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THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM
- 406.
- “The Encyclical Centesimus Annus contains an explicit and articulate judgment with regard to democracy.”
VALUES AND DEMOCRACY
- 407.
- “An authentic democracy is not merely the result of a formal observation of a set of rules but is the fruit of a convinced acceptance of the values that inspire democratic procedures: the dignity of every human person, the respect of human rights, commitment to the common good as the purpose and guiding criterion for political life.”
- “The Church’s social doctrine sees ethical relativism, which maintains that there are no objective or universal criteria for establishing the foundations of a correct hierarchy of values, as one of the greatest threats to modern-day democracies.”
INSTITUTIONS AND DEMOCRACY
- 408.
- “The Magisterium recognizes the validity of the principle concerning the division of powers in a State.”
- “In the democratic system, political authority is accountable to the people.”
- 409.
- “In their specific areas (drafting laws, governing, setting up systems of checks and balances), elected officials must strive to seek and attain that which will contribute to making civil life proceed well in its overall course.”
MORAL COMPONENTS OF POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
- 410.
- “Those with political responsibilities must not forget or underestimate the moral dimension of political representation.”
- 411.
- “Among the deformities of the democratic system, political corruption is one of the most serious because it betrays at one and the same time both moral principles and the norms of social justice.”
- 412.
- “As an instrument of the State, public administration at any level –– national, regional, community –– is oriented towards the service of citizens.”
INSTRUMENTS FOR POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
- 413.
- “Political parties have the task of fostering widespread participation and making public responsibilities accesible to all.”
- “Another instrument of political participation is the referendum.”
INFORMATION AND DEMOCRACY
- 414.
- “Information is among the principal instruments of democratic participation.”
- 415.
- “The media must be used to build up and sustain the human community in its different sectors: economic, political, cultural, educational and religious.”
- Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Inter Mirifica, 3: AAS 56 (1964), 146.
- Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 45: AAS 68 (1976), 35-36.
- John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 37: AAS 83 (1991), 282-286.
- Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Communio et Progressio. 126-134: AAS 63 (1971), 638-640.
- Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Aetatis Novae, 11: AAS 84 (1992), 455-456.
- Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Advertising (22 February 1997), 4-8: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 16 April 1997, pp. I-II.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2494.
- Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree Inter Mirifica, 11: AAS 56 (1964), 148-149.
- 416.
- “In the world of the media the intrinsic difficulties of communications are often exacerbated by ideology, the desire for profit and political control, rivalry and conflicts between groups, and other social evils.”
- “In all three areas –– the message, the process and structural issues –– one fundamental moral principle always applies: the human person and the human community are the end and measure of the use of the media. A second principle is complementary to the first: the good of human beings cannot be attained independently of the common good of the community to which they belong.”
- Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications (4 June 2000), 22, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, pp. 23-25.
- Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Ethics in Communications (4 June 2000), 24, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2000, pp. 26-28.
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