CSDC 106

All of social life is an expression of its unmistakable protagonist: the human person. The Church has many times and in many ways been the authoritative advocate of this understanding, recognizing and affirming the centrality of the human person in every sector and expression of society: “Human society is therefore the object of the social teaching of the Church since she is neither outside nor over and above socially united men, but exists exclusively in them and, therefore, for them”²⁰⁰ Congregation for Catholic Education, Guidelines for the Study and Teaching of the Church's Social Doctrine in the Formation of Priests, 35, Vatican Polyglot Press, Rome 1988, p. 39.. This important awareness is expressed in the affirmation that “far from being the object or passive element of social life” the human person “is rather, and must always remain, its subject, foundation and goal”²⁰¹ Pius XII, Radio Message of 24 December 1944, 5: AAS 37AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 37 (1945) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1945), 12.. The origin of social life is therefore found in the human person, and society cannot refuse to recognize its active and responsible subject; every expression of society must be directed towards the human person.