Today is the 51st anniversary of Pope Saint Paul VI’s landmark encyclical, Humanae vitae.
Pope Francis published his first encyclical today. Lumen Fidei (“The Light of Faith”), comes in the middle of the Year of Faith. The Pope told bishops, “It’s an encyclical written with four hands, so to speak, because Pope Benedict began writing it and he gave it to me. It’s a strong document. I will say in it that I received it and most of the work was done by him and I completed it.”
The full text is here: Lumen Fidei.pdf
Pope Benedict set out to write encyclicals on the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Two have been done and Lumen Fidei completes the course of study.
Thus Deus Caritas Est on charity in 2005 and Spe Salvi on hope in 2007.
Pope Benedict’s, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), published in 2009 focused on Catholic social teachings of the Church.
Lumen Fidei was presented Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. Their presentation is here in various languages.
In this context, the theme of integral human development
takes on an even broader range of meanings: the correlation between its
multiple elements requires a commitment to foster the interaction of the
different levels of human knowledge in order to promote the authentic
development of peoples. Often it is thought that development, or the
socio-economic measures that go with it, merely require to be implemented
through joint action. This joint action, however, needs to be given direction,
because “all social action involves a doctrine“. In view of the complexity of
the issues, it is obvious that the various disciplines have to work together
through an orderly interdisciplinary exchange. Charity does not exclude
knowledge, but rather requires, promotes, and animates it from within.
Knowledge is never purely the work of the intellect. It can certainly be
reduced to calculation and experiment, but if it aspires to be wisdom capable
of directing man in the light of his first beginnings and his final ends, it
must be “seasoned” with the “salt” of charity. Deeds without knowledge are
blind, and knowledge without love is sterile. Indeed, “the individual who is animated
by true charity labours skilfully to discover the causes of misery, to find the
means to combat it, to overcome it resolutely.” Faced with the phenomena that
lie before us, charity in truth requires first of all that we know and
understand, acknowledging and respecting the specific competence of every level
of knowledge. Charity is not an added extra, like an appendix to work already
concluded in each of the various disciplines: it engages them in dialogue from
the very beginning. The demands of love do not contradict those of reason.
Human knowledge is insufficient and the conclusions of science cannot indicate
by themselves the path towards integral human development. There is always a
need to push further ahead: this is what is required by charity in truth. Going
beyond, however, never means prescinding from the conclusions of reason, nor
contradicting its results. Intelligence and love are not in separate
compartments: love is rich in intelligence and intelligence is full of love.
This
means that moral evaluation and scientific research must go hand in hand, and
that charity must animate them in a harmonious interdisciplinary whole, marked
by unity and distinction. The Church’s social doctrine, which has “an important
interdisciplinary dimension”, can exercise, in this perspective, a function of
extraordinary effectiveness. It allows faith, theology, metaphysics and science
to come together in a collaborative effort in the service of humanity. It is
here above all that the Church’s social doctrine displays its dimension of
wisdom. Paul VI had seen clearly that among the causes of underdevelopment
there is a lack of wisdom and reflection, a lack of thinking capable of
formulating a guiding synthesis for which “a clear vision of all economic, social,
cultural and spiritual aspects” is required. The excessive segmentation of
knowledge, the rejection of metaphysics by the human sciences, the difficulties
encountered by dialogue between science and theology are damaging not only to
the development of knowledge, but also to the development of peoples, because
these things make it harder to see the integral good of man in its various
dimensions. The “broadening [of] our concept of reason and its application” 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.
(Caritas in veritate, 30-31; emphasis mine)
How is Caritatis in Veritate (CV; Truth in Charity) binding on the
consciences of Catholics or anyone else? CV is a teaching document that is
addressed to clergy and all people of good will. If you want to talk about it
binding a person’s faith and reason it comes only in the willingness to accept the pope’s vision of life expressed in this teaching. Its ability to influence the reader lies in how receptive the reader is to that which is presented in love.
“Caritas in veritate”, said Benedict XVI,
“does not seek to offer technical solutions to the enormous social
problems of the modern world. …What it does do is recall the fundamental
principles that are indispensable for building human development over coming
years”. Among these principles it highlights “concern for the life of
man, seen as the centre of all true progress; respect for the right to
religious freedom; … and the rejection of a Promethean vision of human beings
which sees them as the sole architects of their own destiny”. (VNS)
Pope Benedict’s 3rd encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, was published today. You may read it here. See the video clip about the pope’s new work.
“In Christ, charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan. Indeed, he himself is the Truth.”
Today is also the 2nd anniversary of the publication of the Pope’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
As expected, today the Pope signed off on his latest
encyclical, Charity in Truth. This latest work of the Pope’s is a social
catechesis that will address issues of concern for the poor, globalization,
solidarity with brothers and sisters. The work will be published soon (when the
translation can be settled on). It’s expected before the G8 meeting (hopefully
around July 6 or thereabouts).
The said in part introducing his work: “The publication of my third encyclical is
now near, which has the title Caritas in Veritate. Taking up the social themes
contained in Populorum Progressio, written by the Servant of God Paul VI in
1967, this document — which is dated precisely today, June 29th, the Solemnity
of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul — aims to deepen a few aspects of
integral development in our age in the light of charity in truth. I entrust to
your prayers this new contribution that the Church offers to humanity in her
commitment for sustainable progress, in full respect for human dignity and
everyone’s real requirements.”
John
Allen’s article
on the forthcoming encyclical.