CARITAS IN VERITATE
Holland: a denunciation of the economic system”At this time of financial crisis and socio-economic decline, the Caritas in veritate is not just relevant, it is also a prompt and substantially important analysis”: with these words, mgr. Adrianus van Luyn, president of the Dutch Bishops Conference, expresses the satisfied reaction of the Dutch Bishops to Benedict XVI’s new encyclical. “Dialogue with trade unions: society as a whole, politicians, employers is one of the topics that, prompted by what is stated by the encyclical, will be addressed by the Bishops in the meeting of the Bishops Conference in September”, goes on van Luyn, who also speaks of a translation into Dutch next month. “The abuses and excesses of the current economic system that the Pope denounces are the main obstacles that come in the way of the accomplishment of a global social justice”, continues van Lyun, who also mentions that Benedict XVI is very firm when “he provides important guidelines for both the private and public spheres with his request for a global realignment of the economic systems”. “The encyclical is also important for the attention it pays to the poor countries who suffer the disastrous effects of the global crisis, and in this sphere he reasserts the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity as the prerequisites of the social doctrine of the Church”.England: “firmly” in the social doctrine”A powerful, complete application of the view of Christian faith to the complex problems of human development”. This is the definition that mgr. Vincent Nichols, Catholic Primate of England and Wales, gives of the Pope’s new encyclical, “Caritas in veritate”. “We hope – the Primate states in a release – it will be read by many. The encyclical deserves to be thoroughly studied. It firmly falls within the tradition of the teaching of the social doctrine of the Church and above all in the tradition of the Christian humanism, so clearly expressed by Paul VI in his ‘Populorum Progressio'”. “The Pope – reads the release – claims that charity is the focus of the teaching of the social doctrine of the Church, where every responsibility and every commitment it illustrates come from love”. Then, mgr. Vincent Nichols announced that on 21st October the English Bishops will organise a day in the City of London all focussed on the “Caritas in veritate” and in particular on the social teaching of the Church and on market economy.Portugal: a tapestry woven with charity and truth”A treatise on the moral growth of every individual and the development of the whole of mankind in the Christian sense. In front of it, we feel as if we were in front of a beautiful tapestry woven with threads of charity and truth”. This is the comment made on the “Caritas in veritate” by the president of the Portuguese Bishops Commission for the Social Pastoral, mgr. Carlos Azevedo. The auxiliary bishop of Lisbon pointed out that “this encyclical by Benedict XVI is one of the deepest and most exhaustive documents of social doctrine of the Church that have ever been published so far. In reflecting on global development, it touches on extremely broad social aspects and problems: agricultural reform, ecology, trade unions, society, safery, terrorism, social security, workers’ mobility, scientific research, the respect of human life, with a cross-disciplinary approach that is typical of those who deal with and look to development with a masterly breadth of perspective”. “This is a Populorum Progressio adapted to modern times, which opens a new phase in the Social Doctrine of the Church and will become a starting point for an analysis of the future of mankind”. According to mgr. Azevedo, “the problems of contemporary society demand new attitudes, different models of development and lifestyles. Benedict XVI teaches us that the world needs a deep cultural renewal”.
