Going into G8 -- What the Bishops (and Pope) Had to Say

With the ongoing coverage of Michael Jackson's death, Sarah Palin's resignation, Al Franken's long-delayed arrival in the U.S. Senate and, of course, Pope Benedict's publication of his first social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, it's easy to forget that, starting tomorrow, the leaders of some of the world's wealthiest, most powerful nations are coming together in Italy for two days for the G8 Summit.

But they're definitely meeting, and leaders in the Catholic Church are not missing the opportunity to speak their minds in hopes of impacting what these world leaders discuss and accomplish in their time together.

The most obvious example of this is a June 22 letter from the presidents of the bishops' conferences of the G8 countries to their heads of state. The letter calls on the G8 leaders to protect the poor and assist developing countries. Specifically, it urged them not to let the economic crisis lead to cuts in foreign assistance programs. The bishops quoted Pope Benedict, saying:

The current crisis has raised the spectre of the cancellation or drastic reduction of external assistance programmes, especially for Africa and for less developed countries elsewhere. Development aid, including the commercial and financial conditions favourable to less developed countries and the cancellation of the external debt of the poorest and most indebted countries, has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim.

The bishops went on to say:

Ironically poor people have contributed the least to the economic crisis facing our world, but their lives and livelihoods are likely to suffer the greatest devastation because they struggle at the margins in crushing poverty. In light of this fact, the G8 nations should meet their responsibility to promote dialogue with other powerful economies to help prevent further economic crises.

The bishops added that on the issue of climate change, similarly, the poor who have contributed the least are negatively impacted the most.

While it's easy to take this message as just another appeal from a group of religious leaders to a group of political leaders, there's a real value to stop and wrap one's mind around the ground covered by this letter.

First of all, its recipients are eight of the most powerful people in the world, representing eight nations.

Second, the Catholic Church being a place where jurisdiction and teaching authority count for so much, one has to take into account that, as presidents of their respective bishops' conferences, the nine bishops who signed this letter (Cardinal Francis George for the USCCB, along with the heads of conferences in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Scotland and England & Wales) are speaking on behalf of every bishop in every one of those countries. That's a lot of bishops and a lot of teaching authority.

But as long as we're looking at teaching authority that stretches across nations, fittingly enough, this letter wasn't the only high-level Catholic teaching to go out on the eve of the G8 Summit. Pope Benedict XVI's first social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, which arrived this morning, also touches on concerns such as climate change and the need for greater care and cooperation in the international community. Like the G8 bishops, the pope also calls for an ethical changes to the world's economy in light of the current crisis. He does so by outlining the need for human development and casting development in the highest possible terms, as a vocation from God that must involve care for the development of the entire human person, from basic physical needs to education to the spiritual/eternal.

It's a staggeringly tall order in the face of an economic crisis, but Pope Benedict draws a wise conclusion here too -- if anything positive is to come from an economic crisis, it will be that we learned from it and improved the human condition around the world in its wake.

Groundbreaking Economic Encyclical on the Way

Since 1891, when Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum novarum (On capital and labor, the Church has seen a few blockbuster encyclicals. Pope Benedict XVI may be about to issue another one for the ages with the forthcoming Caritas in veritate (Charity in truth).

Rerum novarum addressed the condition of labor and the challenges of the Industrial Revolution’s widespread exploitation of workers. It resounded in the United States as it upheld the rights of employees to organize and rejected communism and unbridled capitalism. Later social encyclicals built on its foundation and addressed growing concerns of labor and international finance.

Pacem in terris (Peace on earth), Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical, and the first encyclical ever to address not just Catholics but to all of good will, stands as another remarkable statement. It addressed a major social problem of its time, the Cold War. It said that peace required respect for human rights. Coming just months after the Cuban missile crisis, it offered hope in the United States as it called for negotiation not conflict.

Pope Paul VI’s only social encyclical, Populorum progressio (Progress of peoples), in 1967, saw development as the path to peace. The world economy must serve many, not few, it said, and pointed out the inequities of the global trading system. It reiterated Catholic teaching on the right to a just wage, security in employment and unionization. The call for development as the way to peace was important for Americans ensnared in the Vietnam War.

