Back in 1967, Pope Paul VI wrote his social encyclical on "development," and entitled it On the Development of the Nation . Twenty years later, Pope John Paul II wrote a follow-up to this social encyclical, and entitled it On the Church's Social Concern(Sollicitudo reisocialis), which I shall refer to as simply "Sallicitudo."

This document is not only very recent, 1987, but also important for our understanding of Catholic social teaching. Shortly before the famous meeting on December 1, 1989, between Pope John Paul and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, a Soviet expert on Vatican affairs pointed to Sollicitudo and made this remark. "Pope John Paul II's placing of Marxism and capitalism on the same ethical level helped make a papal meeting with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev possible," said Anatole Kovalski, expert on the Catholic Church for the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. "The pope's social encyclical, which criticized Marxism and capitalism, contains positions which make a dialogue widely possible," said Kovalski. (See Arlinaton Catholic Herald, Nov. 30, 1989)

It is obvious that prominent members of the Communist party have read Sollicitudo. They recognized that this most recent social encyclical has major significance for them. What is its significance for us? I hope to set out some of the highlights of this encyclical within the time constraints of this segment. My hope is that you will read the document for yourself.

3. Two objectives of this encyclical are: 1) show the continuity of the Church's social doctrine; and  make new applications of it to contemporary problems.

4. The principles proposed in Populorum Progressio have not been exhausted or fully realized. There is a need for a fuller and more nuanced concept of development.

11. There is a new situation today.

12. The hopes for development are very far from being realized. A gigantic effort is called for.

13.Many human persons, "an innumerable multitude," are suffering under the intolerable burden of poverty. They are our brothers and sisters.

14.The gap is widening between the developed North and the developing South. The unity of the human race is seriously compromised. There is a moral dimension to this to which the Church, "a sacrament or sign and instrument ... of the unity of the whole human race" (LG 1), cannot remain indifferent.

15. Some indices of underdevelopment are: illiteracy; inability to share in the building of one's nation; discrimination. The right of economic imitative is often suppressed. A heavy handed centrally controlled economy results in a general "leveling down," passivity and dependence. One political party usurps the role of sole leader. The denial or limitation of human rights, especially religious freedom and the right to organize and form unions.

16. Both the Developed and the Developing nations share responsibility for the lack of development. The emergence of a 4th world is a clear indication of this.

17. When interdependence among the nations is separated from its ethical requirements, it has disastrous consequences for the weakest.

N.B. Development either becomes shared in common by every part of the world, or it undergoes a process of regression. Either all the nations of the world participate, or it will not be true development.

Specific signs of underdevelopment that reveal a tragic situation:

      1) housing crisis

18. 2) unemployment and underemployment

19. 3) increased international debts 

We must reflect upon the requirements and conditions, equally inspired by ethical principles, For cooperation in development.

20. Reasons for delay in the process of development are:

The existence of two opposing blocs, the East and the West. These draw upon two opposing ideologies, Marxist collectivism and liberal capitalism, which have very different visions of man, of freedom, of organization of labor, and of ownership, especiaI1y over means of production.

Tensions between these two blocks, or "spheres of influence," began after the Second World War and have dominated the whole of the subsequent 40 years.

21. The Church's social doctrine takes a critical attitude towards both liberal capitalism and Marxist collectivism, especially in their concept of development of individuals and peop1es. These concepts are in need of radical correction. Developing nations need to be free of these ideological tensions.

22. The developing nations, instead of becoming autonomous nations, become part of a machine, cogs on a gigantic wheel. Attitudes of the two power blocs, e.g., imperialism, neo-colonialism, and an exaggerated concern for national security, deaden the impulse toward united cooperation for the common good of the human race.

23. One clear example of the superpowers' abusing their position is the divergence of scarce resources and investments away from authentic development, and devoting them instead to arms production. The world does not need superpowers who are capable of destroying one another. It needs nations capable of playing a leadership role in contributing widely and generously to the common good. Developed nations have a clear ethical duty to provide leadership in this regard. Not to do so would be a betrayal of humanity's legitimate expectations, and a desertion of a moral obligation.

24. The moral judgment against the arms trade is even more severe. This is a trade without frontiers. The stockpiling of atomic weapons leads us towards death instead of concern for true development which would lead all towards a "more human life."
One wound which reveals the imbalances and conflicts of the modern world is today's millions of refugees. Another wound is the phenomenon of terrorism.

25. The demographic problem (e.g., Is there overpopulation in some areas?): A drop in the birthrate in the North hinders development. Systematic campaigns against birth usually by developed nations as a condition for granting economic aid, deserve the most forceful condemnation. This is a sign of a mistaken and perverse idea of true human development.

