Subsidiarity and solidarity

Many were delighted that the Maltese leaders' Christmas messages amply stressed the values of solidarity. Its roots are deeply ingrained in the fabric of Maltese society.

One has to note that when it comes to solidarity and subsidiarity there are many media people who labour under the impression that these two vital concepts have originated with the Maastricht Treaty. The principle of subsidiarity was defined by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (1931) as follows:

"Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater or higher association what lesser and subordinate organisations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy or absorb them"

"The supreme authority of the state ought, therefore, to let subordinate groups handle matters and concerns of lesser importance, which would otherwise dissipate its efforts greatly. Thereby the state will more freely, powerfully and effectively do all those things that belong to it alone because it alone can do them: directing, watching, urging, restraining, as occasion requires and necessity demands.

"Therefore those in power should be sure that the more perfectly a graduated order is kept among the various associations, in observance of the principle of subsidiary function, the stronger social authority and effectiveness will be, the happier and more prosperous the conditions of the state (para 80)".

Commenting on this important principle of Pius XI's encyclical, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (October 1996), stated:

"It will be seen that the principle of subsidiarity is no ally to those who favour the maximisation of State power, or centralisation of the State at the expense of more local institutions. It supports a dispersal of authority as close to the grass roots as good government allows, and it prefers local over central decision-making.

"Subsidiarity also implies the existence of a range of institutions below the level of the State: some of these Bodies are for the making of decisions affecting individuals, some are for influencing the way those decisions are made. Throughout Pius XI's teaching there is an implicit and intimate relationship between subsidiarity and the common good. Society as envisaged by Catholic social teaching should be made up of many layers, which will be in complex relationship with one another but which will be ordered as a whole towards the common good, in accordance with the principle of solidarity".