Pope's social encyclical signed: publication still a week away?

June 29, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI referred once again to his forthcoming social encyclical, Caritatis in Veritate, during a midday audience on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Holy Father reminded his audience that the encyclical, when its "rapidly approaching" publication date arrives, will bear today's date.

The public release of Caritatis in Veritate has been anticipated for more than a year. Vatican officials had suggested that it might be released today, but the best estimates now suggest that the actual publication might still be a week away. The encyclical has been repeatedly delayed-- most recently by a desire to amend the text in order to respond to questions raised by the current worldwide economic crisis.

The Italian daily Corriere della Sera has released some paragraphs which are reportedly taken from the new encyclical. Journalist Gian Guido Vecchi reports that the text will be a theoretical reflection on the global economy, invoking traditional Catholic principles such as subsidiarity and solidarity. While the text will be critical of market failures, Vecchi writes that it would be wrong to characterize the encyclical as "good news for liberals and bad news for conservatives;" both sides of the political spectrum will be challenged, he says.

 

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Further information:

• Pope signs new globalization encyclical (Washington Post)
• Italian newspaper reveals key paragraphs from Pope's upcoming social encyclical (CNA)