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PASTORAL
CONSTITUTION: ON THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD
GAUDIUM ET SPES
Proclaimed By His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on December
7, 1965.
PREFACE
1. The joys and the hopes, the
griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are
poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and
anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human
fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed
of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey
to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of
salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community
realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the
deepest of bonds.
2. Hence this Second Vatican Council, having probed more profoundly into
the mystery of the Church, now addresses itself without hesitation, not
only to the sons of the Church and to all who invoke the name of Christ,
but to the whole of humanity. For the council yearns to explain to
everyone how it conceives of the presence and activity of the Church in
the world of today.
Therefore, the council focuses its attention on the world of men, the
whole human family along with the sum of those realities in the midst of
which it lives; that world which is the theatre of man's history, and the
heir of his energies, his tragedies and his triumphs; that world which the
Christian sees as created and sustained by its Maker's love, fallen indeed
into the bondage of sin, yet emancipated now by Christ, Who was crucified
and rose again to break the strangle hold of personified evil, so that the
world might be fashioned anew according to God's design and reach its
fulfilment.
3. Though mankind is stricken with wonder at its own discoveries and its
power, it often raises anxious questions about the current trend of the
world, about the place and role of man in the universe, about the meaning
of its individual and collective strivings, and about the ultimate destiny
of reality and of humanity. Hence, giving witness and voice to the faith
of the whole people of God gathered together by Christ, this council can
provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with, as well as its
respect and love for the entire human family with which it is bound up,
than by engaging with it in conversation about these various problems. The
council brings to mankind light kindled from the Gospel, and puts at its
disposal those saving resources which the Church herself, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, receives from her Founder. For the human
person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed.
Hence the focal point of our total presentation will be man himself, whole
and entire, body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will.
Therefore, this sacred synod, proclaiming the noble destiny of man and
championing the godlike seed which has been sown in him, offers to mankind
the honest assistance of the Church in fostering that brotherhood of all
men which corresponds to this destiny of theirs. Inspired by no earthly
ambition, the Church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work
of Christ under the lead of the befriending Spirit. And Christ entered
this world to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in
judgment, to serve and not to be served.[2]
INTRODUCTORY
STATEMENT THE SITUATION OF MEN IN THE MODERN WORLD
4. To carry out such a task,
the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times
and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language
intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial
questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and
about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore
recognize and understand the world in which we live, its expectations, its
longings, and its often dramatic characteristics. Some of the main
features of the modern world can be sketched as follows.
Today, the human race is involved in a new stage of history. Profound and
rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world. Triggered
by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil
upon him, upon his decisions and desires, both individual and collective,
and upon his manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and to
people. Hence we can already speak of a true cultural and social
transformation, one which has repercussions on man's religious life as
well.
As happens in any crisis of growth, this transformation has brought
serious difficulties in its wake. Thus while man extends his power in
every direction, he does not always succeed in subjecting it to his own
welfare. Striving to probe more profoundly into the deeper recesses of his
own mind, he frequently appears more unsure of himself. Gradually and more
precisely he lays bare the laws of society, only to be paralysed by
uncertainty about the direction to give it.
Never has the human race enjoyed such an abundance of wealth, resources
and economic power, and yet a huge proportion of the world's citizens are
still tormented by hunger and poverty, while countless numbers suffer from
total illiteracy. Never before has man had so keen an understanding of
freedom, yet at the same time, new forms of social and psychological
slavery make their appearance. Although the world of today has a very
vivid awareness of its unity and of how one man depends on another in
needful solidarity, it is most grievously torn into opposing camps by
conflicting forces. For political, social, economic, racial and
ideological disputes still continue bitterly, and with them the peril of a
war which would reduce everything to ashes. True, there is a growing
exchange of ideas, but the very words by which key concepts are expressed
take on quite different meanings in diverse ideological systems. Finally,
man painstakingly searches for a better world, without a corresponding
spiritual advancement.
Influenced by such a variety of complexities, many of our contemporaries
are kept from accurately identifying permanent values and adjusting them
properly to fresh discoveries. As a result, buffeted between hope and
anxiety and pressing one another with questions about the present course
of events, they are burdened down with uneasiness. This same course of
events leads men to look for answers; indeed, it forces them to do so.
5. Today's spiritual agitation and the changing conditions of life are
part of a broader and deeper revolution. As a result of the latter,
intellectual formation is ever increasingly based on the mathematical and
natural sciences and on those dealing with man himself, while in the
practical order the technology which stems from these sciences takes on
mounting importance.
This scientific spirit has a new kind of impact on the cultural sphere and
on modes of thought. Technology is now transforming the face of the earth,
and is already trying to master outer space. To a certain extent, the
human intellect is also broadening its dominion over time: over the past
by means of historical knowledge; over the future, by the art of
projecting and by planning.
Advances in biology, psychology, and the social sciences not only bring
men hope of improved self-knowledge; in conjunction with technical
methods, they are helping men exert direct influence on the life of social
groups.
At the same time, the human race is giving steadily increasing thought to
forecasting and regulating its own population growth. History itself
speeds along on so rapid a course that an individual person can scarcely
keep abreast of it. The destiny of the human community has become all of a
piece, where once the various groups of men had a kind of private history
of their own.
Thus, the human race has passed from a rather static concept of reality to
a more dynamic, evolutionary one. In consequence there has arisen a new
series of problems, a series as numerous as can be, calling for efforts of
analysis and synthesis.
6. By this very circumstance, the traditional local communities such as
families, clans, tribes, villages, various groups and associations
stemming from social contacts, experience more thorough changes every day.
The industrial type of society is gradually being spread, leading some
nations to economic affluence, and radically transforming ideas and social
conditions established for centuries.
Likewise, the cult and pursuit of city living has grown, either because of
a multiplication of cities and their inhabitants, or by a transplantation
of city life to rural settings.
New and more efficient media of social communication are contributing to
the knowledge of events; by setting off chain reactions they are giving
the swiftest and widest possible circulation to styles of thought and
feeling.
It is also noteworthy how many men are being induced to migrate on various
counts, and are thereby changing their manner of life. thus a man's ties
with his fellows are constantly being multiplied, and at the same time
"socialization" brings further ties, without however always
promoting appropriate personal development and truly personal
relationships.
This kind of evolution can be seen more clearly in those nations which
already enjoy the conveniences of economic and technological progress,
though it is also astir among peoples still striving for such progress and
eager to secure for themselves the advantages of an industrialized and
urbanized society. These peoples, especially those among them who are
attached to older traditions, are simultaneously undergoing a movement
toward more mature and personal exercise of liberty.
7. A change in attitudes and in human structures frequently calls accepted
values into question, especially among young people, who have grown
impatient on more than one occasion, and indeed become rebels in their
distress. Aware of their own influence in the life of society, they want a
part in it sooner. This frequently causes parents and educators to
experience greater difficulties day by day in discharging their tasks. The
institutions, laws and modes of thinking and feeling as handed down from
previous generations do not always seem to be well adapted to the
contemporary state of affairs; hence arises an upheaval in the manner and
even the norms of behaviour.
Finally, these new conditions have their impact on religion. On the one
hand a more critical ability to distinguish religion from a magical view
of the world and from the superstitions which still circulate purifies it
and exacts day by day a more personal and explicit adherence to faith. As
a result many persons are achieving a more vivid sense of God. On the
other hand, growing numbers of people are abandoning religion in practice.
Unlike former days, the denial of God or of religion, or the abandonment
of them, are no longer unusual and individual occurrences. For today it is
not rare for such things to be presented as requirements of scientific
progress or of a certain new humanism. In numerous places these views are
voiced not only in the teachings of philosophers, but on every side they
influence literature, the arts, the interpretation of the humanities and
of history and civil laws themselves. As a consequence, many people are
shaken.
8. This development coming so rapidly and often in a disorderly fashion,
combined with keener awareness itself of the inequalities in the world
beget or intensify contradictions and imbalances. Within the individual
person there develops rather frequently an imbalance between an intellect
which is modern in practical matters and a theoretical system of thought
which can neither master the sum total of its ideas, nor arrange them
adequately into a synthesis. Likewise an imbalance arises between a
concern for practicality and efficiency, and the demands of moral
conscience; also very often between the conditions of collective existence
and the requisites of personal thought, and even of contemplation. At
length there develops an imbalance between specialized human activity and
a comprehensive view of reality.
As for the family, discord results from population, economic and social
pressures, or from difficulties which arise between succeeding
generations, or from new social relationships between men and women.
Differences crop up too between races and between various kinds of social
orders; between wealthy nations and those which are less influential or
are needy; finally, between international institutions born of the popular
desire for peace, and the ambition to propagate one's own ideology, as
well as collective greeds existing in nations or other groups.
What results is mutual distrust, enmities, conflicts and hardships. Of
such is man at once the cause and the victim.
9. Meanwhile the conviction grows not only that humanity can and should
increasingly consolidate its control over creation, but even more, that it
devolves on humanity to establish a political, social and economic order
which will growingly serve man and help individuals as well as groups to
affirm and develop the dignity proper to them.
As a result many persons are quite aggressively demanding those benefits
of which with vivid awareness they judge themselves to be deprived either
through injustice or unequal distribution. Nations on the road to
progress, like those recently made independent, desire to participate in
the goods of modern civilization, not only in the political field but also
economically, and to play their part freely on the world scene. Still they
continually fall behind while very often their economic and other
dependence on wealthier nations advances more rapidly.
People hounded by hunger call upon those better off. Where they have not
yet won it, women claim for themselves an equity with men before the law
and in fact. Labourers and farmers seek not only to provide for the
necessities of life, but to develop the gifts of their personality by
their labours and indeed to take part in regulating economic, social,
political and cultural life. Now, for the first time in human history all
people are convinced that the benefits of culture ought to be and actually
can be extended to everyone.
Still, beneath all these demands lies a deeper and more widespread
longing: persons and societies thirst for a full and free life worthy of
man; one in which they can subject to their own welfare all that the
modern world can offer them so abundantly. In addition, nations try harder
every day to bring about a kind of universal community.
Since all these things are so, the modern world shows itself at once
powerful and weak, capable of the noblest deeds or the foulest; before it
lies the path to freedom or to slavery, to progress or retreat, to
brotherhood or hatred. Moreover, man is becoming aware that it is his
responsibility to guide aright the forces which he has unleashed and which
can enslave him or minister to him. That is why he is putting questions to
himself.
10. The truth is that the imbalances under which the modern world labours
are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of
man. For in man himself many elements wrestle with one another. Thus, on
the one hand, as a creature he experiences his limitations in a multitude
of ways; on the other he feels himself to be boundless in his desires and
summoned to a higher life. Pulled by manifold attractions he is constantly
forced to choose among them and renounce some. Indeed, as a weak and
sinful being, he often does what he would not, and fails to do what he
would.[1] Hence he suffers from internal divisions, and from these flow so
many and such great discords in society. No doubt many whose lives are
infected with a practical materialism are blinded against any sharp
insight into this kind of dramatic situation; or else, weighed down by
unhappiness they are prevented from giving the matter any thought.
Thinking they have found serenity in an interpretation of reality
everywhere proposed these days, many look forward to a genuine and total
emancipation of humanity wrought solely by human effort; they are
convinced that the future rule of man over the earth will satisfy every
desire of his heart. Nor are there lacking men who despair of any meaning
to life and praise the boldness of those who think that human existence is
devoid of any inherent significance and strive to confer a total meaning
on it by their own ingenuity alone.
Nevertheless, in the face of the modern development of the world, the
number constantly swells of the people who raise the most basic questions
or recognize them with a new sharpness: what is man? What is this sense of
sorrow, of evil, of death, which continues to exist despite so much
progress? What purpose have these victories purchased at so high a cost?
What can man offer to society, what can he expect from it? What follows
this earthly life?
The Church firmly believes that Christ, who died and was raised up for
all,[2] can through His Spirit offer man the light and the strength to
measure up to his supreme destiny. Nor has any other name under the heaven
been given to man by which it is fitting for him to be saved.[3] She
likewise holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the
key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history.
The Church also maintains that beneath all changes there are many
realities which do not change and which have their ultimate foundation in
Christ, Who is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.[4] Hence
under the light of Christ, the image of the unseen God, the firstborn of
every creature,[5] the council wishes to speak to all ] men in order to
shed light on the mystery of man and to cooperate in finding the solution
to the outstanding problems of our time.
PART I THE
CHURCH AND MAN'S CALLING
11. The People of God believes
that it is led by the Lord's Spirit, Who fills the earth. Motivated by
this faith, it labours to decipher authentic signs of God's presence and
purpose in the happenings, needs and desires in which this People has a
part along with other men of our age. For faith throws a new light on
everything, manifests God's design for man's total vocation, and thus
directs the mind to solutions which are fully human.
This council, first of all, wishes to assess in this light those values
which are most highly prized today and to relate them to their divine
source. Insofar as they stem from endowments conferred by God on man,
these values are exceedingly good. Yet they are often wrenched from their
rightful function by the taint in man's heart, and hence stand in need of
purification.
What does the Church think of man? What needs to be recommended for the
upbuilding of contemporary society? What is the ultimate significance of
human activity throughout the world? People are waiting for an answer to
these questions. From the answers it will be increasingly clear that the
People of God and the human race in whose midst it lives render service to
each other. Thus the mission of the Church will show its religious, and by
that very fact, its supremely human character.
CHAPTER I
THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
12. According to the almost
unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth
should be related to man as their center and crown.
But what is man? About himself he has expressed, and continues to express,
many divergent and even contradictory opinions. In these he often exalts
himself as the absolute measure of all things or debases himself to the
point of despair. The result is doubt and anxiety. The Church certainly
understands these problems. Endowed with light from God, she can offer
solutions to them, so that man's true situation can be portrayed and his
defects explained, while at the same time his dignity and destiny are
justly acknowledged.
For Sacred Scripture teaches that man was created "to the image of
God," is capable of knowing and loving his Creator, and was appointed
by Him as master of all earthly creatures[1] that he might subdue them and
use them to God's glory.[2] "What is man that you should care for
him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with
glory and honour. You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet" (Ps. 8:5-7).
But God did not create man as a solitary, for from the beginning
"male and female he created them" (Gen. 1:27). Their
companionship produces the primary form of interpersonal communion. For by
his innermost nature man is a social being, and unless he relates himself
to others he can neither live nor develop his potential.
Therefore, as we read elsewhere in Holy Scripture God saw "all that
he had made, and it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
13. Although he was made by God in a state of holiness, from the very
onset of his history man abused his liberty, at the urging of the Evil
One. Man set himself against God and sought to attain his goal apart from
God. Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, but their
senseless minds were darkened and they served the creature rather than the
Creator.[3] What divine revelation makes known to us agrees with
experience. Examining his heart, man finds that he has inclinations toward
evil too, and is engulfed by manifold ills which cannot come from his good
Creator. Often refusing to acknowledge God as his beginning, man has
disrupted also his proper relationship to his own ultimate goal as well as
his whole relationship toward himself and others and all created things.
Therefore man is split within himself. As a result, all of human life,
whether individual or collective, shows itself to be a dramatic struggle
between good and evil, between light and darkness. Indeed, man finds that
by himself he is incapable of battling the assaults of evil successfully,
so that everyone feels as though he is bound by chains. But the Lord
Himself came to free and strengthen man, renewing him inwardly and casting
out that "prince of this world" (John 12:31) who held him in the
bondage of sin.[4] For sin has diminished man, blocking his path to
fulfilment.
The call to grandeur and the depths of misery, both of which are a part of
human experience, find their ultimate and simultaneous explanation in the
light of this revelation.
14. Though made of body and soul, man is one. Through his bodily
composition he gathers to himself the elements of the material world; thus
they reach their crown through him, and through him raise their voice in
free praise of the Creator.[5] For this reason man is not allowed to
despise his bodily life; rather he is obliged to regard his body as good
and honourable since God has created it and will raise it up on the last
day. Nevertheless, wounded by sin, man experiences rebellious stirrings in
his body. But the very dignity of man postulates that man glorify God in
his body[6] and forbid it to serve the evil inclinations of his heart.
Now, man is not wrong when he regards himself as superior to bodily
concerns, and as more than a speck of nature or a nameless constituent of
the city of man. For by his interior qualities he outstrips the whole sum
of mere things. He plunges into the depths of reality whenever he enters
into his own heart; God, Who probes the heart,[7] awaits him there; there
he discerns his proper destiny beneath the eyes of God. Thus, when he
recognizes in himself a spiritual and immortal soul, he is not being
mocked by a fantasy born only of physical or social influences, but is
rather laying hold of the proper truth of the matter.
15. Man judges rightly that by his intellect he surpasses the material
universe, for he shares in the light of the divine mind. By relentlessly
employing his talents through the ages he has indeed made progress in the
practical sciences and in technology and the liberal arts. In our times he
has won superlative victories, especially in his probing of the material
world and in subjecting it to himself. Still he has always searched for
more penetrating truths, and finds them. For his intelligence is not
confined to observable data alone, but can with genuine certitude attain
to reality itself as knowable, though in consequence of sin that certitude
is partly obscured and weakened.
The intellectual nature of the human person is perfected by wisdom and
needs to be, for wisdom gently attracts the mind of man to a quest and a
love for what is true and good. Steeped in wisdom, man passes through
visible realities to those which are unseen.
Our era needs such wisdom more than bygone ages if the discoveries made by
man are to be further humanized. For the future of the world stands in
peril unless wiser men are forthcoming. It should also be pointed out that
many nations, poorer in economic goods, are quite rich in wisdom and can
offer noteworthy advantages to others.
It is, finally, through the gift of the Holy Spirit that man comes by
faith to the contemplation and appreciation of the divine plan.[8]
16. In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not
impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning
him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary
speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law
written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he
will be judged.[9] Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a
man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. [10] In
a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love
of God and neighbour.[11] In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined
with the rest of men in the search for truth, and for the genuine solution
to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals from
social relationships. Hence the more right conscience holds sway, the more
persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and strive to be guided by
the objective norms of morality. Conscience frequently errs from
invincible ignorance without losing its dignity. The same cannot be said
for a man who cares but little for truth and goodness, or for a conscience
which by degrees grows practically sightless as a result of habitual sin.
17. Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness. Our
contemporaries make much of this freedom and pursue it eagerly; and
rightly to be sure. Often however they foster it perversely as a license
for doing whatever pleases them, even if it is evil. For its part,
authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man.
For God has willed that man remain "under the control of his own
decisions,"[12] so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and
come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence
man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice
that is personally motivated and prompted from within, not under blind
internal impulse nor by mere external pressure. Man achieves such dignity
when, emancipating himself from all captivity to passion, he pursues his
goal in a spontaneous choice of what is good, and procures for himself
through effective and skilful action, apt helps to that end. Since man's
freedom has been damaged by sin, only by the aid of God's grace can he
bring such a relationship with God into full flower. Before the judgment
seat of God each man must render an account of his own life, whether he
has done good or evil.[13]
18. It is in the face of death that the riddle of human existence grows
most acute. Not only is man tormented by pain and by the advancing
deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual
extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors
and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person.
He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which
cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavours of technology,
though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of
biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is
inescapably lodged in his breast.
Although the mystery of death utterly beggars the imagination, the Church
has been taught by divine revelation and firmly teaches that man has been
created by God for a blissful purpose beyond the reach of earthly misery.
In addition, that bodily death from which man would have been immune had
he not sinned[14] will be vanquished, according to the Christian faith,
when man who was ruined by his own doing is restored to wholeness by an
almighty and merciful Saviour. For God has called man and still calls him
so that with his entire being he might be joined to Him in an endless
sharing of a divine life beyond all corruption. Christ won this victory
when He rose to life, for by His death He freed man from death.[15] Hence
to every thoughtful man a solidly established faith provides the answer to
his anxiety about what the future holds for him. At the same time faith
gives him the power to be united in Christ with his loved ones who have
already been snatched away by death; faith arouses the hope that they have
found true life with God.