27. Development is not a straightforward progress; automatic, inevitable, and limitless. These ideas come out of the Enlightenment which taught the infinite perfectability of man. By contrast, Pope John Paul teaches: "... history is not simply a fixed progress towards what is better, but rather an event of freedom, and even a struggle between freedoms" (Familiaris Consortio 6). The events of this century have shattered any naive mechanistic optimism left over from the Enlightenment.

28. Although development has a necessary economic dimension, it is not limited to that dimension. If it is limited to this, then it turns against those whom it is meant to benefit. The considerable body of resources and potential at man's disposal must be guided by a moral understanding and an orientation towards the true good of the human race. A blind submission to pure consumerism stifles our deeper aspirations. Our challenge today is "being more" (e.g., realizing our full human vocation), instead of merely "having more." Having material goods is not evil in itself, unless these is no regard for the quality and ordered hierarchy of the goods one has (cf. SRS 31g, PP 20-21).

29. The Church has no problem with the material advantages coming to us through progress in science and technology. Authentic development, however, must always appreciate the specific nature of man, who has been created by God in His image and likeness (Gen 1:26). We have both a bodily and a spiritual nature.
We have a certain affinity with other creatures, are called to use them, be involved with them, take dominion over them (Gen 1:25-6). We also have a true affinity with God, with His eternal life and immortality.

Development cannot consist only in dominion over created things and the projects of human industry. It includes our transcendent reality, and calls for the subordination of all material things to man's divine likeness and our vocation to immortality.

With Christian faith the dream of "unlimited progress" reappears, assuring us that progress is possible only because God the Father has decided from the beginning to make man a sharer of His glory in Jesus Christ risen from the dead. In Christ God wished to conquer sin and make it serve our greater good, which infinitely surpasses what human progress could achieve.

Faith impels the Church to concern herself with the problems of development. She was meant to be a sign and sacrament of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race (LG 1). Human history and human work are directed to a goal which surpasses itself and which is always defined by its relationship to Christ. Authentic human achievements have a perennial value inasmuch as they are redeemed by Christ and destined for the promised Kingdom (cf. LG 39). The Church must also reflect a "hierarchy of values" in the ways she uses material goods to benefit the poor and relieve the misery of the suffering.

35. If the reasons for lack of development and underdevelopment are manmade, if the problems are manmade, then the solutions are also manmade. A theological reading of modern problems will assess the prob1em in terms of sin, and the solution in terms of its opposite virtue.

A social encyclical is a pastoral document, in that it evaluates contemporary conditions in light of the Gospels. It cannot restrict itself to the economic and political causes of underdevelopment. It must point to the moral causes, i.e., to the behaviour of individuals, considered as responsible persons, who either slow down the course of development or hinder its full achievement. If the scientific and technical means are available for development, but are not being utilized, then the obstacles to development will be overcome only by means of essentially moral considerations.

36. SIN: A world divided into blocs and sustained by rigid ideologies can only be a world subject to "structures of sin." The sum total of negative factors working against a universal common good could be ca11ed "structures of sins." It is important to add immediately that every "structure of sin" is rooted in personal sin, and thus always linked to concrete acts of individuals who introduce these structures, consolidate them, and make them difficu1t to remove (cf . Reconciliatio et Ppynitgntia 16).

Evaluations of underdevelopment which use such terms as selfishness, shortsightedness, mistaken political calculations, imprudent economic decisions, do not get to the root of the problem. A much more profound analysis of individuals' actions and omissions is called for: judgments of an ethical nature.

Morality is based on faith in God and on His moral law, which commands what is good and forbids evil. We can know the will of the Triune God, His plan for humanity, His justice and His mercy. God requires from us clear cut attitudes which express themselves also in actions and omissions towards one's neighbor. One example of these are the last 7 commandments, the "second tablet." Not to observe these is to offend God, to hurt one's neighbor, to retard the process of development, and to introduce into the world obstacles which go far beyond the brief life span of an individual.

37. Among the actions and attitudes opposed to the will of God, the good of neighbor, and the "good structures" created by them are two: 1) the all-consuming desire for profits; and 2) the thirst for power, with the intention of imposing one's will upon others. Not only individuals fall victim to this double attitude of sin; nations and blocs can do so also. Other real forms of idolatry today take the forms of money, ideology, class, and technology.

The true nature of the evil which confronts us with respect to the development of peoples is a moral evil, the fruit of many sins which lead to "structures of sin." Such a diagnosis has the advantage of pointing out, on the level of human conduct, the path to be followed in order to overcome it.

38. The Attitude of Solidarity

The path to overcoming moral evil and "structures of sin" is long and complex. It is constantly threatened by the frailty of human resolutions and achievements, and by unpredictable external circumstances. Nevertheless all of us must have the courage to set out on this path, and once begun, have the courage to continue to the end.

Christians see this journey as a moral value, demanded by God's will. They recognize that the plan and will of God is the only true foundation of an absolutely binding ethic.

