Interpreting the Social Doctrine of the Church from a Theological Perspective
Editorial
It is only natural that some of you may have wondered about the following: if the academic consensus dates the birth of the Church’s Social Doctrine to 1891 with Leo XIII’s encyclical *Rerum Novarum*, then did the Church spend 19 centuries without moral guidance in the areas covered by this discipline—that is, in politics, economics, culture, etc.?
Of course not: ever since she emerged from the side of Christ, his bride, the Church has inhabited an ethos—etymologically, a dwelling—of her own, from which she engages with the cosmos in a dialogical and critical manner, acting as the seed and blueprint of what the world and humanity ought to be. Throughout these more than 20 centuries of ecclesial history, the golden rule of the Church’s morality has been “to integrate the secular into the supernatural, respecting its structure and grammar, since it, too, is grace.” This salvific dialogue with society has gone through various stages: at times, the Church has been invasive; at others, we have isolated ourselves; at still others, we have become blurred… but, in general, the Church has been the leaven that has made possible humanity’s greatest achievements, such as: the awareness of the sacred dignity of the person and—therefore—the centrality of the poor, the integral defense of all life, the complementarity of the two sexes, justice and solidarity as the foundation of all relationships, the demystification of the natural —enabling the birth of experimental science and technology—, the universal destination of goods, the intrinsic bond among all people and even with the rest of creation —integral ecology—, the central role of society and the rejection of tyranny… 
All of this was achieved without there being a specific subject or moral branch of the Church’s social doctrine. It was achieved because the Church holds the glory of the Trinity, revealed to us in the liturgy; the holiness of many of her children; and the wisdom of her finest shepherds and teachers. It is divine glory, holiness, and wisdom that make our home welcoming and transformative, not moralism or rhetoric.
Undoubtedly, it is positive that there is a body of social moral doctrine, such as that which began to be systematically developed starting with *Rerum Novarum*; but that only makes sense if it is integrated into the theological-spiritual whole of the Church. In other words, to understand the scope of the Church’s doctrine on the specific social issues to which it typically refers—labor relations, ideologies, economic problems, political systems, types of education, ecology, technology, artificial intelligence…—we must immerse ourselves in the ecclesial ethos we have just described. Failing to follow this order can lead us either to a social moralism centered on casuistry—which, as a result, fails to offer the Christian perspective—or to a hateful interpretation, whether because it is misguided or lukewarm: the kind offered by conservative, Marxist, and all manner of bourgeois secularist currents.
This is precisely what must be avoided.
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