Through an analysis of selected prepapal and papal writings this chapter explains Pope Benedict XVI’s view that the Catholic Church makes its primary contribution to the political and social order by teaching the faith, forming its own members in the practice of all the virtues, and by offering to both Catholics and non-Catholics an education in the principles of Catholic social teaching: namely, the dignity of the human person, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity. With the guidance of these principles and other teachings, in dialogue with ancient, medieval, and modern political philosophy, it is the God-given duty of all Christians, in accordance with their abilities and opportunities, to work for the benefit of the temporal society in which they live. The clergy and the laity, of course, have different roles to play.

This chapter is an analytical summary of Rerum novarum. Its goal is to illuminate the purpose of the encyclical and the main lines of Pope Leo’s reasoning, his key premises and central ethical conclusions, and in this way, to articulate as clearly as possible the teaching that comprises Rerum novarum. Rerum’s influence on Catholic teaching and practice is most manifest in the Church’s “social teaching,” which in various ways identifies the encyclical as its founding statement. This identification is made in the names and citations of some of the most important papal contributions to Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and is pervasive throughout the corpus of CST. And it is revealed in the ways in which the accepted principles of CST are present or anticipated in Rerum novarum. Although the chapter does not undertake the large and formidable task of characterizing CST, it does indicate how these principles figure in Pope Leo’s analysis. It also underlines the extent to which these principles are not the main point of Rerum novarum, but stand in the service of the moral and religious reform urged by Pope Leo.