The puzzle of Caritas in Veritate

Coming on the heels of the global economic crisis, Pope Benedict’s 2009 social encyclical, Caritas inVeritate (Love in Truth), was keenly awaited. It was issued to highlight the continuing relevance of Pope Paul VI’s 1967 landmark encyclical, Development of Peoples, but Benedict’s 30,000-word document is almost five times as long and at times very obscure.

The encyclical falls into two distinct parts, the first (#1-20), possibly written by Benedict himself, is a perplexing philosophical  discussion about Christ as the full Truth revealing God to humankind. Many readers have been confused by the document’s use of the word “truth”, wondering if they were misunderstanding critical aspects of the Pope’s thought.

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Photo: jhritz – flickr CC

 

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