Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Benedict XVI

Conclusion

Catholic social teaching has been in existence for almost 125 years since Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum novarum in 1891. Subsequent popes have continued the tradition of issuing encyclicals, which has become a most important part of Catholic self-understanding. Many have wished that ordinary Catholics in the pew were more familiar with Catholic social teaching. However, in the last few decades, Catholic theologians and Catholic universities, colleges, and even high schools have emphasized the importance of Catholic social teaching and have taught courses in this area. Efforts continue to be made to have this teaching become better known and practiced in the life of the Church. This volume analyzes and criticizes the contribution of Pope Benedict XVI to Catholic social teaching, especially as found in his encyclical Caritas in veritate. As a work in Catholic social ethics, this volume deals with the methodological and content aspects of his teaching. This study well illustrates the reality that Catholic social teaching is a living tradition. Recent popes Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have tended to emphasize the continuity in this tradition, but significant discontinuities also exist. From a theological perspective, the earlier documents culminating in John XXIII’s Pacem in terris in 1963 used almost exclusively a natural law approach, whereas the subsequent documents recognize the need to also show how distinctive Christian approaches should affect the social teaching. From an ethical perspective, the later documents, unlike the earlier ones, employ a personalistic and relational approach brought about especially by Conclusion Conclusion 65 a greater recognition of historical consciousness. The ethical methodology found in Paul VI’s documents was much more inductive than in earlier documents, but the encyclicals of John Paul II and Benedict XVI have reverted once again to a more deductive approach, going from the general to the particular and specific. On the level of substance and content, greater emphasis has been given over time to the freedom, equality, and participation of all people. In this light, the later documents of Catholic social teaching strongly support democracies, whereas the earlier encyclicals were suspicious and even negative about democracy. However, significant continuities exist in this teaching both on the methodological level and the content level. Even though the later documents do not rely primarily on a natural law approach, they recognize a role for natural law and human reason as important sources of moral wisdom and knowledge for believers. With regard to substance and content, the Catholic position has always recognized the proper role of government as avoiding the extremes of individualism and collectivisim. The tradition has always stressed the fact that the human person is created in the image and likeness of God, even though the later documents give greater importance to the freedom and equality of all human beings. This volume thus underscores the reality that Catholic social teaching is a living tradition. This volume has at times been critical of some aspects of Catholic social teaching in general and of Caritas in veritate in particular, but in my judgment Catholic social teaching on the whole has been a very positive and significant aspect of the papal teaching office. Not everyone would agree with the analysis and criticism given in this volume, but my hope is that the Catholic theological and ethical community and others can, by ongoing dialogue, contribute to the good of this teaching in two different ways. First, from the theoretical perspective, the Church is well served by those who want to strengthen the theological and ethical aspects of the teaching itself. More than many other treatises on Catholic social teaching, this volume emphasizes and to a degree criticizes the various methodological approaches found in Caritas in veritate and in Catholic social teaching in general. Likewise, while appreciative of many of the content issues and substance discussed in Caritas in veritate, this volume occasionally criticizes some of these. Second, the volume’s analysis and criticism from within the Catholic theological tradition strive to make this teaching better known and appreciated in the living reality of the Church itself. 66 CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING AND POPE BENEDICT XVI What about the future of Catholic social teaching? One can predict with great certitude that the tradition will continue. It has been in existence for almost 125 years and has made a significant contribution not only to the life of the Catholic Church but also to the greater public. Pope Francis...