Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical letter Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth) is a historical document that deserves careful reading, especially when the global economy continues to face such serious challenges.
Neither the secular media nor the supporters of different economic theories have given a proper interpretation of this, the first social letter of the Holy Father.
Some have tried to find in the pope’s third encyclical a reaffirmation of their own ideological and political tendencies, others, including some journalists who, in good faith, have only reported on selected principles in the encyclical in a way that makes it sound more like “news,” linking it to some fleeting events.
Caritas in Veritate, however, is fully understood only by reading it, and especially by understanding it in the full context of the social doctrine of the church.
I do not intend to summarize the encyclical, because I believe that each Catholic should read it, ponder it and live it. But I do think it is important to point out some matters that the encyclical makes clear, matters that consolidate and at the same time renew Catholic social thought.
There are five that I believe deserve mention:
1. The church has a social doctrine; that is, a set of proposals for the organization of public life that are not technical, but that emanate from Christian charity and are governed by the truth. As the pontiff explains: “A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world.” (Caritas in Veritate, 4)
2. Catholic social doctrine has at its center the human person and its true development, a progress that cannot be limited to material success. This is a subject to which Pope Benedict XVI not only dedicates two of the six chapters in his new encyclical, but which runs throughout the whole document.
The objective, as Pope Benedict XVI explains, is to achieve the type of development that Pope Paul VI expressed in his encyclical Populorum Progressio: “If development calls for an ever-growing number of technical experts, even more necessary still is the deep thought and reflection of wise men in search of a new humanism, one which will enable our contemporaries to enjoy the higher values of love and friendship, of prayer and contemplation.” (Populorum Progressio, 20)
3. The social doctrine of the church cannot be separated from two other fundamental issues for Catholics: the defense of the right to life from conception to natural death, and the explicit proclamation of the Gospel. In this regard, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that “a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized” (Caritas in Veritate, 15); and at the same time that “The church’s social doctrine proclaims and bears witness to faith. It is an instrument and an indispensable setting for formation in faith.” (Caritas in Veritate, 15)
4. All the aspects of the contemporary world, such as globalization or the accelerated development of technology, can and should be analyzed and judged from the foundation of faith and reason, to promote what is good and to prevent what is harmful to human beings.
5. We Christians not only have the right to take the Gospel to the public sphere, but we have the duty to do so, because the building of a world without God necessarily leads to the building of systems that go against the human person. This is what Pope Benedict XVI articulates in the conclusion of his new encyclical: “Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer, Christians moved by the knowledge that truth-filled love, caritas in veritate, from which authentic development proceeds, is not produced by us, but given to us. For this reason, even in the most difficult and complex times, besides recognizing what is happening, we must above all else turn to God’s love.” (Caritas in Veritate, 79)
The encyclical Caritas in Veritate is not only a true source of guidance for all Catholics, but it is also a valuable contribution to the building of the fundamental structure of society that is the social doctrine of the church.
I strongly encourage not only all the Catholics of the archdiocese but all Christians and men and women of good will to read the pope’s encyclical letter to rediscover the perennial wisdom of the teachings of the church and the deep and innovating theology of Pope Benedict XVI.