Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 82 views

    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

    Uploaded by

    Bangtan Sonyeondan
    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II updates the Church's teaching on development from Populorum Progressio, noting that despite some progress, the gap between developed and developing countries continued to widen in areas like production, health, and working conditions. He critiques how the Cold War hampered development and calls for conversion toward solidarity. The Pope identifies "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for prioritizing the needs of the poor through solidarity and respect for human dignity.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

    Uploaded by

    Bangtan Sonyeondan
    82 views4 pages
    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II updates the Church's teaching on development from Populorum Progressio, noting that despite some progress, the gap between developed and developing countries continued to widen in areas like production, health, and working conditions. He critiques how the Cold War hampered development and calls for conversion toward solidarity. The Pope identifies "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for prioritizing the needs of the poor through solidarity and respect for human dignity.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II updates the Church's teaching on development from Populorum Progressio, noting that despite some progress, the gap between developed and developing countries continued to widen in areas like production, health, and working conditions. He critiques how the Cold War hampered development and calls for conversion toward solidarity. The Pope identifies "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for prioritizing the needs of the poor through solidarity and respect for human dignity.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    82 views4 pages

    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

    Uploaded by

    Bangtan Sonyeondan
    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II updates the Church's teaching on development from Populorum Progressio, noting that despite some progress, the gap between developed and developing countries continued to widen in areas like production, health, and working conditions. He critiques how the Cold War hampered development and calls for conversion toward solidarity. The Pope identifies "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for prioritizing the needs of the poor through solidarity and respect for human dignity.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (The Concern of the Church for the Social Order)

    Catholic Social Teaching

    Social Encyclicals

    Pope John Paul II, 1987

    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Pope John Paul II celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Populorum
    Progressio by updating the Church’s teaching on the “development of peoples” and changes that took
    place in the preceding two decades.

    Populorum Progressio was inspired by the Church’s desire to help the millions of people who lived in a
    state of poverty and underdevelopment.  The document concluded by noting that “development is the
    new name for peace,” (Paragraph 10) another mission of the Church.

    The Pope points out that despite some progress in the two decades since Populorum Progressio’s
    publication, the gap between developed and developing countries continued to widened in a variety of
    areas, including: the production and distribution of goods, hygiene, health and housing, availability of
    drinking water, and working conditions (especially for women).

    Lack of adequate housing, unemployment and international debt all threaten humanity.  These three
    phenomenons were characteristic of the 1960s and 1970s when despite praiseworthy efforts, the
    conditions for many became notably worse.

    Although the present danger has lessened, the cold war hampered the development of many nations in
    the southern hemisphere.  Instead of becoming autonomous nations concerned with their own
    progress, developing nations were pawns in the battle between the West and the East.  Instead, Pope
    John Paul II wrote, developing nations should receive aid from all of the richer and more developed
    countries.

    One area that seems to transcend ideological differences between the East and the West was the arms
    trade.  Instead of using resources to help alleviate the misery of people around the globe, funds and
    energy are used to stockpile arms to try and gain the upper hand in the Cold War.  The new
    phenomenon of terrorism, which is explicitly forbidden in Christianity, also threatens the safety and
    security of society.

    The dignity and life of all individuals must be respected.  Pope John Paul II cited the United Nation’s
    promulgation of the Declaration of Human Rights is an example of progress in this area - individuals,
    nations, and peoples, along with there specific cultural identity, are all sensitive to the preservation of
    their heritage.

    Development is not a straightforward, automatic process – while some nations have achieved
    superdevelopment, others remained in a state of underdevelopment.  A society reaches a state of full
    development, explained the Pope, when it is able to sustain itself at the level of true vocation of men
    and women without denying economic requirements.
    John Paul II notes that one of the guidelines in forming the Church’s social doctrine is the option or
    (preference) for the poor.  Christian charity has long recognized the importance and primacy of this
    option which inspires us to help the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and,
    above all, those without hope of a better future.

    The Pope also recognized social sins as the collective behavior of certain social groups, big or small, or
    even of whole nations and blocs of nations which the Church proclaims to be cases of social sin that
    result from the accumulation and concentration of many personal sins.

