“Among the numerous implications of the common good, immediate significance is taken on by the principle of the universal destination of goods.” 85Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 171. First of all, this principle reminds us that the earth’s goods — soil, water, air and natural resources — are given by God to the entire human family to sustain the lives of all, and that every person has an inherent right to the use of such goods, both now and in the future. Saint John Paul II recalled that, “God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favoring anyone.” 86Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 31: AAS 83 (1991), 831. Consequently, “it is not in accordance with God’s plan to use this gift in such a way that its benefits accrue solely to a select few.” 87Saint John Paul II, Homily during the Mass celebrated for farmers at Recife (7 July 1980), 4: AAS 72 (1980), 926. Today, we are called to recognize that this universal destination applies not only to material goods, but also to immaterial and cultural goods.
Certainly there is a right to private property, which has its own specific meaning and purpose, yet it is always subordinate to the universal destination of goods. According to John Paul II, this subordination is the golden rule of social conduct and the “first principle of the whole ethical and social order.” 88Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981), 19: AAS 73 (1981), 626. In the Church’s tradition, property has been viewed as a means of protecting and managing goods so that they may better serve the common good. Since “the Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as absolute or inviolable,” 89Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si ’ (24 May 2015), 93: AAS 107 (2015), 884; cf. Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti (3 October 2020), 120: AAS 112 (2020), 1010. its social function must not be considered a mere theological opinion, but a doctrine of the Church, already present in Sacred Scripture and in the writings of the Church Fathers. For this reason, Pope Francis reminded us that solidarity, when lived out in its fullest sense, also means “to restore to the poor what belongs to them.” 90Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 189: AAS 105 (2013), 1099.
Today, among the goods that are universally intended for everyone, we must also include new forms of property, such as patents, algorithms, digital platforms, technological infrastructure and data. In a context where the wealth of nations depends increasingly on knowledge and technology, when these goods remain concentrated in the hands of a few, without adequate forms of sharing and access, a new imbalance is created that contradicts the universal destination of goods. In turn, it widens the gap between the included and the excluded, between those who can participate in the digital revolution and those who remain on the margins. Furthermore, care for our common home and our responsibility toward the poor and future generations require that the use of the goods of creation and the new possibilities offered by technology be regulated in such a way as to respect the environment, avoid waste and prevent new forms of exploitation.