The Social Doctrine of the Church, Mary and Joseph

When Saint Luke insists—twice—that Mary kept all these things in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51), he also underlines the as it were holistic word "all," as people say today, a word we find again in the Social Doctrine of the Church:

"The salvation offered in its fullness to men in Jesus Christ by God the Father's initiative, and brought about and transmitted by the work of the Holy Spirit, is salvation for all people and of the whole person: it is universal and integral salvation. It concerns the human person in all his dimensions: personal and social, spiritual and corporeal, historical and transcendent."[1]

Consequently[2]:

• All the Social Doctrine of the Church has a profound vision of the human person.
• The life of the Church is linked to life in society. Social teaching can't be separated from the life of the Church.
• Employment or economic problems are never purely that; neither are environment questions only questions about the environment, etc.

Thus we perceive the two as indissociable as follows:

• The Council fathers placed chapter VIII at the summit of the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, "the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of Christ and the Church."
• The Church invites the faithful to entrust all social problems to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[3]

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[1] Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §38

[2] Cf. Mgr Giampaolo Crepaldi, under the direction of: Paul H. Dembinski, Nicolat Buttet, Ernesto Rossi di Montelera, Car c'est de l'homme dont il s'agit, Parole et Silence, DDB 2007.

[3] Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio poenitentia §35