Posted on 03/08/2009 9:04:22 AM PDT by stfassisi
As the 16-month-old disintegration of the post-World War II financial systems accelerates towards a climax, Pope Benedict XVI is preparing a major papal encyclical that will outline the principles behind a just and stable economy.
"Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it." — G.K. Chesterton
As Wall Street continues to plumb new depths in the 21st century — markets today closed at new multi-year lows, lower than at any time since the mid-1990s — and as global trade flows contract sharply, fears are growing worldwide that the entire financial "architecture" of the post-war period, now seemingly fibrillating, could enter a period of "cardiac arrest" — complete financial collapse — and a global depression of uncertain duration ensue. (The chart of the Dow Jones Industrial average below, which represents only one country and one group of stocks in the global economy, is given only as an example of the trend. It shows the last five years of prices. The breakdown, with increasing volume of shares traded — shown in billions of shares traded at the bottom — can be seen from October 2007, when the Dow was over 14,000. However, the seeds of the breakdown were sown many years earlier. The Dow closed today, March 2, 2009 at 6,763.)
Pope Benedict XVI is about to address the global crisis with a papal letter called an "encyclical," so named because it is circulated everywhere, around the world. So his message will be intended first for all Catholics, but also all men in every corner of the world, whether in Africa or Asia, in Russia or America. The Pope's message fundamentally will be one of hope, no matter how devastating the global financial crisis becomes. But it will not seem hopeful to some, because it will be filled also with truth about how false economic principles and moral ideals can lead mankind toward the abyss, and into it.
On February 26, the Pope himself gave us a preview of his upcoming encyclical. During a meeting with pastors and clergy of the diocese of Rome in the Hall of Blessings in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, as the Vatican Information Service (VIS) reported on February 27, Benedict answered eight questions put to him on matters including the world economic crisis.
The Church has the duty to present a reasonable and well-argued criticism of the errors that have led to the current economic crisis, Benedict said. This duty, he said, forms part of the Church's mission and must be exercised firmly and courageously, avoiding moralism but explaining matters using concrete reasons that may be understood by everyone.
Referring to his forthcoming social Encyclical, the Pope then presented a synthetic overview of the crisis, analyzing it at two levels, VIS reported. First, he considered the systemic, or "macroeconomic" aspects, highlighting the shortcomings of a system founded on selfishness and the idolatry of money. These motivating passions cast a shadow over man's reason and will, and lead him into the ways of error, the Pope said. Here the Church is called to make her voice heard — nationally and internationally — in order to help bring about a change of direction and show the path of true reason illuminated by faith, which is the path of self-sacrifice and concern for the needy, he said. The second aspect of the Holy Father's analysis concerned the personal and the local sphere ("microeconomics"). Large-scale projects for reform, he said, cannot come about unless individuals alter their ways. If there are no just people, then there can be no justice.
Hence he invited people to intensify their humble, everyday efforts for the conversion of hearts, an undertaking that above all involves parishes whose activity is not just limited to the local community but opens up to all humanity.
Why do we at Inside the Vatican believe that the economic situation is a very serious matter? Are we not interested in "more spiritual questions," like prayer, religious life, the interpretation of scripture, the naming, excommunication, or "un-excommunication" of bishops, the canonization of saints? With "heavenly" matters, not "earthly" ones? These are good questions, for it is true that "the Kingdom" toward which the Church is oriented, and in anticipation of which she lives, is "not of this world."
Why, then, are we deeply interested in the economy? We are interested in the economy, in the way our economy is structured and functions, because the economy, the structure of human exchanges of labor and knowledge and energies and resources, is the context, the atmosphere, the environment, for many of the moral decisions of people's lives.
