Methodological Status of the Social Doctrine of the Church before the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The present article raises the issue of the methodological status of the Church’s social doctrine from its beginnings, namely, from the social teaching of Leo XIII, to the Second Vatican Council. In the first part, the author highlights the substantial role of the Magisterium in constituting the Church’s social doctrine. The second part, presents an analysis of the key social documents of the Church, with particular emphasis on methodological strands. The reflection is based on the assumption that the Church’s social doctrine is not just another ecclesial scientific discipline, since it involves a more complex reality in terms of practitioners, methods, sources of cognition or, finally, the nature of assertions formulated within that area of science.

Keywords

• the Church social doctrine
• methodology of the Church social doctrine
• history of the Church social doctrine
• Leo XIII
• Pius XI
• Pius XII