<P> Catholic social teaching is the Catholic doctrines on matters of human dignity and common good in society . The ideas address oppression , the role of the state , subsidiarity , social organization , concern for social justice , and issues of wealth distribution . Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII 's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum , which advocated economic distributism . Its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo , and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible and the cultures of the ancient Near East . </P>
where does the church 's social teaching come from
Pope Leo XIII 's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum