Universal destination of goods

The universal destination of goods is a fundamental idea in Catholic theology, by which the Catholic Church professes that the goods of creation are destined for the human race as a whole, but also recognizes the individual right to private property. In addition, political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.

The Church asserts:

Everyone knows that the Fathers of the Church laid down the duty of the rich toward the poor in no uncertain terms. As St. Ambrose put it: "You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich."

— Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967)

See also

• Catholic social teaching