Faith and COVID-19: Can Catholic Social Teaching Save the World? A Lebanese Case Study

Abstract

From full lockdowns to school closures and essential workers out on the frontlines, COVID-19, the novel coronavirus disease, has turned people's lives upside down since December 2019. This pandemic continues to have a huge socio-economic impact on the world. However, each community has been hit differently-some more severely than others. Many articles have tackled the subject of the current global health crisis and its impact on the world, but the relationship between the application of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and the potential halt of the spread of COVID-19 has not yet been explored. Therefore, this article seeks to discover whether or not the application of these principles can save the world during this global pandemic. More specifically, it aims to examine the relation between the CST's three main cornerstones: human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity and helping the world reach the common good by surviving this crisis and creating a foundation for a better tomorrow.