Article
Social Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church
The social doctrine of the Roman Catholic church was defined particularly in two papal encyclicals: Rerum Novarum, by Leo XIII (1891), and Quadragesimo Anno, by Pius XI (1931). The church wished to show its preoccupation with the fate of the working classes, often victims of unbridled capitalism. Both documents preached a Christian humanism, decried the insufficiencies of capitalism, and warned against the evils inherent in socialism and in the doctrine of class struggle. The church clarified its teachings concerning employers' responsibilities and workers' rights, as well as related duties of the state. Leo XIII wrote that workers had a right to fair wages and that they could form Catholic unions whose existence should be protected by governments.
