Why Pope Benedict's Encyclical Is a Boost for Catholic Progressives
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
If the criticism of Barack Obama's May appearance at the University of Notre Dame from U.S. bishops reinforced the image of the American Roman Catholic Church as politically obsessed with social issues like abortion, today's encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI is a reminder that the Vatican is also consumed by social justice issues: poverty, the environment, the plight of workers.
And if the bishops' criticism of Notre Dame and Obama last spring provided succor to conservative American Catholics frustrated by their hierarchy's sheepishness on hot-button issues, today's encyclical performs a similar function for liberal Catholics, distraught that a minority of outspokenly conservative U.S. bishops have received so much attention.
In today's encyclical—a major letter from the pope to Catholics worldwide—Benedict called for strengthening the United Nations into a "true world political authority" that could manage the global economy, facilitate disarmament, and protect the environment. He said the church's commitment to trade unions "must . . . be honored today even more than in the past." Benedict warned against free markets becoming the "place where the strong subdue the weak."
There is much in Benedict's third encyclical, in other words, for American conservatives to scorn. And though there's been a lot written about evangelicals and serious Catholics finding common cause on conservative political goals in recent years, a stronger U.N. and more support for unions is your average Christian right activist's idea of a bad dream.
That's not to say that Benedict's encyclical avoided controversial issues. "In economically developed countries, legislation contrary to life is very widespread," Benedict writes in a passage about abortion, "and it has already shaped moral attitudes and praxis, contributing to the spread of an anti-birth mentality . . . ."
But Benedict couches the concern for human life in an argument that extends far beyond abortion, bolstering an argument that progressive Catholics have been making for some time now. We may not have seen this big a boost for Catholic progressives from their church since the American bishops loudly supported comprehensive immigration reform in 2007.
Read the full encyclical here.
Tags: Pope Benedict XVI | religion | Vatican
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Reader Comments
A good quote from Caritas in Veritate
"We must promote a dispersed political authority." - Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate
Catholic church or murders
If the catholic church is such love, what happened during
the reformation period. It wasn't the protestants that
murdered all those people, it was the catholic church.
The popes ordered mass murder of all that did not
conform to the teaching of the catholic church. It
was because of the so-called (christain) catholic
church that I stopped going to church. After such
a history that the catholic church has I would be
a fool to trust them now. One thing I have learned
from the catholic church is they don't change
their views on things they just change tacticts.
Changing what they look like on the outside doesn't
mean they changed on the inside. Look at the symbols
of the catholic church, then look at the symbols of
pagianism and you'll find that they are one and the
same.
Caritas in Veritatis
The post above, Compassion for the Catholic Church, is right on. The article referred to is not an accurate reflection of the encyclical. The encyclical calls on the writings of several popes over the years to express the Church stand on a number of social issues.
One should lead Fides et Ratio as well as an overall context for Church positions.
The Church has a consistent message, for more than 2,000 years, on issues of faith and morals.
Before anyone laims to understand the Church he or any given issue, he or she should refer to the Catechism of the Catholilc Church.
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