Main Points
Human Dignity, Dignity of Work, Preferential Option, Social Justice, and Solidarity.
Description
Centesimus Annus is a 1991 encyclical by Pope John Paul II commemorating the centenary of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, reflecting on its enduring impact on Catholic social teaching amid modern economic and social challenges. It explores key themes such as the dignity of work and the worker, the right to private property balanced with the universal destination of goods, the natural right to form trade unions, fair wages, reasonable working hours, and the State's role in promoting justice while respecting subsidiarity and solidarity. Theologically, it underscores the Church's evangelizing mission in proclaiming social doctrine as an essential part of the Gospel, affirming that true solutions to the "social question" must be rooted in Christ, human dignity, and the preferential option for the poor, fostering unity and peace over class conflict.
