Awaiting Pope Benedict’s Caritas in Veritate

As you know, for a long time we have been preparing an encyclical on these issues. And on this long path I see how difficult it is to speak competently, because if the economic reality is not addressed competently, one cannot be credible. And, on the other hand, we must speak with a great ethical consciousness, created and inspired by a conscience forged by the Gospel. In the end, it is about human avarice as sin or, as the Letter to the Colossians says, of avarice as idolatry. We must denounce that idolatry that is opposed to the true God and that falsifies the image of God through another god, “mammon.”
. . . . Because egoism, the root of avarice, consists in loving myself more than anything else and of loving the world in reference to myself. It happens in all of us. It is the obscuring of reason, which can be very learned, with extremely beautiful scientific arguments but which, nevertheless, can be confused by false premises . . . . Without the light of faith, which penetrates the darkness of original sin, reason cannot go forward. But it is faith, precisely, that then runs into the resistance of our will. It does not want to see the way, which would be a path of self-denial and of correction of one’s own will in favor of the other, not of oneself.
[W]hat is needed is the reasonable and reasoned denunciation of the errors, not with great moral statements, but rather with concrete reasons that prove to be understandable in today’s economic world . . . . To realize that these great objectives of macro-science are not realized in micro-science”the macroeconomics in the microeconomics”without the conversion of hearts. If there are no just men, there is no justice either . . . Justice cannot be created in the world only with good economic models, even if these are necessary. Justice is only brought about if there are just men. And there are no just men without the humble, daily endeavor of converting hearts, and of creating justice in hearts.

“I am pleased to learn”he continued”that you have examined, in particular, interdependence between institutions, businesses and market starting from, in accordance with the encyclical Centesimus annus of my venerated predecessor John Paul II, the reflection that recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property and the resulting responsibility for the means of production, as well as free human creativity in the economic sector’ (n. 42), which can be a path of economic and civic progress only if oriented towards the common good (n. 43). This vision however must be accompanied by another reflection into which the freedom in the economic sector must be inserted ‘within a strong juridical framework which places it at the service of human freedom in its totality, and which sees it as a particular aspect of that freedom, the core of which is ethical and religious’ (n. 42). Opportunely the aforementioned encyclical states: ‘Just as the person fully realizes himself in the free gift of self, so too ownership morally justifies itself in the creation, at the proper time and in the proper way, of opportunities for work and human growth for all’ (n. 43)”.
“As you all know”he concluded”my next encyclical, soon-to-be published, is dedicated to the vast theme of the economy and work: it will evidence the objectives that Christians must pursue and the values Christians must promote and defend tirelessly, in order to realize a world in which all people can live together in a manner that is truly free and based on mutual assistance”.

Taking up again the social themes in “Populorum Progressio,” written by the Servant of God Paul VI in 1967, this document”dated in fact today, June 29, feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul”aims to go deeper in certain aspects of the integral development of our age, in the light of charity in truth. I entrust to your prayer this new contribution that the Church offers to humanity in its commitment to sustainable progress, in full respect of human dignity and the real needs everyone has.

The Holy Father is going to publish a new social encyclical precisely in order for a teaching dating back centuries to continue to be ever timely, alive and at work in history. What, therefore, is the source of this “timeliness”? On what basis can we say the social doctrine is “timely”?

Though the pope may not spell it out quite this way, much of Caritas in Veritate could well shape up as an attempt to synthesize three of the most persistent”and, Benedict would doubtless say, artificial”dichotomies in recent Catholic experience:

Personal conversion versus social reform;

Pro-life versus peace and justice commitments;

Horizontal versus vertical spirituality.

All three points can be understood as partial versions of one “grand dichotomy,” that between truth and love.
To be sure, that idea is unlikely to figure in many news headlines on Tuesday, which will probably focus on the pope’s policy recommendations, and/or his condemnations of greed. On the blogs, meanwhile, a slugfest will almost certainly erupt over whether the encyclical skews closer to the political right or left. (Its release just three days before President Barack Obama meets Benedict will probably fuel that cycle of spin.)
For those interested in drilling down, however, I suspect “synthesis” will prove a helpful way of pulling the document’s strands together.

NOTE: This article will be updated until the release of the encyclical.
Last Updated: July 3, 4:00 PM