More on the New Encyclical

Posted by Tom McFeely

Monday, June 29, 2009 1:03 PM

Damian Thompson, blogs editor of the Telegraph newspaper, suggests that Catholics who view the Church from a primarily political perspective are going to be uncomfortable with Pope Benedict XVI’s new social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth).

That goes for both those who are on the political left and on the political right, according to Thompson, who bases his assessment on leaked excerpts from the encyclical published by Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper:

But, according to Corriere della Sera, the Pope will not condemn globalization as evil in itself. Like his other two encyclicals dealing with love, this one will be an elegant theological argument proceeding from first principles. Both Left and Right will be disappointed if they are looking for unambiguous support for their positions.

The Pope doesn’t subscribe to the “crisis of capitalism” thesis embraced by Catholic Lefties — he doesn’t believe that Catholic teaching is an economic “third way” between socialism and capitalism. But the Right will not be comfortable with the suggestion of international coordination to contain the exploitative greed of corporations — that is, coordination aimed at limiting the effects of the greed built into the human heart, which surges whenever economies change quickly.

Go here to read Thompson’s entire post about the new encyclical.

Filed under benedict xvi, caritas in veritate