Grounding Catholic social thought is the belief that each human person has an intrinsic dignity and a desire for relationships with others that should lead to cooperating for their mutual good, making decisions individually and collectively to achieve it, and showing preference for the poor, vulnerable, and suffering in decision-making and actions. Rooted in the sacred scriptures, reflected upon at least implicitly for centuries by theologians, and taught by bishops of the Roman Catholic Church (the magisterium), principles to guide our decisionmaking and actions began to be considered collectively toward the end of the 19th century as “Catholic social teaching” through which the bishops direct the faithful in living lovingly in relation to one another because of their relationship with God