19. The root reason for human dignity lies in man's call to communion with
God. From the very circumstance of his origin man is already invited to
converse with God. For man would not exist were he not created by God's
love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to
truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and devotes himself to His
Creator. Still, many of our contemporaries have never recognized this
intimate and vital link with God, or have explicitly rejected it. Thus
atheism must be accounted among the most serious problems of this age, and
is deserving of closer examination.
The word atheism is applied to phenomena which are quite distinct from one
another. For while God is expressly denied by some, others believe that
man can assert absolutely nothing about Him. Still others use such a
method to scrutinize the question of God as to make it seem devoid of
meaning. Many, unduly transgressing the limits of the positive sciences,
contend that everything can be explained by this kind of scientific
reasoning alone, or by contrast, they altogether disallow that there is
any absolute truth. Some laud man so extravagantly that their faith in God
lapses into a kind of anaemia, though they seem more inclined to affirm
man than to deny God. Again some form for themselves such a fallacious
idea of God that when they repudiate this figment they are by no means
rejecting the God of the Gospel. Some never get to the point of raising
questions about God, since they seem to experience no religious stirrings
nor do they see why they should trouble themselves about religion.
Moreover, atheism results not rarely from a violent protest against the
evil in this world, or from the absolute character with which certain
human values are unduly invested, and which thereby already accords them
the stature of God. Modern civilization itself often complicates the
approach to God not for any essential reason but because it is so heavily
engrossed in earthly affairs.
Undeniably, those who willfully shut out God from their hearts and try to
dodge religious questions are not following the dictates of their
consciences, and hence are not free of blame; yet believers themselves
frequently bear some responsibility for this situation. For, taken as a
whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety
of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in
some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers
can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent
that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous
doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they
must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and
religion.
20. Modern atheism often takes on a systematic expression which, in
addition to other causes, stretches the desire for human independence to
such a point that it poses difficulties against any kind of dependence on
God. Those who profess atheism of this sort maintain that it gives man
freedom to be an end unto himself, the sole artisan and creator of his own
history. They claim that this freedom cannot be reconciled with the
affirmation of a Lord Who is author and purpose of all things, or at least
that this freedom makes such an affirmation altogether superfluous.
Favouring this doctrine can be the sense of power which modern technical
progress generates in man.
Not to be overlooked among the forms of modern atheism is that which
anticipates the liberation of man especially through his economic and
social emancipation. This form argues that by its nature religion thwarts
this liberation by arousing man's hope for a deceptive future life,
thereby diverting him from the constructing of the earthly city.
Consequently when the proponents of this doctrine gain governmental power
they vigorously fight against religion, and promote atheism by using,
especially in the education of youth, those means of pressure which public
power has at its disposal.
21. In her loyal devotion to God and men, the Church has already
repudiated[16] and cannot cease repudiating, sorrowfully but as firmly as
possible, those poisonous doctrines and actions which contradict reason
and the common experience of humanity, and dethrone man from his native
excellence.
Still, she strives to detect in the atheistic mind the hidden causes for
the denial of God; conscious of how weighty are the questions which
atheism raises, and motivated by love for all men, she believes these
questions ought to be examined seriously and more profoundly.
The Church holds that the recognition of God is in no way hostile to man's
dignity, since this dignity is rooted and perfected in God. For man was
made an intelligent and free member of society by God Who created him; but
even more important, he is called as a son to commune with God and share
in His happiness. She further teaches that a hope related to the end of
time does not diminish the importance of intervening duties but rather
undergirds the acquittal of them with fresh incentives. By contrast, when
a divine substructure and the hope of life eternal are wanting, man's
dignity is most grievously lacerated, as current events often attest;
riddles of life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the
frequent result that men succumb to despair.
Meanwhile every man remains to himself an unsolved puzzle, however
obscurely he may perceive it. For on certain occasions no one can entirely
escape the kind of self-questioning mentioned earlier, especially when
life's major events take place. To this questioning only God fully and
most certainly provides an answer as He summons man to higher knowledge
and humbler probing.
The remedy which must be applied to atheism, however, is to be sought in a
proper presentation of the Church's teaching as well as in the integral
life of the Church and her members. For it is the function of the Church,
led by the Holy Spirit Who renews and purifies her ceaselessly,[17] to
make God the Father and His Incarnate Son present and in a sense visible.
This result is achieved chiefly by the witness of a living and mature
faith, namely, one trained to see difficulties clearly and to master them.
Many martyrs have given luminous witness to this faith and continue to do
so. This faith needs to prove its fruitfulness by penetrating the
believer's entire life, including its worldly dimensions, and by
activating him toward justice and love, especially regarding the needy.
What does the most reveal God's presence, however, is the brotherly
charity of the faithful who are united in spirit as they work together for
the faith of the Gospel[18] and who prove themselves a sign of unity.
While rejecting atheism, root and branch, the Church sincerely professes
that all men, believers and unbelievers alike, ought to work for the
rightful betterment of this world in which all alike live; such an ideal
cannot be realized, however, apart from sincere and prudent dialogue.
Hence the Church protests against the distinction which some state
authorities make between believers and unbelievers, with prejudice to the
fundamental rights of the human person. The Church calls for the active
liberty of believers to build up in this world God's temple too. She
courteously invites atheists to examine the Gospel of Christ with an open
mind.
Above all the Church knows that her message is in harmony with the most
secret desires of the human heart when she champions the dignity of the
human vocation, restoring hope to those who have already despaired of
anything higher than their present lot. Far from diminishing man, her
message brings to his development light, life and freedom. Apart from this
message nothing will avail to fill up the heart of man: "Thou has
made us for Thyself," O Lord, "and our hearts are restless till
they rest in Thee."[19]
22. The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the
mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him
Who was to come,[20] namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by
the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals
man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. It is not
surprising, then, that in Him all the aforementioned truths find their
root and attain their crown.
He Who is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15),[21] is
Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine
likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. Since human
nature as He assumed it was not annulled,[22] by that very fact it has
been raised up to a divine dignity in our respect too. For by His
incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every
man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by
human choice[23] and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He
has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin.[24]
As an innocent lamb He merited for us life by the free shedding of His own
blood. In Him God reconciled us[25] to Himself and among ourselves; from
bondage to the devil and sin He delivered us, so that each one of us can
say with the Apostle: The Son of God "loved me and gave Himself up
for me" (Gal. 2:20). By suffering for us He not only provided us with
an example for our imitation,[26] He blazed a trail, and if we follow it,
life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning.
The Christian man, conformed to the likeness of that Son Who is the
firstborn of many brothers,[27] received "the first-fruits of the
Spirit" (Rom. 8:23) by which he becomes capable of discharging the
new law of love.[28] Through this Spirit, who is "the pledge of our
inheritance" (Eph. 1:14), the whole man is renewed from within, even
to the achievement of "the redemption of the body" (Rom. 8:23):
"If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the death dwells in you,
then he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your
mortal bodies because of his Spirit who dwells in you" (Rom.
8:11).[29] Pressing upon the Christian to be sure, are the need and the
duty to battle against evil through manifold tribulations and even to
suffer death. But, linked with the paschal mystery and patterned on the
dying Christ, he will hasten forward to resurrection in the strength which
comes from hope.[30]
All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will
in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way.[31] For, since Christ died
for all men,[32] and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one,
and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known
only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with
this paschal mystery.
Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in
the light of Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ, the
riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel, they
overwhelm us. Christ has risen, destroying death by His death; He has
lavished life upon us[33] so that, as sons in the Son, we can cry out in
the Spirit: Abba, Father![34]
CHAPTER II
THE COMMUNITY OF MANKIND
23. One of the salient
features of the modern world is the growing interdependence of men one on
the other, a development promoted chiefly by modern technical advances.
Nevertheless brotherly dialogue among men does not reach its perfection on
the level of technical progress, but on the deeper level of interpersonal
relationships. These demand a mutual respect for the full spiritual
dignity of the person. Christian revelation contributes greatly to the
promotion of this communion between persons, and at the same time leads us
to a deeper understanding of the laws of social life which the Creator has
written into man's moral and spiritual nature.
Since rather recent documents of the Church's teaching authority have
dealt at considerable length with Christian doctrine about human
society,[1] this council is merely going to call to mind some of the more
basic truths, treating their foundations under the light of revelation.
Then it will dwell more at length on certain of their implications having
special significance for our day.
24. God, Who has fatherly concern for everyone, has willed that all men
should constitute one family and treat one another in a spirit of
brotherhood. For having been created in the image of God, Who "from
one man has created the whole human race and made them live all over the
face of the earth" (Acts 17:26), all men are called to one and the
same goal, namely God Himself.
For this reason, love for God and neighbour is the first and greatest
commandment. Sacred Scripture, however, teaches us that the love of God
cannot be separated from love of neighbour: "If there is any other
commandment, it is summed up in this saying: Thou shall love thy neighbour
as thyself.... Love therefore is the fulfilment of the Law" (Rom.
13:9-10; cf. 1 John 4:20). To men growing daily more dependent on one
another, and to a world becoming more unified every day, this truth proves
to be of paramount importance.
Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all may
be one. . . as we are one" (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to
human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the
divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons in truth and charity. This
likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God
willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift
of himself.[2]
25. Man's social nature makes it evident that the progress of the human
person and the advance of society itself hinge on one another. For the
beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must
be the human person, which for its part and by its very nature stands
completely in need of social life.[3] Since this social life is not
something added on to man, through his dealings with others, through
reciprocal duties, and through fraternal dialogue he develops all his
gifts and is able to rise to his destiny.
Among those social ties which man needs for his development some, like the
family and political community. relate with greater immediacy to his
innermost nature; others originate rather from his free decision. In our
era. for various reasons, reciprocal ties and mutual dependencies increase
day by day and give rise to a variety of associations and organizations,
both public and private. This development, which is called socialization
while certainly not without its dangers, brings with it many advantages
with respect to consolidating and increasing the qualities of the human
person, and safeguarding his rights.[4]
But if by this social life the human person is greatly aided in responding
to his destiny, even in its religious dimensions, it cannot be denied that
men are often diverted from doing good and spurred toward evil by the
social circumstances in which they live and are immersed from their birth.
To be sure the disturbances which so frequently occur in the social order
result in part from the natural tensions of economic, political and social
forms. But at a deeper level they flow from man's pride and selfishness,
which contaminate even the social sphere. When the structure of affairs is
flawed by the consequences of sin, man, already born with a bent toward
evil, finds there new inducements to sin, which cannot be overcome without
strenuous efforts and the assistance of grace.
26. Every day human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads
by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good, that is, the
sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their
individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own
fulfilment, today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and
consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human
race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate
aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire
human family.[5]
At the same time, however, there is a growing awareness of the exalted
dignity proper to the human person, since he stands above all things, and
his rights and duties are universal and inviolable. Therefore, there must
be made available to all men everything necessary for leading a life truly
human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of
life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment,
to a good reputation, to respect, to appropriate information, to activity
in accord with the upright norm of one's own conscience, to protection of
privacy and to rightful freedom, even in matters religious.
Hence, the social order and its development must invariably work to the
benefit of the human person if the disposition of affairs is to be
subordinate to the personal realm and not contrariwise, as the Lord
indicated when He said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath.[6]
This social order requires constant improvement. It must be founded on
truth, built on justice and animated by love; in freedom it should grow
every day toward a more humane balance.[7] An improvement in attitudes and
abundant changes in society will have to take place if these objectives
are to be gained.
God's Spirit, Who with a marvellous providence directs the unfolding of
time and renews the face of the earth, is not absent from this
development. The ferment of the Gospel too has aroused and continues to
arouse in man's heart the irresistible requirements of his dignity.
27. Coming down to practical and particularly urgent consequences, this
council lays stress on reverence for man; everyone must consider his every
neighbour without exception as another self, taking into account first of
all his life and the means necessary to living it with dignity, [8] so as
not to imitate the rich man who had no concern for the poor man
Lazarus.[9]
In our times a special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbour
of every person without exception, and of actively helping him when he
comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all, a
foreign labourer unjustly looked down upon, a refugee, a child born of an
unlawful union and wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit, or a
hungry person who disturbs our conscience by recalling the voice of the
Lord, "As long as you did it for one of these the least of my
brethren, you did it for me" (Matt. 25:40).
Furthermore, whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of
murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia or willful self-destruction,
whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation,
torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself;
whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions,
arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of
women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men
are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible
persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed.
They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice
them than those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme
dishonour to the Creator.
28. Respect and love ought to be extended also to those who think or act
differently than we do in social, political and even religious matters. In
fact, the more deeply we come to understand their ways of thinking through
such courtesy and love, the more easily will we be able to enter into
dialogue with them.
This love and good will, to be sure, must in no way render us indifferent
to truth and goodness. Indeed love itself impels the disciples of Christ
to speak the saving truth to all men. But it is necessary to distinguish
between error, which always merits repudiation, and the person in error,
who never loses the dignity of being a person even when he is flawed by
false or inadequate religious notions.[10] God alone is the judge and
searcher of hearts; for that reason He forbids us to make judgments about
the internal guilt of anyone.[11]
The teaching of Christ even requires that we forgive injuries,[12] and
extends the law of love to include every enemy, according to the command
of the New Law: "You have heard that it was said: Thou shall love thy
neighbour and hate thy enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and calumniate
you" (Matt. 5:43-44).
29. Since all men possess a rational soul and are created in God's
likeness, since they have the same nature and origin, have been redeemed
by Christ and enjoy the same divine calling and destiny, the basic
equality of all must receive increasingly greater recognition.
True, all men are not alike from the point of view of varying physical
power and the diversity of intellectual and moral resources. Nevertheless,
with respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of
discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race,
colour, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and
eradicated as contrary to God's intent. For in truth it must still be
regretted that fundamental personal rights are still not being universally
honoured. Such is the case of a woman who is denied the right to choose a
husband freely, to embrace a state of life or to acquire an education or
cultural benefits equal to those recognized for men.
Therefore, although rightful differences exist between men, the equal
dignity of persons demands that a more humane and just condition of life
be brought about. For excessive economic and social differences between
the members of the one human family or population groups cause scandal,
and militate against social justice, equity, the dignity of the human
person, as well as social and international peace.
Human institutions, both private and public, must labour to minister to
the dignity and purpose of man. At the same time let them put up a
stubborn fight against any kind of slavery, whether social or political,
and safeguard the basic rights of man under every political system. Indeed
human institutions themselves must be accommodated by degrees to the
highest of all realities, spiritual ones, even though meanwhile, a long
enough time will be required before they arrive at the desired goal.
30. Profound and rapid changes make it more necessary that no one ignoring
the trend of events or drugged by laziness, content himself with a merely
individualistic morality. It grows increasingly true that the obligations
of justice and love are fulfilled only if each person, contributing to the
common good, according to his own abilities and the needs of others, also
promotes and assists the public and private institutions dedicated to
bettering the conditions of human life. Yet there are those who, while
professing grand and rather noble sentiments, nevertheless in reality live
always as if they cared nothing for the needs of society. Many in various
places even make light of social laws and precepts, and do not hesitate to
resort to various frauds and deceptions in avoiding just taxes or other
debts due to society. Others think little of certain norms of social life,
for example those designed for the protection of health, or laws
establishing speed limits; they do not even avert to the fact that by such
indifference they imperil their own life and that of others.
Let everyone consider it his sacred obligation to esteem and observe
social necessities as belonging to the primary duties of modern man. For
the more unified the world becomes, the more plainly do the offices of men
extend beyond particular groups and spread by degrees to the whole world.
But this development cannot occur unless individual men and their
associations cultivate in themselves the moral and social virtues, and
promote them in society; thus, with the needed help of divine grace men
who are truly new and artisans of a new humanity can be forthcoming.
31. In order for individual men to discharge with greater exactness the
obligations of their conscience toward themselves and the various groups
to which they belong, they must be carefully educated to a higher degree
of culture through the use of the immense resources available today to the
human race. Above all the education of youth from every social background
has to be undertaken, so that there can be produced not only men and women
of refined talents, but those great-souled persons who are so desperately
required by our times.
Now a man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of responsibility,
unless his living conditions allow him to become conscious of his dignity,
and to rise to his destiny by spending himself for God and for others. But
human freedom is often crippled when a man encounters extreme poverty,
just as it withers when he indulges in too many of life's comforts and
imprisons himself in a kind of splendid isolation. Freedom acquires new
strength, by contrast, when a man consents to the unavoidable requirements
of social life, takes on the manifold demands of human partnership, and
commits himself to the service of the human community.
Hence, the will to play one's role in common endeavours should be
everywhere encouraged. Praise is due to those national procedures which
allow the largest possible number of citizens to participate in public
affairs with genuine freedom. Account must be taken, to be sure, of the
actual conditions of each people and the decisiveness required by public
authority. If every citizen is to feel inclined to take part in the
activities of the various groups which make up the social body, these must
offer advantages which will attract members and dispose them to serve
others. We can justly consider that the future of humanity lies in the
hands of those who are strong enough to provide coming generations with
reasons for living and hoping.
32. As God did not create man for life in isolation, but for the formation
of social unity, so also "it has pleased God to make men holy and
save them not merely as individuals, without bond or link between them,
but by making them into a single people, a people which acknowledges Him
in truth and serves Him in holiness."[13] So from the beginning of
salvation history He has chosen men not just as individuals but as members
of a certain community. Revealing His mind to them,
God called these chosen ones "His people" (Ex. 3:7-12), and even
made a covenant with them on Sinai.[14]
This communitarian character is developed and consummated in the work of
Jesus Christ. For the very Word made flesh willed to share in the human
fellowship. He was present at the wedding of Cana, visited the house of
Zacchaeus, ate with publicans and sinners. He revealed the love of the
Father and the sublime vocation of man in terms of the most common of
social realities and by making use of the speech and the imagery of plain
everyday life. Willingly obeying the laws of his country, He sanctified
those human ties, especially family ones, which are the source of social
structures. He chose to lead the life proper to an artisan of His time and
place.
In His preaching He clearly taught the sons of God to treat one another as
brothers. In His prayers He pleaded that all His disciples might be
"one." Indeed as the redeemer of all, He offered Himself for all
even to point of death. "Greater love than this no one has, that one
lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). He commanded His
Apostles to preach to all peoples the Gospel's message that the human race
was to become the Family of God, in which the fullness of the Law would be
love.
As the firstborn of many brethren and by the giving of His Spirit, He
founded after His death and resurrection a new brotherly community
composed of all those who receive Him in faith and in love. This He did
through His Body, which is the Church. There everyone, as members one of
the other, would render mutual service according to the different gifts
bestowed on each.
This solidarity must be constantly increased until that day on which it
will be brought to perfection. Then, saved by grace, men will offer
flawless glory to God as a family beloved of God and of Christ their
Brother.
CHAPTER
III MAN'S ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
33. Through his labours and
his native endowments man has ceaselessly striven to better his life.
Today, however, especially with the help of science and technology, he has
extended his mastery over nearly the whole of nature and continues to do
so. Thanks to increased opportunities for many kinds of social contact
among nations, the human family is gradually recognizing that it comprises
a single world community and is making itself so. Hence many benefits once
looked for, especially from heavenly powers, man has now enterprisingly
procured for himself.
In the face of these immense efforts which already preoccupy the whole
human race, men agitate numerous questions among themselves. What is the
meaning and value of this feverish activity? How should all these things
be used? To the achievement of what goal are the strivings of individuals
and societies heading? The Church guards the heritage of God's word and
draws from it moral and religious principles without always having at hand
the solution to particular problems. As such she desires to add the light
of revealed truth to mankind's store of experience, so that the path which
humanity has taken in recent times will not be a dark one.
