Render Unto Caesar

The Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has published a document on taxation called 'Render Unto Caesar'. It offers perspectives on taxation from Catholic social thought and teaching.

As far as the Church is concerned, decisions on taxation and government spending need to be driven by human dignity and serving the common good. To address this, the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has published a document on taxation called Render Unto Caesar.

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Foreword

Foreword by Bishop Richard Moth, Chair of the Department for Social Justice, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Introduction

Introduction to 'Render Unto Caesar' by Philip Booth, Director of Policy and Research, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Chapter One: Taxation in Catholic Social Teaching

The tradition of Catholic social teaching and what a just and loving approach to taxation might look like.

Chapter Two: Taxation in Catholic Scholastic Thought

As with many other questions in Catholic social thought and teaching, a logical starting point is the work of St Thomas Aquinas.

Chapter Three: Taxation in Sacred Scripture

In this chapter we are concerned with the principles and applications of taxation within Scripture and not the development of a systematic theology.

Chapter Four: Building from the Bottom Up – Catholic social teaching, society and the state

A Catholic understanding of taxation requires a Catholic understanding of the role of the state.

Chapter Five: Taxation and the Family in the UK

All individuals, families, civil society organisations and corporations, as well as the state, are responsible for promoting the common good and solidarity.

Chapter Six: Catholic social teaching, Welfare and Taxation

The Second Vatican Council of the early 1960s, which renewed the working of the Catholic Church, calls upon people to work together for the 'common good'.

Chapter Seven: The Taxing Question of Living Wages

The calls on tax revenues to finance welfare would be diminished if people received a just wage as is called for in Catholic social teaching.

Chapter Eight: Government Debt – from inter-generational injustice to an occasion of sin

It is not the purpose of this essay to discuss how extensive state spending should be. There is a wide range of views that are compatible with the tradition of Catholic social teaching.

Chapter Nine: Debt - will it demand more taxation?

The framing question for this reflection is whether addressing the national debt from the response to Covid-19 will require cutbacks in expenditure or increased taxation or both

Chapter Ten: The Church and Taxation - from earliest days to modern concerns

The Church, from her origins, was a movement of the poor and the powerless. The fact that her founder, Jesus Christ, was born in poor circumstances necessarily made concern for the poor one of its founding commitments.

Chapter Eleven: Pope Francis and Tax Justice

The late Pope Francis, at various times, drew attention to the problems associated with a system that fosters inequality, drives individualism and hinders the common good.

Chapter Twelve: For the Common Good - the moral obligation of tax justice

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that individuals and companies have a responsibility for the common good, and thus it is morally obligatory to pay taxes that are due.