CST: Care for Creation – Solidarity

This was presented on November 16, 2025 at Santa Catalina Catholic Church, Oro Vallley AZ

Key Aspects of Solidarity

·         Shared responsibility: As children of God we are all interconnected. We are responsible for each other.

·         Action-oriented: compassion needs to include a commitment to act for the wellbeing of others.

·         The “I am because we are” principle: the individual identity is part of the larger community; the good of each person is linked to the good of the whole.

·         Address root causes: addressing (not just treating symptoms) structural causes of poverty and inequality.

·         Examples of practice:

o   Global efforts to help the poor.

o   Local actions: support a neighbor, a community project, advocate for justice.

o   Empathy for the sick or lonely.

o   Challenging indifference.

“We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be.  Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that “if you want peace, work for justice.” The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.”

Scripture

• Genesis 12:1-3 

  
  

          God blessed Israel so that all nations would be blessed through it.

• Psalms 72 

  
  

           Living in right relationship with others brings peace.

·            Zechariah 8:16           These are the things you should do: Speak truth, judge well, make peace.

• Matthew 5:9  

  
  

          Blessed are the peacemakers; they will be called children of God.

• Romans 13:8-10  

  
  

           Living rightly means to love one another.

Tradition  

“Solidarity means much more than engaging in sporadic acts of generosity. It means thinking and acting in terms of community. It means that the lives of all are prior to the appropriation of goods by a few. It also means combatting the structural causes of poverty, inequality, the lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labor rights. It means confronting the destructive effects of the empire of money… Solidarity, understood in its most profound meaning, is a way of making history, and this is what popular movements are doing.” (Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship [Fratelli Tutti], no. 116)”

“. . . As the United States bishops have said, greater attention must be given to "the needs of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable, in a debate often dominated by more powerful interests". We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family. There are no frontiers or barriers,

political or social, behind which we can hide, still less is there room for the globalization of indifference." (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si'],no. 52, quoting United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good)”"To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it.  Besides the good of the individual, there is the good that is linked to living in society: the common good.  It is the good  of 'all of us', made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who  together constitute society.  … To desire  the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity." (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], no. 7)

"It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise. Consumers should be continually educated regarding their daily role, which can be exercised with respect for moral principles without diminishing the intrinsic economic rationality of the act of purchasing… It can be helpful to promote new ways of marketing products from deprived areas of the world, so as to guarantee their producers a decent return." (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], no. 66)

"The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes it impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger,  misery and poverty of other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even elementary human rights. The nations of the world are becoming more and more dependent on one another, and it will not be possible to preserve a lasting peace so long as glaring economic and social imbalances persist." (St. John XXIII, On Christianity and Social Progress [Mater et Magistra], no. 157) 

 You can watch the video here: Solidarity