Ensuring the health of the planet has substantial moral and ethical dimensions. God graced us with a world capable of sustaining human life and we are called to protect this gift for ourselves and future brothers and sisters.
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Life, Justice and Peace
The Office of Life, Justice and Peace seeks to educate, inspire and activate all people to protect the dignity and sanctity of every life, from conception to natural death and all of the years in between. The office represents a Catholic viewpoint at local, state and national levels of government as we strive to protect people in poverty, preserve all of God's creation, promote global solidarity, and ensure a life of dignity for every person.
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Issues
- Catholic Social Teaching
- Faithful Citizenship (EN)
Ciudadanía Fiel (ES)
- Immigration
- Death Penalty
- Domestic Poverty
- Domestic Violence
- Economic Life
- Euthanasia & Physician Assisted Suicide
- Human Trafficking
- Racism, Prejudice, Bias
- Religious Liberty
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Action
- Catholic Advocacy
- Join the Prayer & Action Network
- Parish Social Ministry
- Prayer and Action Network
- Role of the Church in American Political Life (EN)
El papel de la Iglesia en la vida pública (ES) - Utah State Legislature
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Catholic social teaching stems from Sacred Scripture, papal encyclicals, Vatican II, and documents from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It is an extension of the Eucharistic liturgy; “The Eucharist, celebrated as a community, teaches us about human dignity, calls us to right relationship with God, ourselves and others, invites us to community and solidarity, and sends us on mission to help transform our communities, neighborhoods and world.” Catholic social teaching guides us in our attempt to share the Eucharistic celebration in a transformative manner. It is typically divided into seven major intertwining themes.Life and Dignity of the Human Person
Catholics believe in the right to live a life of dignity from conception to natural death. A life of dignity begins with the protection of the unborn, includes the right to basic needs, such as food, water, health care, and education, and ends with the right to die a natural death.
- The Right to Life (42 KB)
- Respect Life (respectlife.org)
- Culture of Life
- Assisted Suicide | Euthanasia | End of Life Issues
- Catholic Social Teaching and the Death Penalty
- Nuclear Weapons | Conscience, War and Peace
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
The Catholic tradition recognizes that people are sacred and social. How we organize our society, including our economic and political systems, directly impacts human dignity. As Catholics, we must actively participate in our society by, among other things, voting and advocating for policies and laws that protect human life and dignity and promote the common good.
Rights and Responsibilities
Protecting human dignity begins with protecting human rights. Every person has a right to those things required for a life of dignity, such as clean air and water, access to safe food, health care, and education. With those rights, we also carry responsibilities to each other, our families, our communities, and society at large.
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
Our Scriptural tradition instructs us to place the needs of the poor and vulnerable first and to judge our society (government, economy, social structures) by how we treat our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.
- Economic Justice and Domestic Poverty
- End Utah Homelessness
- Immigrants
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Workers' basic rights to fair wages, productive work, organize and join unions, own property, and safe working conditions must be respected and protected.
- Catholic Teaching on Labor Organizations
- Labor Day is a Chance to Reflect on Catholic Social Teaching (138 KB)
Solidarity
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all part of one family. As such, we are responsible for each other regardless of racial, national, ethnic, economic, or ideological differences. What we do in our neighborhood or country must not jeopardize our fellow family members in another community or country. We also provide charity to our poorer neighbors here and abroad and must actively work to end injustices that degrade human dignity.
Care for God's Creation
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Catholics may join the diocesan advocacy efforts on issues related to Catholic social teaching. Weekly advocacy opportunities may be found by joining the Prayer and Action Network.
Legislative Priorities
During each legislative session, the Diocese watches bills that impact the dignity and sanctity of life. Such bills may include proposals related to affordable housing, minimum wages, tax policy, access to health care, homelessness, assisted suicide, the death penalty, abortion, racism, police and criminal justice reform, among others. To learn more about our advocacy efforts on particular bills, please join the Prayer and Action Network.
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Who represents you? Enter your address here and find your state representative and senator.
To find your Congressional representative, click here. For Senate, click here.
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A weekly email on current issues and suggested actions for readers. Join HERE.
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While there are many current events, policies, and issues of concern to the Catholic Church, a few of our ongoing advocacy efforts center on immigration reform, economic justice, religious liberty, and global poverty. Catholic Teaching on Immigration
Catholic Teaching on Economic Life
Catholic Teaching on Religious Liberty
Catholic Teaching on Domestic Poverty
Catholic Teaching on Global Policy
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