Popes newest encyclical letter!

isshinwhat · #21 11th July 2009, 01:30 AM

...despite the efforts of conservative journalists to leave out the rest of the story.

Zing...!!! Those darned conservatives...

Washington, Jul 10 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) today issued the following joint statement regarding Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:
"Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, is neither an indictment of capitalism nor an endorsement of any political or economic agenda, and ideologues and politicos hoping to spin it as either are destined to be unsuccessful.

"The Holy Father’s central point in Caritas in Veritate is that at times of economic challenge, the inherent dignity of the individual must be preserved and sustained through genuine charity and compassion. This message is clearly distinct from efforts to 'remake' government into a soul-crushing centralized welfare state in which independent citizens are remade into dependent servants. In the encyclical, the Pope stresses that the human being must remain as the center of our free-market system. He warns that individuals, families, churches, communities, and businesses must never become subservient to the state. He emphasizes that the sanctity of all human life must always be protected. And he advocates conservation, not radical environmentalism.

"Caritas in Veritate is not a political document, but rather a complex work that warrants careful and thoughtful contemplation by American Catholics and non-Catholics alike at this time of economic anxiety."

isshinwhat · #22 11th July 2009, 01:43 AM

Originally Posted by Fantine

Sojourners, the progressive ecumenical organization headed by Rev. Jim Wallace, a Methodist minister, also had great things to say about Pope Benedict's latest encyclical.

See "Pope Benedict Gets It Right" by Brian McLaren:

Pope Benedict Gets It Right - Brian McLaren - God’s Politics Blog

This article emphasizes all those things that the other articles I've read about the encylical have completely ignored. And so yes, Caritas in Veritate discusses much more than the evils of population control, despite the efforts of conservative journalists to leave out the rest of the story.

Good Blog post, btw. Subsidiarity... The value of the single human person... These are things we cannot survive without.

WarriorAngel · #23 11th July 2009, 01:46 AM

I will read this tomorrow..

My eyelids are too heavy.

Fantine · #24 11th July 2009, 01:46 AM

Originally Posted by isshinwhat

Zing...!!! Those darned conservatives...

In the above quote two conservative politicians try to infer an endorsement of their political philosophy from Pope Benedict's encyclical.

I, for one, am not convinced.

isshinwhat · #25 11th July 2009, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by Fantine

Wow, in the above quote two conservative politicians try to wrangle an endorsement of their political philosophy from Pope Benedict's encyclical.

Nice try, guys, but I'm not convinced.

Sounds to me like they've actually read the thing, Fantine...

Fantine · #26 11th July 2009, 02:01 AM

Originally Posted by isshinwhat

Sounds to me like they've actually read the thing, Fantine...

This message is clearly distinct from efforts to 'remake' government into a soul-crushing centralized welfare state in which independent citizens are remade into dependent servants. And he advocates conservation, not radical environmentalism.

I guess it's a shame, then, that they chose to couch their statement in inflammatory rhetoric.

seekingfreedom · #27 11th July 2009, 02:18 AM

It's true I am a lapsed catholic. Yes, I understand Catholic teaching through the centuries on social justice. I don't understand the purpose of paragraph 67.

isshinwhat · #28 11th July 2009, 02:20 AM

Or, they actually read the document... I don't see visions of bunnies dancing in fields when I read it, Fantine.

In order to protect nature, it is not enough to intervene with economic incentives or deterrents; not even an apposite education is sufficient. These are important steps, but the decisive issue is the overall moral tenor of society. If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral human development. Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. Herein lies a grave contradiction in our mentality and practice today: one which demeans the person, disrupts the environment and damages society.

A particular manifestation of charity and a guiding criterion for fraternal cooperation between believers and non-believers is undoubtedly the principle of subsidiarity[137], an expression of inalienable human freedom. Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. Such assistance is offered when individuals or groups are unable to accomplish something on their own, and it is always designed to achieve their emancipation, because it fosters freedom and participation through assumption of responsibility. Subsidiarity respects personal dignity by recognizing in the person a subject who is always capable of giving something to others. By considering reciprocity as the heart of what it is to be a human being, subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state. It is able to take account both of the manifold articulation of plans — and therefore of the plurality of subjects — as well as the coordination of those plans. Hence the principle of subsidiarity is particularly well-suited to managing globalization and directing it towards authentic human development. In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way[138], if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.

isshinwhat · #29 11th July 2009, 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by seekingfreedom

It's true I am a lapsed catholic. Yes, I understand Catholic teaching through the centuries on social justice. I don't understand the purpose of paragraph 67.

The Pope is pointing out the brokenness of the current international legal fora that do not recognize the value of the individual and our individual responsibility. We are a human race, but we are a race of individuals tied together. Each of us was created by God and is loved by Him, and our every interaction should be guided by that fact. The failure of the globalism is due to the fact that we do not, "...observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity..." in our interactions. Globalism at its heart does nothing more than recognize the interconnected nature of humanity. Globalism can be dangerous, though, which is why the Pope said, "...the principle of subsidiarity is particularly well-suited to managing globalization and directing it towards authentic human development. In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way[138], if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice."

Globalism is a reality, how we handle it is up to us. We can do so in accordance with God's plan, or we can act in a way that, "lock[s] people into a state of dependence and even foster situations of localized oppression and exploitation..." The choice is ours. May God guide us.

Fantine · #30 11th July 2009, 02:32 AM

I define a "soul-crushing welfare state" as totalitarian communism as currently existing in North Korea.

You seem to define a "soul-crushing welfare state" as any progressive nation with a workforce that has national health care, paid maternity leave, and generous vacations. In other words, every industrialized nation in the world other than the U.S.

The two Republican members of Congress who issued a statement about the encyclical are obviously part of the propaganda machine that is attempting to convince people that the sensible and much-needed health care and other reforms of the Obama Administration will make America a "soul-crushing welfare state." And misinterpreting the Pope's encyclical to try to prove their point.