58. Reason, by itself, is capable of grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity. Here budgetary policies, with cuts in social spending often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks; such powerlessness is increased by the lack of effective protection on the part of workers' associations. cit., 822-824. cit., 781-782. I will focus on what I see as the major issue for Catholic social teaching, which is the tension between its traditional emphasis on persons and their face-to-face relationships and econo- The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase. [67] Cf. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away[67]. Yet it should be stressed that progress of a merely economic and technological kind is insufficient. These are important steps, but the decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. I would like to consider two of these in particular, of special relevance to the commitment to development in an increasingly globalized society: justice and the common good. In the face of such Promethean presumption, we must fortify our love for a freedom that is not merely arbitrary, but is rendered truly human by acknowledgment of the good that underlies it. The breaking-down of borders is not simply a material fact: it is also a cultural event both in its causes and its effects. Space also needs to be created within the market for economic activity carried out by subjects who freely choose to act according to principles other than those of pure profit, without sacrificing the production of economic value in the process. The latter are often exposed to immoral or even perverted forms of conduct, as in the case of so-called sex tourism, to which many human beings are sacrificed even at a tender age. 53. One must align oneself, so to speak, with the unsung efforts of so many individuals deeply committed to bringing peoples together and to facilitating development on the basis of love and mutual understanding. 35. Article by John L Allen Jr "Econ encyclical 'more on ethics than structure'" March 05, 2009, John Thavis, Catholic News Service, "'Love in Truth': Honing the idea that charity is litmus test of faith", Doing The Truth In Love: An Evangelical Call for Response to, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caritas_in_veritate&oldid=1011223153, Documents of the Catholic Social Teaching tradition, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from November 2017, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from November 2017, Wikipedia articles with style issues from November 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Integral human development in charity and truth, This page was last edited on 9 March 2021, at 18:35. It must be remembered that the market does not exist in the pure state. [46] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 13: loc. Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. In this way, it is actually possible to improve social services and welfare programmes, and at the same time to save resources — by eliminating waste and rejecting fraudulent claims — which could then be allocated to international solidarity. Encyclical Letter, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 28: loc. It is about broadening the scope of reason and making it capable of knowing and directing these powerful new forces, animating them within the perspective of that “civilization of love” whose seed God has planted in every people, in every culture. In particular, in the light of the revealed mystery of the Trinity, we understand that true openness does not mean loss of individual identity but profound interpenetration. cit., 852-854; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1883. By Omar F. A. Gutiérrez, MA 1 | Page Not for distribution without express permission. The first is that the whole Church, in all her being and acting — when she proclaims, when she celebrates, when she performs works of charity — is engaged in promoting integral human development. ibid., 36-37: loc. He invited us to search for them in other dimensions of the human person: first of all, in the will, which often neglects the duties of solidarity; secondly in thinking, which does not always give proper direction to the will. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (6 August 1993), 33, 46, 51: AAS 85 (1993), 1160, 1169-1171, 1174-1175; Id., Address to the Assembly of the United Nations, 5 October 1995, 3. One aspect of the contemporary technological mindset is the tendency to consider the problems and emotions of the interior life from a purely psychological point of view, even to the point of neurological reductionism. Sometimes modern man is wrongly convinced that he is the sole author of himself, his life and society. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise. 26. [101] Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 27: loc. It is the primordial truth of God's love, grace bestowed upon us, that opens our lives to gift and makes it possible to hope for a “development of the whole man and of all men”[8], to hope for progress “from less human conditions to those which are more human”[9], obtained by overcoming the difficulties that are inevitably encountered along the way. FRATERNITY, ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY. The pope is calling for a "true world political authority " to fix the problems that plague the world. Without necessarily endorsing the thesis that the central focus on the worker has given way to a central focus on the consumer, this would still appear to constitute new ground for unions to explore creatively. This originates in a transcendent vocation from God the Father, who loved us first, teaching us through the Son what fraternal charity is. cit., 262, 277-278. The “broadening [of] our concept of reason and its application”[82] is indispensable if we are to succeed in adequately weighing all the elements involved in the question of development and in the solution of socio-economic problems. cit., 289. Development needs above all to be true and integral. The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption, either through an evolution in manufacturing methods or through greater ecological sensitivity among their citizens. cit., 515. The human community that we build by ourselves can never, purely by its own strength, be a fully fraternal community, nor can it overcome every division and become a truly universal community. