "authority" one means the quality by virtue of which persons or institutions make laws and give orders to men and expect obedience from them.

The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature - to each man and to Society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him." 275