Unlock Catholic Social Teaching
CAPP-USA is the United States affiliate of Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, a Vatican-based foundation established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1993. Operating under the authority of the Holy See, our mission is to promote the knowledge and practice of Catholic Social Teaching and help people of good will apply the Church’s authentic social doctrine to the challenges of modern life.
Where Do I Start?
Recent Articles
“By her social doctrine the Church makes an effective contribution…
Her moral vision in this area ‘rests on the threefold cornerstone of human dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity’.”
Catholic Social Teaching and Other Contemporary Issues
It is our special task to order and throw light upon all the affairs of the world in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ: “let the laity also by their combined efforts remedy the customs and conditions of the world.”
Catholic Social Teaching is Neither Conservative Or Liberal
Just as “Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies” (Pope Benedict XVI, 31) it must be reiterated and acknowledged that Catholic social teaching is not an endorsement of or for any political teaching. The Church is clear that none of the magisterial documents are teachings to or for the right or the left. Catholic social teaching is neither liberal nor conservative.
However, there are warnings to both sides of the political spectrum.
What Must I Do?
Our Church Has Issued a Clear Call to Action
Pope St. John Paul II
“A new state of affairs today… calls with a particular urgency for the action of the lay faithful. If lack of commitment is always unacceptable, the present time renders it even more so. It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle.”
Pope Benedict XVI
“Freedom…demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate.”
Pope Francis
Participation in politics is a Christian obligation: “We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics…”
Pope Leo XIV
“There is a growing demand for the Church’s social doctrine, to which we need to respond.”
“Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy.
It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.”
Who We Are
Frequently Asked Questions:
CAPP-USA and Catholic Social Teaching
CAPP-USA answers common questions about its relationship with the Vatican-based Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, its mission in the United States, and its work promoting Catholic Social Teaching. Learn more about our unique mandate as a Vatican-based Pontifical Foundation and our mission to advance Catholic Social Teaching in the United States.
What is CAPP-USA?
CAPP-USA (Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, Inc.) is the United States affiliate of the Vatican’s lay-led pontifical foundation Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice. It promotes the study and application of Catholic Social Teaching in public, economic, and social life.
Who founded CAPP-USA and why?
Following his landmark social encyclical Centesimus Annus, Pope St. John Paul II established the Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice on June 5, 1993. CAPP-USA was later established in 2003 as the Foundation’s United States affiliate.
St. John Paul II recognized that the Church’s social doctrine was often not reaching the people most positioned to put it into practice—leaders in business, academia, government, and the professions. He created the Foundation “to promote and defend the knowledge and the practice of the Church’s social doctrine,” warning that “if this evangelization of the leadership sector is neglected… many who are a part of it will be guided by criteria alien to the Gospel.”
Four months before his death in 2005, he urged members of the Foundation to “spare no effort” to pursue these goals—a charge that continues to animate CAPP-USA’s mission today. (2004 Address)
Is CAPP-USA affiliated with the Vatican and part of the Catholic Church?
Yes. CAPP-USA is the U.S. affiliate of Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, a pontifical foundation based at the Vatican and recognized under canon law as a juridical person. As such, we operate under the authority of the Holy See and in communion with the Catholic Church.
Through this relationship, CAPP-USA works to ensure that the Church’s authentic social doctrine—as articulated by the Magisterium—reaches Catholic leaders and people of good will across American public, economic, and cultural life.
Further, in the United States, CAPP-USA is also recognized as an “integrated auxiliary of the Roman Catholic Church” under U.S. Treasury regulations, reflecting its ecclesial relationship with the Catholic Church.
What is CAPP-USA’s mission?
CAPP-USA’s mission is to evangelize lay leaders by forming their consciences in the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and supporting their efforts to apply the Church’s social doctrine in the economic, political, and the cultural life of society.
What is Catholic Social Teaching?
Catholic Social Teaching is the body of doctrine through which the Catholic Church applies the Gospel to social, economic, and political life. It traces its modern origins to Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) and is rooted in Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium. It forms consciences through principles such as human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity so society may pursue the common good.
Is Catholic Social Teaching a political ideology?
No. It is not a political ideology or economic program. It offers timeless principles—rooted in Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium—to help individuals and institutions evaluate social, economic, and political questions in light of the common good.
Read more: Catholic Social Teaching is Neither Conservative or Liberal
How does CAPP-USA promote Catholic Social Teaching?
CAPP-USA advances Catholic Social Teaching through publications, public discussions, digital media, study programs, and events that explore how the Church’s social doctrine applies to contemporary economic, political, and social questions.
For example, in partnership with The Catholic University of America, CAPP-USA offers a graduate-level Certificate in Catholic Social Teaching—one of the few academic programs of its kind in the United States.
Does CAPP-USA represent official Catholic Church teaching?
CAPP-USA promotes and explains Catholic Social Teaching as articulated by the Magisterium of the Catholic.
Through our educational programs and publications, CAPP-USA helps Catholic leaders and people of good will understand and apply the Church’s social doctrine in contemporary economic, political, and cultural life.
What is the relationship between CAPP-USA and Pope Leo XIV?
Pope Leo XIV (elected on May 8, 2025) continued the longstanding relationship between the Holy See and the Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice from the earliest days of his pontificate.
Just nine days after his election, he granted members of the Foundation a private audience at the Vatican, telling us: “There is a growing demand for the Church’s social doctrine, to which we need to respond.”
His choice of the name “Leo” is deeply meaningful: Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum launched modern Catholic Social Teaching, and Pope Leo XIV explicitly connected it to today’s challenges—especially artificial intelligence and technological change—precisely the work CAPP-USA exists to advance.
In October 2025, he promulgated his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, calling Catholics to confront the structures of sin perpetuating poverty and inequality—themes central to Catholic Social Teaching and CAPP-USA’s mission.
Read Pope Leo XIV’s First Address to the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation
Have more questions? Explore our full library of Catholic Social Teaching resources.
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CAPP-USA (Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, Inc.) is the United States affiliate of the Vatican-based pontifical foundation of Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1993 to promote Catholic Social Teaching in fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. CAPP-USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
