CSDC 87

The term “social doctrine” goes back to Pope Pius XI ¹³⁹ Cf. Pius XI, Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 23 (1931) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1931), 179; Pius XII, in his Radio Message for the fiftieth anniversary of Rerum Novarum: AAS 33AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 33 (1941) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1941), 197, speaks of “Catholic social doctrine” and, in the Encyclical Letter Menti Nostrae of 23 September 1950: AAS 42AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 42 (1950) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1950), 657, of “the Church's social doctrine”. John XXIII retains the expression “the Church's social doctrine” (Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See) [1961], 453; Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See) [1963], 300-301) and also uses “Christian social doctrine” (Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See) [1961], 453) or even “Catholic social doctrine” (Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See) [1961], 454). and designates the doctrinal “corpus” concerning issues relevant to society which, from the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum ¹⁴⁰ Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 97-144. of Pope Leo XIII, developed in the Church through the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiffs and the Bishops in communion with them¹⁴¹ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 3: AAS 73AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 73 (1981) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1981), 583-584; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1: AAS 80AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 80 (1988) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1988), 513-514.. The Church's concern for social matters certainly did not begin with that document, for the Church has never failed to show interest in society. Nonetheless, the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum marks the beginning of a new path. Grafting itself onto a tradition hundreds of years old, it signals a new beginning and a singular development of the Church's teaching in the area of social matters¹⁴² Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2421.. In her continuous attention to men and women living in society, the Church has accumulated a rich doctrinal heritage. This has its roots in Sacred Scripture, especially the Gospels and the apostolic writings, and takes on shape and body beginning from the Fathers of the Church and the great Doctors of the Middle Ages, constituting a doctrine in which, even without explicit and direct Magisterial pronouncements, the Church gradually came to recognize her competence.