Persons in extreme necessity are entitled to take what they need from the riches of others. In pursuing its own salvific purpose not only does the church communicate divine life to humanity but in a certain sense it casts the reflected light of that divine life over all the earth, notably in the way it heals and elevates the dignity of the human person, in the way it consolidates society, and endows people's daily activity with a deeper sense and meaning. The church, then, believes that through each of its members and its community as a whole it can help to make the human family and its history still more human. Excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and peoples of the one human race is a source of scandal and militates against social justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social and international peace. The more the power of men and women increases, the greater is their responsibility as individuals and as members of the community.
People are of greater value for what they are than for what they have.
Technical progress is of less value than advances towards greater justice, wider kinship and a more humane social environment. Technical progress may supply the material for human advance but it is powerless to achieve it. The common good embraces the sum total of all those conditions of social life which enable individuals, families, and organizations to achieve complete and effective fulfillment. Let all pastors of souls bear in mind that by their daily behavior and concerns they are presenting the face of the church to the world and that people judge from that the power and truth of the Christian message. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury.