– Fausto Gomez OP
“All social action involves a doctrine” (PP. 39). The two functions of the social teachings of the Church are: to enlighten the minds and to take part in action (cf. Octogesima Adveniens, 48). PP is “a solemn appeal to action” for the complete development of individuals and peoples. It is an urgent appeal: “Solidarity in action is a matter of urgency” (PP, 1), because the main cause of underdevelopment is “the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples” (PP, 66).
Pope Paul VI pleads the cause of the poor peoples. “The peoples in hunger are making a dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance.” No one may remain “indifferent to the lot of his brothers who are still buried in wretchedness, and victims of insecurity, slaves of ignorance” (PP, 74). The Church hears this cry, which includes the cry of the migrants, the cry for help, and invites all to respond by walking together the road that leads to universal peace.
ACTION, PLEASE!
Together in communion, peoples and nations contribute towards “building a world where every man, no matter what his race, religion, or nationality, can live a fully human life, freed from servitude imposed on him by other men or by natural forces over which he has not sufficient control; a world where freedom is not an empty word and where the poor man Lazarus can sit at the table with the rich man” (PP, 47; cf Lk 16:19-31).
Paul VI asks all persons and peoples to examine their conscience. He asks the rich in particular for great generosity and thus contribute to the common development of the human race. The Pope reminds them that “freedom of trade is fair only if it is subject to the demands of social justice” (PP, 59). Connecting with the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, he quotes these representative words from St Ambrose: “The world is given to all, and not only to the rich” (PP, 23). God created the world for all. Hence, all have the right to a share in the common destination of the goods of creation (PP, 22; Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 69). Private property, then, does not constitute for anyone an absolute and unconditional right, and therefore ought to be partly shared with those who do not have, the poor. Let us note with Paul VI that “[a]varice is the most evident form of moral underdevelopment” (PP, 19). Following the example of some bishops, Pope Paul VI invites all, including priests and religious, to share their possessions with the poor. “May all those who wish to belong to Christ hear his appeal: “I was hungry and you gave me food…” (Mt 25:35-36; PP, 32, 74). , the
Furthermore, prayer is always needed – and helpful. May this prayer, however, “be matched by the resolute commitment of each individual… to the struggle against underdevelopment” (PP, 75). This struggle demands some sacrifices, which Christians ought to unite to the Sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.
The whole second part of PP develops the praxis of the integral development of humanity, of a human solidarity that connects all human beings, and pursues social justice and universal charity. Integral development demands rational planning, economic planning, democratic participation, and ethical practice of social justice, solidarity and compassionate love. One important note: When overpopulation is an obstacle to development, then the measures taken should be according to the moral law, and with due respect for the right to life and the freedom of married couples – guided by responsible parenthood. In this regard, Pope Paul VI adds, the active participation of lay Christians is necessary to promote justice and equity in developmental programs and projects.
GOAL OF INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT
The goal of integral development is the growth of the person as an individual and a social being. This is only achievable by new men and women, whose objective in life is not so much to have more, but to be more: men and women aspire “to seek to do more, know more and have more in order to be more”(PP, 6).
As is well-known, in PP Pope Paul VI advocates for a new international order that is possible by “establishing progressively a world authority capable of acting effectively in the juridical and political order” (PP. 78). “May the day dawn” – Paul VI exclaims – “when international relations will be marked with the stamp of mutual respect and friendship, of interdependence in collaboration, the betterment of all seen as the responsibility of each individual” (PP, 65). The fulfillment of the longing is helped by dialogue among peoples and nations, a sincere dialogue that “creates brotherhood,” a dialogue “based on man and not on commodities or technical skills” (PP, 73).
THE VOICE OF PP TODAY
Populorum Progressio continues to be an important and relevant document of the social teachings of the Church up to today. The succeeding documents comment, adapt faithfully and creatively the social teachings of PP – and renew them -, in particular, John Paul II Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate, and Pope Francis Laudato Si’.
In the Encyclical letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (SRS), On the Twentieth Anniversary of Populorum Progressio (1987), Pope John Paul II speaks of “the failed development of the Third World,” denounces unemployment and underemployment, underdevelopment and “super-development.” He also rejects the so-called “civilization of “consumption” or consumerism (SRS, 28). Authentic development, the Polish Pope tells us, must contribute to a culture of “being” of the human person, and not to a “cult of having.” He explains furthermore that the right to private property is subordinated to the universal destination of the goods of the earth.
Forty four years after PP, Pope Benedict XVI wrote his Encyclical Caritas in Veritate (CV), On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth (2009) “to honor the great Pope Paul VI”: Only in truth, does charity shine forth (CV, 3). CV presents a diagnosis of the situation of development in the world, and provides the corresponding treatment to the current global economic crisis caused by greed, injustice, financial malfunctioning, and wrong globalization practices – right practices are helping. Economic and technological development ought to serve human development: development goes awry “if humanity thinks it can re-create itself” through the wonders of finance and technology (VC, 68). He talks of the positive interaction between cultures and the dangers of cultural eclecticism and relativism. He writes: “To feed the hungry is an ethical imperative for the universal Church” (CV, 27).
For his part, Pope Francis developed PP further in his Encyclical Laudato Si’ (LS), On Care for Our Common Home. In LS, the Argentine Pope expands integral development to include truly ecological responsibility. He connects the cry of the earth with the cry of the poor (LS, 49). Peace, justice and integrity of creating are interconnected. He sees real dangers in the techno-economic paradigm of development, and underlines the moral underdevelopment of our current “throw away culture,” that is, a culture of extreme and compulsive consumerism. There is globalization of indifference, and what the world needs is globalization of solidarity. Pope Francis says that the developed countries ought to help poor countries with their huge debts, which can become means to control these poor countries (LS, 52). With the ethical principles of the universal destination of the goods of the earth, of the preferential option for the poor, he stresses the principle of the common good as ethical guides to care for our common home.
Let me close with the words of Saint Paul VI that still ring true – unfortunately:
“When so many people are hungry, when so many families suffer from destitution, when so many remain steeped in ignorance, when so many schools, hospitals, and homes worthy of the name remain to be built, all public or private squandering of wealth, all expenditures prompted by motives of national or personal ostentation, every exhausting armaments race, becomes an intolerable scandal” (PP, 53).
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