Caritas in veritate

(See Catholic Labor Network's July 7, 2009 Press Release)

On July 7, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued his social encyclical Caritas in veritate. This was the first social encyclical since Centesimus annus, which was issued by Pope John Paul II in 1991, in observance of the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum.

On the day the new encyclical was issued, Cardinal Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said that Caritas in veritate marked a further step in the church's recognition of its obligation to promote the salvation and well-being of all people and its efforts to "guarantee Christianity has the 'right of citizenship' in building human society."

Catholic social teaching, he said, uses the unchanging principles of the Gospel and applies them to the ever-changing situation in which peoples and societies find themselves.

"The church does not have technical solutions to propose, as 'Caritas in Veritate' itself reminds us, but it has the obligation to enlighten human history with the light of truth and with the warmth of the love of Jesus Christ," he said.

"This is not an encyclical on the economic crisis," he said, but because it speaks of the various forces involved in promoting or retarding development, it had to address the crisis. (Source: Catholic News Service, July 7, 2009)

On this page, the Catholic Labor Network offers you the text of Caritas in veritate, additional comment from the Holy Father and the Holy See, catechetical materials developed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and important responses and commentary from some of America's labor leaders