Let's talk about the Social Doctrine of the Church
Monday, September 6, 2021
Victor Martell
A few weeks ago, horrific images of military personnel abusing their fellow citizens came out of Cuba. Similar images were previously released from Nicaragua and Venezuela. They were filmed not in war zones but in the streets of our countries in Latin America, by people tired of being abused, of not having any freedom, of lacking the fundamental conditions to be able to coexist in their own countries. The leftist dictators who repress their people are supported by the armed forces of those countries, with the approval of many of our brothers and sisters who enrich themselves while supporting a false ideology which no one really believes anymore.
I firmly believe that if these countries had been taught the Social Doctrine of the Church, perhaps they would never have fallen into that demagoguery of social revolutions. The only true social revolution is in the Social Doctrine of the Church, and I say it from experience: having been in the Catholic Church for 80 years, I did not know about this until about 40 years ago. Even today, when I have asked my brothers and sisters, they have no clue about it. Why?
We must try to overcome this error. Lectures and courses should be given immediately in all churches and affiliated groups on this great truth. Even more, all Christians, Protestant and Evangelical brethren, and everyone who believes in God and considers themselves humanists, should be involved in this. This doctrine was created hundreds of years ago. It is not only the work of the Catholic Church, and significant contributions have been made to it in accordance with the times in which we live. When our countries learn this teaching, everyone will understand how wrong they were and will embrace it as a banner. Then they will force their leaders to apply it in their governments, or else they will fall into the dumpster of history, like all dictators, both of the right and of the left.
The following excerpts are faithfully taken from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, so that you may see the urgent need we have to close ranks and study it, and later make it known in all the countries of the world:
#503 - "Every member of the armed forces is morally obliged to resist orders that call for perpetrating crimes against the law of nations and the universal principles of this law. Military personnel remain fully responsible for the acts they commit in violation of the rights of individuals and peoples, or of the norms of international humanitarian law. Such acts cannot be justified by claiming obedience to the orders of superiors.
“Conscientious objectors who, out of principle, refuse military service in those cases where it is obligatory because their conscience rejects any kind of recourse to the use of force or because they are opposed to the participation in a particular conflict, must be open to accepting alternative forms of service. 'It seems just that laws should make humane provision for the case of conscientious objectors who refuse to carry arms, provided they accept some other form of community service.'"
In my humble opinion, I believe that implementing this Social Doctrine throughout the world would lead us to grow as true brothers and sisters and live together in peace, and that one day we will be able to eradicate poverty from the face of the earth.
This column was originally published in the August 2021 edition of La Voz Católica.
Comments from readers