Fr. McCloskey on CST

The Magisterium and Catholic Social Teaching by Rev. C. J. McCloskey III

He writes: "Catholic social teachings are nothing less than the Beatitudes of the gospel refined for action in the world."

The Beatitudes may be the summation of Christian ethics or moral teaching, with the primacy of charity. But is the elaboration of charity sufficient for the development of a political theology, so that everything can be unpacked from our understanding of charity alone? Justice does have a ratio distinct from charity; can we uncover the definition of justice by reasoning what charity requires from us with regards to others? Perhaps that is possible for those who are wise; the rest of us must rely on the connections made by our teachers. At any rate, if CST takes as its focus and its material the modern nation-state, is it not therefore contingent rather than absolute (in the sense of "ideal" or "regarding the best possible polity"?) If a Catholic program to reforming the nation-state is impracticable because the [centralized] nation-state itself is itself impracticable, then might we not need to reconsider what our course of action should be? {Relocalization and rebuilding community, beginning with the family and extended kin group and the parish.]