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Pope to issue encyclical on economics
http://www.energypublisher.com/article.asp?id=18339 ^ | March 3,2009 | Robert Moynihan

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


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To: Kolokotronis
I suspect that many, many Latin Rite American Freepers will be disappointed with +BXVI’s encyclical.

You may be right. You may also be surprised at who isn't...if they actually take time to read the encyclical vice the NY Slimes description.

41 posted on 03/08/2009 5:37:30 PM PDT by markomalley (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus)
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To: markomalley

“...if they actually take time to read the encyclical vice the NY Slimes description.”

ALWAYS good advice. The encyclicals are available in English at the Vatican website as those of the other Patriarchs are on their Church websites.


42 posted on 03/08/2009 5:39:24 PM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: Kolokotronis

The Church in the United States has done a poor job of forming the faith and conscience of Catholics for more than 40 years. And now we’re harvesting the results — in the public square, in our families and in the confusion of our personal lives. Our republic was not designed to survive with a Godless people. It is far more important that the church become a political force than a political party.


43 posted on 03/08/2009 5:57:39 PM PDT by Natural Law
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To: Kolokotronis

You wrote:

“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.”

Amen to that!


44 posted on 03/08/2009 5:57:42 PM PDT by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: Natural Law

“It is far more important that the church become a political force than a political party.”

Far more important that The Church bring about a metanoia in men than being a political anything. If The Church can bring about that change, all else will fall into place.

“Worldly thoughts and the cares of life have the same effect on the understanding as a veil draped over the eyes, for the understanding is the eye of the soul. So long as we leave them there, we cannot see. But when they fall away as we remember that we are to die, then we shall clearly see the true light which illumines every man as it comes into the world from on high.” +Symeon the New Theologian


45 posted on 03/08/2009 6:22:10 PM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: stfassisi

For later


46 posted on 03/08/2009 6:31:05 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: Natural Law

I doubt there will be any great change from other Papal writings on economics. The basic argument will still be that an economic system must be rooted in the dignity of the person. And that there is a right to private property and that we should strive for a fair distribution of goods.


47 posted on 03/08/2009 6:45:26 PM PDT by lastchance (Hug your babies.)
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To: vladimir998; Mad Dawg

Here’s a challenging piece from an Orthodox perspective.

MD, this might be helpful to you:

http://www.st-philip.net/presentations/wealth_and_virtue.pdf


48 posted on 03/08/2009 6:55:00 PM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: Redbob

Pope Had `Prophecy’ of Market Collapse in 1985, Tremonti Italian Finance Minister) Says

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — Pope Benedict XVI was the first to predict the crisis in the global financial system, a ``prophecy’’ dating to a paper he wrote when he was a cardinal, Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said.

``The prediction that an undisciplined economy would collapse by its own rules can be found’’ in an article written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became pope in April 2005, Tremonti said yesterday at Milan’s Cattolica University.

German-born Ratzinger in 1985 presented a paper entitled ``Market Economy and Ethics’’ at a Rome event dedicated to the Church and the economy. The future pope said a decline in ethics ``can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse.’’

Pope Benedict in an Oct. 7 speech reflected on crashing markets and concluded that ``money vanishes, it is nothing’’ and warned that ``the only solid reality is the word of God.’’
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aGSJzqaJm_b0&refer=europe


49 posted on 03/08/2009 7:36:08 PM PDT by chase19
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To: chase19

“...a decline in ethics ``can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse.’’”

and

“...``money vanishes, it is nothing’’ and warned that ``the only solid reality is the word of God.’’”

Hints of what we probably will read from the Church Father of the 21st century...and many here won’t like it one bit. That in itself probably isn’t surprising. The substitution of political ideologies for religious belief and conviction as the operating assumptions of life in this country has had a devastating effect on our society.


50 posted on 03/09/2009 4:36:46 AM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: stfassisi

The pope does not discuss economic theories; he discusses values which are expressed through economic systems. When a succession of popes condemned socialism, it is not through the eyes of whether socialism harms the stock market by destroying incentive, but that it is natural law that one should prosper by the works of his own hands, and not have his wealth subject to confiscation by the government.


51 posted on 03/09/2009 10:51:40 AM PDT by dangus
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To: Gumdrop

Reagan rarely used the word, “capitalism.” He spoke instead about “free markets.” Regulation, anti-competitive behavior, and contract conditions can all resurrect artificial barriers to new entries and make capitalism tend to be more plutocratic than free. If the pope calls for living wages, that’s not enough to say that all Catholics must support “living wage” laws. The same encyclical also condemned importing workers for the purpose of suppressing wages. In some cases (and this is admittedly, to their eternal infamy, not the way US Catholic bishops have interpreted it), “living wage” laws are only “necessary” because illegal aliens have destroyed the natural economic forces.


