The Catholic Church Christian Theodicy

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The Catholic Church uses Social Teachings as a form of guidance to respond to evil institutions such as the CIA and bring about justice. When asked how the Catholic Christian theodicy helps make sense of institutional evil, Nicole Young (2017) said “Institutional evil is a very difficult concept to comprehend. It is a turning away from righteousness and love, and it’s a turning away from our own innate humanity. I suppose the Catholic Christian theodicies help me to understand that I need to work towards helping my fellow man every day of my life so that my contribution of free will to the world is one of good and not evil.” This perspective is one that strongly reflects the Catholic belief that charity and relationships lead to justice and …show more content…

Essentially, human beings are the foundation of every social institution, the creators and the destroyers, and likewise, as the Augustinian theodicy describes, we are the cause and the end of all evils. By responding to the Catholic social teachings, we can bring about social justice. Insults to human dignity, such as those seen in Guantanamo Bay, poison society and destroy our right and just relationship with God, each other and all of God’s creations. Without this relationship, we have no solidarity and no connection with our human family (Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 2017). The Catholic Church proclaims we must “love thy neighbour”, despite racial or ideological differences. Pope Francis (2015) said, “In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably a summons to solidarity. (Pope Francis, 2015).Steve Jorgensen said this aspect particularly aligned with his essential understanding of social justice, stating, “we have a responsibility to treat all people respectfully and deal with them appropriately after careful consideration based on the compassionate teachings of Jesus Christ…Society should be working for the benefit of all not just the few” (Jorgenson, 2017). In the concern of the people in the world experiencing oppression due to the many forms of evil; solitude, the common good and human dignity is much more important than the institutions who refuse to abandon their power. Young believes the Catholic focus on human dignity of all

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