Evangelium vitae (Gospel of life), Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical, the fourth social encyclical of his papacy, spoke of the inviolability of human life. It proclaimed a vital message in a society marked by widespread abortion, growing euthanasia and a too free use of the death penalty. It touched concerns in the United States where medical advances to preserve life have been overshadowed by efforts to snuff it out.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate (Charity in truth) will address the ills of today. He may touch on the economy, ecology and personal and corporate ethics. Preparation on it began two years ago, and reportedly originally was planned to mark the 40th anniversary of Populorum progressio.

With world finances in shambles, society may be ready to reconsider the world’s economic structures. The reverberation of the U.S. mortgage worldwide surely highlights the need to address finances from a new, global perspective. That the world’s people form one community showed dramatically in the last year’s financial tsunami.

The fact that human beings are damaging creation makes ecology another likely topic. A strong social statement from the Vatican, which does not worry about curtailing a manufacturing empire or other business venture, can provide a basis for honest brokering for environmental concerns. The pope is a voice for the poor and can speak out for everyone’s rights to basic needs, including water, a staple becoming an endangered commodity in many areas of the world.

The pope as moral leader may address the greed heralded in headlines about crimes such as fraud by individuals (the well named Mr. Madoff comes to mind) or corporations (think Enron for starters). The fact that greed requires one to ignore, indeed, to exploit, one’s neighbor, underscores dramatically the violation of the simple principle for peace: love thy neighbor.

Today’s social ills, sins, and crimes give Pope Benedict plenty to work with. Economic, ecological and ethical troubles abound, big ones of international scale. It’s safe to predict the world is in for an overdue call to consider the ethical dimensions of economic life. Benedict is first a teacher and pastor. The words of the encyclical will likely be carefully nuanced, but his message will be clear. Divorcing economics and ethics is a path to moral and human disaster. No one will be 100 per cent happy with the encyclical, of course. People grumble when oxen are gored. This may be a boon, however, if it prompts citizens across the globe to think, act and change when they look to others’ needs as well as their own.

Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

Social Encyclical Primer

Since it looks like Pope Benedict's long-awaited social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, will be appearing any day now (he reportedly signed it Monday), it's probably a good time to take a look at the history of Catholic social teaching, specifically as it has been expressed through papal encyclicals.

Here are the highlights:

Rerum Novarum (Of New Things) 1891, Pope Leo XIII -- essentially the Big Bang of Catholic social teaching, truly groundbreaking, and the standard that popes have looked back to ever since (see below). This encyclical tackles the turmoil surrounding labororers in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, touching on issues including socialism, unbridled capitalism, a living wage, the relationship between laborer and employer, and the relationship between classes. Pope Leo also makes a first mention of the preferential option for the poor.

Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty Years) 1931, Pope Pius XI -- following Rerum Novarum by exactly 40 years, this encyclical offers an update on the state of labor and industrialization, also offering strong critiques of communism, unrestrained capitalism and classism.

Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) 1961, Pope John XXIII -- issued 70 years after Rerum Novarum, this encyclical looks to the Church as the "Mother and Teacher," calling the world to salvation and better social relationships with one another. It looks at science and technology, noting both their power to improve the human condition, but also to limit human freedoms, calling on governments to safeguard against this and ensure human rights. The encyclical calls on wealthier nations to help poorer ones. It also criticizes ideologies (not specifically naming communism) that promise to create a paradise in this world, while disregarding religion.

Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) 1963, Pope John XXIII -- issued only two months before the pope's death, this encyclical is the first ever to be directed to "all men of good will," instead of just the world's Catholics. In a response to the Cold War, the encyclical outlines necessary conditions for a lasting world peace, looking at the rights of individuals, the relationships between individuals and states, the relationships between states, and the relationship between leaders and the whole world.

Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) 1967, Pope Paul VI -- this encyclical, which Benedict's new encyclical is believed to echo, looks at the economy on a global level and addresses the rights of workers to unionize and to have secure employment, decent working conditions.

Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) 1981, Pope John Paul II -- issued in honor of the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, this encyclical once again looks at the rights and dignity of workers, with emphases including disabled workers, emigration, materialism, and the spirituality of work.

Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern) 1987, Pope John Paul II -- this encyclical honored Populorum Progressio on its 20th anniversary, offering a then-contemporary reading of the challenges first addressed in the earlier encyclical.

Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year) 1991, Pope John Paul II -- on the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, John Paul II reflected on the current state of issues that Leo XIII had assessed in his day. Leo XIII had issued warnings about socialism before it had developed into a movement. John Paul II wrote in the immediate wake of the fall of communism.

Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) 1995, Pope John Paul II -- an affirmation of the gift of human life and the need to protect it, this encyclical dealt with widespread abortion, the threat of euthanasia and renewed use of the death penalty.

Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) 2005, Pope Benedict XVI -- Benedict's first encyclical, that could have been an abstract or scholarly treatise, instead dug deep into the concept of love and cited the connections between love of God and love of neighbor. Pope Benedict said the Church could no more neglect charity than it could Scripture or the sacraments and even called charity a manifestation of Trinitarian love.

Caritas In Veritate (Charity in Truth) 2009, Pope Benedict XVI -- anticipated since 2007, this encyclical is believed to follow up on the themes of Populorum Progressio. Dealing with the ethics of contemporary economics, it's reasonable to think that the global economic crisis will weigh in heavily on what the pope has to say.

Campaign Season

While some might stereotype a bishop as being aloof from new technology, the recent glut of online campaigns and new Web resources really tell a different story for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Just today came the announcement of a Web site on Catholic teaching on economic, developed by the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development to health Catholics cope with the economic crisis and view it through the perspective of their faith. The site includes numerous features, including various statements from the U.S. bishops and the Holy See on this issue and even a quiz.

More pressing among online campaigns is the soon-to-conclude campaign against destructive stem cell research, which was set up to coincide with the public comment period on the proposed guidelines for embryonic stem cell research. The end of the public comment period is May 26, which means, as the bishops recently did, you can make your voice heard on this issue.

Another ongoing initiative that is generating some real interest is Catholics Confront Global Poverty, which finds the bishops partnering with Catholic Relief Services in an ambitious effort to get 1 million Catholics educated and mobilized against global poverty and the web of issues that tie into it. This site continues to grow and develop, so it's worth visiting and revisiting.

Vocations and the Economic Crisis

The question came to our office from a reporter this month: has the economic crisis affected the number of vocations in the Church? We ran the question by the USCCB's Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, and Father David L. Toups, assistant director, provided the following response:

It is certainly too early to tell since the economic downturn happened within the current academic year. In general, our overall trend over the last few years has been a slight increase in vocations to the priesthood. We anticipate this trend will continue.

Historically, times of challenge or crisis usually bring out the best in people. We saw a huge boon in candidates to the priesthood after the Great Depression and World War II. These times brought out the best in people as they saw raw reality: death, sorrow, poverty, and needs of every kind around them.

In the course of the past few years, 13 percent of our newly ordained priests have previously served in the military. The ongoing war and the numbers of people serving in the armed forces, in my opinion, will mean that more young men and women will be coming home with a very sobering view of reality. It makes a young person take pause at an earlier age and ask "what is life all about?" and "what can I do to make a difference in this crazy world of ours?"

Since the numbers of young men responding to the call of Christ to enter the seminary has been on the rise recently, I can only imagine that the downturn in the economy will, in some strange way, continue to help the numbers. However, this is not a form of escapism. These candidates are not trying to escape the hardships of life, but rather desire to help others as the needs of the world increase. They have realized that their salvation is not in money or in the financial markets. More young people are asking themselves "what is the meaning of life?" and "how can I help others?" The answer that many are coming up with is: helping people get to heaven is the true bottom line at the end of the day.

The economic downturn will most likely result in a generous response. Seeing hardship moves one's heart to love, as Jesus said, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Father Toups is a priest of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla. He's served as a parish priest, theology professor and seminary dean of students. In 2008, he published the book Reclaiming Our Priestly Character.