    Humanity’s journey toward development is always in danger of not following God’s will and falling to
    the temptation of idolatry.  While men and women seek further development on earth, the death of
    Jesus Christ infinitely surpasses any progress we could achieve.  Even as humanity struggles to grapple
    with underdevelopment and superdevelopment, we must remember that one day all the works and
    actions that are worthy of man will be redeemed.

    Development must respect one’s religion and way of life, while also promoting human rights.  The
    Church is obligated, by her vocation, to relieve the misery of the suffering and work within a hierarchy of
    values to provide the basic needs of humanity.

    The reasons behind the lack of development since Populorum Progressio could not simply be attributed
    to economics, said the Pope.  Politics has also played a role.  The interdependence of mankind must be
    emphasized in order to move forward.  The development of the world depends on the level of solidarity
    among peoples and nations.

    The Church doesn’t propose political or economic solutions, but instead promotes human dignity and
    solidarity in the process of development.  She proclaims the truth about Christ and applies this truth to
    the world situation.

    Reference: https://www.cacatholic.org/teachings/catholic-social-teaching/social-encyclicals/sollicitudo-
    rei-socialis-concern-church-social
    Solidarity
    Solidarity is about valuing our fellow human beings and respecting who they are as individuals.

    “The many situations of inequality, poverty and injustice, are signs not only of a profound lack of fraternity, but also of
    the absence of a culture of solidarity. New ideologies, characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and
    materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling that “throw away” mentality which leads to contempt for, and
    the abandonment of, the weakest and those considered “useless”. In this way human coexistence increasingly tends
    to resemble a mere do ut des which is both pragmatic and selfish” Pope Francis
    “We are all one family in the world. Building a community that empowers everyone to attain their full potential through
    each of us respecting each other’s dignity, rights and responsibilities makes the world a better place to live” Sollicitudo
    rei socialis – ‘On Social Concern’ (1987)

    Solidarity according to Sollicitudo Rei Socialis


    But the experience of solidarity also raises in turn the question of its foundation – both
    philosophical and theological: Why are we invited (and ethically obliged) to live in solidarity?
    John Paul II proceeded to offer answers to these questions. In 1987, he followed up Laborem
    Exercens with another encyclical on social ethics, a letter with the not-quite-translatable
    title, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis – “Social Concern” (1987). This document offers at its heart
    (paragraphs 38-40) an extended reflection on the idea of solidarity, beginning from the clear
    injustices and evils of our globalised economic and political system. Solidarity is seen here as
    the counterpoint to those ‘Structures of Sin’ which are embedded in the established order
    (whether that order be liberal capitalism on the one side or then still-functioning State Socialism
    on the other) and which do vast damage to the interests of the poor and the vulnerable.
    The Pope detected a new awareness around the world of the plight of the oppressed. This was,
    after all, the era of Band Aid and the like. This awareness was the other, more positive, side of
    globalisation, balancing the ‘Structures of Sin’ motif, but the new awareness in turn implies a
    new moral obligation (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, paragraph 38). He sees this as a sign of hope:
    people are increasingly recognising our fundamental interdependence and its ethical
    implications:
    “When interdependence becomes recognised in this way, the correlative response as a moral
    and social attitude, as a ‘virtue’, is solidarity … not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow
    distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far …[but] a firm and persevering
    determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of
    each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.” (Loc. Cit)

    Reference: http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/solidarity/resources/solidarity-
    solicitudo-rei-socialis/
    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, The Social Concerns of the Church
    By: Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, 1988

    In  Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, or  The Social Concerns of the Church, Pope John Paul II discusses global
    development and its ethical/moral dimensions. He builds on Pope Paul VI's  The Development of Peoples,
    and after surveying the state of poor countries, he considers the confrontation between the two global
    blocs. He then points to the "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for conversion
    towards solidarity.

    In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, or The Social Concerns of the Church, Pope John Paul II discusses global
    development and its ethical/moral dimensions. He builds on Pope Paul VI's The Development of Peoples,
    and after surveying the state of poor countries, he considers the confrontation between the two global
    blocs. He then points to the "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for conversion
    towards solidarity.

    Reference: https://educationforjustice.org/node/976

    You might also like