Morality and Social Justice

Morality in General
The Theology Library: Morality.
Ethical Articles

What is Ethics? by Claire Andre and Manuel Valasquez
Thinking Ethically: A Framework for Moral Decision Making, by Claire Andre, Manuel Valasquez, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer.
The Horizon of Faith, by Paul Fitzgerald, S.J.
Morality and Conscience, Pastoral Letter by Bishop John Keating
Conscience and Authority
Ethics and Virtue, by Claire Andre and Manuel Valasquez
Everyday Ethics: Morality Requires Regular Reflection on the Day-to-Day Decisions that Confront Us, by Thomas Shanks, S.J.

Ethics Updates, A Resource for Teachers and Students of Ethics
Cheating Themselves, by Miriam Schulman
Lying, by Tim C. Mazur
The Poynter Institute, A School for Journalists
Sin The Seven Deadly Sins, Four sins crying to Heaven for vengeance, six sins against the Holy Spirit, and nine ways of being an accessory to another’s sin.
Ethics
Sin

Major Church Documents

Official Church Documents, A list of many official Church documents on Catholic Social Teaching.
Official Church Documents. A list of many Official Church documents sorted by title.
Documents Relating to Catholic Social Teaching. An exhaustive list of papal documents, and bishop conference documents.
Access to Catholic Social Justice Teaching. A large site with lots of links.
Paul VI: Octogesima Adviens (1971) Call to Action.
John Paul II: Evangelium Vitae (1995). The Gospel of Life.
John Paul II: Fides et Ratio (1998). Faith and Reason.

Other Pontifical Documents and Bishops Documents

Justicia in Mundo (Justice in the World) (1971). World Synod of Bishops.
World Hunger – A Challenge for All: Development in Solidarity (1996)
Towards a Better Distribution of Land (1997)
Ecclesia in America. (1999).
Papal Address to Congress on Transplants (2000)

U.S. Bishop Conference Documents

1919 Program of Social Reconstruction. (1919)
Brothers and Sisters to Us (1979).
Statement on Capital Punishment. (1980)
The Challenge of Peace (1983).
Communities of Salt and Light (1993). U.S. Bishops Statement on Parishes.
A Decade After Economic Justice for All (1995)
A Catholic Framework for Economic Life. (1996)
Called to Global Solidarity (1997). International Challenges for U.S. Parishes.
Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers. (1997)
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions (1998)
Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics. (1998).
Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice (1998). A Pastoral Reflection on Lay Discipleship for Justice in a New Millennium.
Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility For a New Millennium. National Conference of Catholic Bishops (November 1999)
Blessings of Age. A Pastoral Messge on Growing Older in the Faith Community (1999)
Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation (1999)
In All Things Charity: A Pastoral Challenge for the New Millennium (1999).

Individual Bishops Statements

U.S. Bishops Department of Social Development and World Peace.
A Catholic Appeal: Leadership for the Common Good (1995). Archbishop William Keeler of Baltimore.
Bishop William Skylstad’s Introduction to A Catholic Framework for Economic Life. (1996).
An Economy of Paradoxes (1996). Bishop William Skylstad Statement for Labor Day.
Church Teaches That All Life is Valuable (1996). Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop Harry Flynn, on the opposition of the Church to Capital Punishment.
Archbishop Flynn on Economic Justice (1996). Archbishop Harry Flynn comments on A Decade After Economic Justice.
Economic Progress: Looking Beyond the Numbers (1997). Bishop William Skylstad Statement for Labor Day.
Labor Day: Not a Picnic for Everyone (1998). Most Reverend William Skylstad, Bishop of Spokane Labor Day Letter. Bishop Skylstad is also Chairman of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Domestic Policy.
Bishop Kenneth Angell Good Friday Capital Punishment Statement (1999).
Bishop Kenneth Angell on Same-Sex Marriage/Domestic Partnerships (2000).

Catholic Social Teaching Articles

The Common Good and Catholic Social Teaching (1996). From the Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
Catholic Social Teaching. A Resource from the Diocese of Cleveland.
The Principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church, by Javier Hervada
Six Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, from the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St.Paul.
An Introduction to the Social Teaching of the Church, by Thomas Storck
Charity and Justice: What’s the Difference? from the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St.Paul.

