CHURCH IN FOCUS:
Caritas in Veritate -14

In our Focus on the Church Programme we bring you the study of the Third Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, released on the 7^th of July 2009. Addressed to the “bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious, the lay faithful and all people of good will”, the encyclical begins with the affirmation that “Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness” is “the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity”.
The first words and early paragraphs introduce the name of the encyclical, Caritas in Veritate ‘Charity in Truth’, and the integrating relationship between the two components of the title. The introductory paragraphs describe love as an extraordinary force that has its origin in God and leads us to discover our own truth that reflects the face of Christ, who is Truth. Charity in truth leads to the authentic development of all persons. It is the principle behind social teaching and gives rise to criteria for social action such as, justice and the common good. Love in truth when it comes to social affairs is the great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming globalised.
Developing this theme in his encyclical Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict provided a more concrete practical expression of what is often described as ‘civil society’ and carefully described examples of the many economic activities that combine a mixture of motivations and involve organisations with different corporate forms. Thus there are organisations that are profit-making but which are not just motivated by profits; there are corporations that are non-profit making (many universities for example); there are many businesses that are not corporations, and so on. These organisations all form part of the rich tapestry of a free economy. In a genuinely free society, there need be no sharp division between the market economy and civil society. Within a free economy, people will use their freedom to act in accordance with a whole range of motivations which will often be intertwined and inseparable. This is very obvious, for example, in the field of higher education where institutions, academics and students will all be responding to a variety of stimuli.
Pope Benedict challenges us all – investors and consumers, business people and trades unionists, public officials and city financiers – to go beyond narrow interests and practice love founded in truth, which begins with the search for justice and pursues the common good. He identifies concrete issues like ethical investment and fair trade where we can all play a part, and says “development is impossible without upright men and women, without financiers and politicians whose consciences are finely attuned to the requirements of the common good.” The greatest challenge is to “demonstrate, in thinking and behaviour, not only the traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility … but to make a place for the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift as an expression of fraternity within normal commercial relationships and economic activity.”
Both the regulation of the financial sector, so as to safeguard weaker parties and discourage scandalous speculation, and experimentation with new forms of finance, designed to support development projects, are positive experiences that should be further explored and encouraged, highlighting the responsibility of the investor. Both the regulation of the financial sector, so as to safeguard weaker parties and discourage scandalous speculation, and experimentation with new forms of finance, designed to support development projects, are positive experiences that should be further explored and encouraged, highlighting the responsibility of the investor. Furthermore, the experience of micro-finance, which has its roots in the thinking and activity of the civil humanists especially of the birth of pawn broking should be strengthened and fine-tuned. This is all the more necessary in these days when financial difficulties can become severe for many of the more vulnerable sectors of the population, who should be protected from the risk of usury and from despair. The weakest members of society should be helped to defend themselves against usury, just as poor peoples should be helped to derive real benefit from micro-credit, in order to discourage the exploitation that is possible in these two areas. Since rich countries are also experiencing new forms of poverty, micro-finance can give practical assistance by launching new initiatives and opening up new sectors for the benefit of the weaker elements in society, even at a time of general economic downturn.
Global interconnectedness has led to the emergence of a new political power, that of consumers and their associations. This is a phenomenon that needs to be further explored, as it contains positive elements to be encouraged as well as excesses to be avoided. It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral and not simply economic act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in- hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise. Consumers should be continually educated regarding their daily role, which can be exercised with respect for moral principles without diminishing the intrinsic economic rationality of the act of purchasing.
In the retail industry, particularly at times like the present when purchasing power has diminished and people must live more frugally, it is necessary to explore other paths: for example, forms of cooperative purchasing like the consumer cooperatives that have been in operation since the nineteenth century, partly through the initiative of Catholics. In addition, it can be helpful to promote new ways of marketing products from deprived areas of the world, so as to guarantee their producers a decent return. However, certain conditions need to be met: the market should be genuinely transparent; the producers, as well as increasing their profit margins, should also receive improved formation in professional skills and technology; and finally, trade of this kind must not become hostage to partisan ideologies. A more incisive role for consumers, as long as they themselves are not manipulated by associations that do not truly represent them, is a desirable element for building economic democracy.
In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth. No one can deny the fact that the UNO has played an important role since the Second World War to bring about peace and resolve humanitarian problems. Further with new found policies and curative methods such in the field of education health and social benefits it has raised the standard of living in many developing countries. Yet one also senses the urgent need to find innovative ways of implementing the principle of the responsibility to protect and of giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making. This seems necessary in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity. To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago. 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.
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. 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. 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 integral development of peoples and international cooperation require the establishment of a greater degree of international ordering, marked by subsidiarity, for the management of globalization. They also require the construction of a social order that at last conforms to the moral order, to the interconnection between moral and social spheres, and to the link between politics and the economic and civil spheres, as envisaged by the Charter of the United Nations.
In our Focus on the Church Programme we brought to you the Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, based on the social Teachings of the Church. This encyclical deals with the human situations such as global, social, political, ethical and economic and directs individuals to conceptualise the doctrine of the Church. Caritas in Veritate is a magnificent gift to the world from the point of view of Catholic Social Teaching and gives a descriptive account of the activities and perspectives found in the spheres of social action in the church.
Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J.