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* Human life is sacred and the human dignity of every person must be recognized.
* Human rights: Every person has fundamental human rights, including the [[right to life]]. The Catholic Church condemns [[abortion]], [[capital punishment]] and [[euthanasia]] because human beings do not have the right to end the life of another person. Also, the right to food, to decent work, to houseing and to health care are promoted to support life. The church does not believe in absolute property rights, considering it theoretically moral and just for its members to destroy property used in an evil way by others, or for the state to resdistribute wealth from those who have unjustly hoarded it. The church does not believe in the absolute right of kings or other human systems of government.
* Solidarity with, and compassion for, the poor: A whole society can be judged by how well it treats its most vulnerable members - the poor and those on the margin. This also applies on an international level with regard to the [[Global South]]. For example, the Church has habitually insisted that loans be forgiven during many occasions (during [[jubilee]] years.) Unjust systems or structures, such as the current world trade system, are the focus of CST; charity to individuals or groups must be accompanied by transforming unjust structures.
* Economic justice: Workers have a right to work, to a [[living wage]], and to form [[trade union|unions]]. Though Catholic teaching opposes [[collectivist]] approaches such as [[Communism]] as it was practiced in the [[Soviet Union]] (and elsewhere) and upholds a right to private property limited by the concept of the [[social mortgage]], it also opposes [[laissez-faire]]. This belief ties closely with compassion for the poor.
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