Private Property and The "Social Mortgage"

"Genuine community cannot exist where social and economic conditions exploit some members of the community or place members of the community at too great a distance from each other. Although individuals, businesses, and the church itself have a responsibility for establishing a just distribution of goods, government also must work to eliminate unjust social and economic conditions and maintain fairness . . . (Catholic Social Teaching) does recognize a right to private property and to the fruits of one's initiative, but it recognizes as well that all private property carries what the church calls a 'social mortgage;' that is, private property must be directed ultimately by the principle of the universal destination of goods and by the common good. Individual initiative always depends on supportive social structures and the often-invisible efforts and sacrifices of other members."

Roman Catholic theologian Clarke E. Cochran, "Church, State, and Public Justice," IVP 2007