Cardinal Tobin: Building the City of God

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

What is “the common good” that we seek to achieve as faithful citizens who vote according to our informed consciences? As described by Pope Leo XIV in his recent message to International Catholic Legislators (see selection below), it is the vision provided by the great Saint Augustine in his magnum opus, The City of God, which “built on love of God unto selflessness, is characterized by justice, charity and humility.”

According to Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes (#26), this vision of God’s kingdom here on earth refers to the actual conditions of human life, those conditions that promote, in every way, the full development of human flourishing. To achieve this state, Gaudium et Spes teaches that “constant changes in society are needed to bring it everywhere in line with truth, justice, love and freedom. The guiding Spirit of God working through the Gospel message arouses all of us to build our society to this end.”

The Catholic Church has articulated an extensive body of social teaching on nearly all the social, economic, and human rights issues facing people in every corner of the modern world. Pope Leo XIII, the namesake of our current pope, is known for establishing the foundations of modern Catholic social teaching with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution. When he explained his choice of name, our new pope drew a parallel between the societal upheaval of the late 19th century and the rapid advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st century and the importance of the Church’s social teaching as a means of addressing contemporary issues.

Vatican II helped set the agenda for our current reflections on critical human issues of freedom, justice and peace. The Council affirmed that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has important things to say on matters of political, economic, and moral concern. It also challenged each of us to be faithful citizens of our respective communities and to be fully engaged in promoting the general welfare of all (the common good). What his predecessor began 134 years ago, Pope Leo XIV is committed to continuing.

Ideologies, social theories, and political agendas often fail to yield practical results. Actions based on fundamental principles of human dignity are required to achieve the common good. “And because each of us is a person with human dignity, there must be at hand to each of us all things necessary for living a life that is really human: physical security, rights to free choice in family life, education, employment, [and] rights to respect, to information, to act according to conscience, to privacy and to religious freedom” (Gaudium et Spes #26).

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