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46 CHAPTER 3 Substance and Content of Caritas in veritate Whereas the previous chapter analyzed the methodology of Caritas in veritate, this chapter examines the substance and content of the encyclical in three sections—the understanding of person, of society, and of the more concrete realities of development, the economy, ecology, and technology. The Person The previous chapter treated the human person from the perspective of methodology; this chapter probes the nature and role of the person. Caritas in veritate, like its predecessors, stresses the dignity of the person as the fundamental and most important human value. The encyclical refers to the dignity of the human person or human dignity more than ten times. Benedict uses different adjectives to underscore the basic importance of human dignity—“the inviolable dignity of the human person” (no. 45, O–S, 557); “the person’s transcendent dignity” (no. 53, O–S, 563); “the essential dignity of every man and woman” (no. 63, O–S, 570). In keeping with the Catholic theological tradition, the basis for this dignity is the fact that all human beings are created in the image of God. The Church’s social doctrine “is based on the person’s creation in the ‘image of God’ (Gen. 1: 27)” (no. 45, O–S, 557). “God is the guarantor of the person’s true development, inasmuch as, having created human beings in his image, he also establishes the transcendent dignity of men and women” (no. 29, O–S, 544). From the theological perspective, the Christian person is seen in the light of the gift of creation and redemption. God’s love and grace have come to us in Jesus and have been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We who have received God’s love are called to share that love with others. “As the objects of God’s love, men and women become subjects of charity; they Substance and Content of Caritas in veritate 47 are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God’s charity and to weave networks of charity” (no. 5, O–S, 528). “Charity in truth places the human being before the astonishing experience of gift. Gratuitousness is present in our lives in many different forms which often go unrecognized because of a consumerist and utilitarian view of life. The human being is made for gift, which expresses and makes present the transcendent dimension of the human” (no. 34, O–S, 547). Benedict is quick to add, however, that charity in truth is a gift received by everyone (no. 34, O–S, 548). Catholic theology has always insisted on the gift of God’s love, but the emphasis on gift and gratuitousness constitutes a new contribution that Benedict has made to Catholic social teaching. “Economic, social and political development, if it is to be authentically human, needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity” (ibid.). The effect of gratuitousness on the economic order will be developed later. The topic of Caritas in veritate is integral, and authentic human development and the encyclical discusses the human person primarily in terms of this integral development. Quoting liberally from Paul VI’s Populorum progressio, Benedict sees the understanding of development as a vocation. Every person is called upon to develop and fulfill herself, for every life is a vocation. To regard development as a vocation is to realize that it derives from a transcendental call but is incapable on its own of supplying the ultimate meaning. Integral human development must be open to the Absolute , which gives life its true meaning. The Gospel is fundamental for this development (no. 18, O–S, 535–36). In keeping with the Catholic theological tradition, Caritas in veritate points out that on the natural plane (as distinguished from the supernatural ), integral human development is a response to a vocation from God the Creator. But the encyclical also recognizes the problems involved on the merely human or natural plane. “When God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose, and the ‘good’ begins to wane” (no. 18, O–S, 536). Caritas in veritate thus has to live with the tension of the vocation of all persons to development, but without the grace of Christ, the human does not and cannot achieve the fullness of development, and encounters problems in the way of achieving even one’s own human development. A vocation is a call that requires a free and responsible answer...

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