34. Throughout the course of the centuries, men have laboured to better
the circumstances of their lives through a monumental amount of individual
and collective effort. To believers, this point is settled: considered in
itself, this human activity accords with God's will. For man, created to
God's image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all it
contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness;[1] a mandate
to relate himself and the totality of things to Him Who was to be
acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus, by the subjection of
all things to man, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth.[2]
This mandate concerns the whole of everyday activity as well. For while
providing the substance of life for themselves and their families, men and
women are performing their activities in a way which appropriately
benefits society. They can justly consider that by their labour they are
unfolding the Creator's work, consulting the advantages of their brother
men, and are contributing by their personal industry to the realization in
history of the divine plan.[3]
Thus, far from thinking that works produced by man's talent and energy are
in opposition to God's power, and that the rational creature exists as a
kind of rival to the Creator, Christians are convinced that the triumphs
of the human race are a sign of God's grace and the flowering of His own
mysterious design. For the greater man's power becomes, the farther his
individual and community responsibility extends. Hence it is clear that
men are not deterred by the Christian message from building up the world,
or impelled to neglect the welfare of their fellows, but that they are
rather more stringently bound to do these very things.[4]
35. Human activity, to be sure, takes its significance from its
relationship to man. Just as it proceeds from man, so it is ordered toward
man. For when a man works he not only alters things and society, he
develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he
goes outside of himself and beyond himself. Rightly understood, this kind
of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be
garnered. A man is more precious for what he is than for what he has.[5]
Similarly, all that men do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, a
more humane disposition of social relationships has greater worth than
technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human
progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about.
Hence, the norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine
plan and will, it harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and
that it allow men as individuals and as members of society to pursue their
total vocation and fulfil it.
36. Now many of our contemporaries seem to fear that a closer bond between
human activity and religion will work against the independence of men, of
societies, or of the sciences.
If by the autonomy of earthly affairs we mean that created things and
societies themselves enjoy their own laws and values which must be
gradually deciphered, put to use, and regulated by men, then it is
entirely right to demand that autonomy. Such is not merely required by
modern man, but harmonizes also with the will of the Creator. For by the
very circumstance of their having been created, all things are endowed
with their own stability, truth, goodness, proper laws and order. Man must
respect these as he isolates them by the appropriate methods of the
individual sciences or arts. Therefore if methodical investigation within
every branch of learning is carried out in a genuinely scientific manner
and in accord with moral norms, it never truly conflicts with faith, for
earthly matters and the concerns of faith derive from the same God.[6]
Indeed whoever labours to penetrate the secrets of reality with a humble
and steady mind, even though he is unaware of the fact, is nevertheless
being led by the hand of God, who holds all things in existence, and gives
them their identity. Consequently, we cannot but deplore certain habits of
mind, which are sometimes found too among Christians which do not
sufficiently attend to the rightful independence of science and which,
from the arguments and controversies they spark, lead many minds to
conclude that faith and science are mutually opposed.[7]
But if the expression, the independence of temporal affairs, is taken to
mean that created things do not depend on God, and that man can use them
without any reference to their Creator, anyone who acknowledges God will
see how false such a meaning is. For without the Creator the creature
would disappear. For their part, however, all believers of whatever
religion always hear His revealing voice in the discourse of creatures.
When God is forgotten, however, the creature itself grows unintelligible.
37. Sacred Scripture teaches the human family what the experience of the
ages confirms: that while human progress is a great advantage to man, it
brings with it a strong temptation. For when the order of values is
jumbled and bad is mixed with the good, individuals and groups pay heed
solely to their own interests, and not to those of others. Thus it happens
that the world ceases to be a place of true brotherhood. In our own day,
the magnified power of humanity threatens to destroy the race itself.
For a monumental struggle against the powers of darkness pervades the
whole history of man. The battle was joined from the very origins of the
world and will continue until the last day, as the Lord has attested.[8]
Caught in this conflict, man is obliged to wrestle constantly if he is to
cling to what is good, nor can he achieve his own integrity without great
efforts and the help of God's grace.
That is why Christ's Church, trusting in the design of the Creator,
acknowledges that human progress can serve man's true happiness, yet she
cannot help echoing the Apostle's warning: "Be not conformed to this
world" (Rom. 12:2). Here by the world is meant that spirit of vanity
and malice which transforms into an instrument of sin those human energies
intended for the service of God and man.
Hence if anyone wants to know how this unhappy situation can be overcome,
Christians will tell him that all human activity, constantly imperiled by
man's pride and deranged self-love, must be purified and perfected by the
power of Christ's cross and resurrection. For redeemed by Christ and made
a new creature in the Holy Spirit, man is able to love the things
themselves created by God, and ought to do so. He can receive them from
God and respect and reverence them as flowing constantly from the hand of
God. Grateful to his Benefactor for these creatures, using and enjoying
them in detachment and liberty of spirit, man is led forward into a true
possession of them, as having nothing, yet possessing all things.[9]
"All are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1
Cor. 3:22-23).
38. For God's Word, through Whom all things were made, was Himself made
flesh and dwelt on the earth of men.[10] Thus He entered the world's
history as a perfect man, taking that history up into Himself and
summarizing it.[11] He Himself revealed to us that "God is love"
(1 John 4:8) and at the same time taught us that the new command of love
was the basic law of human perfection and hence of the world's
transformation.
To those, therefore, who believe in divine love, He gives assurance that
the way of love lies open to men and that the effort to establish a
universal brotherhood is not a hopeless one. He cautions them at the same
time that this charity is not something to be reserved for important
matters, but must be pursued chiefly in the ordinary circumstances of
life. Undergoing death itself for all of us sinners, [12] He taught us by
example that we too must shoulder that cross which the world and the flesh
inflict upon those who search after peace and justice. Appointed Lord by
His resurrection and given plenary power in heaven and on earth,[13]
Christ is now at work in the hearts of men through the energy of His Holy
Spirit, arousing not only a desire for the age to come, but by that very
fact animating, purifying and strengthening those noble longings too by
which the human family makes its life more human and strives to render the
whole earth submissive to this goal.
Now, the gifts of the Spirit are diverse: while He calls some to give
clear witness to the desire for a heavenly home and to keep that desire
green among the human family, He summons others to dedicate themselves to
the earthly service of men and to make ready the material of the celestial
realm by this ministry of theirs. Yet He frees all of them so that by
putting aside love of self and bringing all earthly resources into the
service of human life they can devote themselves to that future when
humanity itself will become an offering accepted by God.[14]
The Lord left behind a pledge of this hope and strength for life's journey
in that sacrament of faith where natural elements refined by man are
gloriously changed into His Body and Blood, providing a meal of brotherly
solidarity and a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.
39. We do not know the time for the consummation of the earth and of
humanity,[15] nor do we know how all things will be transformed. As
deformed by sin, the shape of this world will pass away;[16] but we are
taught that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where
justice will abide,[17] and whose blessedness will answer and surpass all
the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.[18] Then, with
death overcome, the sons of God will be raised up in Christ, and what was
sown in weakness and corruption will be invested with
incorruptibility.[19] Enduring with charity and its fruits,[20] all that
creation[21] which God made on man's account will be unchained from the
bondage of vanity.
Therefore, while we are warned that it profits a man nothing if he gain
the whole world and lose himself,[22] the expectation of a new earth must
not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one. For
here grows the body of a new human family, a body which even now is able
to give some kind of foreshadowing of the new age.
Hence, while earthly progress must be carefully distinguished from the
growth of Christ's kingdom, to the extent that the former can contribute
to the better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the
Kingdom of God.[23]
For after we have obeyed the Lord, and in His Spirit nurtured on earth the
values of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom, and indeed all the good
fruits of our nature and enterprise, we will find them again, but freed of
stain, burnished and transfigured, when Christ hands over to the Father:
"a kingdom eternal and universal, a kingdom of truth and life, of
holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace."[24] On this earth
that Kingdom is already present in mystery. When the Lord returns it will
be brought into full flower.
CHAPTER IV
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE MODERN WORLD
40. Everything we have said
about the dignity of the human person, and about the human community and
the profound meaning of human activity, lays the foundation for the
relationship between the Church and the world, and provides the basis for
dialogue between them.[1] In this chapter, presupposing everything which
has already been said by this council concerning the mystery of the
Church, we must now consider this same Church inasmuch as she exists in
the world, living and acting with it.
Coming forth from the eternal Father's love,[2] founded in time by Christ
the Redeemer and made one in the Holy Spirit,[3] the Church has a saving
and an eschatological purpose which can be fully attained only in the
future world. But she is already present in this world, and is composed of
men, that is, of members of the earthly city who have a call to form the
family of God's children during the present history of the human race, and
to keep increasing it until the Lord returns. United on behalf of heavenly
values and enriched by them, this family has been "constituted and
structured as a society in this world"[4] by Christ, and is equipped
"by appropriate means for visible and social union."[5]
Thus the Church, at once "a visible association and a spiritual
community,"[6] goes forward together with humanity and experiences
the same earthly lot which the world does. She serves as a leaven and as a
kind of soul for human society[7] as it is to be renewed in Christ and
transformed into God's family.
That the earthly and the heavenly city penetrate each other is a fact
accessible to faith alone; it remains a mystery of human history, which
sin will keep in great disarray until the splendour of God's sons is fully
revealed. Pursuing the saving purpose which is proper to her, the Church
does not only communicate divine life to men but in some way casts the
reflected light of that life over the entire earth, most of all by its
healing and elevating impact on the dignity of the person, by the way in
which it strengthens the seams of human society and imbues the everyday
activity of men with a deeper meaning and importance. Thus through her
individual members and her whole community, the Church believes she can
contribute greatly toward making the family of man and its history more
human.
In addition, the Catholic Church gladly holds in high esteem the things
which other Christian Churches and ecclesial communities have done or are
doing cooperatively by way of achieving the same goal. At the same time,
she is convinced that she can be abundantly and variously helped by the
world in the matter of preparing the ground for the Gospel. This help she
gains from the talents and industry of individuals and from human society
as a whole. The council now sets forth certain general principles for the
proper fostering of this mutual exchange and assistance in concerns which
are in some way common to the world and the Church.
41. Modern man is on the road to a more thorough development of his own
personality, and to a growing discovery and vindication of his own rights.
Since it has been entrusted to the Church to reveal the mystery of God,
Who is the ultimate goal of man, she opens up to man at the same time the
meaning of his own existence, that is, the innermost truth about himself.
The Church truly knows that only God, Whom she serves, meets the deepest
longings of the human heart, which is never fully satisfied by what this
world has to offer.
She also knows that man is constantly worked upon by God's Spirit, and
hence can never be altogether indifferent to the problems of religion. The
experience of past ages proves this, as do numerous indications in our own
times. For man will always yearn to know, at least in an obscure way, what
is the meaning of his life, of his activity, of his death. The very
presence of the Church recalls these problems to his mind. But only God,
Who created man to His own image and ransomed him from sin, provides the
most adequate answer to these questions, and this He does through what He
has revealed in Christ His Son, Who became man. Whoever follows after
Christ, the perfect man, becomes himself more of a man. For by His
incarnation the Father's Word assumed, and sanctified through His cross
and resurrection, the whole of man, body and soul, and through that
totality the whole of nature created by God for man's use.
Thanks to this belief, the Church can anchor the dignity of human nature
against all tides of opinion, for example those which undervalue the human
body or idolize it. By no human law can the personal dignity and liberty
of man be so aptly safeguarded as by the Gospel of Christ which has been
entrusted to the Church. For this Gospel announces and proclaims the
freedom of the sons of God, and repudiates all the bondage which
ultimately results from sin.[8] (cf. Rom. 8:14-17); it has a sacred
reverence for the dignity of conscience and its freedom of choice,
constantly advises that all human talents be employed in God's service and
men's, and, finally, commends all to the charity of all (cf. Matt.
22:39).[9] this agrees with the basic law of the Christian dispensation.
For though the same God is Saviour and Creator, Lord of human history as
well as of salvation history, in the divine arrangement itself, the
rightful autonomy of the creature, and particularly of man is not
withdrawn, but is rather re-established in its own dignity and
strengthened in it.
The Church, therefore, by virtue of the Gospel committed to her, proclaims
the rights of man; she acknowledges and greatly esteems the dynamic
movements of today by which these rights are everywhere fostered. Yet
these movements must be penetrated by the spirit of the Gospel and
protected against any kind of false autonomy. For we are tempted to think
that our personal rights are fully ensured only when we are exempt from
every requirement of divine law. But this way lies not the maintenance of
the dignity of the human person, but its annihilation.
42. The union of the human family is greatly fortified and fulfilled by
the unity, founded on Christ,[10] of the family of God's sons.
Christ, to be sure, gave His Church no proper mission in the political,
economic or social order. The purpose which He set before her is a
religious one.[11] But out of this religious mission itself come a
function, a light and an energy which can serve to structure and
consolidate the human community according to the divine law. As a matter
of fact, when circumstances of time and place produce the need, she can
and indeed should initiate activities on behalf of all men, especially
those designed for the needy, such as the works of mercy and similar
undertakings.
The Church recognizes that worthy elements are found in today's social
movements, especially an evolution toward unity, a process of wholesome
socialization and of association in civic and economic realms. The
promotion of unity belongs to the innermost nature of the Church, for she
is, "thanks to her relationship with Christ, a sacramental sign and
an instrument of intimate union with God, and of the unity of the whole
human race."[12] Thus she shows the world that an authentic union,
social and external, results from a union of minds and hearts, namely from
that faith and charity by which her own unity is unbreakably rooted in the
Holy Spirit. For the force which the Church can inject into the modern
society of man consists in that faith and charity put into vital practice,
not in any external dominion exercised by merely human means.
Moreover, since in virtue of her mission and nature she is bound to no
particular form of human culture, nor to any political, economic or social
system, the Church by her very universality can be a very close bond
between diverse human communities and nations, provided these trust her
and truly acknowledge her right to true freedom in fulfilling her mission.
For this reason, the Church admonishes her own sons, but also humanity as
a whole, to overcome all strife between nations and races in this family
spirit of God's children, and in the same way, to give internal strength
to human associations which are just.
With great respect, therefore, this council regards all the true, good and
just elements inherent in the very wide variety of institutions which the
human race has established for itself and constantly continues to
establish. The council affirms, moreover, that the Church is willing to
assist and promote all these institutions to the extent that such a
service depends on her and can be associated with her mission. She has no
fiercer desire than that in pursuit of the welfare of all she may be able
to develop herself freely under any kind of government which grants
recognition to the basic rights of person and family, to the demands of
the common good and to the free exercise of her own mission.
43. This council exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive
to discharge their earthly duties conscientiously and in response to the
Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding
city but seek one which is to come,[13] think that they may therefore
shirk their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the
faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these
duties, each according to his proper vocation.[14] Nor, on the contrary,
are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in
acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations,
and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a
way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious
life. This split between the faith which many profess and their daily
lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age.
Long since, the Prophets of the Old Testament fought vehemently against
this scandal[15] and even more so did Jesus Christ Himself in the New
Testament threaten it with grave punishments.[16] Therefore, let there be
no false opposition between professional and social activities on the one
part, and religious life on the other. The Christian who neglects his
temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbour and even God,
and jeopardizes his eternal salvation. Christians should rather rejoice
that, following the example of Christ Who worked as an artisan, they are
free to give proper exercise to all their earthly activities and to their
humane, domestic, professional, social and technical enterprises by
gathering them into one vital synthesis with religious values, under whose
supreme direction all things are harmonized unto God's glory.
Secular duties and activities belong properly although not exclusively to
laymen. Therefore acting as citizens in the world, whether individually or
socially, they will keep the laws proper to each discipline, and labour to
equip themselves with a genuine expertise in their various fields. They
will gladly work with men seeking the same goals. Acknowledging the
demands of faith and endowed with its force, they will unhesitatingly
devise new enterprises, where they are appropriate, and put them into
action.
Laymen should also know that it is generally the function of their
well-formed Christian conscience to see that the divine law is inscribed
in the life of the earthly city; from priests they may look for spiritual
light and nourishment. Let the layman not imagine that his pastors are
always such experts, that to every problem which arises, however
complicated, they can readily give him a concrete solution, or even that
such is their mission.
Rather, enlightened by Christian wisdom and giving close attention to the
teaching authority of the Church,[17] let the layman take on his own
distinctive role.
Often enough the Christian view of things will itself suggest some
specific solution in certain circumstances. Yet it happens rather
frequently, and legitimately so, that with equal sincerity some of the
faithful will disagree with others on a given matter. Even against the
intentions of their proponents, however, solutions proposed on one side or
another may be easily confused by many people with the Gospel message.
Hence it is necessary for people to remember that no one is allowed in the
aforementioned situations to appropriate the Church's authority for his
opinion. They should always try to enlighten one another through honest
discussion, preserving mutual charity and caring above all for the common
good.
Since they have an active role to play in the whole life of the Church,
laymen are not only bound to penetrate the world with a Christian spirit,
but are also called to be witnesses to Christ in all things in the midst
of human society.
Bishops, to whom is assigned the task of ruling the Church of God, should,
together with their priests, so preach the news of Christ that all the
earthly activities of the faithful will be bathed in the light of the
Gospel. All pastors should remember too that by their daily conduct and
concern[18] they are revealing the face of the Church to the world, and
men will judge the power and truth of the Christian message thereby. By
their lives and speech, in union with Religious and their faithful, may
they demonstrate that even now the Church by her presence alone and by all
the gifts which she contains, is an unspent fountain of those virtues
which the modern world needs the most.
By unremitting study they should fit themselves to do their part in
establishing dialogue with the world and with men of all shades of
opinion. Above all let them take to heart the words which this council has
spoken: "Since humanity today increasingly moves toward civil,
economic and social unity, it is more than ever necessary that priests,
with joint concern and energy, and under the guidance of the bishops and
the supreme pontiff, erase every cause of division, so that the whole
human race may be led to the unity of God's family."[19]
Although by the power of the Holy Spirit the Church will remain the
faithful spouse of her Lord and will never cease to be the sign of
salvation on earth, still she is very well aware that among her members,
[20] both clerical and lay, some have been unfaithful to the Spirit of God
during the course of many centuries; in the present age, too, it does not
escape the Church how great a distance lies between the message she offers
and the human failings of those to whom the Gospel is entrusted. Whatever
be the judgment of history on these defects, we ought to be conscious of
them, and struggle against them energetically, lest they inflict harm on
spread of the Gospel. The Church also realizes that in working out her
relationship with the world she always has great need of the ripening
which comes with the experience of the centuries. Led by the Holy Spirit,
Mother Church unceasingly exhorts her sons "to purify and renew
themselves so that the sign of Christ can shine more brightly on the face
of the Church."[21]
44. Just as it is in the world's interest to acknowledge the Church as an
historical reality, and to recognize her good influence, so the Church
herself knows how richly she has profited by the history and development
of humanity.
The experience of past ages, the progress of the sciences, and the
treasures hidden in the various forms of human culture, by all of which
the nature of man himself is more clearly revealed and new roads to truth
are opened, these profit the Church, too. For, from the beginning of her
history she has learned to express the message of Christ with the help of
the ideas and terminology of various philosophers, and has tried to
clarify it with their wisdom, too. Her purpose has been to adapt the
Gospel to the grasp of all as well as to the needs of the learned, insofar
as such was appropriate. Indeed this accommodated preaching of the
revealed word ought to remain the law of all evangelization. For thus the
ability to express Christ's message in its own way is developed in each
nation, and at the same time there is fostered a living exchange between
the Church and the diverse cultures of people.[22] To promote such
exchange, especially in our days, the Church requires the special help of
those who live in the world, are versed in different institutions and
specialties, and grasp their innermost significance in the eyes of both
believers and unbelievers. With the help of the Holy Spirit, it is the
task of the entire People of God, especially pastors and theologians, to
hear, distinguish and interpret the many voices of our age, and to judge
them in the light of the divine word, so that revealed truth can always be
more deeply penetrated better understood and set forth to greater
advantage.
Since the Church has a visible and social structure as a sign of her unity
in Christ, she can and ought to be enriched by the development of human
social life, not that there is any lack in the constitution given her by
Christ, but that she can understand it more penetratingly, express it
better, and adjust it more successfully to our times.
