Denver Catholic

In terms of the seven principles listed in this letter, the principle of the common good is the most foundational. It enters into the immigration debate when questions arise about the impact of immigrants – both legal and illegal – on communities, as well as when people are forced to leave their homes because of dangerous or dire circumstances. Catholic social teaching, especially over the last 120 years, has not failed to repeat that every able member of the community, especially those in positions of public authority, has a grave responsibility to work to preserve and promote the common good. Every community has a common good, from the widest community of the human race down to the smallest stable social unit in society, the family. The United States, too, has a common good. It exists in the individual good of each member of the community, in his or her bodily and spiritual life, in the peace and stability of families and neighborhoods, in the shared goods of common morality, religious beliefs and traditions, in the common property of the state and nation, in economic opportunity, and more intangibly in the common sympathies and trust resulting from shared language, history, memories and sufferings. In practice, this means that the only meaningful goal for the common good is the integral fulfillment of the human person in community. In modern Western society, the common good is sometimes misconstrued as being what is good for the individual but without any thought of eternity, without any consideration of how a person's soul is impacted by a possible action. This is an error that must be avoided. 2. The universal destination of the world's resources and the right to private property In Catholic teaching, the right to ownership has always been understood as being qualified by the duty to use property in a socially responsible way, in a way that supports the common good, especially the good of 5

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