Catholic Teaching on Social Justice

What do you see as the most pressing social justice issue in today's society? How should Christians respond to it?

I think the most pressing social issue is that we don't really recognize the essential equality among humans. If we were really to recognize that we are all part of the same human family and that we are all created in the image of God, and then to live as if this is true, we would not be able to do many of the things we do to each other. We would not be able to ignore the poor, either here or in other countries because they are our brothers and sisters. We would not be able to discriminate because of color or nationality or creed or anything because we are connected to these people. We would be more generous with the resources we have because we know they really belong to all of us.

The most basic way to solve this problem is to begin as individuals. We, as individual Christians, need to begin praying. We need to pray for our brothers an sisters, and as we pray, our hearts will be changed. We will begin living as if we really do believe we are equal and begin treating those around us as if it is true. If we as individuals live like this, others will take notice and it will begin to qpread to those around us.