Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Church supports democracy

Read the Catechism in a Year image
Read the Catechism in a Year
The Seventh Commandment: You shall not steal.

How did the Church's social teaching develop?
The Church supports democracy, because of all political systems it offers the best conditions for achieving equality before the law and safeguarding human rights. In order to do that, however, democracy must be more than mere majority rule. True democracy is possible only in a State ruled by law that recognizes the fundamental God given rights of all and defends them, if necessary, even against the will of the majority. [1922]
History teaches that even democracy offers no absolute protection from violations of human dignity and human rights. It always runs the risk of becoming a tyranny of the majority over a minority. Democracy depends on preconditions that it cannot guarantee in and of itself. That is why Christians in particular must make sure that the values indispensable to a democracy are not undermined. (YOUCAT question 441)

Dig Deeper: CCC section (2422-2425) and other references here.

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