Abstract
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI added to the long line of papal statements on social justice with the publication of his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. Originally intended to mark the fortieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio but delayed by the advent of the global financial crisis, Caritas in Veritate (CV) is a substantial study of social ethics, rooted in a rereading of Populorum Progressio but covering a wide range of topics, including the nature of civil society, the changing role of the family, the use of technology, and concern for the environment. The central focus of the encyclical, however, is a sharp theological critique of current economic practice.
Unusually for a Catholic social encyclical, Benedict chooses to base his analysis more on Scripture than natural law. More precisely, Benedict presents his work as an extended meditation on the Christology of John’s Gospel as he tries to think through the significance of what it might mean to say Jesus is ‘logos incarnate’, the fullest disclosure of God’s creative love. He draws two key conclusions from this reflection: that the dynamic energy in Christ at the heart of creation reflects the mutuality of love characteristic of the Trinity; and that this gratuitous love flows over into the gift of life which seeks to draw all humanity into a series of transforming relationships with God and with other human beings. Economics, argues Benedict, needs to be reframed precisely by this formative vision of God’s gratuitous love.
This collection of twenty essays is an attempt to engage with Benedict’s thesis in greater depth. It is the product of a conference in 2010 given by a panel of distinguished academics tasked with commentating on selected aspects of the encyclical. This leads to a certain degree of overlap, but the essays are divided more or less persuasively into four sections: Part 1 looks at the theological foundations of CV; Part 2 reflects on Benedict’s theological analysis of the global economic order; Part 3 is an attempt at theological reflection, setting theology and economics in dialogue; and Part 4 looks at the ‘Green Pope’ speaking on the environment.
Nearly all the papers are of a high quality, and it is therefore difficult to comment on them in detail in such a short review. Nevertheless, highlights include Vela Chiriboga on Benedict’s use of Scripture, Benestad on Benedict’s interpretation of Populorum Progressio, William Cavanagh on subsidiarity and Benedict’s vision of ‘alternative social space’, and Stephen Long on Benedict’s subtle interaction with the theology of de Lubac and Balthasar.
Almost all of the essays are written by practising Catholics, which perhaps accounts for the numerous laudatory comments about the pope which some may feel are a little excessive. There is also an obvious lack of engagement with the critical right-wing Catholic thought associated with Michael Novak and others. But there is a fine essay by Michael Budde which provides a thoughtful critique of aspects of Benedict’s work, not least the unspoken assumptions behind his use of the concept of the ‘common good’.
There is much to be found in this book, as it explores Benedict’s forceful call to the Church to resist the seductive call of the secular market place to make profit the sole benchmark for economic success. In the really ‘real’ world of Benedict’s neo-platonic thought, it is not money that makes the world go round, so much as the gratuitous love of God.