People without faith can see the need to change spiritual attitudes which define each individual's relationship with self, with neighbor, with the remotest human community, with nature itself, and all of this in view of higher values such as the common good, or Paul VI's happy phrase, the full development "of the whole individual and of all people."

For Christians the path is one of conversion. They view interdependence in a moral sense, as a system determining relationships in all their various economic, cultural, political, and religious aspects. The moral response to interdependence is solidarity, considered both as a social attitude and as a virtue. it is more than a feeling of vague compassion. Solidarity is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good, to the good of all and of each individual. Sinful attitudes (cf. #37) are overcome, with the grace of God, by diametrically opposed attitudes. Attitudes and "structures of sin" preventing development must be overcome by the attitudes and positive accomplishments of solidarity. Solidarity is a commitment to the good of one's neighbor, a willingness to "lose oneself" instead of exploiting another, to "serve him" instead of oppressing him for one's own advantage.

39. The results, or deeds, of the virtue of solidarity:

Members within each society will recognize one another as persons. The stronger will assist the weaker. The weaker will make his own contribution to the common good. The poor will consolidate to support one another and advance their cause.

At the international level, the principle that the goods of creation are meant for all will be implemented, a real international system will be established, resting on the foundation of the equality of all peoples and on respect for their legitimate differences. Economically weaker countries will contribute to the common good with their treasures of humanity and culture. We will view the other as our "neighbor," a "helper," or sharer in the banquet of life.

Real steps towards building the peace will be taken, for "Development is the new name for peace" (PP 87).

The acts proper to solidarity: abandonment of the politics of blocs, sacrifice of all forms of imperialism (economic, military, or political), transformation of mutual distrust into collaboration. The goal of peace will be achieved by those virtues which foster togetherness, which teach us to live in unity, so as to build in unity a new society and a better world.

40. As a Christian virtue, solidarity takes on even deeper and richer dimensions. There are many points of contact here with charity. In the light of faith solidarity takes on the specifically Christian dimension of total gratuity, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The neighbor is viewed not simply as a peer with human rights, but as the living image of God. Even enemies must be loved as Christ loves them. We must be willing to sacrifice, even die, for our neighbor.

Our relationship with God (common fatherhood of the Father, brotherhood of all in Christ, shared life-giving action of the Holy Spirit) gives us a new model of unity for the human race. It is Christian communion, seen as a reflection of the intimate life of God, one God in three Persons. The Church, acting on God's behalf, is a "sacrament" of the communion and of the unity of all peoples.

The exercise of human and Christian solidarity will release positive energies for the benefit of development and peace. The heroes of the Church (the saints) are good examples of this.

46. Peoples and individuals aspire to be free: their search for full development indicates their desire to overcome the many obstacles preventing them from enjoying a "more human life."

In Latin America the term "liberation" has become the fundamental category and the first principle of action. Despite the distortions and deviations associated with "liberation," the aspiration to freedom from all forms of slavery affecting the individual and society is something noble and legitimate. Development and liberation go together. Human beings are totally free only when they are completely themselves, in the fullness of their rights and duties.

The principal obstacle to be overcome is sin and the structures produces by sin as it multiplies and spreads. The freedom with which Christ has set us free (Gal 5:1) encourages us to become servants of all. Thus the process of development and liberation takes concrete shape in the exercise of solidarity, that is to say in the love and service of neighbor, especially of the poorest.

47. The Church strongly affirms the possibility of overcoming the obstacles which stand in the way of development. She affirms her confidence in true liberation, based on the divine promise guaranteeing that our present history does not remain closed in upon itself, but is open to the Kingdom of God.

The Church has confidence also in man, though she knows the evil which he is capable of. There exist in the human person sufficient qualities and energies, a fundamental "goodness" (Gen 1:31), because he is the image of the creator, placed under the redemptive influence of Christ, who "united himself in some fashion with every man" (GS 22, RH 8).

There is no justification then for despair or pessimism or inertia. We are all called, indeed obliged, to face the tremendous challenge of the last decade of the second Millennium. The present dangers threaten everyone: a world economic crisis, a war without frontiers, without winners or losers. At stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator. Every individual is called upon to play his or her part in this peaceful campaign.

I wish to appeal with simplicity and humility to everyone, to all men and women without exception. I wish to ask them to be convinced of the seriousness of the present moment and of each one's individual responsibility, and to implement -- by the way they live as individuals and as families, by the use of their resources, by their civil activity, by contributing to economic and political decisions and by personal commitment to national and international undertakings -- the measures inspired by solidarity and love of preference for the poor.

In this commitment, the sons and daughters of the Church must serve as examples and guides. The laity have a preeminent role in this. We can collaborate with other Christians in these matters. This appeal is also made to the Jewish people, to Muslims, and to all the followers of the world's great religions. The achievement of both peace and development depends upon our fidelity to our
vocation as men and women of faith. It depends, above all, on God.