Mater et magistra

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The encyclical Mater et Magistra ( Latin for mother and teacher ) by Pope John XXIII. was published on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the encyclical Rerum novarum on May 15, 1961 .

Structure and content

introduction

It is pointed out that the Catholic Church is "mother and teacher of the nations" ; it was used by Jesus Christ for this purpose.

First part

  • The time of Rerum Novarum
  • Ways to rebuild
  • The Quadragesimo circular from 1931
  • The broadcast message from Pentecost 1941
  • New changes

Second part

  • Clarifications and continuation of the teaching of Rerum Novarum
  • Social entanglements
  • The pay
  • Demanding justice in terms of corporate constitution
  • Private property
  • Public property

third part

  • New sides of the social question
  • Demands for justice in the relations between the various branches of industry
  • Social justice and economic balance between peoples of different economic levels
  • Cooperation on a world level

fourth part

  • The reorganization of social life in truth, justice and love
  • Sundays and holidays

Summary

The unmistakable for participation circulars entering the workers stated that the workers are entitled the right to active participation in the companies employing them. Mater et magistra thus opens up Catholic social teaching to the social reality of working life. In addition, it also shows the problems of economically less developed countries, which have never been explicitly discussed in an encyclical before. It is not only about the common good of one's own country and people, Mater et Magistra rather addresses the workers problem as the first papal letter also globally.

rating

With Mater et Magistra an encyclical was presented that differs significantly from the encyclicals of its predecessors. It is not a socio-philosophical consideration, but describes the difficulties and prospects of social development in the world with clear requirements. The structure of the encyclical, with its retrospectives on Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno, underscores that Catholic social teaching focuses on further development and renewal. So for John XXIII. the Christian doctrine of society "an integral part of the Christian doctrine of man". One of the most important of these developments is the recognition of the democratic form of government as an environment for realizing social claims. In Quadragesimo anno 1931, the corporate state was still propagated as a desirable political order, but it failed in Austria in 1938, in Italy in 1943, in Portugal in 1974 and in Spain in 1976. Since 1944, Catholicism, under Pope Pius XII. The reservations against the democratic form of government in the state, which was still rare until 1918, officially abandoned after the republican France, as the only Catholic country in Europe, had proven to be resistant to totalitarian excesses of authoritarian models (1926 papal ban on the Action Francaise ). This development confirms and continues Mater et Magistra .

The reaction to this new social circular was accompanied by exuberant approvals and even general rejection (also in Germany), but the social encyclical became known as the codetermination encyclical . Pope John XXIII published the peace encyclical Pacem in Terris in 1963, with the same thrust . Pope Paul VI has both concerns . continued (Encyclical Populorum Progressio 1967, Apostolic Letter Octogesima adveniens 1971) and his successors further developed this newer social teaching.

literature

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