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 36: loc. 2. It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. This false security becomes a weakness, because it involves reducing man to subservience, to a mere means for development, while the humility of those who accept a vocation is transformed into true autonomy, because it sets them free. [97] Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 14: loc. [89] Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est, 3: loc. To achieve goals of this kind, they need to focus on promoting the dignity of persons and peoples, they need to be clearly inspired by charity and placed at the service of truth, of the good, and of natural and supernatural fraternity. Finance, therefore — through the renewed structures and operating methods that have to be designed after its misuse, which wreaked such havoc on the real economy — now needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards improved wealth creation and development. Just and equitable international trade in agricultural goods can be beneficial to everyone, both to suppliers and to customers. [139] Cf. Peter and Paul, Apostles. 2; also “Homo non ordinatur ad communitatem politicam secundum se totum et secundum omnia sua”, Summa Theologiae I-II, q. The criteria to be applied should aspire towards incremental development in a context of solidarity — with careful monitoring of results — inasmuch as there are no universally valid solutions. The Pope suggests isolation is one of the causes of various forms of poverty, including self-inflicted isolation where the individual elects to withdraw from society. Some non-governmental Organizations work actively to spread abortion, at times promoting the practice of sterilization in poor countries, in some cases not even informing the women concerned. Yet both the market and politics need individuals who are open to reciprocal gift. These over-simplifications stem from a profound failure to understand the spiritual life, and they obscure the fact that the development of individuals and peoples depends partly on the resolution of problems of a spiritual nature. Paul VI had already warned against the technocratic ideology so prevalent today[26], fully aware of the great danger of entrusting the entire process of development to technology alone, because in that way it would lack direction. Technologically advanced societies must not confuse their own technological development with a presumed cultural superiority, but must rather rediscover within themselves the oft-forgotten virtues which made it possible for them to flourish throughout their history. Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is “mine” to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due to him by reason of his being or his acting. Mt 22:36- 40). This is what I offer here. [17], Commenting upon the repeated delay of Caritas in veritate, Giampaolo Crepaldi, president of the Osservatorio Internazionale: sulla dottrina sociale della Chiesa, wrote an article entitled "Awaiting the New Encyclical of Benedict XVI: What Does It Mean to Say the Social Doctrine of the Church is Timely?" 55. Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 3: loc. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 5: loc. The term “education” refers not only to classroom teaching and vocational training — both of which are important factors in development — but to the complete formation of the person. From this standpoint, international organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic and administrative machinery, which is often excessively costly. “The peoples themselves have the prime responsibility to work for their own development. 1. This fact should prompt us to liberate ourselves from ideologies, which often oversimplify reality in artificial ways, and it should lead us to examine objectively the full human dimension of the problems. [114] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 77: loc. It is thus becoming a social and even economic necessity once more to hold up to future generations the beauty of marriage and the family, and the fact that these institutions correspond to the deepest needs and dignity of the person. Banks are proposing “ethical” accounts and investment funds. [16] Cf. 30. The Encyclical Humanae Vitae emphasizes both the unitive and the procreative meaning of sexuality, thereby locating at the foundation of society the married couple, man and woman, who accept one another mutually, in distinction and in complementarity: a couple, therefore, that is open to life[27]. Truth frees charity from the constraints of an emotionalism that deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing-space. The Church's social doctrine came into being in order to claim “citizenship status” for the Christian religion[135]. We should not be its victims, but rather its protagonists, acting in the light of reason, guided by charity and truth. In December 2008, a release was announced for 19 March 2009. 