Caritas in Veritate or Charity and Truth
For the Catholic Church Charity Should Begin at Home
Jul 7, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) offers lofty and erudite arguments in favor of a new global order focusing on key issues and concerns inherent in Catholic social justice. “Charity in Truth” charts the ultimate goal of “humanity’s journey toward unity.” (Part 8) “Charity demands justice,” the pope writes, echoing many similar themes championed by Pope John Paul II.
Can the Catholic Church Live Up to its Own Expectations?
In the encyclical, Benedict states that “Justice must be applied to every phase of economic activity,” and calls upon a global wealth redistribution. Such platitudes, however, would be far more accepting if the Catholic Church set the example.
In 2002 the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles consecrated the newly built Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels at a staggering cost of $189.7 million. The bishop’s chair or cathedra alone cost one million dollars. In Chicago, the wealthiest archdiocese in the United States maintains a two billion dollar endowment.
Almost every major cathedral in Spain and Italy contains gold, mined by Central and South American Indians during the Spanish conquest and colonization that began with the first voyage of Christopher Columbus. Although “Charity in Truth” denies that the church has intentions to direct the political affairs of nations, centuries of church history in Europe document the fierce struggles of popes to influence and control the secular state.
Social Justice among Catholic Lay Workers
Pope Benedict addresses unemployment, calling upon the creation of jobs: “Work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman…” How can “essential dignity” be explained to a Catholic lay worker in the United States laid off by the Church yet unable to collect unemployment because many dioceses do not pay into unemployment insurance?
Such situations are particularly acute with Catholic school teachers that are frequently held to one-year employment contracts; tenure does not exist in many of these systems. Further, in most cases, these teachers are already paid far less in salary than teachers in either public systems or other non-public, private institutions.
If, as the encyclical states, the ultimate end result of all profit must serve the common good, then charity should begin at home. Churches are non-profits yet, under the blanket of “separation of church and state,” are allowed to amass huge assets, ostensibly to fund charities, upgrade facilities, and provide a modicum of retirement for aging religious.
Ethics and Exploitation
In Section 36 Benedict calls for, among other things, a general openness: “social ethics like transparency cannot be ignored…” Yet here again the church does not lead by example. There is very little transparency within the 200 dioceses in the United States. Each diocese is the domain of a bishop whose decisions on all matters are final and non-negotiable. Bishops make decisions based on Canon Law rather than following civil law.
The document also addresses the exploitation of underdeveloped societies whose labor and resources produce profit for company shareholders in other countries. According to Benedict, “Capital should be used where it was produced.” Interestingly, this policy was actually attempted in the 1960s and 1970s when countries like Australia legislated that profits made in the country could not be taken outside of the country.
The end result was that American and European countries seeking to enter new markets avoided Australia and countries with similar laws. “Charity in Truth,” however, also enlists political action. Political action is “conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution.” (Section 36)
The Unity of the Human Family
The “unity of the human family” is a recurring theme in Benedict’s encyclical. Yet how seriously can this be taken from a church that excludes all other Christian faith traditions from the Eucharist? If the basis of unity is social justice, what is the Catholic Church willing to do to embrace justice with and among other Christian bodies, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and a myriad of other religious faith?
Source:
Charity in Truth (English translation from the Vatican website)
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