CAPP USA

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CAPP USA We are a Vatican foundation. Our mission is to evangelize by spreading the knowledge and practice of Catholic Social Teaching. St. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport.

CAPP is a lay-led, pontifical organization characterized by a special relationship with our founder, St. John Paul the Great, and his successors to the Chair of Peter, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The Holy Father sees CAPP as a vehicle for lay education and evangelization of Catholic social doctrine. John Paul the Great established Fondazione Centesimus Annus -- Pro Pontifice (CAPP) on June 5, 1993, just two years after writing his seminal encyclical on the modern social condition, Centesimus Annus. As the US affiliate of the Fondazione, CAPP-USA is a not-for-profit, membership corporation governed by a self-perpetuating, lay-dominated board. CAPP-USA is a 501(c)(3) and is recognized by the US Treasury as an “intergrated auxiliary” of the Roman Catholic Church. Our National Ecclesiastic Counselors are Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark and Frank J. Nationally, CAPP-USA is associated with The Catholic University of America with which we developed the Certificate Program in Catholic Social Teaching. We currently have chapters in Fairfield County, Diocese of Bridgeport (CT); DC, Archdiocese of Washington (DC); Newark, Archdiocese of Newark (NJ), and; New York, Archdiocese of New York.

10/08/2026

Capitalism has real failures. The Church has said so for more than a century.

But does that mean socialism is the answer?

Catholic Social Teaching says the deeper question comes first:

What vision of the human person is each system built on?

That is where the real divide begins.

Watch the video, then read the full breakdown: https://capp-usa.org/2026/02/marxism-vs-catholic-social-teaching/

At first glance, some of what the Democratic Socialists of America argues can sound surprisingly close to Catholic Socia...
10/07/2026

At first glance, some of what the Democratic Socialists of America argues can sound surprisingly close to Catholic Social Teaching — concern for workers, the poor, and the abuses of capitalism.

The Church has voiced versions of that critique for more than a century.

So does the Church actually agree with the DSA?

Pope St. John Paul II said socialism's deepest error is not primarily about taxes, public ownership, or the size of government.

He identified it with a single word.

What word — and why does it change the entire debate? With Election Day weeks away, it's worth knowing before you vote.

Read the full breakdown: https://cappusa.substack.com/p/the-one-word-missing-from-the-dsa?r=17lwvn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

What can families and societies do to fight the scourge of p**n?It is extremely important for parents to be aware of the...
10/06/2026

What can families and societies do to fight the scourge of p**n?

It is extremely important for parents to be aware of their rights and duties.

Faced with a culture that largely reduces human s*xuality to the level of something commonplace...parents must aim firmly at a training in the area of s*x that is truly and fully personal.

This calls for two forms of concerned action on the part of parents: preventive and critical education with regard to their children, and courageous denunciation to the appropriate authorities.

"Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2354

Because the production and distribution of pornographic material has international implications, action should also be taken on the regional, continental and world levels.

We must remember that the family remains the first and indispensable school of love, chastity, and human dignity.

Put faith into action: https://capp-usa.org/po*******hy/

Is p**n really an expression of freedom?Swipe through.St. John Paul II warned that freedom can “negate and destroy itsel...
10/05/2026

Is p**n really an expression of freedom?

Swipe through.

St. John Paul II warned that freedom can “negate and destroy itself” when it loses its link with truth.

The Church’s objection to po*******hy goes deeper than addiction, damaged relationships, or exploitation.

It asks what po*******hy teaches us to believe about the human person: someone to be loved — or something to be used?

And AI is scaling the problem in ways earlier generations never faced.

The average age of first exposure is now 12.

If you’re a parent, send this to another parent.

Full analysis — including what families can do — in the first comment.

Is p**nography a private choice? The Church says no — and explains exactly why.The common good is "the sum total of soci...
10/02/2026

Is p**nography a private choice? The Church says no — and explains exactly why.

The common good is "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily."

P*rnography is incompatible with the common good. It is an industry that does not merely tempt individuals but reshapes the cultural conditions within which all persons must live.

