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Notable Quotations from Scripture and Tradition

“Woe to those who enact unjust statutes/and who write oppressive decrees,/depriving the needy of judgment/and robbing my people’s poor of their rights/making widows their plunder,/and orphans their prey!”

Other Scripture passages on the theme of Rights and Responsibilities:
Deuteronomy 5:17; 30:19 (right to life)
Sirach 34:22 (rights of workers)
Psalm 146:5-8 (freedom from oppression)

"It is not right . for either the citizen or the family to be absorbed by the state; it is proper that the individual and the family should be permitted to retain their freedom of action, so far as this is possible without jeopardizing the common good and without injuring anyone." (On the Condition of Workers [Rerum Novarum], Pope Leo XIII, 1891, no. 52)

"[The State] has also the duty to protect the rights of all its people, and particularly of its weaker members, the workers, women and children. It can never be right for the State to shirk its obligation to work actively for the betterment of the condition of [workers]." (On Christianity and Social Progress [Mater et Magistra], 1961, no. 20)

"But first we must speak of man's rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medicare care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood." (Peace on Earth [Pacem in Terris], Pope John XXIII, 1963, no. 11)

"[The Catholic tradition] calls for a society of free work, of enterprise and of participation. Such a society is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the State, so as to guarantee that the basic needs of the whole of society are satisfied." (On the Hundredth Anniversary of "Rerum Novarum" [Centesimus Annus], Pope John Paul II, 1991, no. 35)

"In a world where some speak mostly of 'right' and others mostly of 'responsibilities,' the Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities - to one another, to our families, and to the larger society. While public debate in our nation is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those who focus on social responsibilities, our tradition insists that both are necessary." (Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1998, 5)