Pope Benedict’s encyclical booklets at a press conference at
the Vatican. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
Today, July 7, the pope has released his much-anticipated social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), calling for a restructuring of the world economy based on “love, truth and charity.” The encyclical, in the works for two years, comes on the eve of the G8 summit in Italy, just days before his meeting with President Obama.
The encyclical follows economic themes expressed in recent statements from Pope Benedict, including a recent letter he wrote to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on July 4. In his newest, most authoritative statement on the subject to date, the Pontiff discusses the dangers of globalization and the need to fairly distribute wealth so that developing nations and the poorest of mankind is not left behind. As he states, “The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good.” He calls for the “human person in his or her integrity” to be the “source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life.”
Benedict begins the 144-page document by referencing his predecessors, especially Pope Paul VI. He admits that “the Church does not have technical solutions to offer” but says “she does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish.”
Benedict calls for reform including a new authority in place of the U.N. “to manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority.”
Benedict is careful to criticize not the instruments of capitalism, but the motivations of those operating them: “Economy and finance, as instruments, can be used badly when those at the helm are motivated by purely selfish ends. Instruments that are good in themselves can thereby be transformed into harmful ones. But it is man's darkened reason that produces these consequences, not the instrument per se.… Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity, so as not to abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers.”
Regulation is a key issue for Benedict, as he states: “Both the regulation of the financial sector, so as to safeguard weaker parties and discourage scandalous speculation, and experimentation with new forms of finance, designed to support development projects, are positive experiences that should be further explored and encouraged, highlighting the responsibility of the investor.”
The encyclical goes on to speak to issues of globalization, worldwide access to food and water, and protection of the environment, which he calls “God's gift to everyone,” lamenting “How many natural resources are squandered by wars!” Speaking on workers’ rights in the wake of globalization and outsourcing, he worries that “these processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems as the price to be paid for seeking greater competitive advantage in the global market, with consequent grave danger for the rights of workers, for fundamental human rights and for the solidarity associated with the traditional forms of the social State.” On the question of migration, Benedict asserts that "every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance."
Benedict also criticizes man’s manipulation of the reproductive process—“the powerful new instruments that the ‘culture of death’ has at its disposal”—such as euthanasia, eugenics, and, of course, abortion.
For the full text of the encyclical, click here.
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