(OSV News): Human dignity is central to achieving social justice and development, with faith-based organisations playing a key role, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations, said on February 4.
Archbishop Caccia shared his thoughts in an address to the international body’s 64th Commission for Social Development at UN headquarters in New York.
The commission, part of the UN Economic and Social Council, promotes policies aimed at eradicating poverty, advancing social integration, and ensuring “full employment and decent work for everyone.”
It oversees the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration, which recognised the link between economic growth, social development, and environmental protection.
Archbishop Caccia welcomed the commission’s focus on “advancing social development and social justice through coordinated, equitable and inclusive policies.”
He noted that “human flourishing requires meeting basic needs such as food, water, shelter, together with quality healthcare and education and also freedom.”
…political institutions exist to provide people with the material resources and freedoms required to achieve cultural, moral and spiritual goals
Archbishop Caccia
That task, he said, “calls for effective coordination within and between governments, as well as with stakeholders, including faith-based organisations.”
He cited Catholic social teaching, referencing a February 2 joint statement on solidarity between the Church in the US and Africa, which discussed how these teachings apply to challenges worsened by foreign aid cuts.
He stressed subsidiarity, which encourages local stewardship, with larger institutions providing support when necessary.
Archbishop Caccia said coordination among governments and faith-based organisations should promote “collaboration with affected communities to ensure that policies reflect the needs and priorities of those they aim to serve.”
He also emphasised the family’s importance, citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls it the “natural and fundamental group unit of society” and “primarily responsible for the well-being of its members, particularly children.”
Governments “should respect and support the family, and provide appropriate assistance when necessary,” the archbishop said, noting families “foster values that encourage inclusion, solidarity and social integration.”
…human flourishing requires meeting basic needs such as food, water, shelter, together with quality healthcare and education and also freedom
Archbishop Caccia
The common good should guide both social development and justice. Responsibility for achieving it “belongs to both individuals and the state,” he noted.
The state “must guarantee the cohesion, unity and organisation of society,” since “political institutions exist to provide people with the material resources and freedoms required to achieve cultural, moral and spiritual goals,” Archbishop Caccia said.
Quoting Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te [I Have Loved You], the archbishop said “resolving the structural causes of poverty” is crucial—not only to maintain “the good order of society,” but because “society needs to be cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises.”
Archbishop Caccia pointed out, “The deprivations of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion are not only material, but also spiritual and moral in nature, leading to discouragement, despair and loneliness.”
He noted “this spiritual dimension” of poverty was recognised in the Copenhagen Declaration and reaffirmed at the Second World Summit for Social Development, held in Doha in November.
Archbishop Caccia commended to UN member states the work of faith-based organisations, which, “animated by their values,” offer “reassurance, hope, and support to those most in need.”
“The Holy See remains firmly committed to social justice and social development and will continue to support all efforts which promote the common good and the integral development of each person,” he said.
