Catholic Church

===Catholic social teaching===
{{Main|Catholic social teaching}}
Catholic social teaching, reflecting the concern Jesus showed for the impoverished, places a heavy emphasis on the [[corporal works of mercy]] and the [[spiritual works of mercy]], namely the support and concern for the sick, the poor and the afflicted.<ref>{{cite CE1913| wstitle = Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy | first = Joseph | last = Delany }}</ref><ref name="Compendium of the CCC, 388">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#Mans%20Vocation:%20Life%20in%20the%20Spirit |title=''Compendium of the CCC'', 388 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=30 June 2011}}</ref> Church teaching calls for a preferential [[option for the poor]] while canon law prescribes that "The Christian faithful are also obliged to promote [[social justice]] and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor."<ref name="Cann22">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PU.HTM |title=Canon 222 §&nbsp;2 |website=1983 Code of Canon Law |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192100/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__PU.HTM |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter ''[[Rerum novarum]]'' which upholds the rights and dignity of labour and the right of workers to form unions.

Catholic teaching regarding sexuality calls for a practice of [[chastity]], with a focus on maintaining the spiritual and bodily integrity of the human person. Marriage is considered the only appropriate context for sexual activity.<ref name="2337_">{{Cite CCC|2.1|2337,2349|quote='People should cultivate [chastity] in the way that is suited to their state of life. Some profess virginity or consecrated celibacy which enables them to give themselves to God alone with an undivided heart in a remarkable manner. Others live in the way prescribed for all by the moral law, whether they are married or single.' (CDF, ''[[Persona humana]]'' 11.) Married people are called to live conjugal chastity; others practise chastity in continence: 'There are three forms of the virtue of chastity: the first is that of spouses, the second that of widows, and the third that of virgins. We do not praise any one of them to the exclusion of the others. ... This is what makes for the richness of the discipline of the Church.' (St. Ambrose, De viduis 4,23:PL 16,255A.)}}</ref> Church teachings about sexuality have become an issue of increasing controversy, especially after the close of the Second Vatican Council, due to changing cultural attitudes in the Western world described as the [[sexual revolution]].

The church has also addressed stewardship of the natural environment, and its relationship to other social and theological teachings. In the document ''[[Laudato si']]'', dated 24 May 2015, Pope Francis critiques [[consumerism]] and [[overdevelopment|irresponsible development]], and laments [[environmental degradation]] and [[global warming]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|first1=Jim|last1=Yardley|first2=Laurie|last2=Goodstein|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweeping-encyclical-calls-for-swift-action-on-climate-change.html|title=Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change|work=The New York Times|date=18 June 2015}}</ref> The pope expressed concern that the warming of the planet is a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference to the destruction of the planet as humans pursue short-term economic gains.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/opinion/the-popes-ecological-vow.html|title=The Pope's Ecological Vow|first=Paul|last=Vallely|work=The New York Times |author-link=Paul Vallely|date=28 June 2015|access-date=29 June 2015}}</ref>