Jesuit economist: Latest encyclical could fuel powerful renewal

posted on March 4, 2010

By Deborah Gyapong (adapted)
Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN)— Fr. Bill Ryan, a Harvard-trained economist and Jesuit priest, has said that the Pope's latest social justice encyclical Caritas in Veritate could launch a revolution of divine love.

Speaking at St. Paul University on March 1st, Fr. Ryan urged parishes and dioceses to launch small group study of the document to bring about Church renewal.

The papal encyclical Caritas in Veritate was published in July 2009. Fr. Ryan called it a "beautiful document, a new experience in Catholic social teaching." He noted that the Pope's approach includes the whole person. It weaves together the Church's pro-life and social justice teachings, including a respect for ecology.

He added that the document should be "contemplated rather than analyzed," and that "Pope Benedict makes love and justice inseparable."

The encyclical says love has to be enlightened by faith and reason or else it degenerates into sentimentality, he said.

Pope Benedict's notion of gratuity or gift is the antithesis of a trend to monetize or put a price on everything. Fr. Ryan said that lack of gratuity underlies the present economic crisis. The Holy Father is very harsh on financial greed and selfishness.

The encyclical also reminds us of the duties to the next generation. This includes the question of how the poor of the world will have adequate sources of energy and how the social costs of energy use should be borne by those who use them.

The pope reserved his harshest critique for the improper use of technology, especially biotechnology, warning of a tendency for ethics to “run after” instead of guide its development.

Back to Home

Copyright © 2000 - 2005 Catholic Radio - KSM Inc. All Rights Reserved.

---