PART I - Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: The US Bishops’ Reflection on Catholic Teaching and Political Life - What Does the Church Say About Catholic Social Teaching in the Public Square?—Four Principles of Catholic Social Teaching - Conclusion

6060. The Church is principled but not ideological. As St. John Paul II wrote in his encyclical, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, The Church’s social doctrine is not . . . an ideology, but rather the accurate formulation of the results of a careful reflection on the complex realities of human existence, in society and in the international order, in the light of faith and of the Church’s tradition. Its main aim is to interpret these realities, determining their conformity with or divergence from the lines of the Gospel teaching on man and his vocation, a vocation which is at once earthly and transcendent; its aim is thus to guide Christian behavior. It therefore belongs to the field, not of ideology, but of theology and particularly ofmoral theology.(Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, no. 41) We cannot compromise basic principles or moral teaching. We are committed to clarity about our moral teaching and to civility. In public life, it is important to practice the virtues of charity and justice that are at the core of our Tradition. We should work with others in a variety of ways to advance our moral principles.