Moreover, she gratefully understands that in her community life no less
than in her individual sons, she receives a variety of helps from men of
every rank and condition, for whoever promotes the human community at the
family level, culturally, in its economic, social and political
dimensions, both nationally and internationally, such a one, according to
God's design, is contributing greatly to the Church as well, to the extent
that she depends on things outside herself. Indeed, the Church admits that
she has greatly profited and still profits from the antagonism of those
who oppose or who persecute her.[23]
45. While helping the world and receiving many benefits from it, the
Church has a single intention: that God's kingdom may come, and that the
salvation of the whole human race may come to pass. For every benefit
which the People of God during its earthly pilgrimage can offer to the
human family stems from the fact that the Church is "the universal
sacrament of salvation",[24] simultaneously manifesting and
exercising the mystery of God's love for man.
For God's Word, by whom all things were made, was Himself made flesh so
that as perfect man He might save all men and sum up all things in
Himself. The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the
longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the
joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings.[25] He it is Whom
the Father raised from the dead, lifted on high and stationed at His right
hand, making Him judge of the living and the dead. Enlivened and united in
His Spirit, we journey toward the consummation of human history, one which
fully accords with the counsel of God's love: "To reestablish all
things in Christ, both those in the heavens and those on the earth"
(Eph. 11:10).
The Lord Himself speaks: "Behold I come quickly! And my reward is
with me, to render to each one according to his works. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Apoc. 22:12-
13)."
PART II
SOME PROBLEMS OF SPECIAL URGENCY
46. This council has set forth
the dignity of the human person, and the work which men have been destined
to undertake throughout the world both as individuals and as members of
society. There are a number of particularly urgent needs characterizing
the present age, needs which go to the roots of the human race. To a
consideration of these in the light of the Gospel and of human experience,
the council would now direct the attention of all.
Of the many subjects arousing universal concern today, it may be helpful
to concentrate on these: marriage and the family, human progress, life in
its economic, social and political dimensions, the bonds between the
family of nations, and peace. On each of these may there shine the radiant
ideals proclaimed by Christ. By these ideals may Christians be led, and
all mankind enlightened, as they search for answers to questions of such
complexity.
CHAPTER I
FOSTERING THE NOBILITY OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY
47. The well-being of the
individual person and of human and Christian society is intimately linked
with the healthy condition of that community produced by marriage and
family. Hence Christians and all men who hold this community in high
esteem sincerely rejoice in the various ways by which men today find help
in fostering this community of love and perfecting its life, and by which
parents are assisted in their lofty calling. Those who rejoice in such
aids look for additional benefits from them and labour to bring them
about.
Yet the excellence of this institution is not everywhere reflected with
equal brilliance, since polygamy, the plague of divorce, so-called free
love and other disfigurements have an obscuring effect. In addition,
married love is too often profaned by excessive self-love, the worship of
pleasure and illicit practices against human generation. Moreover, serious
disturbances are caused in families by modern economic conditions, by
influences at once social and psychological, and by the demands of civil
society. Finally, in certain parts of the world problems resulting from
population growth are generating concern.
All these situations have produced anxiety of consciences. Yet, the power
and strength of the institution of marriage and family can also be seen in
the fact that time and again, despite the difficulties produced, the
profound changes in modern society reveal the true character of this
institution in one way or another.
Therefore, by presenting certain key points of Church doctrine in a
clearer light, this sacred synod wishes to offer guidance and support to
those Christians and other men who are trying to preserve the holiness and
to foster the natural dignity of the married state and its superlative
value.
48. The intimate partnership of married life and love has been established
by the Creator and qualified by His laws, and is rooted in the conjugal
covenant of irrevocable personal consent. Hence by that human act whereby
spouses mutually bestow and accept each other a relationship arises which
by divine will and in the eyes of society too is a lasting one. For the
good of the spouses and their off-springs as well as of society, the
existence of the sacred bond no longer depends on human decisions alone.
For, God Himself is the author of matrimony, endowed as it is with various
benefits and purposes.[1] All of these have a very decisive bearing on the
continuation of the human race, on the personal development and eternal
destiny of the individual members of a family, and on the dignity,
stability, peace and prosperity of the family itself and of human society
as a whole. By their very nature, the institution of matrimony itself and
conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children,
and find in them their ultimate crown.
Thus a man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no
longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:6), render mutual help and
service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of
their actions. Through this union they experience the meaning of their
oneness and attain to it with growing perfection day by day. As a mutual
gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children
impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness
between them.[2]
Christ the Lord abundantly blessed this many-faceted love, welling up as
it does from the fountain of divine love and structured as it is on the
model of His union with His Church. For as God of old made Himself
present[3] to His people through a covenant of love and fidelity, so now
the Saviour of men and the Spouse[4] of the Church comes into the lives of
married Christians through the sacrament of matrimony. He abides with them
thereafter so that just as He loved the Church and handed Himself over on
her behalf,[5] the spouses may love each other with perpetual fidelity
through mutual self-bestowal.
Authentic married love is caught up into divine love and is governed and
enriched by Christ's redeeming power and the saving activity of the
Church, so that this love may lead the spouses to God with powerful effect
and may aid and strengthen them in sublime office of being a father or a
mother.[6] For this reason Christian spouses have a special sacrament by
which they are fortified and receive a kind of consecration in the duties
and dignity of their state.[7] By virtue of this sacrament, as spouses
fulfil their conjugal and family obligation, they are penetrated with the
spirit of Christ, which suffuses their whole lives with faith, hope and
charity. Thus they increasingly advance the perfection of their own
personalities, as well as their mutual sanctification, and hence
contribute jointly to the glory of God.
As a result, with their parents leading the way by example and family
prayer, children and indeed everyone gathered around the family hearth
will find a readier path to human maturity, salvation and holiness. Graced
with the dignity and office of fatherhood and motherhood, parents will
energetically acquit themselves of a duty which devolves primarily on
them, namely education and especially religious education.
As living members of the family, children contribute in their own way to
making their parents holy. For they will respond to the kindness of their
parents with sentiments of gratitude, with love and trust. They will stand
by them as children should when hardships overtake their parents and old
age brings its loneliness. Widowhood, accepted bravely as a continuation
of the marriage vocation, should be esteemed by all. [8]
Families too will share their spiritual riches generously with other
families. Thus the Christian family, which springs from marriage as a
reflection of the loving covenant uniting Christ with the Church,[9] and
as a participation in that covenant, will manifest to all men Christ's
living presence in the world, and the genuine nature of the Church. This
the family will do by the mutual love of the spouses, by their generous
fruitfulness, their solidarity and faithfulness, and by the loving way in
which all members of the family assist one another.
49. The biblical Word of God several times urges the betrothed and the
married to nourish and develop their wedlock by pure conjugal love and
undivided affection.[10] Many men of our own age also highly regard true
love between husband and wife as it manifests itself in a variety of ways
depending on the worthy customs of various peoples and times.
This love is an eminently human one since it is directed from one person
to another through an affection of the will; it involves the good of the
whole person, and therefore can enrich the expressions of body and mind
with a unique dignity, ennobling these expressions as special ingredients
and signs of the friendship distinctive of marriage. This love God has
judged worthy of special gifts, healing, perfecting and exalting gifts of
grace and of charity. Such love, merging the human with the divine, leads
the spouses to a free and mutual gift of themselves, a gift providing
itself by gentle affection and by deed; such love pervades the whole of
their lives:[11] indeed by its busy generosity it grows better and grows
greater. Therefore it far excels mere erotic inclination, which, selfishly
pursued, soon enough fades wretchedly away.
This love is uniquely expressed and perfected through the appropriate
enterprise of matrimony. The actions within marriage by which the couple
are united intimately and chastely are noble and worthy ones. Expressed in
a manner which is truly human, these actions promote that mutual
self-giving by which spouses enrich each other with a joyful and a ready
will. Sealed by mutual faithfulness and hallowed above all by Christ's
sacrament, this love remains steadfastly true in body and in mind, in
bright days or dark. It will never be profaned by adultery or divorce.
Firmly established by the Lord, the unity of marriage will radiate from
the equal personal dignity of wife and husband, a dignity acknowledged by
mutual and total love. The constant fulfilment of the duties of this
Christian vocation demands notable virtue. For this reason, strengthened
by grace for holiness of life, the couple will painstakingly cultivate and
pray for steadiness of love, largeheartedness and the spirit of sacrifice.
Authentic conjugal love will be more highly prized, and wholesome public
opinion created about it if Christian couples give outstanding witness to
faithfulness and harmony in their love, and to their concern for educating
their children; also, if they do their part in bringing about the needed
cultural, psychological and social renewal on behalf of marriage and the
family. Especially in the heart of their own families, young people should
be aptly and seasonably instructed in the dignity, duty and work of
married love. Trained thus in the cultivation of chastity, they will be
able at a suitable age to enter a marriage of their own after an
honourable courtship.
50. Marriage and conjugal love are by their nature ordained toward the
begetting and educating of children. Children are really the supreme gift
of marriage and contribute very substantially to the welfare of their
parents. The God Himself Who said, "it is not good for man to be
alone" (Gen. 2:18) and "Who made man from the beginning male and
female" (Matt. 19:4), wishing to share with man a certain special
participation in His own creative work, blessed male and female, saying:
"Increase and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). Hence, while not making the
other purposes of matrimony of less account, the true practice of conjugal
love, and the whole meaning of the family life which results from it, have
this aim: that the couple be ready with stout hearts to cooperate with the
love of the Creator and the Saviour, Who through them will enlarge and
enrich His own family day by day.
Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting
human life and educating those to whom it has been transmitted. They
should realize that they are thereby cooperators with the love of God the
Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love. Thus they
will fulfil their task with human and Christian responsibility, and, with
docile reverence toward God, will make decisions by common counsel and
effort. Let them thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and
that of their children, those already born and those which the future may
bring. For this accounting they need to reckon with both the material and
the spiritual conditions of the times as well as of their state in life.
Finally, they should consult the interests of the family group, of
temporal society, and of the Church herself. The parents themselves and no
one else should ultimately make this judgment in the sight of God. But in
their manner of acting, spouses should be aware that they cannot proceed
arbitrarily, but must always be governed according to a conscience
dutifully conformed to the divine law itself, and should be submissive
toward the Church's teaching office, which authentically interprets that
law in the light of the Gospel. That divine law reveals and protects the
integral meaning of conjugal love, and impels it toward a truly human
fulfilment. Thus, trusting in divine Providence and refining the spirit of
sacrifice,[12] married Christians glorify the Creator and strive toward
fulfilment in Christ when with a generous human and Christian sense of
responsibility they acquit themselves of the duty to procreate.
Among the couples who fulfil their God-given task in this way, those merit
special mention who with a gallant heart, and with wise and common
deliberation, undertake to bring up suitably even a relatively large
family.[13]
Marriage to be sure is not instituted solely for procreation; rather, its
very nature as an unbreakable compact between persons, and the welfare of
the children, both demand that the mutual love of the spouses be embodied
in a rightly ordered manner, that it grow and ripen. Therefore, marriage
persists as a whole manner and communion of life, and maintains its value
and indissolubility, even when despite the often intense desire of the
couple, offspring are lacking.
51. This council realizes that certain modern conditions often keep
couples from arranging their married lives harmoniously, and that they
find themselves in circumstances where at least temporarily the size of
their families should not be increased. As a result, the faithful exercise
of love and the full intimacy of their lives is hard to maintain. But
where the intimacy of married life is broken off, its faithfulness can
sometimes be imperiled and its quality of fruitfulness ruined for then the
upbringing of the children and the courage to accept new ones are both
endangered.
To these problems there are those who presume to offer dishonourable
solutions indeed; they do not recoil even from the taking of life. But the
Church issues the reminder that a true contradiction cannot exist between
the divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and those
pertaining to authentic conjugal love.
For God, the Lord of life, has conferred on men the surpassing ministry of
safeguarding life in a manner which is worthy of man. Therefore from the
moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care while
abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes. The sexual
characteristics of man and the human faculty of reproduction wonderfully
exceed the dispositions of lower forms of life. Hence the acts themselves
which are proper to conjugal love and which are exercised in accord with
genuine human dignity must be honoured with great reverence.
Hence when there is question of harmonizing conjugal love with the
responsible transmission of life, the moral aspects of any procedure does
not depend solely on sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives,
but must be determined by objective standards. These, based on the nature
of the human person and his acts, preserve the full sense of mutual
self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love. Such a goal
cannot be achieved unless the virtue of conjugal chastity is sincerely
practiced. Relying on these principles, sons of the Church may not
undertake methods of birth control which are found blameworthy by the
teaching authority of the Church in its unfolding of the divine law. [14]
All should be persuaded that human life and the task of transmitting it
are not realities bound up with this world alone. Hence they cannot be
measured or perceived only in terms of it, but always have a bearing on
the eternal destiny of men.
52. The family is a kind of school of deeper humanity. But if it is to
achieve the full flowering of its life and mission, it needs the kindly
communion of minds and the joint deliberation of spouses, as well as the
painstaking cooperation of parents in the education of their children. The
active presence of the father is highly beneficial to their formation. The
children, especially the younger among them, need the care of their mother
at home. This domestic role of hers must be safely preserved, though the
legitimate social progress of women should not be underrated on that
account.
Children should be so educated that as adults they can follow their
vocation, including a religious one, with a mature sense of responsibility
and can choose their state of life; if they marry, they can thereby
establish their family in favourable moral, social and economic
conditions. Parents or guardians should by prudent advice provide guidance
to their young with respect to founding a family, and the young ought to
listen gladly. At the same time no pressure, direct or indirect, should be
put on the young to make them enter marriage or choose a specific partner.
Thus the family, in which the various generations come together and help
one another grow wiser and harmonize personal rights with the other
requirements of social life, is the foundation of society. All those,
therefore, who exercise influence over communities and social groups
should work efficiently for the welfare of marriage and the family. Public
authority should regard it as a sacred duty to recognize, protect and
promote their authentic nature, to shield public morality and to favour
the prosperity of home life. The right of parents to beget and educate
their children in the bosom of the family must be safeguarded. Children
too who unhappily lack the blessing of a family should be protected by
prudent legislation and various undertakings and assisted by the help they
need.
Christians, redeeming the present time[15] and distinguishing eternal
realities from their changing expressions, should actively promote the
values of marriage and the family, both by the examples of their own lives
and by cooperation with other men of good will. Thus when difficulties
arise, Christians will provide, on behalf of family life, those
necessities and helps which are suitably modern. To this end, the
Christian instincts of the faithful, the upright moral consciences of men,
and the wisdom and experience of persons versed in the sacred sciences
will have much to contribute.
Those too who are skilled in other sciences, notably the medical,
biological, social and psychological, can considerably advance the welfare
of marriage and the family along with peace of conscience if by pooling
their efforts they labour to explain more thoroughly the various
conditions favouring a proper regulation of births.
It devolves on priests duly trained about family matters to nurture the
vocation of spouses by a variety of pastoral means, by preaching God's
word, by liturgical worship, and by other spiritual aids to conjugal and
family life; to sustain them sympathetically and patiently in
difficulties, and to make them courageous through love, so that families
which are truly illustrious can be formed.
Various organizations, especially family associations, should try by their
programs of instruction and action to strengthen young people and spouses
themselves, particularly those recently wed, and to train them for family,
social and apostolic life.
Finally, let the spouses themselves, made to the image of the living God
and enjoying the authentic dignity of persons, be joined to one
another[16] in equal affection, harmony of mind and the work of mutual
sanctification. Thus, following Christ who is the principle of life,[17]
by the sacrifices and joys of their vocation and through their faithful
love, married people can become witnesses of the mystery of love which the
Lord revealed to the world by His dying and His rising up to life
again.[18]
CHAPTER II
THE PROPER DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE
53. Man comes to a true and
full humanity only through culture, that is through the cultivation of the
goods and values of nature. Wherever human life is involved, therefore,
nature and culture are quite intimately connected one with the other.
The word "culture" in its general sense indicates everything
whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily and spiritual qualities;
he strives by his knowledge and his labour, to bring the world itself
under his control. He renders social life more human both in the family
and the civic community, through improvement of customs and institutions.
Throughout the course of time he expresses, communicates and conserves in
his works, great spiritual experiences and desires, that they might be of
advantage to the progress of many, even of the whole human family.
Thence it follows that human culture has necessarily a historical and
social aspect and the word "culture" also often assumes a
sociological and ethnological sense. According to this sense we speak of a
plurality of cultures. Different styles of life and multiple scales of
values arise from the diverse manner of using things, of labouring, of
expressing oneself, of practicing religion, of forming customs, of
establishing laws and juridic institutions, of cultivating the sciences,
the arts and beauty. Thus the customs handed down to it form the patrimony
proper to each human community. It is also in this way that there is
formed the definite, historical milieu which enfolds the man of every
nation and age and from which he draws the values which permit him to
promote civilization.
SECTION 1
The Circumstances of Culture in the World Today
54. The circumstances of the
life of modern man have been so profoundly changed in their social and
cultural aspects, that we can speak of a new age of human history.[1] New
ways are open, therefore, for the perfection and the further extension of
culture. These ways have been prepared by the enormous growth of natural,
human and social sciences, by technical progress, and advances in
developing and organizing means whereby men can communicate with one
another. Hence the culture of today possesses particular characteristics:
sciences which are called exact greatly develop critical judgment; the
more recent psychological studies more profoundly explain human activity;
historical studies make it much easier to see things in their mutable and
evolutionary aspects; customs and usages are becoming more and more
uniform; industrialization, urbanization, and other causes which promote
community living create a mass-culture from which are born new ways of
thinking, acting and making use of leisure. The increase of commerce
between the various nations and human groups opens more widely to all the
treasures of different civilizations and thus little by little, there
develops a more universal form of human culture, which better promotes and
expresses the unity of the human race to the degree that it preserves the
particular aspects of the different civilizations.
55. From day to day, in every group or nation, there is an increase in the
number of men and women who are conscious that they themselves are the
authors and the artisans of the culture of their community. Throughout the
whole world there is a mounting increase in the sense of autonomy as well
as of responsibility. This is of paramount importance for the spiritual
and moral maturity of the human race. This becomes more clear if we
consider the unification of the world and the duty which is imposed upon
us, that we build a better world based upon truth and justice. Thus we are
witnesses of the birth of a new humanism, one in which man is defined
first of all by this responsibility to his brothers and to history.
56. In these conditions, it is no cause of wonder that man, who senses his
responsibility for the progress of culture, nourishes a high hope but also
looks with anxiety upon many contradictory things which he must resolve:
What is to be done to prevent the increased exchanges between cultures,
which should lead to a true and fruitful dialogue between groups and
nations, from disturbing the life of communities, from destroying the
wisdom received from ancestors, or from placing in danger the character
proper to each people?
How is the dynamism and expansion of a new culture to be fostered without
losing a living fidelity to the heritage of tradition? This question is of
particular urgency when a culture which arises from the enormous progress
of science and technology must be harmonized with a culture nourished by
classical studies according to various traditions.
How can we quickly and progressively harmonize the proliferation of
particular branches of study with the necessity of forming a synthesis of
them, and of preserving among men the faculties of contemplation and
observation which lead to wisdom?
What can be done to make all men partakers of cultural values in the
world, when the human culture of those who are more competent is
constantly becoming more refined and more complex?
Finally how is the autonomy which culture claims for itself to be
recognized as legitimate without generating a notion of humanism which is
merely terrestrial, and even contrary to religion itself?
In the midst of these conflicting requirements, human culture must evolve
today in such a way that it can both develop the whole human person and
aid man in those duties to whose fulfilment all are called, especially
Christians fraternally united in one human family.
SECTION 2
Some Principles for the Proper Development of Culture
57. Christians, on pilgrimage
toward the heavenly city, should seek and think of these things which are
above.[2] This duty in no way decreases, rather it increases, the
importance of their obligation to work with all men in the building of a
more human world. Indeed, the mystery of the Christian faith furnishes
them with an excellent stimulant and aid to fulfil this duty more
courageously and especially to uncover the full meaning of this activity,
one which gives to human culture its eminent place in the integral
vocation of man.