52 posted on 03/09/2009 11:09:34 AM PDT by dangus
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To: Kansas58

My understanding is that subsidiarity is an economic theory supported by a brilliant clicque of Catholic apologists including Belloc, Chesterton and Tolkein. I think it’s a brilliant theory and comprised of noble ethic, but you make it sound like a once-universal doctrine.


53 posted on 03/09/2009 11:13:14 AM PDT by dangus
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To: dangus; Kansas58; Gumdrop

To relate my responses to Kansas58 and Gumdrop, I would suggest that any free market, unhindered by artificial market barriers and preserved by a minimal but sufficient governmental role (you can’t have a free market if you’re invaded) would trend towards subsidiarity. Even network effects are preserved, in the long run, only by copyright and patent regulations which should endure only for a finite period (far less than the obscene “Disney” standard).
Facebook will go the way of AIM, without brilliant lawyers.

Google will be interesting: Right now, it depends on an army of hundreds of thousands of computers to index the web. It’s not a violation of subsidiarity if you can’t get your search engine to function as efficiently. (Most Google alternatives run on Googe’s infrastructure.)


54 posted on 03/09/2009 11:24:04 AM PDT by dangus
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To: dangus

Subsidiarity was accepted Church doctrine, and was never officially discarded by the Church.

Several Popes have spoken against Socialism.

Not so much, anymore, and it is a shame.


55 posted on 03/09/2009 11:34:45 AM PDT by Kansas58
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To: Kansas58

You seem to equate subsidiarity with a rejection of socialism. Certainly, socialism violates the principles of subsidiarity, but just bebcause it is doctrine that socialism is a grave evil does not mean that subsidiarity is Catholic doctrine.

Is there anyone you know of who has asserted subsidiarity is doctrine.

By the way, the Pope I first learned about subsidiarity through was John Paul II, but that was a rallying cry of Gdansk dock workers as a method of dealing with communist oppression; it’s nothing I understood the be Catholic doctrine. (I think it is universally applicable, as did Belloc and Chesterton; I just never got the sense that John Paul II ever meant to say, “Hey, America, you need to do this, also!”)


56 posted on 03/09/2009 11:48:37 AM PDT by dangus
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To: dangus; Kansas58
Is there anyone you know of who has asserted subsidiarity is doctrine.

I don't know about "doctrine," but subsidarity seems to have a strong Catholic basis -- and not just for economics -- in Aquinas (only the abstract of the paper seems to be available on the Web):

This article closely examines the way in which Thomas Aquinas understood the relationship between the various forms of human community. The article focuses on Aquinas's theory of law and politics and, in particular, on his use of political categories, such as city, province and empire, together with the associated concepts of kingdom and nation, as well as various social groupings, such as household, clan and village, alongside of the distinctly ecclesiastical categories of parish, diocese and universal church.

The analysis of these categories is used in the article to help explain Aquinas's role in the development of theories about subsidiarity, federalism and mixed constitutionalism. In the first place, it is argued that a close inquiry into Aquinas's discussion of the many and various forms of human community sheds light on the origins and development of the idea of subsidiarity within Catholic social teaching. Second, while Aquinas certainly did not advance a theory of federalism as that idea is presently understood, it is argued that recovering what Aquinas had to say about the categories of human community helps us to understand the origin and later development of federal ideas. Finally, it is argued that far from endorsing a system of absolute monarchy as is sometimes alleged, when understood in this way, Aquinas supported a particular kind of mixed constitution in which monarchy is tempered by a variety of constitutional constraints founded upon a conception of the body politic as itself constructed out of a plurality of smaller, intermediate corporations and communities of a political, ecclesiastical and social character.

I searched "Aquinas" and "subsidiarity" because I seem to remember hearing about Aquinas and the principle of subsidiarity in high school or college.

57 posted on 03/09/2009 11:55:54 AM PDT by maryz
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To: dangus

I refer you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Subsidiarity
and collectivism: 1885
contents: 1883-85
in the relationships between society and family: 2209
see also:Social Doctrine of the Church

-— nice reading.


58 posted on 03/09/2009 11:58:58 AM PDT by Kansas58
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To: Natural Law

sad but true. The richness of Catholic social teaching is steamrolled under a partisan agenda all too often here.


59 posted on 03/09/2009 12:04:15 PM PDT by ChurtleDawg (voting only encourages them)
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To: Kansas58

Well, thanks! It certainly seems better established than I knew.


60 posted on 03/09/2009 12:07:51 PM PDT by dangus
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