Catholic Social Teaching Web Sites and Resources

Catholic Social Teaching: Food for Thought. Official Site of the Office of Social Justice in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The Busy Christian’s Guide to Catholic Social Teaching. An excellent summary of Catholic Social Teaching.
"Cookbooks": A Reading List of Catholic Social Teaching. Many of the Titles can be ordered online.
Notable Quotations from Catholic Social Teaching. Indexed with a wide variety of specific topics.
Major Themes of Catholic Social Teaching. From the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The Catholic Social Doctrine Page. A fairly large collection of Church documents, web sites and resources.
Parish Social Justice Tool Box. An excellent parish resource from the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, United States Bishops’ Reflection, June 19, 1998. This document also contains the summary statement, a report of the Task Force on Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Education.
Justpeace.org A collection of Catholic Social Justice Documents and teachings.
The Theology Library: Justice and Peace.
The Theology Library: Catholic Social Teaching.

Abortion

The Catechism and Abortion. Excerpts from relevant Sections.
US Bishops Resolution on Abortion (1989).
Issues in Care for the Beginning of Life, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, (1994).
Confronting a Culture of Violence (1994), US Bishops.
Faithful for Life (1995) US Bishops.
US Bishops Statement: Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics (1998).
US Bishops Statement on 25th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1998)
National Right to Life Committee.
Feminists for Life of America. A Pro-Life Women’s Group.
The Theology Library: Abortion.

Bioethics

National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Critical Decisions: Genetic Testing and Its Implications. United States Bishops’ Committee on Science and Values, March, 1996.
Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics. (1998).
Papal Address to Congress on Transplants.(2000)

Capital Punishment and Prisons

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part III, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 5.
A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty (1999), NCCB.
US Bishops Statement Against Capital Punishment (1980).
Catholics Against Capital Punishment.
Background Information for Angel On Death Row, PBS Special On Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking.
Angel On Death Row, Transcript from PBS Special On Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
Would Jesus Pull the Switch?, by Sr. Helen Prejean
Live Nun Talking, an interview with Sr. Helen Prejean.
The Wrong Men on Death Row, a US News and World Reports Story.
Death Penalty Information Center.
Church Teaches That All Life is Valuable (1996). Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop Harry Flynn, on the opposition of the Church to Capital Punishment.
Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics. (1998).
A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty, Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, April 2, 1999.
The Theology Library: Capital Punishment / Death Penalty.

Cloning

Reflections on Cloning (1997). Pontifical Academy for Life.
Notes on Cloning (1997). Pontifical Academy for Life.
Papal Address to Congress on Transplants.(2000)

Elderly

Pope John Paul II Letter to the Elderly (October 1, 1999).
Blessings of Age. A Pastoral Message on Growing Older in the Faith Community (1999)

Environment

Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good U.S. Bishops Statement, June 2001
The Theology Library: Environment.

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Living and Dying According to the Voice of Faith (1997), A Pasotral Letter to Catholics in Michigan.
Issues in Care for the Dying, National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1994).
The Theology Library: Euthanasia.

Evolution

Humani Generis (Pope Pius XII) (1950)
Truth Cannot Contradict Truth. Pope John Paul II Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (1996).

Health Care

Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (1994), National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Papal Address to Congress on Transplants.(2000)
Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, June 2001 Statement.

Homelessness

Pope John Paul II: Developing Special Concern for the Homeless (1997)
Covenant House.
National Coalition for the Homeless.
The Theology Library: Homelessness.

Human Rights

The Theology Library: Human Rights.

Hunger

Food Results from Ethic of Solidarity, Pope John Paul II’s address to the United Nations, November 13, 1996
World Food Day Messages from Pope John Paul II, 1981-1995. Most available in English.
Wipe Out the Tragic Scandal of Hunger, Pope John Paul II, General Audience, November 13, 1996.
Hungerweb. A site of hunger related web sites and resources.
U.S. Census World Population Information. Ranks countries by population size from 1950 to 2050.
Economic Progress: Looking Beyond the Numbers (1997). Bishop William Skylstad Statement for Labor Day.
Labor Day: Not a Picnic for Everyone (1998). Most Reverend William Skylstad, Bishop of Spokane Labor Day Letter. Bishop Skylstad is also Chairman of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Domestic Policy.
The Theology Library: Hunger.