It corrupts the formation of youth. Increasingly, young people are absorbing their earliest ideas about s*x and relationships not from family, school, or faith community, but from algorithmically optimized commercial platforms designed to maximize engagement through escalating shock — with measurable effects on attitudes toward women and girls.

And p**nography inflicts direct damage on marriage and family life.

See the full teaching → https://capp-usa.org/po*******hy/

What if the thing p**nography promises is the exact opposite of what it delivers?Its great lie is that it's aligned with...
10/01/2026

What if the thing p**nography promises is the exact opposite of what it delivers?

Its great lie is that it's aligned with the deepest human need — to love and be loved. In reality, this industry does something else entirely: it reduces humanity to consumers and products.

People made in God's image are turned into objects of desire.

As St. John Paul II wrote in Familiaris Consortio, 24: "This mentality produces very bitter fruits, such as contempt for men and for women, slavery, oppression of the weak, po*******hy, prostitution… and all those various forms of discrimination."

The Church's condemnation of po*******hy flows directly from its teaching that every person is created in the image and likeness of God — the imago Dei — and therefore possesses an inherent and inviolable worth that cannot be bought, sold, or traded for pleasure or profit.

See the full teaching → https://capp-usa.org/po*******hy/

Elect the right people, and they will fix the problem. Right?Catholic Social Teaching starts somewhere else.Before askin...
09/30/2026

Elect the right people, and they will fix the problem. Right?

Catholic Social Teaching starts somewhere else.

Before asking who should hold power, it asks a more basic question:

Where should that power belong in the first place?

Pope Pius XI considered the Church’s answer so important that he said the principle “cannot be set aside or changed.”

And it applies regardless of which party wins.

What is the principle — and why does it change the way Catholics should think about political power?

https://cappusa.substack.com/p/the-principle-every-midterm-ad-ignores?r=17lwvn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Today is National AI in Work Day.LinkedIn created the observance last year as AI rapidly transforms how we work, learn a...
09/30/2026

Today is National AI in Work Day.

LinkedIn created the observance last year as AI rapidly transforms how we work, learn and build our careers.

But Pope Leo XIV asks us to consider something even more fundamental:

Where is all of this taking us?

In Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical, Pope Leo says the age of AI confronts humanity with three questions we can no longer avoid:

“Where are we going?”

“Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves?”

“What direction should we choose as a people and as a human community?”

These aren't questions about whether AI can make us more productive.

They're questions about what kind of human future we're building.

And Pope Leo doesn't leave them unanswered.

Here's how Magnifica Humanitas answers all three: https://capp-usa.org/2026/06/three-questions-magnifica-humanitas-summary/

Countries around the world are moving to restrict children's access to social media.The concern is increasingly familiar...
09/28/2026

Countries around the world are moving to restrict children's access to social media.

The concern is increasingly familiar: addiction, anxiety, isolation, harmful content and the effects of spending so much of childhood online.

But will bans solve the problem?

Social media isn't simply good or bad. It can connect us, educate us and create genuine opportunities for community.

But Pope Francis offered an important warning:

“Social network communities are not automatically synonymous with community.”

That's the deeper question.

Are our digital lives helping us form genuine relationships—or gradually replacing them?

And how do we use technology without allowing technology to use us?

Catholic Social Teaching offers a path toward balance: https://capp-usa.org/2025/02/social-media-and-mental-health/

09/24/2026

We hear about “human rights” constantly.

But here's a more fundamental question:

Where do those rights come from?

Government?

The Constitution?

International agreements?

A consensus about what society considers fair?

Catholic Social Teaching gives a radically different answer.

Human rights begin with something no government gives us—and therefore no government can take away: our inherent human dignity.

From that dignity flow rights to life, religious freedom, work, education, healthcare, just working conditions and more.

But rights also come with responsibilities.

So what rights does the Catholic Church actually recognize—and what do they require of us?

See the Church's list:

https://capp-usa.org/2024/08/list-of-human-rights-according-to-the-church/

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