When man develops the earth by the work of his hands or with the aid of
technology, in order that it might bear fruit and become a dwelling worthy
of the whole human family and when he consciously takes part in the life
of social groups, he carries out the design of God manifested at the
beginning of time, that he should subdue[3] the earth, perfect creation
and develop himself. At the same time he obeys the commandment of Christ
that he place himself at the service of his brethren.
Furthermore, when man gives himself to the various disciplines of
philosophy, history and of mathematical and natural science, and when he
cultivates the arts, he can do very much to elevate the human family to a
more sublime understanding of truth, goodness, and beauty, and to the
formation of considered opinions which have universal value. Thus mankind
may be more clearly enlightened by that marvellous Wisdom which was with
God from all eternity, composing all things with him, rejoicing in the
earth, delighting in the sons of men.[4]
In this way, the human spirit, being less subjected to material things,
can be more easily drawn to the worship and contemplation of the Creator.
Moreover, by the impulse of grace, he is disposed to acknowledge the Word
of God, Who before He became flesh in order to save all and to sum up all
in Himself was already "in the world" as "the true light
which enlightens every man" (John 1:9-10).[5]
Indeed today's progress in science and technology can foster a certain
exclusive emphasis on observable data, and an agnosticism about everything
else. For the methods of investigation which these sciences use can be
wrongly considered as the supreme rule of seeking the whole truth. By
virtue of their methods these sciences cannot penetrate to the intimate
notion of things. Indeed the danger is present that man, confiding too
much in the discoveries of today, may think that he is sufficient unto
himself and no longer seek the higher things.
These unfortunate results, however, do not necessarily follow from the
culture of today, nor should they lead us into the temptation of not
acknowledging its positive values. Among these values are included:
scientific study and fidelity toward truth in scientific inquiries, the
necessity of working together with others in technical groups, a sense of
international solidarity, a clearer awareness of the responsibility of
experts to aid and even to protect men, the desire to make the conditions
of life more favourable for all, especially for those who are poor in
culture or who are deprived of the opportunity to exercise responsibility.
All of these provide some preparation for the acceptance of the message of
the Gospel-- a preparation which can be animated by divine charity through
Him Who has come to save the world.
58. There are many ties between the message of salvation and human
culture. For God, revealing Himself to His people to the extent of a full
manifestation of Himself in His Incarnate Son, has spoken according to the
culture proper to each epoch.
Likewise the Church, living in various circumstances in the course of
time, has used the discoveries of different cultures so that in her
preaching she might spread and explain the message of Christ to all
nations, that she might examine it and more deeply understand it, that she
might give it better expression in liturgical celebration and in the
varied life of the community of the faithful.
But at the same time, the Church, sent to all peoples of every time and
place, is not bound exclusively and indissolubly to any race or nation,
any particular way of life or any customary way of life recent or ancient.
Faithful to her own tradition and at the same time conscious of her
universal mission, she can enter into communion with the various
civilizations, to their enrichment and the enrichment of the Church
herself.
The Gospel of Christ constantly renews the life and culture of fallen man;
it combats and removes the errors and evils resulting from the permanent
allurement of sin. It never ceases to purify and elevate the morality of
peoples. By riches coming from above, it makes fruitful, as it were from
within, the spiritual qualities and traditions of every people and of
every age. It strengthens, perfects and restores[6] them in Christ. Thus
the Church, in the very fulfilment of her own function[7] stimulates and
advances human and civic culture; by her action, also by her liturgy, she
leads men toward interior liberty.
59. For the above reasons, the Church recalls to the mind of all that
culture is to be subordinated to the integral perfection of the human
person, to the good of the community and of the whole society. Therefore
it is necessary to develop the human faculties in such a way that there
results a growth of the faculty of admiration, of intuition, of
contemplation, of making personal judgment, of developing a religious,
moral and social sense.
Culture, because it flows immediately from the spiritual and social
character of man, has constant need of a just liberty in order to develop;
it needs also the legitimate possibility of exercising its autonomy
according to its own principles. It therefore rightly demands respect and
enjoys a certain inviolability within the limits of the common good, as
long, of course, as it preserves the rights of the individual and the
community, whether particular or universal.
This Sacred Synod, therefore, recalling the teaching of the first Vatican
Council, declares that there are "two orders of knowledge" which
are distinct, namely faith and reason; and that the Church does not forbid
that "the human arts and disciplines use their own principles and
their proper method, each in its own domain"; therefore
"acknowledging this just liberty," this Sacred Synod affirms the
legitimate autonomy of human culture and especially of the sciences.[8]
All this supposes that, within the limits of morality and the common
utility, man can freely search for the truth, express his opinion and
publish it; that he can practice any art he chooses: that finally, he can
avail himself of true information concerning events of a public nature.[9]
As for public authority, it is not its function to determine the character
of the civilization, but rather to establish the conditions and to use the
means which are capable of fostering the life of culture among all even
within the minorities of a nation.[10] It is necessary to do everything
possible to prevent culture from being turned away from its proper end and
made to serve as an instrument of political or economic power.
SECTION 3
Some More Urgent Duties of Christians in Regard to Culture
60. It is now possible to free
most of humanity from the misery of ignorance. Therefore the duty most
consonant with our times, especially for Christians, is that of working
diligently for fundamental decisions to be taken in economic and political
affairs, both on the national and international level, which will
everywhere recognize and satisfy the right of all to a human and social
culture in conformity with the dignity of the human person without any
discrimination of race, sex, nation, religion or social condition.
Therefore it is necessary to provide all with a sufficient quantity of
cultural benefits, especially of those which constitute the so-called
fundamental culture lest very many be prevented from cooperating in the
promotion of the common good in a truly human manner because of illiteracy
and a lack of responsible activity.
We must strive to provide for those men who are gifted the possibility of
pursuing higher studies; and in such a way that, as far as possible, they
may occupy in society those duties, offices and services which are in
harmony with their natural aptitude and the competence they have
acquired.[11]
Thus each man and the social groups of every people will be able to attain
the full development of their culture in conformity with their qualities
and traditions.
Everything must be done to make everyone conscious of the right to culture
and the duty he has of developing himself culturally and of helping
others. Sometimes there exist conditions of life and of work which impede
the cultural striving of men and destroy in them the eagerness for
culture. This is especially true of farmers and workers. It is necessary
to provide for them those working conditions which will not impede their
human culture but rather favour it. Women now work in almost all spheres.
It is fitting that they are able to assume their proper role in accordance
with their own nature. It will belong to all to acknowledge and favour the
proper and necessary participation of women in the cultural life.
61. Today it is more difficult to form a synthesis of the various
disciplines of knowledge and the arts than it was formerly. For while the
mass and the diversity of cultural factors are increasing, there is a
decrease in each man's faculty of perceiving and unifying these things, so
that the image of "universal man" is being lost sight of more
and more. Nevertheless it remains each man's duty to retain an
understanding of the whole human person in which the values of intellect,
will, conscience and fraternity are preeminent. These values are all
rooted in God the Creator and have been wonderfully restored and elevated
in Christ.
The family is, as it were, the primary mother and nurse of this education.
There, the children, in an atmosphere of love, more easily learn the
correct order of things, while proper forms of human culture impress
themselves in an almost unconscious manner upon the mind of the developing
adolescent.
Opportunities for the same education are to be found also in the societies
of today, due especially to the increased circulation of books and to the
new means of cultural and social communication which can foster a
universal culture. With the more or less generalized reduction of working
hours, the leisure time of most men has increased. May this leisure be
used properly to relax, to fortify the health of soul and body through
spontaneous study and activity, through tourism which refines man's
character and enriches him with understanding of others, through sports
activity which helps to preserve equilibrium of spirit even in the
community, and to establish fraternal relations among men of all
conditions, nations and races. Let Christians cooperate so that the
cultural manifestations and collective activity characteristic of our time
may be imbued with a human and a Christian spirit.
All these leisure activities however are not able to bring man to a full
cultural development unless there is at the same time a profound inquiry
into the meaning of culture and science for the human person.
62. Although the Church has contributed much to the development of
culture, experience shows that, for circumstantial reasons, it is
sometimes difficult to harmonize culture with Christian teaching. These
difficulties do not necessarily harm the life of faith, rather they can
stimulate the mind to a deeper and more accurate understanding of the
faith. The recent studies and findings of science, history and philosophy
raise new questions which effect life and which demand new theological
investigations. Furthermore, theologians, within the requirements and
methods proper to theology, are invited to seek continually for more
suitable ways of communicating doctrine to the men of their times; for the
deposit of Faith or the truths are one thing and the manner in which they
are enunciated, in the same meaning and understanding, is another.[12] In
pastoral care, sufficient use must be made not only of theological
principles, but also of the findings of the secular sciences, especially
of psychology and sociology, so that the faithful may be brought to a more
adequate and mature life of faith.
Literature and the arts are also, in their own way, of great importance to
the life of the Church. They strive to make known the proper nature of
man, his problems and his experiences in trying to know and perfect both
himself and the world. They have much to do with revealing man's place in
history and in the world; with illustrating the miseries and joys, the
needs and strengths of man and with foreshadowing a better life for him.
Thus they are able to elevate human life, expressed in multifold forms
according to various times and regions.
Efforts must be made so that those who foster these arts feel that the
Church recognizes their activity and so that, enjoying orderly liberty,
they may initiate more friendly relations with the Christian community.
The Church acknowledges also new forms of art which are adapted to our age
and are in keeping with the characteristics of various nations and
regions. They may be brought into the sanctuary since they raise the mind
to God, once the manner of expression is adapted and they are conformed to
liturgical requirements.[13]
Thus the knowledge of God is better manifested and the preaching of the
Gospel becomes clearer to human intelligence and shows itself to be
relevant to man's actual conditions of life.
May the faithful, therefore, live in very close union with the other men
of their time and may they strive to understand perfectly their way of
thinking and judging, as expressed in their culture. Let them blend new
sciences and theories and the understanding of the most recent discoveries
with Christian morality and the teaching of Christian doctrine, so that
their religious culture and morality may keep pace with scientific
knowledge and with the constantly progressing technology. Thus they will
be able to interpret and evaluate all things in a truly Christian spirit.
Let those who teach theology in seminaries and universities strive to
collaborate with men versed in the other sciences through a sharing of
their resources and points of view. Theological inquiry should pursue a
profound understanding of revealed truth; at the same time it should not
neglect close contact with its own time that it may be able to help those
men skilled in various disciplines to attain to a better understanding of
the faith. This common effort will greatly aid the formation of priests,
who will be able to present to our contemporaries the doctrine of the
Church concerning God, man and the world, in a manner more adapted to them
so that they may receive it more willingly. [14] Furthermore, it is to be
hoped that many of the laity will receive a sufficient formation in the
sacred sciences and that some will dedicate themselves professionally to
these studies, developing and deepening them by their own labours. In
order that they may fulfil their function, let it be recognized that all
the faithful, whether clerics or laity, possess a lawful freedom of
inquiry, freedom of thought and of expressing their mind with humility and
fortitude in those matters on which they enjoy competence.[15]
CHAPTER
III ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE
63. In the economic and social
realms, too, the dignity and complete vocation of the human person and the
welfare of society as a whole are to be respected and promoted. For man is
the source, the center, and the purpose of all economic and social life.
Like other areas of social life, the economy of today is marked by man's
increasing domination over nature, by closer and more intense
relationships between citizens, groups, and countries and their mutual
dependence, and by the increased intervention of the state. At the same
time progress in the methods of production and in the exchange of goods
and services has made the economy an instrument capable of better meeting
the intensified needs of the human family.
Reasons for anxiety, however, are not lacking. Many people, especially in
economically advanced areas, seem, as it were, to be ruled by economics,
so that almost their entire personal and social life is permeated with a
certain economic way of thinking. Such is true both of nations that favour
a collective economy and of others. At the very time when the development
of economic life could mitigate social inequalities (provided that it be
guided and coordinated in a reasonable and human way), it is often made to
embitter them; or, in some places, it even results in a decline of the
social status of the underprivileged and in contempt for the poor. While
an immense number of people still lack the absolute necessities of life,
some, even in less advanced areas, live in luxury or squander wealth.
Extravagance and wretchedness exist side by side. While a few enjoy very
great power of choice, the majority are deprived of almost all possibility
of acting on their own initiative and responsibility, and often subsist in
living and working conditions unworthy of the human person.
A similar lack of economic and social balance is to be noticed between
agriculture, industry, and the services, and also between different parts
of one and the same country. The contrast between the economically more
advanced countries and other countries is becoming more serious day by
day, and the very peace of the world can be jeopardized thereby.
Our contemporaries are coming to feel these inequalities with an ever
sharper awareness, since they are thoroughly convinced that the ampler
technical and economic possibilities which the world of today enjoys can
and should correct this unhappy state of affairs. Hence, many reforms in
the socioeconomic realm and a change of mentality and attitude are
required of all. For this reason the Church down through the centuries and
in the light of the Gospel has worked out the principles of justice and
equity demanded by right reason both for individual and social life and
for international life, and she has proclaimed them especially in recent
times. This sacred council intends to strengthen these principles
according to the circumstances of this age and to set forth certain
guide-lines, especially with regard to the requirements of economic
development.[1]
SECTION 1
Economic Development
64. Today more than ever
before attention is rightly given to the increase of the production of
agricultural and industrial goods and of the rendering of services, for
the purpose of making provision for the growth of population and of
satisfying the increasing desires of the human race. Therefore, technical
progress, an inventive spirit, an eagerness to create and to expand
enterprises, the application of methods of production, and the strenuous
efforts of all who engage in production--in a word, all the elements
making for such development-- must be promoted. The fundamental finality
of this production is not the mere increase of products nor profit or
control but rather the service of man, and indeed of the whole man with
regard for the full range of his material needs and the demands of his
intellectual, moral, spiritual, and religious life; this applies to every
man whatsoever and to every group of men, of every race and of every part
of the world. Consequently, economic activity is to be carried on
according to its own methods and laws within the limits of the moral
order,[2] so that God's plan for mankind may be realized.[3]
65. Economic development must remain under man's determination and must
not be left to the judgment of a few men or groups possessing too much
economic power or of the political community alone or of certain more
powerful nations. It is necessary, on the contrary, that at every level
the largest possible number of people and, when it is a question of
international relations, all nations have an active share in directing
that development. There is need as well of the coordination and fitting
and harmonious combination of the spontaneous efforts of individuals and
of free groups with the undertakings of public authorities.
Growth is not to be left solely to a kind of mechanical course of the
economic activity of individuals, nor to the authority of government. For
this reason, doctrines which obstruct the necessary reforms under the
guise of a false liberty, and those which subordinate the basic rights of
individual persons and groups to the collective organization of production
must be shown to be erroneous.[4]
Citizens, on the other hand, should remember that it is their right and
duty, which is also to be recognized by the civil authority, to contribute
to the true progress of their own community according to their ability.
Especially in underdeveloped areas, where all resources must urgently be
employed, those who hold back their unproductive resources or who deprive
their community of the material or spiritual aid that it needs--saving the
personal right of migration--gravely endanger the common good.
66. To satisfy the demands of justice and equity, strenuous efforts must
be made, without disregarding the rights of persons or the natural
qualities of each country, to remove as quickly as possible the immense
economic inequalities, which now exist and in many cases are growing and
which are connected with individual and social discrimination. Likewise,
in many areas, in view of the special difficulties of agriculture relative
to the raising and selling of produce, country people must be helped both
to increase and to market what they produce, and to introduce the
necessary development and renewal and also obtain a fair income.
Otherwise, as too often happens, they will remain in the condition of
lower-class citizens. Let farmers themselves, especially young ones, apply
themselves to perfecting their professional skill, for without it, there
can be no agricultural advance.[5]
Justice and equity likewise require that the mobility, which is necessary
in a developing economy, be regulated in such a way as to keep the life of
individuals and their families from becoming insecure and precarious. When
workers come from another country or district and contribute to the
economic advancement of a nation or region by their labour, all
discrimination as regards wages and working conditions must be carefully
avoided. All the people, moreover, above all the public authorities, must
treat them not as mere tools of production but as persons, and must help
them to bring their families to live with them and to provide themselves
with a decent dwelling; they must also see to it that these workers are
incorporated into the social life of the country or region that receives
them. Employment opportunities, however, should be created in their own
areas as far as possible. In economic affairs which today are subject to
change, as in the new forms of industrial society in which automation, for
example, is advancing, care must be taken that sufficient and suitable
work and the possibility of the appropriate technical and professional
formation are furnished. The livelihood and the human dignity especially
of those who are in very difficult conditions because of illness or old
age must be guaranteed.
SECTION 2
Certain Principles Governing Socio-Economic Life as a Whole
67. Human labour which is
expended in the production and exchange of goods or in the performance of
economic services is superior to the other elements of economic life, for
the latter have only the nature of tools.
This labour, whether it is engaged in independently or hired by someone
else, comes immediately from the person, who as it were stamps the things
of nature with his seal and subdues them to his will. By his labour a man
ordinarily supports himself and his family, is joined to his fellow men
and serves them, and can exercise genuine charity and be a partner in the
work of bringing divine creation to perfection. Indeed, we hold that
through labour offered to God man is associated with the redemptive work
of Jesus Christ, Who conferred an eminent dignity on labour when at
Nazareth He worked with His own hands. From this there follows for every
man the duty of working faithfully and also the right to work. It is the
duty of society, moreover, according to the circumstances prevailing in
it, and in keeping with its role, to help the citizens to find sufficient
employment. Finally, remuneration for labour is to be such that man may be
furnished the means to cultivate worthily his own material, social,
cultural and spiritual life and that of his dependents, in view of the
function and productiveness of each one, the conditions of the factory or
workshop, and the common good.[6]
Since economic activity for the most part implies the associated work of
human beings, any way of organizing and directing it which may be
detrimental to any working men and women would be wrong and inhuman. It
happens too often, however, even in our days, that workers are reduced to
the level of being slaves to their own work. This is by no means justified
by the so-called economic laws. The entire process of productive work,
therefore, must be adapted to the needs of the person and to his way of
life, above all to his domestic life, especially in respect to mothers of
families, always with due regard for sex and age. The opportunity,
moreover, should be granted to workers to unfold their own abilities and
personality through the performance of their work. Applying their time and
strength to their employment with a due sense of responsibility, they
should also all enjoy sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their
familial, cultural, social and religious life. They should also have the
opportunity freely to develop the energies and potentialities which
perhaps they cannot bring to much fruition in their professional work.
68. In economic enterprises it is persons who are joined together, that
is, free and independent human beings created to the image of God.
Therefore, with attention to the functions of each--owners or employers,
management or labour--and without doing harm to the necessary unity of
management, the active sharing of all in the administration and profits of
these enterprises in ways to be properly determined is to be promoted.[7]
Since more often, however, decisions concerning economic and social
conditions, on which the future lot of the workers and of their children
depends, are made not within the business itself but by institutions on a
higher level, the workers themselves should have a share also in
determining these conditions--in person or through freely elected
delegates.
Among the basic rights of the human person is to be numbered the right of
freely founding unions for working people. These should be able truly to
represent them and to contribute to the organizing of economic life in the
right way. Included is the right of freely taking part in the activity of
these unions without risk of reprisal. Through this orderly participation
joined to progressive economic and social formation, all will grow day by
day in the awareness of their own function and responsibility, and thus
they will be brought to feel that they are comrades in the whole task of
economic development and in the attainment of the universal common good
according to their capacities and aptitudes.
When, however, socio-economic disputes arise, efforts must be made to come
to a peaceful settlement. Although recourse must always be had first to a
sincere dialogue between the parties, a strike, nevertheless, can remain
even in present-day circumstances a necessary, though ultimate, aid for
the defense of the workers' own rights and the fulfilment of their just
desires. As soon as possible, however, ways should be sought to resume
negotiation and the discussion of reconciliation.
