Method in the social teaching of the church

When Leo XII dealt with the labour question, he raised the \nquestion and tried to solve it on the basis 'Of a theory of society, even \nif such a theory was moo:-e implied rather than explicitly stated. Pius XI \nwas perhaps even more conscious than his predecessor ,of the need to \napproach the labour question in the context 'of an explicit social \ntheory. Much of the criticism that was leveled in the sixties against \nthe earlier social teaching tradition in the Catholic Church centered on \nthe difficulties inherent in the concept of social systems in general. it was pointed out that human life is too complex a 'reality to fit any \nconceptual scheme and that history is continuously bringing new insights \nand technical possibilities which necessitate a critical and open \nattitude toward social systems.