Rights and Responsibilities
In modern American society we often hear discussion of our “rights.” Frequently people forget that along with every right comes a corresponding responsibility. We sometimes overlook that rights can only be exercised in the context of community—within the context of a relationship with others. The Church teaches extensively on the rights and responsi- bilities of the individual.

The Church teaches that underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person. All people are endowed, by God, with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development. Because our rights are God given they must be correctly used as we journey toward the Kingdom of God. Our rights are properly exercised when we endeavor to know, serve, and love God. Rights are not exercised simply for personal pleasure or personal gain. Rights are never absolute—they must be exercised within the context of society.

The Church teaches the concept of “distributive justice” which, simply stated, means that the goods of society should be used by those in most need. Goods must be justly allocated—often this can be best explained by doing what is “fair.” For example: would it be moral for a rich man, hoping to drive up grain prices, to allow vast quantities of grain to simply rot in his bins when starving people live around his farm? If we believe that the rich man has an “absolute right” of own- ership the circumstances would not matter—he can do as he pleases with his property. If we accept the idea, taught by the Church, that goods must be justly allocated then the man would be acting immorally. In fact, the starving people have a right to the excess owned by the rich man. Some moral theologians would argue that if the poor people took the grain it would not constitute theft—the nature of the act itself would be transformed by the circumstances.

If we really learn about and come to understand the Church’s social teaching around rights and responsibilities we can never be the same. We can rightly say that God has given us everything we have, but when we realize the responsibility that comes with that gift we must change. When we understand that all people are our brothers and sisters and that we are all important our understanding of the world around us is transformed. We are God’s children living in God’s world!