100 Years of Catholic Social Teaching Defending Workers & their Unions

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The calls within the Church's social doctrine, starting with Rerum Novarum, emphasize the importance of promoting workers' associations to defend their rights, a need that is even more pressing today. This book offers summaries and commentaries on five significant papal encyclicals that advocate for workers and their unions: Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno, John XXIII's Mater et Magistra, and John Paul II's Laborem Exercens and Centesimus Annus. It features an in-depth analysis of these encyclicals, which are frequently referenced yet rarely examined in detail. The author discusses the decline of Catholic evangelization among the working classes, particularly in the U.S. and other English-speaking industrialized nations, and proposes a pastoral strategy of global church-labor solidarity to address this issue. The book asserts that the Catholic Church's Social Magisterium recognizes workers' unions as a fundamental human right, rooted in the divine image, allowing workers to organize for their defense and participate in workplace decision-making. Bishops and pastoral leaders who neglect this aspect of Catholic Social Teaching risk undermining their mission to share the Gospel with all social classes. Joe Holland, an eco-social philosopher and Catholic theologian, draws on his expertise in Social Ethics to explore the evolution of Catholic Social Teaching and its responses to contemporary challenges.