Foreword:
This short article was originally written as a requirement for the course
Social Teachings of the Church. It was originally written in 2013.
Injustice, or should we say, rampant
injustice usually associated with abuse of authority or power, is a
contemporary moral issue we are currently facing. It is also tied to
corruption; since corrupt minds have the tendency to misjudge between what is
right or wrong. Here I shall also tackle a severe form of injustice, human
rights violations. As I have observed, injustice was already rampant since
ancient times. Even in Biblical times, particularly in the Old Testament,
injustice was present even in the Israelite society. In Ecclesiastes 3:16
(Douay-Rheims Version), it says, “I saw under the sun in the place of judgment
wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.” I have observed that the
Israelites, who are the chosen people, were also sometimes harbingers of
injustice. Some Kings of Israel and Kings of Judah were corrupt and disobedient
to the Mosaic Law. In around the 8th century BC, Naboth, an
Israelite vineyard owner, was falsely accused and executed after Jezebel the
Queen of Israel conspired with King Ahab of Israel to take the vineyard
belonging to Naboth. Daniel, the post-exilic prophet who lived in Babylon, was
placed in the lion’s den despite being innocent, as his opponents manipulated a
loophole in the king’s edict to have him imprisoned. Even Jesus was sentenced
to death by crucifixion despite being innocent (and even sinless). This shows
that even godly pious people experienced injustice here on earth. This is a
continuous process, as despite having intricate justice systems, it is still
far from perfect. The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, admits that statistically 8 to 12 percent of all state prisoners
are either actually or factually innocent. In the Philippines, it is fairly
common to hear innocent prisoners suffering in prison due to an extremely
sluggish justice system. In 2004, the Supreme Court of the Philippines released
information claiming that a 71.77 percent judicial error rate in serious cases
was recorded from 1993 to 2004. Due to the lack of confidence in the Philippine
justice system, some Filipino resort to vigilante justice as even those who
commit petty crimes are viciously tortured to death. This is a clear violation
of human rights because everybody has the right to due process. Even if there
is injustice in the world, personal vendetta and vengeful tactics should be
avoided by Christians. They should look up to God for justice, as it is
written: Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s
wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
[Romans 12:19 NIV] Justice should be served in the correct way, in this time or
in the day of judgment.
Although raising awareness against the dangers
of being falsely convicted will not guarantee that our justice system will
improve, I believe the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church can inspire its
devotees to be more impartial towards humans. We have an inherent
susceptibility to sin but we should try to use our abilities to stay away from
temptation. We should continue to strive and take action, if we can help,
against anything that would take away the dignity of the human persons. In
1965, Pope Paul VI’s Pastoral Constitution titled Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral
Constitution of the Church in the Modern World) tackled many things. In Chapter
IV, it reads: With integrity and wisdom, they must take action against any
form of injustice and tyranny, against arbitrary domination by an individual or
a political party and any intolerance. They should dedicate themselves to the
service of all with sincerity and fairness, indeed, with the charity and
fortitude demanded by political life. Another encyclical discussed the
irony of the failure of advanced civilization to eradicate basic problems
plaguing humanity. Often, underneath the intricacies of economic, financial
and political interconnections, there remain misunderstandings, hardships and
injustice. Therefore, it is wise to resound the appeal made by Pope Paul VI
in his encyclical Populorum Progressio (The Development of Peoples): In the
developing nations and in other countries lay people must consider it their
task to improve the temporal order. While the hierarchy has the role of
teaching and authoritatively interpreting the moral laws and precepts that
apply in this matter, the laity have the duty of using their own initiative and
taking action in this area—without waiting passively for directives and
precepts from others.
It is clear that many Roman Catholics, lay or
clergy alike, has a role in being part of a social transformer to help
eradicate any form of injustice that degrades the dignity of the human person.