69. God intended the earth with everything contained in it for the use of
all human beings and peoples. Thus, under the leadership of justice and in
the company of charity, created goods should be in abundance for all in
like manner.[8] Whatever the forms of property may be, as adapted to the
legitimate institutions of peoples, according to diverse and changeable
circumstances, attention must always be paid to this universal destination
of earthly goods. In using them, therefore, man should regard the external
things that he legitimately possesses not only as his own but also as
common in the sense that they should be able to benefit not only him but
also others.[9] On the other hand, the right of having a share of earthly
goods sufficient for oneself and one's family belongs to everyone. The
Fathers and Doctors of the Church held this opinion, teaching that men are
obliged to come to the relief of the poor and to do so not merely out of
their superfluous goods.[10] If one is in extreme necessity, he has the
right to procure for himself what he needs out of the riches of
others.[11] Since there are so many people prostrate with hunger in the
world, this sacred council urges all, both individuals and governments, to
remember the aphorism of the Fathers, "Feed the man dying of hunger,
because if you have not fed him, you have killed him,"[12] and really
to share and employ their earthly goods, according to the ability of each,
especially by supporting individuals or peoples with the aid by which they
may be able to help and develop themselves.
In economically less advanced societies the common destination of earthly
goods is partly satisfied by means of the customs and traditions proper to
the community, by which the absolutely necessary things are furnished to
each member. An effort must be made, however, to avoid regarding certain
customs as altogether unchangeable, if they no longer answer the new needs
of this age. On the other hand, imprudent action should not be taken
against respectable customs which, provided they are suitably adapted to
present-day circumstances, do not cease to be very useful. Similarly, in
highly developed nations a body of social institutions dealing with
protection and security can, for its own part, bring to reality the common
destination of earthly goods. Family and social services, especially those
that provide for culture and education, should be further promoted. When
all these things are being organized, vigilance is necessary to prevent
the citizens from being led into a certain inactivity vis-a-vis society or
from rejecting the burden of taking up office or from refusing to serve.
70. Investments, for their part, must be directed toward procuring
employment and sufficient income for the people both now and in the
future. Whoever makes decisions concerning these investments and the
planning of the economy-- whether they be individuals or groups of public
authorities-- are bound to keep these objectives in mind and to recognize
their serious obligation of watching, on the one hand, that provision be
made for the necessities required for a decent life both of individuals
and of the whole community and, on the other, of looking out for the
future and of establishing a right balance between the needs of
present-day consumption, both individual and collective, and the demands
of investing for the generation to come. They should also always bear in
mind the urgent needs of underdeveloped countries or regions. In monetary
matters they should beware of hurting the welfare of their own country or
of other countries. Care should also be taken lest the economically weak
countries unjustly suffer any loss from a change in the value of money.
71. Since property and other forms of private ownership of external goods
contribute to the expression of the personality, and since, moreover, they
furnish one an occasion to exercise his function in society and in the
economy, it is very important that the access of both individuals and
communities to some ownership of external goods be fostered.
Private property or some ownership of external goods confers on everyone a
sphere wholly necessary for the autonomy of the person and the family, and
it should be regarded as an extension of human freedom. Lastly, since it
adds incentives for carrying on one's function and charge, it constitutes
one of the conditions for civil liberties.[13]
The forms of such ownership or property are varied today and are becoming
increasingly diversified. They all remain, however, a cause of security
not to be underestimated, in spite of social funds, rights, and services
provided by society. This is true not only of material property but also
of immaterial things such as professional capacities.
The right of private ownership, however, is not opposed to the right
inherent in various forms of public property. Goods can be transferred to
the public domain only by the competent authority, according to the
demands and within the limits of the common good, and with fair
compensation. Furthermore, it is the right of public authority to prevent
anyone from abusing his private property to the detriment of the common
good.[14]
By its very nature private property has a social quality which is based on
the law of the common destination of earthly goods.[15] If this social
quality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of passionate
desires for wealth and serious disturbances, so that a pretext is given to
the attackers for calling the right itself into question.
In many underdeveloped regions there are large or even extensive rural
estates which are only slightly cultivated or lie completely idle for the
sake of profit, while the majority of the people either are without land
or have only very small fields, and, on the other hand, it is evidently
urgent to increase the productivity of the fields. Not infrequently those
who are hired to work for the landowners or who till a portion of the land
as tenants receive a wage or income unworthy of a human being, lack decent
housing and are exploited by middlemen. Deprived of all security, they
live under such personal servitude that almost every opportunity of acting
on their own initiative and responsibility is denied to them and all
advancement in human culture and all sharing in social and political life
is forbidden to them. According to the different cases, therefore, reforms
are necessary: that income may grow, working conditions should be
improved, security in employment increased, and an incentive to working on
one's own initiative given. Indeed, insufficiently cultivated estates
should be distributed to those who can make these lands fruitful; in this
case, the necessary things and means, especially educational aids and the
right facilities for cooperative organization, must be supplied. Whenever,
nevertheless, the common good requires expropriation, compensation must be
reckoned in equity after all the circumstances have been weighed.
72. Christians who take an active part in present-day socio-economic
development and fight for justice and charity should be convinced that
they can make a great contribution to the prosperity of mankind and to the
peace of the world. In these activities let them, either as individuals or
as members of groups, give a shining example. Having acquired the
absolutely necessary skill and experience, they should observe the right
order in their earthly activities in faithfulness to Christ and His
Gospel. Thus their whole life, both individual and social, will be
permeated with the spirit of the beatitudes, notably with a spirit of
poverty.
Whoever in obedience to Christ seeks first the Kingdom of God, takes
therefrom a stronger and purer love for helping all his brethren and for
perfecting the work of justice under the inspiration of charity.[16]
CHAPTER IV
THE LIFE OF THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY
73. In our day, profound
changes are apparent also in the structure and institutions of peoples.
These result from their cultural, economic and social evolution. Such
changes have a great influence on the life of the political community,
especially regarding the rights and duties of all in the exercise of civil
freedom and in the attainment of the common good, and in organizing the
relations of citizens among themselves and with respect to public
authority.
The present keener sense of human dignity has given rise in many parts of
the world to attempts to bring about a politico-juridical order which will
give better protection to the rights of the person in public life. These
include the right freely to meet and form associations, the right to
express one's own opinion and to profess one's religion both publicly and
privately. The protection of the rights of a person is indeed a necessary
condition so that citizens, individually or collectively, can take an
active part in the life and government of the state.
Along with cultural, economic and social development, there is a growing
desire among many people to play a greater part in organizing the life of
the political community. In the conscience of many arises an increasing
concern that the rights of minorities be recognized, without any neglect
for their duties toward the political community. In addition, there is a
steadily growing respect for men of other opinions or other religions. At
the same time, there is wider cooperation to guarantee the actual exercise
of personal rights to all citizens, and not only to a few privileged
individuals.
However, those political systems, prevailing in some parts of the world
are to be reproved which hamper civic or religious freedom, victimize
large numbers through avarice and political crimes, and divert the
exercise of authority from the service of the common good to the interests
of one or another faction or of the rulers themselves.
There is no better way to establish political life on a truly human basis
than by fostering an inward sense of justice and kindliness, and of
service to the common good, and by strengthening basic convictions as to
the true nature of the political community and the aim, right exercise,
and sphere of action of public authority.
74. Men, families and the various groups which make up the civil community
are aware that they cannot achieve a truly human life by their own unaided
efforts. They see the need for a wider community, within which each one
makes his specific contribution every day toward an ever broader
realization of the common good.[1] For this purpose they set up a
political community according to various forms. The political community
exists, consequently, for the sake of the common good, in which it finds
its full justification and significance, and the source of its inherent
legitimacy. Indeed, the common good embraces the sum of those conditions
of the social life whereby men, families and associations more adequately
and readily may attain their own perfection.[2]
Yet the people who come together in the political community are many and
diverse, and they have every right to prefer divergent solutions. If the
political community is not to be torn apart while everyone follows his own
opinion, there must be an authority to direct the energies of all citizens
toward the common good, not in a mechanical or despotic fashion, but by
acting above all as a moral force which appeals to each one's freedom and
sense of responsibility.
It is clear, therefore, that the political community and public authority
are founded on human nature and hence belong to the order designed by God,
even though the choice of a political regime and the appointment of rulers
are left to the free will of citizens.[3]
It follows also that political authority, both in the community as such
and in the representative bodies of the state, must always be exercised
within the limits of the moral order and directed toward the common
good--with a dynamic concept of that good--according to the juridical
order legitimately established or due to be established. When authority is
so exercised, citizens are bound in conscience to obey.[4] Accordingly,
the responsibility, dignity and importance of leaders are indeed clear.
But where citizens are oppressed by a public authority overstepping its
competence, they should not protest against those things which are
objectively required for the common good; but it is legitimate for them to
defend their own rights and the rights of their fellow citizens against
the abuse of this authority, while keeping within those limits drawn by
the natural law and the Gospels. According to the character of different
peoples and their historic development, the political community can,
however, adopt a variety of concrete solutions in its structures and the
organization of public authority. For the benefit of the whole human
family, these solutions must always contribute to the formation of a type
of man who will be cultivated, peace loving and well-disposed towards all
his fellow men.
75. It is in full conformity with human nature that there should be
juridico-political structures providing all citizens in an ever better
fashion and without any discrimination the practical possibility of freely
and actively taking part in the establishment of the juridical foundations
of the political community and in the direction of public affairs, in
fixing the terms of reference of the various public bodies and in the
election of political leaders.[5] All citizens, therefore, should be
mindful of the right and also the duty to use their free vote to further
the common good. The Church praises and esteems the work of those who for
the good of men devote themselves to the service of the state and take on
the burdens of this office.
If the citizens' responsible cooperation is to produce the good results
which may be expected in the normal course of political life, there must
be a statute of positive law providing for a suitable division of the
functions and bodies of authority and an efficient and independent system
for the protection of rights. The rights of all persons, families and
groups, and their practical application, must be recognized, respected and
furthered, together with the duties binding on all citizens.[6]
Among the latter, it will be well to recall the duty of rendering the
political community such material and personal services as are required by
the common good. Rulers must be careful not to hamper the development of
family, social or cultural groups, nor that of intermediate bodies or
organizations, and not to deprive them of opportunities for legitimate and
constructive activity; they should willingly seek rather to promote the
orderly pursuit of such activity. Citizens, for their part, either
individually or collectively, must be careful not to attribute excessive
power to public authority, not to make exaggerated and untimely demands
upon it in their own interests, lessening in this way the responsible role
of persons, families and social groups.
The complex circumstances of our day make it necessary for public
authority to intervene more often in social, economic and cultural matters
in order to bring about favourable conditions which will give more
effective help to citizens and groups in their free pursuit of man's total
well-being. The relations, however, between socialization[7] and the
autonomy and development of the person can be understood in different ways
according to various regions and the evolution of peoples. But when the
exercise of rights is restricted temporarily for the common good, freedom
should be restored immediately upon change of circumstances. Moreover, it
is inhuman for public authority to fall back on dictatorial systems or
totalitarian methods which violate the rights of the person or social
groups.
Citizens must cultivate a generous and loyal spirit of patriotism, but
without being narrow-minded. This means that they will always direct their
attention to the good of the whole human family, united by the different
ties which bind together races, people and nations.
All Christians must be aware of their own specific vocation within the
political community. It is for them to give an example by their sense of
responsibility and their service of the common good. In this way they are
to demonstrate concretely how authority can be compatible with freedom,
personal initiative with the solidarity of the whole social organism, and
the advantages of unity with fruitful diversity. They must recognize the
legitimacy of different opinions with regard to temporal solutions, and
respect citizens, who, even as a group, defend their points of view by
honest methods. Political parties, for their part, must promote those
things which in their judgment are required for the common good; it is
never allowable to give their interests priority over the common good.
Great care must be taken about civic and political formation, which is of
the utmost necessity today for the population as a whole, and especially
for youth, so that all citizens can play their part in the life of the
political community. Those who are suited or can become suited should
prepare themselves for the difficult, but at the same time, the very noble
art of politics,[8] and should seek to practice this art without regard
for their own interests or for material advantages. With integrity and
wisdom, they must take action against any form of injustice and tyranny,
against arbitrary domination by an individual or a political party and any
intolerance. They should dedicate themselves to the service of all with
sincerity and fairness, indeed, with the charity and fortitude demanded by
political life.
76. It is very important, especially where a pluralistic society prevails,
that there be a correct notion of the relationship between the political
community and the Church, and a clear distinction between the tasks which
Christians undertake, individually or as a group, on their own
responsibility as citizens guided by the dictates of a Christian
conscience, and the activities which, in union with their pastors, they
carry out in the name of the Church.
The Church, by reason of her role and competence, is not identified in any
way with the political community nor bound to any political system. She is
at once a sign and a safeguard of the transcendent character of the human
person.
The Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous
and independent from each other. Yet both, under different titles, are
devoted to the personal and social vocation of the same men. The more that
both foster sounder cooperation between themselves with due consideration
for the circumstances of time and place, the more effective will their
service be exercised for the good of all. For man's horizons are not
limited only to the temporal order; while living in the context of human
history, he preserves intact his eternal vocation. The Church, for her
part, founded on the love of the Redeemer, contributes toward the reign of
justice and charity within the borders of a nation and between nations. By
preaching the truths of the Gospel, and bringing to bear on all fields of
human endeavour the light of her doctrine and of a Christian witness, she
respects and fosters the political freedom and responsibility of citizens.
The Apostles, their successors and those who cooperate with them, are sent
to announce to mankind Christ, the Saviour. Their apostolate is based on
the power of God, Who very often shows forth the strength of the Gospel on
the weakness of its witnesses. All those dedicated to the ministry of
God's Word must use the ways and means proper to the Gospel which in a
great many respects differ from the means proper to the earthly city.
There are, indeed, close links between earthly things and those elements
of man's condition which transcend the world. The Church herself makes use
of temporal things insofar as her own mission requires it. She, for her
part, does not place her trust in the privileges offered by civil
authority. She will even give up the exercise of certain rights which have
been legitimately acquired, if it becomes clear that their use will cast
doubt on the sincerity of her witness or that new ways of life demand new
methods. It is only right, however, that at all times and in all places,
the Church should have true freedom to preach the faith, to teach her
social doctrine, to exercise her role freely among men, and also to pass
moral judgment in those matters which regard public order when the
fundamental rights of a person or the salvation of souls require it. In
this, she should make use of all the means-- but only those--which accord
with the Gospel and which correspond to the general good according to the
diversity of times and circumstances.
While faithfully adhering to the Gospel and fulfilling her mission to the
world, the Church, whose duty it is to foster and elevate[9] all that is
found to be true, good and beautiful in the human community, strengthens
peace among men for the glory of God.[10]
CHAPTER V
THE FOSTERING OF PEACE AND THE PROMOTION OF A COMMUNITY OF NATIONS
77. In our generation when men
continue to be afflicted by acute hardships and anxieties arising from the
ravages of war or the threat of it, the whole human family faces an hour
of supreme crisis in its advance toward maturity. Moving gradually
together and everywhere more conscious already of its unity, this family
cannot accomplish its task of constructing for all men everywhere a world
more genuinely human unless each person devotes himself to the cause of
peace with renewed vigour. Thus it happens that the Gospel message, Which
is in harmony with the loftier strivings and aspirations of the human
race, takes on a new lustre in our day as it declares that the artisans of
peace are blessed "because they will be called the sons of God"
(Matt. 5:9).
Consequently, as it points out the authentic and noble meaning of peace
and condemns the frightfulness of war, the Council wishes passionately to
summon Christians to cooperate, under the help of Christ, the author of
peace, with all men in securing among themselves a peace based on justice
and love and in setting up the instruments of peace.
78. Peace is not merely the absence of war; nor can it be reduced solely
to the maintenance of a balance of power between enemies; nor is it
brought about by dictatorship. Instead, it is rightly and appropriately
called an enterprise of justice. Peace results from that order structured
into human society by its divine Founder, and actualized by men as they
thirst after ever greater justice. The common good of humanity finds its
ultimate meaning in the eternal law. But since the concrete demands of
this common good are constantly changing as time goes on, peace is never
attained once and for all, but must be built up ceaselessly. Moreover,
since the human will is unsteady and wounded by sin, the achievement of
peace requires a constant mastering of passions and the vigilance of
lawful authority.
But this is not enough. This peace on earth cannot be obtained unless
personal well-being is safeguarded and men freely and trustingly share
with one another the riches of their inner spirits and their talents. A
firm determination to respect other men and peoples and their dignity, as
well as the studied practice of brotherhood are absolutely necessary for
the establishment of peace. Hence peace is likewise the fruit of love,
which goes beyond what justice can provide.
That earthly peace which arises from love of neighbour symbolizes and
results from the peace of Christ which radiates from God the Father. For
by the cross the incarnate Son, the prince of peace reconciled all men
with God. By thus restoring all men to the unity of one people and one
body, He slew hatred in His own flesh; and, after being lifted on high by
His resurrection, He poured forth the spirit of love into the hearts of
men.
For this reason, all Christians are urgently summoned to do in love what
the truth requires, and to join with all true peacemakers in pleading for
peace and bringing it about.
Motivated by this same spirit, we cannot fail to praise those who renounce
the use of violence in the vindication of their rights and who resort to
methods of defense which are otherwise available to weaker parties too,
provided this can be done without injury to the rights and duties of
others or of the community itself.
Insofar as men are sinful, the threat of war hangs over them, and hang
over them it will until the return of Christ. But insofar as men vanquish
sin by a union of love, they will vanquish violence as well and make these
words come true: "They shall turn their swords into plough- shares,
and their spears into sickles. Nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaias 2:4).
SECTION 1
The Avoidance of War
79. Even though recent wars
have wrought physical and moral havoc on our world, the devastation of
battle still goes on day by day in some part of the world. Indeed, now
that every kind of weapon produced by modern science is used in war, the
fierce character of warfare threatens to lead the combatants to a savagery
far surpassing that of the past. Furthermore, the complexity of the modern
world and the intricacy of international relations allow guerrilla warfare
to be drawn out by new methods of deceit and subversion. In many causes
the use of terrorism is regarded as a new way to wage war.
Contemplating this melancholy state of humanity, the council wishes, above
all things else, to recall the permanent binding force of universal
natural law and its all-embracing principles. Man's conscience itself
gives ever more emphatic voice to these principles. Therefore, actions
which deliberately conflict with these same principles, as well as orders
commanding such actions are criminal, and blind obedience cannot excuse
those who yield to them. The most infamous among these are actions
designed for the methodical extermination of an entire people, nation or
ethnic minority. Such actions must be vehemently condemned as horrendous
crimes. The courage of those who fearlessly and openly resist those who
issue such commands merits supreme commendation.
On the subject of war, quite a large number of nations have subscribed to
international agreements aimed at making military activity and its
consequences less inhuman. Their stipulations deal with such matters as
the treatment of wounded soldiers and prisoners. Agreements of this sort
must be honoured. Indeed they should be improved upon so that the
frightfulness of war can be better and more workably held in check. All
men, especially government officials and experts in these matters, are
bound to do everything they can to effect these improvements. Moreover, it
seems right that laws make humane provisions for the case of those who for
reasons of conscience refuse to bear arms, provided however, that they
agree to serve the human community in some other way.
Certainly, war has not been rooted out of human affairs. As long as the
danger of war remains and there is no competent and sufficiently powerful
authority at the international level, governments cannot be denied the
right to legitimate defense once every means of peaceful settlement has
been exhausted. State authorities and others who share public
responsibility have the duty to conduct such grave matters soberly and to
protect the welfare of the people entrusted to their care. But it is one
thing to undertake military action for the just defense of the people, and
something else again to seek the subjugation of other nations. Nor, by the
same token, does the mere fact that war has unhappily begun mean that all
is fair between the warring parties.
Those too who devote themselves to the military service of their country
should regard themselves as the agents of security and freedom of peoples.
As long as they fulfil this role properly, they are making a genuine
contribution to the establishment of peace.
80. The horror and perversity of war is immensely magnified by the
addition of scientific weapons. For acts of war involving these weapons
can inflict massive and indiscriminate destruction, thus going far beyond
the bounds of legitimate defense. Indeed, if the kind of instruments which
can now be found in the armories of the great nations were to be employed
to their fullest, an almost total and altogether reciprocal slaughter of
each side by the other would follow, not to mention the widespread
devastation that would take place in the world and the deadly after
effects that would be spawned by the use of weapons of this kind.
