A Word on the Encyclical

By Sean DeWitt

Having finished Pope Benedict’s new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, I felt slightly obliged to say at least a few words. Though there is a difficulty in saying just a few words, because of the depth in which Pope Benedict writes. I do believe, however, that I can at least put the encyclical into context with the other social encyclicals and point out its major theme: human development.

Following in the tradition of the social encyclicals started by Rerum Novarum, Pope Benedict XVI set out to protect the entirety of man, saying that while

The Church does not have technical solutions to offer and does not claim ‘to interfere in any way in the politics of States.’ [11] She [the Church] does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish, in every time and circumstance, for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation. [9]

Caritas in Veritate—Love in truth—reflecting and honoring the 40th anniversary of Popularum Progressio, addresses the dignity and vocation of man by addressing the issues of ‘human development.’ The encyclical adds to the tradition by taking the Church’s understanding of man and applying it to the current issues of the world in this case globalization.

In the encyclical, Benedict places material development in the context of a proper understanding of the human person. Love in truth captures the idea that there is a right and wrong way to exercise charity, depending on how it serves the dignity and vocation of man. As Benedict says:

Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more human and humanizing value. [9]

In other words, service to others has moral and ethical implications, and how the needs of man are achieved really matters. True development should serve to further the dignity and vocation of man as given to him by God. Development for the sake of development is not right.

Benedict takes this principle and directly confronts the movement of globalization by pointing out a fallacy that has arisen out of the global movement.

The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good, opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties. [9]

Closely linked to materialism, this fallacy misunderstands what it means to develop a human. Material exchange, or equality, is not true development. Certainly, such generosity of goods is a starting point for charity. However, it is only a starting point. Thus such goods and services should be used to open up an exchange of ideas and knowledge, which will further the development of the man in his ‘dignity’ and his ‘vocation’.

Benedict sums up his point in the first chapter:

The truth of development consists in its completeness: if it does not involve the whole man and everyman, it is not true development…Integral human development on the natural plane, as a response to a vocation from God the Creator[48], demands self-fulfillment in a “transcendent humanism which gives[to man] his greatest possible perfections: this is the highest goal of personal development. [18]

In this passage, Benedict reiterates the goal of development that is the advancement of man on the ‘natural plane’—his vocation here on earth—in turn allowing our fellow man to flourish and grow in his ‘transcendent humanism’—his dignity as God’s creation.

Catholic Charities in more ways than one recognizes the dignity and vocation of man. We firmly believe that the development of man, and the charity required for such is manifested in service to their ‘natural,’ or vocational needs, while honoring their ‘super-natural,’ or dignified, existence. The love that we share with those we serve is always in the context of truth.