Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good, and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth.
Subsidiarity- "One of the key principles of Catholic social thought is known as the principle of subsidiarity. This tenet holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom. It conflicts with the passion for centralization and bureaucracy characteristic of the Welfare State." Taken from The Principle of Subsidiarity.
Governments and bureacracies grow. The principle of subsidiarity is much like our principle of Federalism. Around for the first 100 years or so and then out the window in the interests of power and expediency. When someone figures out how to limit government across a long period of time — they’ll be the most important thinker in world history, excepting only Christ.
Keep in mind that the basic, and only natural, organization in Catholic thought on subsidiarity is the family. Thus no government organization at any level should perform those functions that are proper to the family. All higher organizations only exist to support the lower, not the other way around as in socialist, communist, fascist, or statist thought.
"Furthermore, such an authority would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights[148]. Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums."
In effect, a one world government. Forgive me if I don't enlist...
Thanks for that info, Pyro. A couple of comments on the encyclical excerpt:
First, it's worth pointing out that this encyclical is self-consciously intending to "pay tribute and to honour the memory of the great Pope Paul VI, revisiting his teachings on integral human development", specifically naming the Encyclical Populorum Progressio as the foundation BXVI intends to build on with this work. In the section on the U.N. the "subsidiary" quote comes from BXVI himself, but the majority (but not all) of the "one-world-government" sounding quotes are taken Pope John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in Terris. Benedict himself says that this "family of nations" would
...need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good, and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth.A U.N. "regulated by law" would mean either a U.N. self-regulated by charter, or regulated by an outside entity, perhaps by it's member nations. The latter seems to be what BXVI has in mind, when he goes on to say (emphasis mine)
....it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums. Without this, despite the great progress accomplished in various sectors, international law would risk being conditioned by the balance of power among the strongest nations.The U.N. would be subservient to it's member nations, but none of those nations will have a greater say than any others, enforcing a sort of economic and moral equivalence among them:
....of giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making.None of that changes how the recommendation starts, namely with BXVI's call for a "United Nations with teeth" that has the authority to redistribute wealth, to manage the global economy, to disarm nations, and to protect the environment....and the power to back it up [emphasis mine]:
....such an authority would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights. Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums.