Populorum progressio
Populorum progressio ( Latin : the progress of the peoples ) is the title of the fifth encyclical of Pope Paul VI. dated March 26, 1967 . It is subtitled Encyclical Pope Paul VI. about the development of peoples . In addition to the social encyclical John XXIII. Mater et magistra from 1961 and the peace encyclical of the same Pacem in terris from 1963, Paul VI extends it. the peace mandate of the church for the commitment to the balance between north and south. At the end of 1987 , John Paul II dedicated his second social encyclical to the memory of this encyclical . Even Benedict XVI. In 2009 he deliberately placed his social encyclical Caritas in veritate ( CiV ) in the tradition of Populorum progressio .
History of origin
Pope Paul VI was based on a draft text that the French Dominican Louis-Joseph Lebret and the Brazilian Archbishop Hélder Câmara had written at his request .
International development and private property
It is the first social encyclical to focus entirely on international development. Global economic justice and the overcoming of tension between rich and poor countries - so the main message of the encyclical - are the prerequisites and basis for peace. The right to private property is subordinate to this, because private property is for no one an unconditional and unrestricted right. Nobody is authorized to reserve his abundance exclusively for himself when others lack what is necessary.
To development aid
This text is not about the rich nations being able to buy themselves out of their historical or moral guilt through financial development aid or debt relief. The poor countries themselves should be the yardstick and the question of whether they will receive sustainable help. Absolute figures have yet to say anything about whether this help will actually arrive and be successful. It is true that development aid has continued to decline financially in recent years.
Discrepancy between industrialized and developing countries
It is shown that development aid can compensate for the economic discrepancy between the industrialized countries and the new nations that emerged from the colonial empires . Even if the economy in some developing countries is growing on its own, there is still a large deficit and the failures are sobering. In many countries of the so-called Third World there was great misery, the environment was being overexploited and civil wars were raging . Development theories interpret the causes differently: some discovered the causes of poverty in the developing country itself, for example in the high population growth, others blame external factors, such as the arbitrary demarcation of the colonial powers .
Solidarity and a sense of duty
But man is also a member of the community , brings Paul VI. expresses, because he belongs to all humanity . All human beings are called to contribute to the full development of all human society. We are all obliged to show responsibility and solidarity for our fellow human beings. The solidarity of all would not only bring advantages for us, but also obligations. But it is also the duty of the church to put itself at the service of people in order to help them to tackle this difficult problem in all its breadth, and to convince them of the urgency of joint action at this crucial moment in human history Be main concern.
Free will
According to God's plan, every person is called to develop because every person's life is determined by God for some task. From birth, everyone is given an abundance of abilities and qualities in germ that are supposed to bear fruit. Its development, the result of education by the environment and personal effort, gives everyone the opportunity to focus on the goal that their Creator set for them. Endowed with understanding and free will, man is just as responsible for his progress as he is for his salvation. Supported, sometimes hindered by their educators and their environment, everyone is the forge of their happiness, the cause of their failure, whatever the influences that affect them. Every person can grow as a person through the forces of his spirit and his will, be worth more, and perfect himself. (Populorum Progressio, No. 15; see web links)
Social progress and education
One could even say, writes the Pope, that economic growth depends primarily on social progress. Therefore basic training is the first stage of a development plan. The hunger for education is no less bitter than the hunger for food. An illiterate person is mentally underdeveloped. To be able to read and write, to get a professional education would mean that people gain self-confidence and discover that one can move forward with others.
literature
- Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, ISBN 3-451-29078-2
- Josef Senft : About the worldwide social responsibility of the church and the progress of peoples. Two encyclicals in comparison. In: Karl Gabriel / Wolfgang Klein / Werner Krämer (ed.): The social responsibility of the church: To the encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis. Düsseldorf 1988, pp. 58-70 ( ISBN 978-3491777026 ).
- Nikolaus Klein: Thirty Years Encyclical Populorum Progressio. In: Orientation No. 7, April 15, 1997
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ José Oscar Beozzo: O concilio Vaticano II ea Modernidade . In: Antônio S. Bogaz, Márcio A. Couto (Eds.): Vinho Novo, Odres Velhos? Uma Igreja para os Novos Tempos . Loyola, São Paulo 2003, pp. 87-120.