Blessedness, or beatitude, is a condition or state of being which is at once holy and happy, healthy and whole, and it is what we wish for, and seek, in our lives, for ourselves, and for those we love — and, if we are to tell the truth, for all men. We seek the blessing of a just and fair economy because the economy influences, conditions, enables and at times impedes, good marriages, cohesive and happy families, good sibling relationships, good relations between races, religions, ethnic groups, and economic classes. All of these relationships are affected by economic turmoil, and thus one of the central duties of human governments is to provide, as effectively as possible, the legal and moral context for stable, just and balanced economic development.
Therefore, we will be covering the Pope's encyclical with great care, and in coming days and weeks, preparing for the encyclical, then analyzing it, then interpreting and applying it.
We offer one preliminary thought. There is a great tradition of Catholic economic teaching, or social teaching on economic matters. We need to know this teaching in order to engage in the debates of our times, and propose thoughtful and just solutions to the crisis we face. Heinrich Pesch (1854-1926) a German Jesuit priest and economist, was influential more than a century ago. It was to the thought of Pesch and his disciples that Pope Pius XI turned in composing his monumental encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (1931), and it is from Pesch that John Paul II took many of the ideas of his own social encyclicals, including the key term "solidarism" (solidarity).
Pesch was, above all, concerned with the human beings for whom Christ died. In discussing the business cycle, for example, he wrote, "To be sure, it is said that while business cycles open wounds they also heal them again.
Today they cause loss, tomorrow, profit! But what about those cases where loss and profit do not recur to the same people or the same classes of people, so that some are carried to the dizzying heights of wealth, while others are reduced to economic ruin?" Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903), the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903, is known for the development of social teachings with his encyclical Rerum Novarum.
Published in 1891, Rerum Novarum addressed for the first time social inequality and social justice issues with papal authority, focusing on the rights and duties of capital and labor. He was greatly influenced by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, a German bishop who openly propagated siding with the suffering working classes in his book Die Arbeiterfrage und das Christentum. Since Leo XIII, papal teachings have expanded on the rights and obligations of workers and the limitations of private property: Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno; the social teachings of Pope Pius XII on a large range of social issues; John XXIII's Mater et Magistra in 1961; Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio on world development issues; and Pope John Paul II's Centesimus Annus, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum.
We also note the contribution of Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. Chesterton championed the economic theory of "Distributism." Distributism is a "third-way" economic philosophy (between or beyond capitalism and communism/socialism) formulated primarily by Chesterton and his friend, Hilaire Belloc, to apply the principles of Catholic social teaching in the early 20th century. According to distributism, the ownership of the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the general populace, rather than being centralized under the control of the state (indirect socialism) or a few large businesses or wealthy private individuals (capitalism). A summary of distributism is found in Chesterton's statement: "Too much capitalism does not mean too many capitalists, but too few capitalists."
While socialism allows no individuals to own productive property (it all being under state, community, or workers' control), and capitalism allows only a few to own it, distributism seeks to ensure that most people will become owners of productive property.
Note: An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Latin encyclia meaning "general" or "encircling". The title of the encyclical is usually taken from its first few words.
Pope Pius XII held that papal encyclicals, even when they are not ex cathedra, can nonetheless be sufficiently authoritative to end theological debate on a particular question:
"It is not to be thought that what is set down in Encyclical letters does not demand assent in itself, because in this the Popes do not exercise the supreme power of their magisterium. For these matters are taught by the ordinary magisterium, regarding which the following is pertinent: “He who heareth you, heareth Me.” (Luke 10:16); and usually what is set forth and inculcated in Encyclical Letters, already pertains to Catholic doctrine. But if the Supreme Pontiffs in their acts, after due consideration, express an opinion on a hitherto controversial matter, it is clear to all that this matter, according to the mind and will of the same Pontiffs, cannot any longer be considered a question of free discussion among theologians." from Humani Generis.
Robert Moynihan PhD edits Inside the Vatican.com
I'm not an economist, but isn't that sort of the purpose of the stock market?
“I worry that those Freepers who are crying the loudest in their demands that the Pope act to excommunicate abortion supporting politicians are largely doing it out of religious partisanship because of the effect that excommunication will have on the political careers and support of many high profile Democrats.”
