Human Rights and The Common Good in Catholicism The Criteria of Their Theological Foundation

Theologians whose attention is devoted to social considerations know that the Christian picture of salvation carries with it an ethical commitment which goes well beyond the bounds of intimism The heart of this picture is the idea of the Kingdom of God as the fulfilment of certain values (peace and justice) and recomposition of a humanity imbued with new brotherhood and communion. The increase of human relationships is an outstanding feature of today's world, whose development is itself fuelled by concomitant technical progress. Fraternal exchange of ideas between peoples is not achieved via such progress, but more deeply in the community of persons, and this demands reciprocal respect for their full spiritual dignity. The concept of the common good is elaborated and formulated in several ways in this article.