Weigel: Pacem in Terris Gave the Church a Voice in World Affairs

The Catholic Church’s deployment of the language of “human rights”, thanks to Pope John XXIII’s encyclical  Pacem in Terris , says George Weigel in today’s column , has helped magnify its moral voice in world affairs.

The universal resonance of  Pacem in Terris  confirmed the late-twentieth-century papacy as a unique voice of moral authority among the deeply divided and often-conflicted tribes of Planet Earth . . . . That same moral authority has already begun to be wielded by Pope Francis who, in his post-election address to the diplomats at the Holy See, reminded the assembled representatives of worldly power that there can be no peace without reference to the moral truths embedded in the world and in us—truths that are accessible to everyone by the use of reason.

Read the full column here .