The Changing Anthropological Bases of Catholic Social Ethics

THE CHANGING ANTHROPOLOGICAL BASES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL ETIDCS FOR ONE HUNDRED years there has existed a body of official Catholic Church teaching on social ethics and the social mission of the Church. There was a social teaching within the Catholic Church before that time, but from the pontificate of Leo XIII (1878-1903) one can speak of a body of authoritative social teaching worked out in a systematic way and often presented in the form of encyclicals or papal letters to the bishops and to the whole Church. The purpose of this paper is to point out some of the changing anthropological emphases in this body of social teaching, thereby proposing an approach which can and should be employed in Christian social ethics today. The limitation of our discussion primarily to the official body of papal teaching should not be construed as failing to recognize the other theological approaches within the Catholic community. However, the teaching of the hierarchical magisterium has a special degree of authority about it and historically has served as a basis for much of Catholic social teaching during the last hundred years. Also by limiting the discussion to this particular body of teaching it is possible to place some realistic perimeters on the study. Until a few years ago Catholic commentators were generally reluctant to admit any development within the papal social teaching.1 The popes themselves gave the impression of continuity and even went out of their way to smooth over any differences with their" predecessors of happy memory." Often Catholic commentaries on the papal teaching were uncritical1 For the best commentary available in English, see Jean-Yves Calvez and Jacques Perrin, The Church and Social Justice: The Social Teaching of the Popes from Leo XIII to Pius XII, 18?'8-1958 (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1961), also Jean-Yves Calvez, The Social Thought of John XXIII (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1964). ~84 CHANGING ANTHROPOLOGICAL BASES ~85 merely explaining and applying the papal teaching. John F. Cronin, one of the better known commentators on Catholic social teaching in the United States, while reminiscing in 1971, recognized his failure to appreciate the historical and cultural conditionings of this teaching and the importance of a proper hermeneutic in explaining it.2 In the area of Church and state relations and religious liberty the historically and culturally conditioned aspect of the papal teaching was clearly recognized somewhat earlier.3 In the last few years more scholars have realized the development and change which have occurred in Catholic social teaching.4 Especially since the decade of the 1960s this development has become so pronounced that no one could deny its existence. This study will concentrate on anthropology, but it will be impossible to treat all aspects of anthropology. Two anthropological aspects will be considered in depth. The first section on the personal aspects of anthropology will trace the development culminating in an emphasis on the freedom, equality and participation of the person. Some of the important methodological consequences of such an understanding of the human person will also be discussed. The second section on the social aspects of anthropology will show the greater importance given 2 John F. Cronin, "Forty Years Later: Reflections and Reminiscences," American Ecdesiastical Review 164 (1971), 310-318. For Cronin's major contribution in the field, see John F. Cronin, Social Principles and Economic Life, revised ed. (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1964). 8 The most significant contribution to an understanding of development in the papal teaching on religious liberty was made by John Courtney Murray. For a summary of his approach, see John Courtney Murray, The Problem of Religious Freedom ('Vestminster, Md.: Newman Press, 1965). This small volume originally appeared as a long article in Theological Studies 25 (1964), 503-575. 4 For the best study of development in the papal teaching on economic questions before the Second Vatican Council, see Richard L. Camp, The Papal Ideofogy of Social Reform: A Study in Historical Devdopment, 1878-1967 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1969). For other helpful studies showing development in Catholic social ethics, see Marie Dominique Chenu, La dottrina sociale della Chiesa: origine e sviluppo, 18911971 (Brescia: Editrice Queriniana, 1977); David Hollenbach, Claims in Conflict: Retrieving...