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Social teachings of the papacy encompass papal views described in social encyclicals and other papal communications, beginning with Rerum novarum , Pope Leo XIII's encyclical of 1891.
Pope Leo XIII, amidst the Industrial Revolution and concerns about the deteriorating working and living conditions of urban workers, wrote the first social encyclical of modern times, Rerum novarum ("Of new things"), in 1891. He was influenced by German Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler. This encyclical set the tone for the Catholic Church's social teaching. It rejected socialism as well as laissez-faire capitalism, advocating the regulation of working conditions. It argued for the establishment of a living wage and for the right of workers to form trade unions. [1]
Pope Pius XI carried the theme forward in 1931 in his encyclical Quadragesimo anno ("Forty years later"). Pius XI concentrated on the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He called for the reconstruction of the social order based on the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity. [2] He noted major dangers for human freedom and dignity, arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism.
Pope Pius XII wrote no encyclical on social matters, but touched on new questions arising for Church teaching, in medicine, psychology, sports, TV, science, law, and education. [3]
Pope John XXIII in 1961, after calling the Second Vatican Council and on the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, published the encyclical Mater et Magistra ("Mother and teacher") to encourage Christians to respect human dignity and the community of all peoples, with an emphasis on the fact that economic conditions that place profit over human welfare fail to respect human dignity. A special focus was given to people leaving the farming sector where the standard of living was far below that in the cities.: 123–149 The Food and Agriculture Organization is acclaimed for its work in improvement of agriculture and in developing international collaboration.: 156 Food surplus should be shared with nations in need and help given toward improvement of farming methods,: 154f but always with respect for the local culture and control.: 151 The word "balance" occurs 16 times in the encyclical as the Pope encourages governments to work for the common good and a reduction in inequalities.: 65 On the eve of Vatican II new challenges are mentioned: the age of space and of telecommunications : 47 and the passage from colonialism to neocolonialism.: 172
Pope Paul VI began with an apostolic letter ( Octogesima adveniens ) on "arriving at the eightieth" year after Rerum Novarum. It reflects on the growing disparities between industrialized nations and those "struggling against starvation" and "engaged in eliminating illiteracy". It recalls John XXIII's statement decrying the discrepancies between urban and rural life, along with the squalid conditions that awaited those who moved to the cities.: 8 It introduces the topic of ecology to Catholic social teaching with the statement that by man's "ill-considered exploitation of nature he risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation".: 21 Then in his 1967 encyclical Populorum progressio ("On the development of peoples") he emphasizes that "lay people must consider it their task to improve the temporal order".: 81 He calls out the tyranny that comes from "unbridled liberalism" and from a type of capitalism with "pernicious economic concepts" that leads to "fratricidal conflicts": 26 amidst the accumulation of superfluous wealth.: 49 He goes on to comment that "haughty pride in one's own nation disunites nations and poses obstacles to their true welfare".: 62 He gives his closing comments a title that would echo over the years: "Development, the New Name for Peace" . [4] : 76
Pope John Paul II in 1981 on the 90th anniversary of Rerum novarum produced Laborem exercens ("Through work"). Reflecting on increasing mechanization, with workers like cogs in the employer's machine, he cites proposals like joint ownership and profit-sharing for the more personal involvement of the worker.: 14 He speaks of companies and states as "indirect employers", where workers are dependent on the prices paid for primary products and where the policies of governments should protect the livelihood of workers.: 17 Then in 1991 Centesimus annus honored the "Hundredth year" of Leo's encyclical. It criticizes Marxist ideology as atheistic and declares that "exploitation, at least in the forms analyzed and described by Karl Marx, has been overcome in Western society" (41). It also warns about the excesses of capitalism, pointing out that "it is the task of the State to provide for the defence and preservation of common goods such as the natural and human environments, which cannot be safeguarded simply by market forces.... Now, with the new capitalism, the State and all of society have the duty of defending those collective goods which, among others, constitute the essential framework for the legitimate pursuit of personal goals on the part of each individual".: 40
Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 produced the encyclical Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth") in which he argued that love and truth are essential in our response to global development and to progress towards the common good. He explains the moral principles necessary for all the diverse actors in addressing the problems of hunger, the environment, migration, sexual tourism, bioethics, cultural relativism, social solidarity, energy, and population growth. He first reiterates major points made by Paul VI in Populorum Progressio. He then describes globalization (mentioned 21 times) as the major feature of the current time, along with wealth (14 times), its generation and distribution within nations and among nations.
