3   What is the common good?

The common good is "the sum total of social conditions which allow          people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and easily" (GS, 26).

It consists of three essential elements: (a) it presupposes respect for the fundamental rights of the human person and the natural freedoms necessary for the development of the human vocation; (b) it requires the social well being and development of the group itself, i.e., whatever is needed to lead a truly human life such as food, clothing, health, work, education, and culture should be accessible to each one; (c) it requires peace, i.e., the stability and security of a just order (cf. CCC, 1907-09). These social conditions are obtained through social justice.

FAQs taken from CBCP Catechism on Politics

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Last Updated: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 01:31:01 PM