8. Justice in the World 
Statement of the Synod of Bishops, November 30 1971
Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as
a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel,
or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from
every oppressive situation. (#6)
Unless combated and overcome by social and political action, the influence of the new industrial and technological order favors the concentration of wealth, power and
decision-making in the hands of a small public or private controlling group.
Economic injustice and lack of social participation keep people from attaining
their basic human ant civil rights (#9)
Our relationship to our neighbor is bound up with our relationship
to God; our response to the love of God, saving us through Christ,
is shown to be effective in his love and service of people. Christian
love of neighbor and justice cannot be separated. For love implies
an absolute demand for justice, namely a recognition of the dignity
and rights of one's neighbor. Justice attains its inner fullness only in love.
Because every person is truly a visible image of the invisible God and a sibling of Christ, the Christian finds in every person God himself and God's absolute demand
for justice and love. (#34)
Unless the Christian message of love and justice shows its
effectiveness through action in the cause of justice in the world,
it will only with difficulty gain credibility with the people of our times. (#35)
Listening to the cry of those who suffer violence and are oppressed
by unjust systems and structures, and hearing the appeal of a world
that by its perversity contradicts the plan of its Creator, we have
shared our awareness of the Church's vocation to be present in the
heart of the world by proclaiming the Good News to the poor, freedom
to the oppressed, and joy to the afflicted. (#5)
While the Church is bound to give witness to justice, she recognizes
that anyone who ventures to speak to people about justice must first
be just in their eyes. Hence we must undertake an examination of the
modes of acting and of the possessions and life style found within the
Church herself. (#40)
The members of the Church, as members of society, have the same
right and duty to promote the common good as do other citizens.
Christians ought to fulfill their temporal obligations with fidelity and
competence. They should act as a leaven in the world, in their family,
professional, social, cultural and political life. (#38)
Participation constitutes a right which is to be applied both in the
economic and in the social and political field. (#18)
The Church has received from Christ the mission of preaching the
Gospel message, which contains a call to people to turn away from
sin to the love of the Father, universal kinship and a consequent
demand for justice in the world. This is the reason why the Church
has the right, indeed the duty, to proclaim justice on the social,
national and international level, and to denounce instances of
injustice, when the fundamental rights of people and their very
salvation demand it. (#36)
At the same time as it proclaims the Gospel of the Lord, its
Redeemer and Savior, the Church calls on all, especially the poor,
the oppressed and the afflicted, to cooperate with God to bring
about liberation from every sin and to build a world which will
reach the fullness of creation only when it becomes the work of
people for people. (#77)
In the Old Testament God reveals himself to us as the liberator
of the oppressed and the defender of the poor, demanding from
people faith in him and justice towards one's neighbor. It is only
in the observance of the duties of justice that God is truly
recognized as the liberator of the oppressed. (#30)
Within the Church rights must be preserved. No one should be
deprived of his ordinary rights because he is associated with the
Church in one way or another. Those who serve the Church by
their labor, including priests and religious, should receive a
sufficient livelihood and enjoy that social security which is
customary in their region. Lay people should be given fair wages
and a system for promotion. (#41)
The Church, indeed, is not alone responsible for justice in
the world; however, she has a proper and specific responsibility
which is identified with her mission of giving witness before the
world of the need for love and justice contained in the Gospel
message, a witness to be carried out in Church institutions
themselves and in the lives of Christians. (#36)
Hope in the coming kingdom is already beginning to take root
in the hearts of people. The radical transformation of the world
in the Paschal Mystery of the Lord gives full meaning to the
efforts of people, and in particular of the young, to lessen
injustice, violence and hatred and to advance all together in
justice, freedom, kinship and love. (#76)
The world in which the Church lives and acts is held captive
by a tremendous paradox. Never before have the forces working
for bringing about a unified world society appeared so powerful
and dynamic; they are rooted in the awareness of the full basic
equality as well as of the human dignity of all. Since people are
members of the same human family, they are indissolubly linked
with one another in the one destiny of the whole world, in the
responsibility for which they all share. (#7)
In order that the right to development may be fulfilled by action:
(a) people should not be hindered from attaining development in
accordance with their own culture; (b) through mutual cooperation,
all peoples should be able to become the principal architects of
their own economic and social development; (#71)
Although in general it is difficult to draw a line between what is
needed for right use and what is demanded by prophetic witness,
we must certainly keep firmly to this principle: our faith demands
of us a certain sparingness in use, and the Church is obliged to
live and administer its own goods in such a way that the Gospel
is proclaimed to the poor. If instead the Church appears to be
among the rich and the powerful of this world its credibility is
diminished. (#47)
Our mission demands that we should courageously denounce
injustice, with charity, prudence and firmness, in sincere dialogue
with all parties concerned. We know that our denunciations can
secure assent to the extent that they are an expression of our
lives and are manifested in continuous action. (#57)
Christians' specific contribution to justice is the day-to-day life
of individual believers acting like the leaven of the Gospel in their
family, their school, their work and their social and civic life. (#49)