Eight months after his election Pope Francis wrote the Apostolic Letter Evangelii gaudium ("Joy of the Gospel") which was "the programmatic text of the Church today and represents the vision that Pope Francis has given for the years to come". [5] He described "trickle-down theories... [as expressing] a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power" and leading to a "globalization of indifference".: 54 In 2015, he produced his encyclical Laudato si' ("Praise be to you") with subtitle "On care for our common home." Francis gives all of Chapter Three to "The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis." The encyclical critiques development (61 times) that is not sustainable (21 times), integral (25 times), and shared (11 times). He criticizes our throwaway culture (5 times) and consumerism (15 times) and calls the warming of the planet a symptom of a greater problem: the developed world's indifference (7 times) to the destruction of the planet "to produce short-term growth" (178). Most of the encyclical's 172 references are to Catholic church sources and its comments on climate change are consistent with the scientific consensus. [6] Francis calls for people of the world to take "swift and unified global action". [7]
Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching principles, especially Pope Leo XIII's teachings in his encyclical Rerum novarum (1891) and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno (1931). It has influenced Anglo Christian Democratic movements, and has been recognized as one of many influences on the social market economy.
Pope Leo XIII was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the oldest pope holding office, and the second-longest-lived pope in history after Pope Benedict XVI as Pope emeritus. He also had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of St. Peter, Pius IX and John Paul II.
Rerum novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor, is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, passed to all Catholic patriarchs, primates, archbishops and bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes.
Quadragesimo anno is an encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI on 15 May 1931, 40 years after Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum, further developing Catholic social teaching. Unlike Leo XIII, who addressed the condition of workers, Pius XI discusses the ethical implications of the social and economic order. He describes the major dangers for human freedom and dignity arising from unrestrained capitalism, socialism, and communism as practised in Russia. He also calls for the reconstruction of the social order based on the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity.
Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, concern for social justice, and issues of wealth distribution. Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum, which advocated economic distributism. Its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine of Hippo. It is also derived from concepts present in the Bible and cultures of the ancient Near East.
Pacem in terris was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 11 April 1963 on the rights and obligations of individuals and of the state, as well as the proper relations between states. It emphasized human dignity and equality among all people, and made mention of issues such as the rights of women, nuclear non-proliferation, and the United Nations, all of which it endorsed. It was the last encyclical drafted by John XXIII, who had been diagnosed with cancer in September 1962 and died two months after the encyclical's completion. Biographer Peter Hebblethwaite called it Pope John's "last will and testament". Published on Holy Thursday, the Pope called it his "Easter gift".
The history of the papacy, the office held by the pope as head of the Catholic Church, spans from the time of Peter, to the present day. Moreover, many of the bishops of Rome in the first three centuries of the Christian era are obscure figures. Most of Peter's successors in the first three centuries following his life suffered martyrdom along with members of their flock in periods of persecution.
Centesimus annus is an encyclical which was written by Pope John Paul II in 1991 on the hundredth anniversary of Rerum novarum, an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. It is part of a larger body of writings, known as Catholic social teaching, which trace their origin to Rerum novarum and aim to relate the teachings of Jesus to the industrial age.
Mater et magistra is the encyclical written by Pope John XXIII on the topic of "Christianity and Social Progress". It was promulgated on 15 May 1961. The title means "mother and teacher", referring to the role of the church. It describes a necessity to work towards authentic community in order to promote human dignity. It taught that the state must sometimes intervene in matters of health care, education, and housing.
Laborem exercens is an encyclical written by Pope John Paul II in 1981, on human work. It is part of the larger body of Catholic social teaching, which traces its origin to Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum.
Divini Redemptoris is an anti-communist encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI. It was published on 19 March 1937. In this encyclical, the pope sets out to "expose once more in a brief synthesis the principles of atheistic Communism as they are manifested chiefly in Bolshevism".
Octogesima adveniens is the incipit of the 14 May 1971 Apostolic Letter addressed by Pope Paul VI to Cardinal Maurice Roy, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum. Generally known as A Call to Action on the Eightieth Anniversary of Rerum novarum, it is an Apostolic Letter which discusses themes such as securing democratic foundations in society.
Evangelii praecones was an encyclical letter of Pope Pius XII about Catholic missions. In it, he described necessary improvements and changes, and the persecution of the Church in some parts of the world. The encyclical was issued in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the encyclical Rerum ecclesiae by his predecessor Pope Pius XI.
Caritas in veritate is the third and last encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, and his first social encyclical. It was signed on 29 June 2009 and was published on 7 July 2009. It was initially published in Italian, English, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century had to respond to the challenge of increasing secularization of Western society and persecution resulting from great social unrest and revolutions in several countries. It instituted many reforms, particularly in the 1970s under the Vatican II Council, in order to modernize practices and positions. In this period, Catholic missionaries in the Far East worked to improve education and health care, while evangelizing peoples and attracting numerous followers in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level.
Evangelii gaudium is a 2013 apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis "On the proclamation of the Gospel in today's world". In its opening paragraph, Pope Francis urged the entire Church "to embark on a new chapter of evangelism". According to the exhortation, the Church must understand itself as a community of missionary disciples, who are "permanently in a state of mission".
Laudato si' is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action."
Fratelli tutti is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship". In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world countries has shown a failure in global cooperation. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars.