Pacis Progressio: How Francis's Four New Principles Develop Catholic Social Teaching into Catholic Social Praxis

This paper will first outline the history and prevalence of four principles in the magisterium of Francis: time is greater than space, realities are greater than ideas, unity prevails over conflict, and the whole is greater than the part. He uses these principles to argue that social justice is integral to faith, a key point made in Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio and Evangelii Nuntiandi. Second, the paper will explain the nature of Francis’ principles within their setting in Evangelii Gaudium and why Francis holds that these principles emerge from the nature of society itself on the one hand and from the tenets of Catholic social teaching on the other. Third, the paper will explain how Francis understands Catholic social teaching as a praxis, a necessary means to the end of social peace through participation and dialogue.