Pope's new encyclical 'Charity in Truth' on social teaching

At a press conference in the Vatican, a new encyclical Caritas in Veritate ('Charity in Truth') of Pope Benedict XVI was presented on Jul 7, 2009. The document was signed a week before, on the solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul, Jun 29.

Vatican: Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who was one of the four people to speak at the press conference, noted that the new document is the third encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI – after Deus Caritas Est (2005) and Spe Salvi (2007). As it addresses social teaching of the Church, its place is within the tradition started by Pope Leo XIII by his encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891. Last social document so far was the encyclical Centesimus Annus of John Paul II, released on the centenary of Rerum Novarum. 'It has been almost twenty years since the last great document on the Church's social teaching,' said Cardinal Martino, 'but the field was never really neglected by popes and the Church.' He then recalled the 2004 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and Benedict XVI's first encyclical Deus Caritas Est; its substantial part dwells on the charity.

The encyclical Caritas in Veritate consists of six chapters, their names being: 1. 'The Message of Populorum Progressio', 2. 'Human Development in Our Time', 3. 'Fraternity, Economic Development and Civil Society', 4. 'The Development of People, Rights and Duties, the Environment', 5. 'The Cooperation of the Human Family', and 6. 'The Development of Peoples and Technology'. The name of its first chapter testifies that the encyclical's direct inspiration was the document of Pope Paul VI Populorum Progressio from 1967 (in fact, Caritas in Veritate was originally intended to commemorate the Populorum Progressio's 40th anniversary). Nonetheless, the new encyclical answers current topics as well, when it addresses the global economic crisis.

The entire English text of the encyclical can be found at the Vatican website.