Subsidiarity

Bread of Tomorrow

Community
O God, the source of our common life,
when we are dry and scattered,
when divided and alone,
we long for connection, we long for community.

Breath of God, breathe on us.
With those we live beside,
who are often strange to us,
whom we may be afraid to approach,
yet who have riches of friendship to share,
we long for connection, we long for community.

Breath of God, breathe on us.
With those we have only heard of,
who see with different eyes,
whose struggles we try to imagine,
whose fierce joy we wish we could grasp,
we long for connection, we long for community.

Breath of God, breathe on us.
With those we shall never know,
but whose lives are linked with ours,
whose shared ground we stand on,
and whose common air we breathe,
we long for connection, we long for community.

Breath of God, breathe on us.
When we are dry and scattered,
when we are divided and alone,
when we are cut off from the source of our life,
open our graves, O God,
that all your people
may be free to breathe, strong to move,
and joyful to stand together
to celebrate your name.
Amen.

Source: Janet Morley, “Bread of Tomorrow” (as edited by Annabel Shilson-Thoma (Diocese of Leeds)

"SUBSIDIARITY"

"The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all or cannot so well do, for themselves — in their separate and individual capacities."

— Abraham Lincoln"

Do others do for you what you can do for yourself? Catholic Social Teaching (“CST”) teaches that the human person is the fundamental subject and object of every social organization. One purpose of any community is to secure the common good of its people. Recognizing this, the principle of “subsidiarity” was developed by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quadragesimo anno, published in 1931, when he wrote:

Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them (no. 79).

As further explained by St. John Paul II:

A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good (Centesimus Annus, 48)

Subsidiarity is related to the CST principle of solidarity (see "Catholic Faith Formation Resources" article, “Solidarity"). As the U.S. Bishops explain:

Two principles are particularly important: solidarity and subsidiarity. Solidarity recognizes that each of us is connected, and we all have the responsibility to care for one another, particularly for those who are poor and vulnerable. The principle of subsidiarity recognizes that issues should be addressed at the appropriate level of society with the capacity to do so. The community charged with promoting human life and dignity should be willing and able to meet its obligations as we collectively work for the common good (USCCB letter to U.S. Senate, dated March 3, 2017).

We must seek to find a proper balance between these two principles. Otherwise,

Solidarity without subsidiarity can easily degenerate into a ‘Welfare State’, while subsidiarity without solidarity runs the risk of encouraging forms of self-centred localism. In order to respect both of these fundamental principles, the [government’s] intervention in the economic environment must be neither invasive nor absent, but commensurate with society’s real needs(Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 351).

VIDEOS

"The Principle of Subsidiarity"

"Subsidiarity - Catholic Social Teaching"

"Subsidiarity" (Fr. John Hollowell)

"Subsidiarity" (Omar Gutierrez)

"The Principle of Subsidiarity"

"Subsidiarity - Empowering Communities"

"The Principle of Subsidiarity"

"Solidarity and Subsidiarity"

MUSIC

"Blest Be the Lord"

"Spirit and Grace"

"Nobody Like You"

OTHER RESOURCES

"Subsidiarity is a Two-Sided Coin"

"Subsidiarity" ("The Catholic World Report")

"Subsidiarity" (Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis)

"How to Understand Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity and Subsidiarity"

Letter to the U.S. Senate, dated May 2, 2016 (Archbishop Thomas Wenski)

"Catholic Social Teaching: Subsidiarity"

"Subsidiarity: What It Really Means" ("Catholic Culture")

"Quadragesimo Anno" ("In the 40th Year") - "On Reconstruction of the Social Order" (Pope Pius XI)

"Letter to the U.S. Senate, dated March 3, 2017" (USCCB)

"What is the Principle of Subsidiarity" ("Aleteia")

"The Common Good and Subsidiarity" (Diocese of Leeds)

Call to Family, Community, and Participation" (USCCB)

"Other Resources on Catholic Social Teaching"

REFLECT ON YOUR EXPERIENCE

How do you create a balance between your self-interests and the welfare of others?

Are the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity practiced in the communities to which you belong?

We encourage and invite you to  spend time to reflect, pray, and write in your journal about what you have read, seen, heard, or experienced this week. You can find some questions you may wish to consider here.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, in now, and ever shall be.
Amen.