Caritas in Veritate

The text is here.

Preparatory reading Populorum Progressio, Paul VI's 1967 encyclical, which is a primary reference point in this one.

I have to say right out that I am never sure what the ultimate point and effect of an encyclical like this is. It is a mix between analysis of very specific global situations ranging from the financial crisis to migration to unions to the welfare state and some quite wonderful, clearly Benedict-written passages about the nature of human life, especially human life in community.

I wonder if arguments about the former - about the accuracy of the analysis, the sufficiency of the evidence and data - will overwhelm the latter, which is really what we should be looking to a Pope for. Don't think I'm saying religious figures - Popes included - shook stick to the "purely religious" stuff - whatever that means. I am just not sure if contemporary Catholic pronouncements touching on current issues have quite mastered the task of effectively bringing the Gospel into the fray while at the same time acknowledging the limitations of received data and analysis. This encyclical actually does better than some in its attempt to look at every side of issues and the prevalence of original sin and the law of unintended consequences. But I wonder if the detail and specificity it contains is necessary.

There are lots of interesting observations about the current global situation here. Lots to chew on and bounce off of and get people thinking and talking.

In particular, what should not be ignored is Benedict's constant challenge to consistency. He never fails to point out ironies and contradictions in contemporary ways of thinking and action. Rights-obsessed cultures that ignore the rights of the unborn and the otherwise dependent and helpleless. The call to respect nature that ignore  the natural shape of human ecology in terms of sexuality and family relations. The law of unintended consequences. He doesn't let us rest easy with lazy thinking.

I am going to just say a few things now, then more later. You folks, please discuss.

Benedict has several points to make. The focus of the encyclical is development. As he tends to do Benedict begins by setting the previous encyclical in context, and emphasizing its continuity with previous Catholic teaching. Also consistent with his intellectual and spiritual priorities, Benedict emphasizes truth, God's communion with human beings as the origin of our communion with one another, and the limitations and even dangers of human institutions that lose sight of God and authentic human dignity.

Some passages and phrases that struck me particularly:

Love -- caritas -- is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free

He emphasizes quite strongly the role of Truth in guiding our acts of charity and justice - and economic and civic life in general. This is pointed:

Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word "love" is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite. Truth frees charity from the constraints of an emotionalism that deprives it of relational and social content, and of a fideism that deprives it of human and universal breathing-space. In the truth, charity reflects the personal yet public dimension of faith in the God of the Bible, who is both Agápe and Lógos: Charity and Truth, Love and Word.
4. Because it is filled with truth, charity can be understood in the abundance of its values, it can be shared and communicated. Truth, in fact, is lógos which creates diá-logos, and hence communication and communion. Truth, by enabling men and women to let go of their subjective opinions and impressions, allows them to move beyond cultural and historical limitations and to come together in the assessment of the value and substance of things...A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world. Without truth, charity is confined to a narrow field devoid of relations. It is excluded from the plans and processes of promoting human development of universal range, in dialogue between knowledge and praxis.
.

"Breathing space" is a phrase he uses three times in this encyclical.

He emphasizes "gratuitousness" as well (using it or a form 13 times)  - that is a sense of giving and sharing, rooted in the way that God gives to his children. When you read Benedict, this "chain" if you will, is very strong. God's love is real - not a concept or notion, but real. When we are in communion with God, God's love fills us, and it's that love - that specific, real love of God - that we share.

The earthly city is promoted not merely by relationships of rights and duties, but to an even greater and more fundamental extent by relationships of gratuitousness, mercy and communion.

The great challenge before us, accentuated by the problems of development in this global era and made even more urgent by the economic and financial crisis, is to demonstrate, in thinking and behaviour, not only that traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated, but also that in commercial relationships the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity can and must find their place within normal economic activity. This is a human demand at the present time, but it is also demanded by economic logic. It is a demand both of charity and of truth.

Indeed, what Benedict says about "gratuitousness" is one of the more striking and provocative elements of this encyclical.

As is frequently the case, Benedict's thinking and language reaches a high point at the end of the document. This isn't the last line, but it's one that stuck with me. Not just in terms of development, but in terms of every aspect of life. It is our vocation. It is who we are in this world:

. Development needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer......

In the end, I think it woud be most interesting to consider this encyclical as a work of evangelization - a strong call to turn to Jesus Christ, the One in whom we all find meaning - specifically Jesus Christ, in specific communion with Him -  a call which I hope can be heard.