{"id":5453,"date":"2009-07-29T06:03:52","date_gmt":"2009-07-29T06:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/the-popes-most-recent-encyclic-1.html"},"modified":"2009-07-29T06:03:52","modified_gmt":"2009-07-29T06:03:52","slug":"the-popes-most-recent-encyclic-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/the-popes-most-recent-encyclic-1.html","title":{"rendered":"The Pope’s Most Recent Encyclical 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope.jpg\"<\/span>Once again, Mary Veeneman, professor in theology at North Park
\nUniversity, steps up to guide us into understanding Pope Benedict XVI’s
\nmost recent statement. This is the second of a two-part post.<\/i><\/p>\n

Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate <\/i>is the latest document in the corpus of
\nCatholic Social Teaching, as we have been discussing.  <\/span>One of the more frustrating aspects of working on CST,
\nthough, is that different groups will choose to emphasize different elements of
\nCST.  <\/span><\/p>\n

There are some that want to
\npoint to encyclicals like Humane Vitae <\/i>and
\nEvangelium Vitae<\/i>, which condemn
\ncontraception, abortion and euthanasia and discuss the problems of the culture
\nof death as the highest priorities of CST.  <\/span>There are others, who may be even more numerous, who want to
\nconsider CST’s positions on economics and care for the poor as the most
\nimportant priorities.  <\/span>This is frequent
\nenough that some of the most commonly used compilations of CST documents omit Humane Vitae <\/i>and Evangelium Vitae<\/i> even though they certainly contain some of the
\nChurch’s social teachings.<\/p>\n

What does this new statement by the Pope say to evangelicals?<\/b> How might we receive and appropriate some of the teachings in this encyclical?  <\/span>If we sought to apply Caritas in Veritate<\/i>‘s statements about
\nevangelization how might our own evangelism look different? Are we consistently pro life?<\/i> <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

 The problem with both of these tendencies is that they are
\nborn from a picking and choosing of the CST documents themselves as well as
\nelements of the CST documents. 
\n<\/span>(Evangelicals, for example, will sometimes claim solidarity with
\nCatholics on beginning of life issues, but then sanction the use of
\ncontraception and various assisted reproduction technologies forbidden by the
\nCatholic Church).  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Benedict, in Caritas
\nin Veritate <\/i>makes very clear that this kind of approach is not in keeping
\nwith the Catholic tradition.  <\/span>He
\nwrites, “Two further documents by Paul VI without any direct link to social
\ndoctrine [Humanae Vitae <\/i>and Evangelii Nuntiandi<\/i>] are highly
\nimportant for delineating the fully human
\nmeaning of the development that the Church proposes<\/i>.  <\/span>It is therefore helpful to consider
\nthese texts too in relation to Populorum Progressio<\/i>.”  <\/span>(Caritas
\nin Veritate<\/i>, paragraph 15). 
\n<\/span>The implications of what Benedict has done here are substantial.  <\/span>While the Catholic Church has always
\nheld to the need for a consistent ethic of life (the late Cardinal Joseph
\nBernadin’s A Consistent Ethic of Life<\/i>
\nis an excellent resource on this), Benedict seems to want to make absolutely
\nclear that when we talk about issues of social justice and development, we
\ncannot do that to the exclusion of the vital issues surrounding the sanctity of
\nlife.  <\/span>This is because in the end,
\nall of the issues discussed in Catholic Social Teaching from poverty to stem
\ncell research to the living wage to euthanasia are ultimately life issues
\nbecause they all tie into the Church’s call to seek flourishing for all people
\nfrom womb to tomb (as Firer Hinze put it).  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why are all of these issues worth significant
\nattention?  <\/span>Benedict cites Paul VI
\nin Evangelii Nuntiandi<\/i> in making a
\ndirect connection between evangelization and development.  <\/span>Paul VI wrote, “evangelization would
\nnot be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the
\nGospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social” (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi<\/i>).  <\/span>In this way, then, development is part
\nand parcel of the spread of the Gospel, insofar as we are called to be
\nconcerned not just with an individual’s spiritual condition but also with his
\nor her concrete, on-the-ground situation. 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have set these reflections in the Catholic context, since
\nthat is their origin, but Benedict addresses his encyclical to “Bishops,
\npriests and deacons, men and women religious, the lay faithful and all people of goodwill<\/i>” (emphasis mine)
\nwhich makes clear that his audience goes beyond simply members of the Catholic
\nChurch.  <\/span>As evangelicals, how might
\nwe receive and appropriate some of the teachings in this encyclical?  <\/span>If we sought to apply Caritas in Veritate<\/i>‘s statements about
\nevangelization how might our own evangelism look different?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once again, Mary Veeneman, professor in theology at North Park University, steps up to guide us into understanding Pope Benedict XVI’s most recent statement. This is the second of a two-part post. Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate is the latest document in the corpus of Catholic Social Teaching, as we have been discussing.  One…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pope's Most Recent Encyclical 2 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/the-popes-most-recent-encyclic-1.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pope's Most Recent Encyclical 2 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Once again, Mary Veeneman, professor in theology at North Park University, steps up to guide us into understanding Pope Benedict XVI’s most recent statement. 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