From what I have observed, I think that’s an appropriate concern.
“If an Encyclical is issued that doesn’t toe the Republican line I fully expect many Freepers to go nuts demanding the Church shut up and stay out of American politics.”
I suspect you are correct there too. Let me suggest, however, that the involvement of The Church in “politics” as opposed to governance, should ALWAYS be condemned because, frankly, it distorts and diminishes Christianity into just one more competing political movement, devoid of spiritual power. +Leo XIII’s encyclical speaks to governance and the common good as taught by The Church, not cheap politics. I suspect we will see a thoroughly patristic discussion of economics within the parameters of the theology of The Fathers from +BXVI. And as I said, many Latin Rite Freepers will not like it one bit.
The "separation of Church and state" does not mean -- and it can never mean -- separating our Catholic faith from our public witness, our political choices and our political actions. That kind of separation would require Christians to deny who we are; to repudiate Jesus when he commands us to be "leaven in the world" and to "make disciples of all nations." That kind of radical separation steals the moral content of a society.
You're right,this always blows my mind that somehow they think that some conservative political thinking is going to lead one to being a better and Holy Catholic/Orthodox outside of what our HISTORICAL faith teaches us
Wrong.
"Blessed Pope LeoX III and others understood that how a state should operate"
Unfortunately for reality, like Marx, Pope Leo's theoretical constructs have failed in the real world. Sound's good---doesn't work.
"We have said that the State must not absorb the individual or the family; both should be allowed free and untrammeled action so far as is consistent with the common good and the interest of others. Rulers should, nevertheless, anxiously safeguard the community and all its members; the community, because the conservation thereof is so emphatically the business of the supreme power, that the safety of the commonwealth is not only the first law, but it is a government's whole reason of existence; and the members, because both philosophy and the Gospel concur in laying down that the object of the government of the State should be, not the advantage of the ruler, but the benefit of those over whom he is placed.
Which, in effect, is precisely what the American system of free enerprise does. Read the preamble to the Constitution.
LOL!
Capitalism has failed in less than 300 years.
No surprise that a system of calvinistic puritan Freemasons would not be able to understand and maintain TRUE freedom.
Please don't post me again.
I hope he looks at this link:
Forms of government explained…
This video explains:
Why what most of us are taught about right and leftist
governments is wrong
Why libs honestly think that to be too conservative is to be leaning towards Nazism and why this is not correct
Why most long lasting government s were Republics
What the Founding Fathers said about Democracies vs. Republics
Why 0Bama is trying to get us in an Oligarchy
http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment
Yeah, and "distributism" lasted about fifty. Look it up.
"No surprise that a system of calvinistic puritan Freemasons would not be able to understand and maintain TRUE freedom."
So, why don't you elaborate on just what "true freedom" might be?
"Please don't post me again."
I'll post to whomever I please. Read it or not. Your choice. But I think the real reason is that you can't support your position with facts.
I am not sure, but I think, I hope, you missed my point.
Do you believe that The Church should be actively involved in politics as opposed to teaching not only its communicants but also society as a whole Christian principles and considerations for the proper functioning of society? If so, and I think that the Latin Church has slipped into exactly that here in America (and into a certain unseemly political stridency too), we have one more difference to deal with before any workable reunion.
I've only got a couple of weeks now and I still haven't dissected quadrigesimo anno. GOt two more J2P2 documents to do as well. But I'd like to see Chrystostom's thought.
“Thanks (... you son of a .. ) Now I gotta read sumpin ELSE?”
You Westerners need more Patristics, especially in this era of +BXVI and less of, well, some of those other guys....:)
The fairness doctrine comes to RCIA.
Yes. The Bill of Rights puts limitation of government to not become involved in religion, but there is to reciprocal requirement. If corporations, labor unions and a host of other interests and advocacy groups can be directly involved in the political process restricting direct involvement by the Roman Catholic Church, or any other church for that matter, short changes Catholics and other religious persons and robs the process of the moral clarity and direction the Church can bring.
