Lenten reflections on two powerful encyclicals
As we slow down in our activities this Holy Tuesday, we may start taking time to deepen our faith and strengthen our commitment to the arduous task of bringing about God’s Kingdom in this world.
Indeed, every time we pray to our heavenly Father – in the words Christ himself taught us in the Lord’s Prayer – we ask God: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.”
To grasp what we implore in the most recited prayer of Christians, I suggest browsing through the encyclical of Pope John Paul 11 called Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (The Social Concerns of the Church), and also that of Pope Paul VI known as Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples).
The two papal documents, written two decades apart after the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, offer a lot of insights on global issues in relation to faith and morals, why there are wars and social unrest, and on how people ought to strive for a better world that enables the authentic development of individuals and communities in order to achieve true and lasting peace.
Although Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (SRS) was released in December 1987, and Populorum Progressio (PP) in March
1967, the encyclicals remain relevant today in the 21st century amid challenges on the global economy and ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, among others.
And because the encyclicals are addressed not only to bishops, priests, and the faithful, but also to “all people of good will” and, therefore, to Catholics and noncatholics alike, everyone could partake of the invaluable insights.
SRS calls on everyone to “re ect and actively commit themselves to promoting the true development of peoples,” even going beyond religion in asking everyone to take responsibility for the integral development of all.
“One would hope that also men and women without an explicit faith would be convinced that the obstacles to integral development are not only economic but rest on more profound attitudes which human beings can make into absolute values,” SRS (39) reads. “Thus one would hope that all those who, to some degree or other, are responsible for ensuring a ‘more human life’ for their fellow human beings, whether or not they are inspired by a religious faith, will become fully aware of the urgent need to change the spiritual attitudes which de ne each individual's relationship with self, with neighbor, with even the remotest human communities, and with nature itself.”
In SRS, Pope John Paul II paid tribute to PP and affirmed its theme that appealed to conscience.
“The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with abundance. And the Church, cut to the quick by this cry, asks each and every man to hear his brother's plea and answer it lovingly (PP3),” implored Pope Paul VI.
“No one may appropriate surplus goods solely for his own private use when others lack the bare necessities of life,” PP (23) stressed. It also pointed out: “Genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives re ects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God (PP 86).”
Going back to SRS, here’s a point worth stressing: “Though it be with sorrow, it must be said that just as one may sin through sel shness and the desire for excessive pro t and power, one may also be found wanting with regard to the urgent needs of multitudes of human beings submerged in conditions of underdevelopment, through fear, indecision and, basically, through cowardice (47).”
The encyclicals bring attention to the need for the faithful to go beyond aspiring for personal salvation, but to be also concerned for the welfare and development of others. This is where Church teachings ought to be intensi ed.
In the Philippine context, the two encyclicals could relate to the age-old problem of corruption which continues to defy solution. Our country was reported to be the sixth most corrupt in Asia-paci c, losing ₱700 billion yearly to corruption. The huge sum could be used to address malnutrition and other pressing challenges, yet many Filipinos have come to accept corruption as quite normal.
While our religious piety ought to guide us in our daily lives, some wonder how it is possible for such piety to blend with a seeming tolerance for so much greed and corruption – the main cause of grinding poverty as public funds intended to uplift the plight of the poor are stolen.
The challenge, therefore, is to utilize our being deeply religious to battle the evils plaguing our society, and seek blessings for the entire nation, and not merely for our personal salvation.
Reading and understanding the 22,971-word Sollicitudo Rei Socialis and the 12,818-word Populorum Progressio takes quite an effort. But the essence of the two encyclicals can be found in the hymn, Pananagutan, composed by the late Fr. Eduardo Hontiveros.
“Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay (No one lives)/ para sa sarili lamang (for one’s self only)… Tayong lahat ay may pananagutan sa isa’t-isa (We are all responsible for each other)…” The soul-stirring lyrics ought to inspire us all to be there for others.