79. [17] Cf. Their ultimate source is not, and cannot be, mankind, but only God, who is himself Truth and Love. cit., 519-520; Id., Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: loc. While in the past it was possible to argue that justice had to come first and gratuitousness could follow afterwards, as a complement, today it is clear that without gratuitousness, there can be no justice in the first place. The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole. Above all, the intention to do good must not be considered incompatible with the effective capacity to produce goods. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. While acknowledging that organized religion is not always an entirely positive influence, the Pope warns of the danger of state imposed atheism, which he says deprives citizens of the moral and spiritual strength needed for genuine development and to respond generously to divine love. Nowadays we are witnessing a grave inconsistency. These gently-used items allow families to eat together around a … The integral development of peoples and international cooperation require the establishment of a greater degree of international ordering, marked by subsidiarity, for the management of globalization[149]. The Pope cautions against secularism and fundamentalism, both of which make such dialogue difficult. [78] Cf. cit., 269-270. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11. These words of Paul VI are all the more timely nowadays, as our world becomes progressively more integrated. On the one hand, charity demands justice: recognition and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples. Human beings legitimately exercise a responsible stewardship over nature, in order to protect it, to enjoy its fruits and to cultivate it in new ways, with the assistance of advanced technologies, so that it can worthily accommodate and feed the world's population. cit., 265. The Pope introduces a theme concerning the importance in tackling hunger which reoccurs later in the work, using a quote from Populorum progressio: "the peoples in hunger are making a dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance". All our knowledge, even the most simple, is always a minor miracle, since it can never be fully explained by the material instruments that we apply to it. As the Pope wisely notes, “The human being is made for gift,” even though man is often “wrongly convinced that he is the sole author of himself, his life and society.” This doctrine is a service to charity, but its locus is truth. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 57. The last part of the chapter is about the duty to protect the environment, though the Pope also warns that nature should not be regarded as more important than man. 8-9: AAS 60 (1968), 485-487; Benedict XVI, Address to the participants at the International Congress promoted by the Pontifical Lateran University on the fortieth anniversary of Paul VI's Encyclical “Humanae Vitae”, 10 May 2008. Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio (14 September 1998), 85: AAS 91 (1999), 72-73. The “types of messianism which give promises but create illusions”[38] always build their case on a denial of the transcendent dimension of development, in the conviction that it lies entirely at their disposal. Locating resources, financing, production, consumption and all the other phases in the economic cycle inevitably have moral implications. Secularists in Italy did not appreciate intervention by the Pope in worldly affairs. The world that Paul VI had before him — even though society had already evolved to such an extent that he could speak of social issues in global terms — was still far less integrated than today's world. This leads to a rejection, not only of the distorted and unjust way in which progress is sometimes directed, but also of scientific discoveries themselves, which, if well used, could serve as an opportunity of growth for all. Thinking of this kind requires a deeper critical evaluation of the category of relation. Every culture has burdens from which it must be freed and shadows from which it must emerge. Hence charity and truth confront us with an altogether new and creative challenge, one that is certainly vast and complex. Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (11 April 1963): AAS 55 (1963), 268-270. [93] Cf. This is not merely a matter of a “third sector”, but of a broad new composite reality embracing the private and public spheres, one which does not exclude profit, but instead considers it a means for achieving human and social ends. It is part and parcel of human activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner. Due attention must obviously be given to responsible procreation, which among other things has a positive contribution to make to integral human development. It is Christ's charity that drives us on: “caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14). Striving to meet the deepest moral needs of the person also has important and beneficial repercussions at the level of economics. To consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment is mistaken, even from an economic point of view. Unfortunately, too much confidence was placed in those institutions, as if they were able to deliver the desired objective automatically. John Paul II, Address to the Sixth Public Session of the Pontifical Academies of Theology and of Saint Thomas Aquinas, 8 November 2001, 3. The encyclical, issued in 2009, commemorates Pope Paul VI’s groundbreaking letter Populorum Progressio from 1967, and Pope Benedict’s letter draws on many of the themes from his predecessor’s text. 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