True Freedom is to follow the will of God,thus freedom from error that can only be achieved by denying ourselves taking up the cross,love our neighbors ,loving goodness to the point where you can drink death like water.
Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen saw the decay of the False Freedom in our country in the 1940’s,it's far worse today
From Fultan Sheen
“”Why are we a troubled nation today? Why do we live in fear – we who define freedom as the right to do whatever we pleased; we who have no altars in our churches, no discipline in our schools, and no sacrifices in our lives? We fear because our false freedom and license and apostasy from God have caught up with us, as they did with the prodigal. We would not accept the yoke of Christ; so now we must tremble at the yoke of Caesar. We willed to be free from God; now we must face the danger of being enslaved to a citizen of the foreign country. In seeking to live without the Cross, we got a cross – not one of Christ's making or our own, but the devil's!””-Taken From Fulton Sheen's Cross and Double Cross
“The Bill of Rights puts limitation of government to not become involved in religion, but there is to reciprocal requirement.”
NL, I am not talking about any government limitation on The Church, nor am I suggesting such a thing. As you say, the limitation is on the government not vice versa.
“If corporations, labor unions and a host of other interests and advocacy groups can be directly involved in the political process restricting direct involvement by the Roman Catholic Church, or any other church for that matter, short changes Catholics and other religious persons and robs the process of the moral clarity and direction the Church can bring.”
Surely you don’t equate The Church with “...corporations, labor unions and a host of other interests and advocacy groups”! And again, I have not suggested that society should “restrict” the voice of The Church. I AM saying that The Church degrades itself and distorts its message to the extent that it becomes a tool of politics or something of a political party itself. Politics, left or right, will always try to hijack The Church for its own purposes. We see examples of the attempt virtually everyday on this site. But the same goes on on sites with a political pov diametrically opposed to what is espoused here. You yourself recognized precisely this in your post #20.
Political leaders draw their authority, and we our right from God. That is why I do not equate the Church with political parties, unions, and the other secular organizations I referenced earlier. I certainly do not place the Church beneath any of them. The truest respect we can show to civil authority is the witness of our Catholic faith and our moral convictions, without excuses or apologies. In representative democracies this requires acting in unison as a community of common values, which is what a Church is. Further, I do not worry about the potential hijacking or compromising of the Church if it stays true to itself and its values.
Ethics - including business ethics - and poverty and justice IS something the pope knows about as a moral theologian.
Maybe you should stick to what you know - and it surely isn’t this.
Indeed it does. But before there can be a united action, the community needs to understand and accept and live out the common values of which you speak. What this requires is effective catechesis and the appropriate formation of priests and religious. To the extent that The Church becomes identified with one political ideology or party, this foundational work becomes quite literally impossible for, in the case of the United States and probably the West as a whole, whole sections of what has become an immoral, even pagan society.
"Further, I do not worry about the potential hijacking or compromising of the Church if it stays true to itself and its values."
If! In the West, does the laity have a role in making that determination, and can it ever be a political determination? I'd suggest, properly speaking, no.
You wrote:
“I suspect that many, many Latin Rite American Freepers will be disappointed with +BXVI’s encyclical.”
That’s because they’re more “American Freeper” than “Latin Rite”. If they knew their medieval past rather than being ignorant of their history and traditions, that wouldn’t be the case.
Alas.
“That’s because they’re more “American Freeper” than “Latin Rite”. If they knew their medieval past rather than being ignorant of their history and traditions, that wouldn’t be the case.
Alas.”
Political ideology and the theology of The Church seldom mix in a way that post Enlightenment Westerners (and increasingly Easterners) would like, no matter what their leaning, left or right. BTW, I thank God that The Church, especially now with +BXVI as pope but with the EP and the other patriarchs too, will speak out on the situation of the people and societies and even all of creation in a way which challenges the immoral, self centered, materialistic and pagan conceptions which have come to dominate our thinking as societies.
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