All these considerations compel us to undertake an evaluation of war with
an entirely new attitude.[1] The men of our time must realize that they
will have to give a sombre reckoning of their deeds of war for the course
of the future will depend greatly on the decisions they make today.
With these truths in mind, this most holy synod makes its own the
condemnations of total war already pronounced by recent popes,[2] and
issues the following declaration.
Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities
of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and
man himself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation.
The unique hazard of modern warfare consists in this: it provides those
who possess modern scientific weapons with a kind of occasion for
perpetrating just such abominations; moreover, through a certain
inexorable chain of events, it can catapult men into the most atrocious
decisions. That such may never truly happen in the future, the bishops of
the whole world gathered together, beg all men, especially government
officials and military leaders, to give unremitting thought to their
gigantic responsibility before God and the entire human race.
81. To be sure, scientific weapons are not amassed solely for use in war.
Since the defensive strength of any nation is considered to be dependent
upon its capacity for immediate retaliation, this accumulation of arms,
which increases each year, likewise serves, in a way heretofore unknown,
as deterrent to possible enemy attack. Many regard this procedure as the
most effective way by which peace of a sort can be maintained between
nations at the present time.
Whatever be the facts about this method of deterrence, men should be
convinced that the arms race in which an already considerable number of
countries are engaged is not a safe way to preserve a steady peace, nor is
the so-called balance resulting from this race a sure and authentic peace.
Rather than being eliminated thereby, the causes of war are in danger of
being gradually aggravated. While extravagant sums are being spent for the
furnishing of ever new weapons, an adequate remedy cannot be provided for
the multiple miseries afflicting the whole modern world. Disagreements
between nations are not really and radically healed; on the contrary, they
spread the infection to other parts of the earth. New approaches based on
reformed attitudes must be taken to remove this trap and to emancipate the
world from its crushing anxiety through the restoration of genuine peace.
Therefore, we say it again: the arms race is an utterly treacherous trap
for humanity, and one which ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree. It
is much to be feared that if this race persists, it will eventually spawn
all the lethal ruin whose path it is now making ready. Warned by the
calamities which the human race has made possible, let us make use of the
interlude granted us from above and for which we are thankful, to become
more conscious of our own responsibility and to find means for resolving
our disputes in a manner more worthy of man. Divine Providence urgently
demands of us that we free ourselves from the age-old slavery of war. If
we refuse to make this effort, we do not know where we will be led by the
evil road we have set upon.
It is our clear duty, therefore, to strain every muscle in working for the
time when all war can be completely outlawed by international consent.
This goal undoubtedly requires the establishment of some universal public
authority acknowledged as such by all and endowed with the power to
safeguard on the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect
for rights. But before this hoped for authority can be set up, the highest
existing international centres must devote themselves vigorously to the
pursuit of better means for obtaining common security. Since peace must be
born of mutual trust between nations and not be imposed on them through a
fear of the available weapons, everyone must labour to put an end at last
to the arms race, and to make a true beginning of disarmament, not
unilaterally indeed, but proceeding at an equal pace according to
agreement, and backed up by true and workable safeguards.[3]
82. In the meantime, efforts which have already been made and are still
underway to eliminate the danger of war are not to be underrated. On the
contrary, support should be given to the good will of the very many
leaders who work hard to do away with war, which they abominate. These
men, although burdened by the extremely weighty preoccupations of their
high office, are nonetheless moved by the very grave peacemaking task to
which they are bound, even if they cannot ignore the complexity of matters
as they stand. We should fervently ask God to give these men the strength
to go forward perseveringly and to follow through courageously on this
work of building peace with vigour. It is a work of supreme love for
mankind. Today it certainly demands that they extend their thoughts and
their spirit beyond the confines of their own nation, that they put aside
national selfishness and ambition to dominate other nations, and that they
nourish a profound reverence for the whole of humanity, which is already
making its way so laboriously toward greater unity.
The problems of peace and of disarmament have already been the subject of
extensive, strenuous and constant examination. Together with international
meetings dealing with these problems, such studies should be regarded as
the first steps toward solving these serious questions, and should be
promoted with even greater urgency by way of yielding concrete results in
the future.
Nevertheless, men should take heed not to entrust themselves only to the
efforts of some, while not caring about their own attitudes. For
government officials who must at one and the same time guarantee the good
of their own people and promote the universal good are very greatly
dependent on public opinion and feeling. It does them no good to work for
peace as long as feelings of hostility, contempt and distrust, as well as
racial hatred and unbending ideologies, continue to divide men and place
them in opposing camps. Consequently there is above all a pressing need
for a renewed education of attitudes and for new inspiration in public
opinion. Those who are dedicated to the work of education, particularly of
the young, or who mold public opinion, should consider it their most
weighty task to instruct all in fresh sentiments of peace. Indeed, we all
need a change of heart as we regard the entire world and those tasks which
we can perform in unison for the betterment of our race.
But we should not let false hope deceive us. For unless enmities and
hatred are put away and firm, honest agreements concerning world peace are
reached in the future, humanity, which already is in the middle of a grave
crisis, even though it is endowed with remarkable knowledge, will perhaps
be brought to that dismal hour in which it will experience no peace other
than the dreadful peace of death. But, while we say this, the Church of
Christ, present in the midst of the anxiety of this age, does not cease to
hope most firmly. She intends to propose to our age over and over again,
in season and out of season, this apostolic message: "Behold, now is
the acceptable time for a change of heart; behold! now is the day of
salvation."[4]
SECTlON II
Setting Up An International Community
83. In order to build up peace
above all the causes of discord among men, especially injustice, which
foment wars must be rooted out. Not a few of these causes come from
excessive economic inequalities and from putting off the steps needed to
remedy them. Other causes of discord, however, have their source in the
desire to dominate and in a contempt for persons. And, if we look for
deeper causes, we find them in human envy, distrust, pride, and other
egotistical passions. Man cannot bear so many ruptures in the harmony of
things. Consequently, the world is constantly beset by strife and violence
between men, even when no war is being waged. Besides, since these same
evils are present in the relations between various nations as well, in
order to overcome or forestall them and to keep violence once unleashed
within limits it is absolutely necessary for countries to cooperate more
advantageously and more closely together and to organize together
international bodies and to work tirelessly for the creation of
organizations which will foster peace.
84. In view of the increasingly close ties of mutual dependence today
between all the inhabitants and peoples of the earth, the apt pursuit and
efficacious attainment of the universal common good now require of the
community of nations that it organize itself in a manner suited to its
present responsibilities, especially toward the many parts of the world
which are still suffering from unbearable want.
To reach this goal, organizations of the international community, for
their part, must make provision for men's different needs, both in the
fields of social life--such as food supplies, health, education, labour
and also in certain special circumstances which can crop up here and
there, e.g., the need to promote the general improvement of developing
countries, or to alleviate the distressing conditions in which refugees
dispersed throughout the world find themselves, or also to assist migrants
and their families.
Already existing international and regional organizations are certainly
well-deserving of the human race. These are the first efforts at laying
the foundations on an international level for a community of all men to
work for the solution to the serious problems of our times, to encourage
progress everywhere, and to obviate wars of whatever kind. In all of these
activities the Church takes joy in the spirit of true brotherhood
flourishing between Christians and non-Christians as it strives to make
ever more strenuous efforts to relieve abundant misery.
85. The present solidarity of mankind also calls for a revival of greater
international cooperation in the economic field. Although nearly all
peoples have become autonomous, they are far from being free of every form
of undue dependence, and far from escaping all danger of serious internal
difficulties.
The development of a nation depends on human and financial aids. The
citizens of each country must be prepared by education and professional
training to discharge the various tasks of economic and social life. But
this in turn requires the aid of foreign specialists who, when they give
aid, will not act as overlords, but as helpers and fellow-workers.
Developing nations will not be able to procure material assistance unless
radical changes are made in the established procedures of modern world
commerce. Other aid should be provided as well by advanced nations in the
form of gifts, loans or financial investments. Such help should be
accorded with generosity and without greed on the one side, and received
with complete honesty on the other side.
If an authentic economic order is to be established on a world-wide basis,
an end will have to be put to profiteering, to national ambitions, to the
appetite for political supremacy, to militaristic calculations, and to
machinations for the sake of spreading and imposing ideologies.
86. The following norms seem useful for such cooperation:
a) Developing nations should take great pains to seek as the object of
progress to express and secure the total human fulfilment of their
citizens. They should bear in mind that progress arises and grows above
all out of the labour and genius of the nations themselves because it has
to be based, not only on foreign aid, but especially on the full
utilization of their own resources, and on the development of their own
culture and traditions. Those who exert the greatest influence on others
should be outstanding in this respect.
b) On the other hand, it is a very important duty of the advanced nations
to help the developing nations in discharging their above- mentioned
responsibilities. They should therefore gladly carry out on their own home
front those spiritual and material readjustments that are required for the
realization of this universal cooperation.
Consequently, in business dealings with weaker and poorer nations, they
should be careful to respect their profit, for these countries need the
income they receive on the sale of their homemade products to support
themselves.
c) It is the role of the international community to coordinate and promote
development, but in such a way that the resources earmarked for this
purpose will be allocated as effectively as possible, and with complete
equity. It is likewise this community's duty, with due regard for the
principle of subsidiarity, so to regulate economic relations throughout
the world that these will be carried out in accordance with the norms of
justice.
Suitable organizations should be set up to foster and regulate
international business affairs, particularly with the underdeveloped
countries, and to compensate for losses resulting from an excessive
inequality of power among the various nations. This type of organization,
in unison with technical cultural and financial aid, should provide the
help which developing nations need so that they can advantageously pursue
their own economic advancement.
d) In many cases there is an urgent need to revamp economic and social
structures. But one must guard against proposals of technical solutions
that are untimely. This is particularly true of those solutions providing
man with material conveniences, but nevertheless contrary to man's
spiritual nature and advancement. For "not by bread alone does man
live, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt.
4:4). Every sector of the family of man carries within itself and in its
best traditions some portion of the spiritual treasure entrusted by God to
humanity, even though many may not be aware of the source from which it
comes.
87. International cooperation is needed today especially for those peoples
who, besides facing so many other difficulties, likewise undergo pressures
due to a rapid increase in population. There is an urgent need to explore,
with the full and intense cooperation of all, and especially of the
wealthier nations, ways whereby the human necessities of food and a
suitable education can be furnished and shared with the entire human
community. But some peoples could greatly improve upon the conditions of
their life if they would change over from antiquated methods of farming to
the new technical methods, applying them with needed prudence according to
their own circumstances. Their life would likewise be improved by the
establishment of a better social order and by a fairer system for the
distribution of land ownership.
Governments undoubtedly have rights and duties, within the limits of their
proper competency, regarding the population problem in their respective
countries, for instance, in the line of social and family life
legislation, or regarding the migration of country-dwellers to the cities,
or with respect to information concerning the condition and needs of the
country. Since men today are giving thought to this problem and are so
greatly disturbed over it, it is desirable in addition that Catholic
specialists, especially in the universities, skilfully pursue and develop
studies and projects on all these matters.
But there are many today who maintain that the increase in world
population, or at least the population increase in some countries, must be
radically curbed by every means possible and by any kind of intervention
on the part of public authority. In view of this contention, the council
urges everyone to guard against solutions, whether publicly or privately
supported, or at times even imposed, which are contrary to the moral law.
For in keeping with man's inalienable right to marry and generate
children, a decision concerning the number of children they will have
depends on the right judgment of the parents and it cannot in any way be
left to the judgment of public authority. But since the judgment of the
parents presupposes a rightly formed conscience, it is of the utmost
importance that the way be open for everyone to develop a correct and
genuinely human responsibility which respects the divine law and takes
into consideration the circumstances of the situation and the time. But
sometimes this requires an improvement in educational and social
conditions, and, above all, formation in religion or at least a complete
moral training. Men should discreetly be informed, furthermore, of
scientific advances in exploring methods whereby spouses can be helped in
regulating the number of their children and whose safeness has been well
proven and whose harmony with the moral order has been ascertained.
88. Christians should cooperate willingly and wholeheartedly in
establishing an international order that includes a genuine respect for
all freedoms and amicable brotherhood between all. This is all the more
pressing since the greater part of the world is still suffering from so
much poverty that it is as if Christ Himself were crying out in these poor
to beg the charity of the disciples. Do not let men, then, be scandalized
because some countries with a majority of citizens who are counted as
Christians have an abundance of wealth, whereas others are deprived of the
necessities of life and are tormented with hunger, disease, and every kind
of misery. The spirit of poverty and charity are the glory and witness of
the Church of Christ.
Those Christians are to be praised and supported, therefore, who volunteer
their services to help other men and nations. Indeed, it is the duty of
the whole People of God, following the word and example of the bishops, to
alleviate as far as they are able the sufferings of the modern age. They
should do this too, as was the ancient custom in the Church, out of the
substance of their goods, and not only out of what is superfluous.
The procedure of collecting and distributing aids, without being
inflexible and completely uniform, should nevertheless be carried on in an
orderly fashion in dioceses, nations, and throughout the entire world.
Wherever it seems convenient, this activity of Catholics should be carried
on in unison with other Christian brothers. For the spirit of charity does
not forbid, but on the contrary commands that charitable activity he
carried out in a careful and orderly manner. Therefore, it is essential
for those who intend to dedicate themselves to the services of the
developing nations to be properly trained in appropriate institutes.
89. Since, in virtue of her mission received from God, the Church preaches
the Gospel to all men and dispenses the treasures of grace, she
contributes to the ensuring of peace everywhere on earth and to the
placing of the fraternal exchange between men on solid ground by imparting
knowledge of the divine and natural law. Therefore, to encourage and
stimulate cooperation among men, the Church must be clearly present in the
midst of the community of nations, both through her official channels and
through the full and sincere collaboration of all Christians--a
collaboration motivated solely by the desire to be of service to all. This
will come about more effectively if the faithful themselves, conscious of
their responsibility as men and as Christians will exert their influence
in their own milieu to arouse a ready willingness to cooperate with the
international community. Special care must be given, in both religious and
civil education, to the formation of youth in this regard.
90. An outstanding form of international activity on the part of
Christians is found in the joint efforts which, both as individuals and in
groups, they contribute to institutes already established or to be
established for the encouragement of cooperation among nations. There are
also various Catholic associations on an international level which can
contribute in many ways to the building up of a peaceful and fraternal
community of nations. These should be strengthened by augmenting in them
the number of well qualified collaborators, by increasing needed
resources, and by advantageously fortifying the coordination of their
energies. For today both effective action and the need for dialogue demand
joint projects. Moreover, such associations contribute much to the
development of a universal outlook--something certainly appropriate for
Catholics. They also help to form an awareness of genuine universal
solidarity and responsibility.
Finally, it is very much to be desired that Catholics, in order to fulfil
their role properly in the international community, will seek to cooperate
actively and in a positive manner both with their separated brothers who
together with them profess the Gospel of charity and with all men
thirsting for true peace.
The council, considering the immensity of the hardships which still
afflict the greater part of mankind today, regards it as most opportune
that an organism of the universal Church be set up in order that both the
justice and love of Christ toward the poor might be developed everywhere.
The role of such an organism would be to stimulate the Catholic community
to promote progress in needy regions and international social justice.
91. Drawn from the treasures of Church teaching, the proposals of this
sacred synod look to the assistance of every man of our time, whether he
believes in God, or does not explicitly recognize Him. If adopted, they
will promote among men a sharper insight into their full destiny, and
thereby lead them to fashion the world more to man's surpassing dignity,
to search for a brotherhood which is universal and more deeply rooted, and
to meet the urgencies of our ages with a gallant and unified effort born
of love.
Undeniably this conciliar program is but a general one in several of its
parts; and deliberately so, given the immense variety of situations and
forms of human culture in the world. Indeed while it presents teaching
already accepted in the Church, the program will have to be followed up
and amplified since it sometimes deals with matters in a constant state of
development. Still, we have relied on the word of God and the spirit of
the Gospel. Hence we entertain the hope that many of our proposals will
prove to be of substantial benefit to everyone, especially after they have
been adapted to individual nations and mentalities by the faithful, under
the guidance of their pastors.
92. By virtue of her mission to shed on the whole world the radiance of
the Gospel message, and to unify under one Spirit all men of whatever
nation, race or culture, the Church stands forth as a sign of that
brotherhood which allows honest dialogue and gives it vigour.
Such a mission requires in the first place that we foster within the
Church herself mutual esteem, reverence and harmony, through the full
recognition of lawful diversity. Thus all those who compose the one People
of God, both pastors and the general faithful, can engage in dialogue with
ever abounding fruitfulness. For the bonds which unite the faithful are
mightier than anything dividing them. Hence, let there be unity in what is
necessary; freedom in what is unsettled, and charity in any case.
Our hearts embrace also those brothers and communities not yet living with
us in full communion; to them we are linked nonetheless by our profession
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and by the bond of charity.
We do not forget that the unity of Christians is today awaited and desired
by many, too, who do not believe in Christ; for the farther it advances
toward truth and love under the powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit, the
more this unity will be a harbinger of unity and peace for the world at
large. Therefore, by common effort and in ways which are today
increasingly appropriate for seeking this splendid goal effectively, let
us take pains to pattern ourselves after the Gospel more exactly every
day, and thus work as brothers in rendering service to the human family.
For, in Christ Jesus this family is called to the family of the sons of
God.
We think cordially too of all who acknowledge God, and who preserve in
their traditions precious elements of religion and humanity. We want frank
conversation to compel us all to receive the impulses of the Spirit
faithfully and to act on them energetically.
For our part, the desire for such dialogue, which can lead to truth
through love alone, excludes no one, though an appropriate measure of
prudence must undoubtedly be exercised. We include those who cultivate
outstanding qualities of the human spirit, but do not yet acknowledge the
Source of these qualities. We include those who oppress the Church and
harass her in manifold ways. Since God the Father is the origin and
purpose of all men, we are all called to be brothers. Therefore, if we
have been summoned to the same destiny, human and divine, we can and we
should work together without violence and deceit in order to build up the
world in genuine peace.
93. Mindful of the Lord's saying: "by this will all men know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35),
Christians cannot yearn for anything more ardently than to serve the men
of the modern world with mounting generosity and success. Therefore, by
holding faithfully to the Gospel and benefiting from its resources, by
joining with every man who loves and practices justice, Christians have
shouldered a gigantic task for fulfilment in this world, a task concerning
which they must give a reckoning to Him who will judge every man on the
last of days.
Not everyone who cries, "Lord, Lord," will enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but those who do the Father's will by taking a strong
grip on the work at hand. Now, the Father wills that in all men we
recognize Christ our brother and love Him effectively, in word and in
deed. By thus giving witness to the truth, we will share with others the
mystery of the heavenly Father's love. As a consequence, men throughout
the world will be aroused to a lively hope--the gift of the Holy Spirit--
that some day at last they will be caught up in peace and utter happiness
in that fatherland radiant with the glory of the Lord. Now to Him who is
able to accomplish all things in a measure far beyond what we ask or
conceive, in keeping with the power that is at work in us--to Him be glory
in the Church and in Christ Jesus, down through all the ages of time
without end. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21).
FOOTNOTES
PREFACE
1. The Pastoral Constitution "De Ecclesia in Mundo Huius Temporis" is
made up of two parts; yet it constitutes an organic unity.
By way of explanation: the constitution is called "pastoral" because,
while resting on doctrinal principles, it seeks to express the relation
of the Church to the world and modern mankind. The result is that, on
the one hand, a pastoral slant is present in the first part, and, on the
other hand, a doctrinal slant is present in the second part.
In the first part, the Church develops her teaching on man, on the world
which is the enveloping context of man's existence, and on man's
relations to his fellow men. In part two, the Church gives closer
consideration to various aspects of modern life and human society;
special consideration is given to those questions and problems which, in
this general area, seem to have a greater urgency in our day. As a
result, in part two the subject matter which is viewed in the light of
doctrinal principles is made up of diverse elements. Some elements have
a permanent value; others, only a transitory one.
Consequently, the constitution must be interpreted according to the
general norms of theological interpretation. Interpreters must bear in
mind--especially in part two--the changeable circumstances which the
subject matter, by its very nature, involves.
2. Cf. John 18:37; Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45.
INTRODUCTION
1. Cf. Rom. 7:14 ff.
2. Cf. 2 Cor. 5:15.
3. Cf. Acts 4:12.
4. Cf. Heb. 13:8.
5. Cf. Col. 1:15.
CHAPTER 1 PART I
1. Cf. Gen. 1:26; Wis. 2:23.
2. Cf. Sir. 17:3-10.
3. Cf. Rom. 1:21-25.
4. Cf. John 8:34.
5. Cf. Dan. 3:57-90.
6. Cf. 1 Cor. 6:13-20.
7. Cf. 1 Kings 16:7; Jer. 17:10.
8. Cf. Sir. 17:7-8.
9. Cf. Rom. 2:15-16.
10. Cf. Pius XII, radio address on the correct formation of a Christian
conscience in the young, March 23, 1952: AAS (1952), p. 271.
11. Cf. Matt. 22:37-40, Gal. 5:14.
12. Cf. Sir. 15:14.
13. Cf. 2 Cor. 5:10.
14. Cf. Wis. 1:13; 2:23-24; Rom. 5:21; 6:23; Jas. 1:15.
15. Cf. 1 Cor. 15:56-57.
16. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Divini Redemptoris, March 19, 1937:
AAS 29 (1937), pp. 65-106, Pius XII, encyclical letter Ad Apostolorum
Principis, June 29, 1958: AAS 50 (1958), pp. 601614; John XXIII,
encyclical letter Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961: AAS 53 (1961), pp.
451-453; Paul VI, encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam, Aug. 6, 1964: AAS 56
(1964), pp. 651-653.
17. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
Chapter I, n. 8: AAS 57 (1965), p. 12.
18. Cf. Phil. 1:27.
19. St. Augustine, Confessions I, 1: PL 32, 661.
20. Cf. Rom. 5:14. Cf. Tertullian, De carnis resurrectione 6: "The shape
that the slime of the earth was given was intended with a view to
Christ, the future man.": P. 2, 282; CSEL 47, p. 33, 1. 12-13.
21. Cf. 2 Cor. 4:4.
22. Cf. Second Council of Constantinople, canon 7: "The divine Word was
not changed into a human nature, nor was a human nature absorbed by the
Word." Denzinger 219 (428).--Cf. also Third Council of Constantinople:
"For just as His most holy and immaculate human nature, though deified,
was not destroyed (theotheisa ouk anerethe), but rather remained in its
proper state and mode of being": Denzinger 291 (556).--Cf. Council of
Chalcedon: "to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion,
change, division, or separation." Denzinger 148 (302).
23. Cf. Third Council of Constantinople: "and so His human will, though
deified, is not destroyed": Denzinger 291 (556).
24. Cf. Heb. 4:15.
25. Cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-19, Col. 1:20-22.
26. Cf. 1 Pet. 2:21, Matt. 16:24; Luke 14:27.
27. Cf. Rom. 8:29; Col. 3:10-14.
28. Cf. Rom. 8:1-11.
29. Cf. 2 Cor. 4 :14.
30. Cf. Phil. 3:19; Rom. 8:17.
31. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
Chapter 2, n. 16: AAS 57 (1965), p. 20.
32. Cf. Rom. 8:32.
33. Cf. The Byzantine Easter Liturgy.
34. Cf. Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6, cf. also John 1:22 and John 3: 1-2.
CHAPTER 2
1. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter, Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961:
AAS 53 (1961), pp. 401-464, and encyclical letter Pacem
in Terris, April 11, 1963: AAS 55 (1963), pp. 257-304; Paul VI
encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam, Aug. 6, 1964: AAS 54 (1964) pp.609-
659.
2 Cf. Luke 17:33.
3 Cf. St. Thomas, 1 Ethica Lect. 1.
4. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961),
p. 418. Cf. also Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23
(1931), p. 222 ff.
5. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961).
6. Cf. Mark 2:27.
7. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), p.
266.
8. Cf. Jas. 2, 15-16.
9. Cf. Luke 16:18-31.
10. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), p.
299 and 300.
11. Cf. Luke 6:37-38; Matt. 7:1-2; Rom. 2:1-11, 14:10 14.10-12.
12. Cf. Matt. 5:43-47.
13. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, n. 9: AAS 57
(1965). pp. 12-13.
14. Cf. Exodus 24:1-8.
CHAPTER 3
1. Cf. Gen. 1:26-27; 9:3, Wis. 9:3.
2. Cf. Ps. 8:7 and 10.
3. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), p.
297.
4. Cf. message to all mankind sent by the Fathers at the beginning of
the Second Vatican Council, Oct. 20, 1962: AAS 54 (1962), p. 823.
5. Cf. Paul VI, address to the diplomatic corps, Jan. 7, 1965: AAS 57 (
1965 ), p. 232.
6. Cf. First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic
Faith, Chapter III: Denz. 1785-1786 (3004-3005).
7. Cf. Msgr. Pio Paschini, Vita e opere di Galileo Galilei, 2 volumes,
Vatican Press (1964).
8. Cf. Matt. 24:13: 13:24-30 and 36-43.
9. Cf. 2 Cor. 6:10.
10. Cf. John 1:3 and 14.
11. Cf. Eph. 1:10.
12. Cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8.
13. Cf. Acts 2:36, Matt. 28:18.
14. Cf. Rom. 15: 16.
15. Cf. Acts 1:7.
16. Cf. 1 Cor. 7:31; St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, V, 36, PG, VIII,
1221.
17. Cf. 2 Cor. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:13.
18. Cf. 1 Cor. 2:9, Apoc. 21:4-5.
19. Cf. 1 Cor. 15:42 and 53.
20. Cf. 1 Cor. 13:8; 3:14.
21. Cf. Rom. 8:19-21.
22. Cf. Luke 9:25.
23. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931), p.
207.
24. Preface of the Feast of Christ the King.
CHAPTER 4
1. Cf. Paul VI, encyclical letter Ecclesiam suam, III: AAS 56 (1964),
pp. 637-659.
2. Cf. Titus 3:4: "love of mankind."
3. Cf. Eph. 1:3; 5:6; 13-14, 23.
4. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter
I, n. 8: AAS 57 (1965), p. 12.
5. Ibid., Chapter II, no. 9: AAS 57 ( 1965), p. 14; Cf. n. 8: AAS loc.
cit., p. 11.
6. Ibid., Chapter I, n. 8: AAS 57 (1965), p. 11.
7. Cf. ibid., Chapter IV, n. 38: AAS 57 (1965), p. 43, with note 120.
8. Cf. Rom. 8:14-17.
9. Cf. Matt. 22:39.
10. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, n. 9: AAS 57
(1965), pp. 12-14.
11. Cf. Pius XII, Address to the International Union of Institutes of
Archeology, History and History of Art, March 9, 1956: AAS 48 (1965), p.
212: "Its divine Founder, Jesus Christ, has not given it any mandate or
fixed any end of the cultural order. The goal which Christ assigns to it
is strictly religious. . . The Church must lead men to God, in order
that they may be given over to him without reserve.... The Church can
never lose sight of the strictly religious, supernatural goal. The
meaning of all its activities, down to the last canon of its Code, can
only cooperate directly or indirectly in this goal."
12. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter I, n. 1: AAS 57 (1965),
p. 5.
13. Cf. Heb. 13:14.
14. Cf. 2 Thess. 3:6-13; Eph. 4:28.
15. Cf. Is. 58:1-12.
16. Cf. Matt. 23:3-23; Mark 7:10-13.
17. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra, IV: AAS 53
(1961), pp. 456-457; cf. I: AAS loc. cit., pp. 407, 410411.
18. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter III, n. 28: AAS 57
(1965), p. 35.
19. Ibid., n. 28: AAS loc. cit. pp. 35-36.
20. Cf. St. Ambrose, De virginitate, Chapter VIII, n. 48: ML 16, 278.
21. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, n. 15: AAS 57
(1965),p. 20.
22. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, n. 13: AAS 57
(1965), n. 17.
23. Cf. Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphene, Chapter 110; MG 6, 729 (ed.
Otto), 1897, pp. 391-393: ". . . but the greater the number of
persecutions which are inflicted upon us, so much the greater the number
of other men who become devout believers through the name of Jesus." Cf.
Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter L, 13: "Every time you mow us down
like grass, we increase in number: the blood of Christians is a seed!"
Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, no. 9: AAS 57
(1965), p. 14.
24. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter II, n. 15: AAS 57
(1965), o. 20.
25. Cf. Paul VI, address given on Feb. 3, 1965.
PART II CHAPTER 1
1. Cf. St. Augustine, De Bene coniugali PL 40, 375-376 and 394, St.
Thomas, Summa Theologica, Suppl. Quaest. 49, art. 3 ad 1, Decretum pro
Armenis: Denz.-Schoen. 1327; Pius XI, encyclical letter Casti Connubii:
AAS 22 (1930, pp. 547-548; Denz.Schoen. 3703-3714.
2. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Casti Connubii: AAS 22 (1930), pp.
546-547- Denz.-Schoen. 3706.
3. Cf. Osee 2, Jer. 3:6-13- Ezech. 16 and 23, Is. 54.
4. Cf. Matt. 9:15, Mark 2:19-20- Luke 5:34-35; John 3:29; Cf. also 2
Cor. 11:2- Eph. 5:27; Apoc. 19:7-8; 21:2 and 9.
5. Cf. Eph. 5:25.
6. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: AAS
57 (1965), pp. 15-16; 40-41; 47.
7. Pius XI, encyclical letter Casti Connubii: AAS 22 ( 1930) P. 583.
8. Cf. 1 Tim. 5:3.
9. Cf . Eph. 5: 32.
10. Cf. Gen. 2:22-24, Prov. 5:15-20, 31:10-31, Tob. 8:4-8 Cant. 1:2-3;
1:16; 4:16-5, 1; 7:8-14; 1 Cor. 7:3-6; Eph. 5:25-33.
11. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Casti Connubii: AAS 22 (1930), P. 547
and 548; Denz.-Schoen. 3707.
12. Cf. 1 Cor. 7:5.
13. Cf. Pius XII, Address Tra le visite, Jan. 20, 1958: AAS 50 (1958),
P. 91.
14. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Casti Connubii: AAS 22 ( 1930): Denz-
Schoen. 3716-3718; Pius XII, Allocutio Conventui Unionis Italicae inter
Obstetrices, Oct. 29, 1951: AAS 43 (1951), PP. 835-854, Paul VI, address
to a group of cardinals, June 23 1964: AAS 56 (1964), PP. 581-589.
Certain questions which need further and more careful investigation have
been handed over, at the command of the Supreme Pontiff, to a commission
for the study of population, family, and births, in order that, after it
fulfills its function, the Supreme Pontiff may pass judgment. With the
doctrine of the magisterium in this state, this holy synod does not
intend to propose immediately concrete solutions.
15. Cf. Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5.
16. Cf. Sacramentarium Gregorianum: PL 78, 262.
17. Cf. Rom. 5:15 and 18; 6:5-11; Gal. 2:20.
18. Cf. Eph. 5:25-27.
CHAPTER 2
1. Cf. Introductory statement of this constitution, n. 4 ff.
2. Cf. COl. 3:2.
3. Cf. Gen. 1:28.
4. Cf. Prov. 8:30-31.
5. Cf. St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses. III, 11, 8 (ed. Sagnard, P. 200;
cf. ibid., 16, 6: PP. 290-292; 21, 10-22: PP. 370-372; 22, 3: P. 378;
etc. )
6. Cf. Eph. 1:10.
7. Cf. the words of Pius XI to Father M. D. Roland-Gosselin: "It is
necessary never to lose sight of the fact that the objective of the
Church is to evangelize, not to civilize. If it civilizes, it is for the
sake of evangelization." (Semaines sociales de France, Versailles, 1936,
PP. 461-462).
8. First Vatican Council, Constitution on the Catholic Faith: Denzinger
1795, 1799 (3015, 3019). Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo
Anno: AAS 23 (1931), P. 190.
9. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), P.
260.
10. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), P.
283; Pius XII, radio address, Dec. 24, 1941: AAS 34 (1942), PP. 16-17.
11. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), p.
260.
12. Cf. John XXIII, prayer delivered on Oct. 11, 1962, at the beginning
of the council: AAS 54 (1962), P. 792.
13. Cf. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy n. 123: AAS 56 (1964), P.
131, Paul VI, discourse to the artists of Rome: AAS 56 (1964), PP. 439-
442.
14. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Decree on Priestly Training and
Declaration on Christian Education.
15. Cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter IV, n. 37: AAS 57
(1965) , PP. 42-43.
CHAPTER 3
1. Cf. Pius XII, address on March 23, 1952: AAS 44 (1953), P. 273, John
XXIII, allocution to the Catholic Association of Italian Workers, May 1,
1959: AAS 51 (1959), P. 358.
2. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931), P.
190 ff, Pius XII, address of March 23, 1952: AAS 44 (1952), P. 276 ff;
John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), P. 450;
Vatican Council II, Decree on the Media of Social Communication, Chapter
I, n. 6 AAS 56 (1964), P. 147.
3. Cf. Matt. 16:26, Luke 16:1-31, Col. 3:17.
4. Cf. Leo XIII, encyclical letter Libertas, in Acta Leonis XIII, t.
VIII, p. 220 ff; Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23
(1931), P. 191 ff; Pius XI, encyclical letter Divini Redemptoris: AAS 39
(1937), P. 65 ff; Pius XII, Nuntius natalicius 1941: AAS 34 (1942), P.
10 ff: John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961),
PP. 401-464.
5. In reference to agricultural problems cf. especially John XXIII,
encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), P. 341 ff.
6. Cf. Leo XIII, encyclical letter Rerum Novarum: AAS 23 (1890-91), P.
649, P. 662, Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23
(1931), PP. 200-201, PiUS XI, encyclical letter Divini Redemptoris: AAS
29 (1937), p. 92; Pius XII, radio address on Christmas Eve, 1942: AAS 35
(1943) p. 20; Pius XII, allocution of June 13, 1943: AAS 35 (1943), p.
172; Pius XII, radio address to the workers of Spain, March 11, 1951:
AAS 43 (1951), p. 215; John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra:
AAS 53 (1961), p. 419.
7. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961),
pp. 408, 424, 427; however, the word "curatione" has been taken from the
Latin text of the encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931) p.
199. Under the aspect of the evolution of the question cf. also: Pius
XII, allocution of June 3, 1950: AAS 42 (1950) pp. 485488; Paul VI,
allocution of June 8, 1964: AAS 56 (1964), pp. 573-579.
8. Cf. Pius XII, encyclical Sertum Laetitiae: AAS 31 ( 1939), p. 642;
John XXIII, consistorial allocution: AAS 52 (1960), pp. 5-11; John
XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), p. 411.
9. Cf. St. Thomas, Summa Theologica: II-II, q. 32, a. 5 ad 2; Ibid. q.
66, a. 2: cf. explanation in Leo XIII, encyclical letter Rerum Novarum:
AAS 23 (1890-91) p. 651; cf. also Pius XII allocution of June 1, 1941:
AAS 33 (1941), p. 199; Pius XII, birthday radio address 1954: AAS 47
(1955), p. 27.
10. Cf. St. Basil, Hom. in illud Lucae "Destruam horrea mea," n. 2 (PG
31, 263); Lactantius, Divinarum institutionum, lib. V. on justice (PL 6,
565 B); St. Augustine, In Ioann. Ev. tr. 50, n. 6 (PL 35, 1760); St.
Augustine, Enarratio in Ps. CXLVII, 12 (PL 37, 192); St. Gregory the
Great, Homiliae in Ev., hom. 20 (PL 76,1165); St. Gregory the Great,
Regulae Pastoralis liber, pars III, c. 21 (PL 77, 87); St. Bonaventure,
In III Sent. d. 33, dub. 1 (ed Quacracchi, III, 728), St. Bonaventure,
In IV Sent. d. 15 p. II, a. 2 q. 1 (ed. cit. IV, 371 b )- q. de
superfluo (ms. Assisi, Bibl. Comun. 186, ff. 112a-113a); St. Albert the
Great, In III Sent., d. 33, a.3, sol. 1 (ed. Borgnet XXVIII, 611); Id.
In IV Sent. d. 15, a. 16 (ed. cit. XXIX, 494-497). As for the
determination of what is superfluous in our day and age, cf. John XXIII,
radio-television message of Sept. 11, 1962: AAS 54 (1962) p. 682: "The
obligation of every man, the urgent obligation of the Christian man, is
to reckon what is superfluous by the measure of the needs of others, and
to see to it that the administration and the distribution of created
goods serve the common good."
11. In that case, the old principle holds true: "In extreme necessity
all goods are common, that is, all goods are to be shared." On the other
hand, for the order, extension, and manner by which the principle is
applied in the proposed text, besides the modern authors: cf. St.
Thomas, Summa Theologica II-II, q. 66, a. 7. Obviously, for the correct
application of the principle, all the conditions that are morally
required must be met.
12. Cf. Gratiam, Decretum, C. 21, dist. LXXXVI (ed. Friedberg I, 302).
This axiom is also found already in PL 54, 591 A (cf. in Antonianum 27
(1952) 349-366).
13. Cf. Leo XIII, encyclical letter Rerum Novarum: AAS 23 (1890-91) pp.
643-646, Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931) p.
191; Pius XII, radio message of June 1, 1941: AAS 33 (1941), p. 199;
Pius XII, radio message on Christmas Eve 1942: AAS 35 (1943), p. 17;
Pius XII, radio message of Sept. 1, 1944: AAS 36 (1944) p. 253 John
XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961j pp. 428-429.
14. Cf. Pius XI, encyclical letter Quadragesimo Anno: AAS 23 (1931) p.
214; John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), p.
429.
15. Cf. Pius XII, radio message of Pentecost 1941: AAS 44 (1941) p. 199,
John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961) p. 430.
16. For the right use of goods according to the doctrine of the New
Testament, cf. Luke 3:11; 10:30 ff; 11:41; 1 Pet. 5:3; Mark 8:36; 12:39-
41; Jas. 5:1-6; 1 Tim. 6:8; Eph. 4:28; 2 Cor. 8:13; 1 John 3:17 ff.
CHAPTER 4
1. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961),
p. 417.
2. Cf. John XXIII, ibid.
3. Cf. Rom. 13:1-5.
4. Cf. Rom. 13:5.
5. Cf. Pius XII, radio message, Dec. 24, 1942: AAS 35 (1943), pp. 9-24,
Dec. 24, 1944: AAS 37 (1945), pp. 11-17; John XXIII, encyclical letter
Pacem In Terris: AAS 55 (1963), pp. 263, 271, 277 and 278.
6. Cf. Pius XII, radio message of June 7, 1941: AAS 33 (1941),
p. 200: John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem In Terris: 1.c., p. 273 and
274.
7. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961),
p. 416.
8. Pius XI, allocution "Ai dirigenti della Federazione Universitaria
Cattolica". Discorsi di Pio XI (ed. Bertetto), Turin, vol. 1 (1960), P.
743.
9. Cf. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, n.
13: AAS 57 (1965), P. 17.
10. Cf. Luke 2:14.
CHAPTER 5
1. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:
AAS 55 (1963), P. 291: "Therefore in this age of ours which prides
itself on its atomic power, it is irrational to believe that war is
still an apt means of vindicating violated rights."
2. Cf. Pius XII, allocution of Sept. 30, 1954: AAS 46 (1954), P. 589;
radio message of Dec. 24, 1954: AAS 47 (1955), PP. 15 ff; John XXIII,
encyclical letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), PP. 286-291; Paul VI,
allocution to the United Nations, Oct. 4, 1965.
3. Cf. John XXIII, encyclical letter Pacem in Terris, where reduction of
arms is mentioned: AAS 55 (1963), P. 287.
4. Cf. 2 Cor. 2:6.
 
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