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Let me add a few points, just to avoid confusion and provide a little historical context.

On the one hand, what I have said may sound like utilitarianism, but it isn't. First of all, notice that I didn't say anything about maximizing anything. The common good is not the same as the greatest good of the greatest number. Second, what I am saying does not allow the welfare of one group to be traded off to increase total happiness or welfare. That's because in the Catholic view each individual has dignity and value. That value is part of the common good. In order for the common good to be advanced, the dignity and value of each individual must be respected. That isn't utilitarianism at all.

On the other hand, what I have said sounds a bit like Rawls's idea that economic inequalities must benefit the worst off members of society. Now, there is some similarity here -- what the Catholic church calls a preferential option for the poor. But there are also big differences. First of all, Rawls wants to maximize the good of the least well off group. I am not advocating that, although I am saying that the dignity and value of each person must be preserved. Second, Rawls's view is entirely secular. Mine isn't. And last, Rawls arrives at his principle by means of a largely self-interested calculation that takes place behind a veil of ignorance. I don't use that device. Instead, I am basing my view on the idea that God has given the earth to all people for their benefit.

Historically, the Catholic view is at least partially based on the medieval idea of the relationship between social wholes and parts (i.e., between societies and individual people). In the medieval view, the society has a purpose ordained by God. It is the job of each individual to serve that overall purpose. Property owners who pay starvation wages to their workers are obstructing rather than fostering that purpose. Furthermore, it is the job of the whole society to watch over the well being of each of its parts. The idea here is one of mutual obligations on the part of both the individual and society.