Charity in Truth is an Encyclical Letter from Pope Benedict 16. In Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict, who was so prolific an author that he will probably become a doctor of the church, says that, “Charity lies at the heart of the church’s social doctrine. This Papal document will only apply to the two-plus billion Catholics in the world, but they should all read what the Pope has to say. Before he became Pope Benedict 16, he was Josef Ratzinger, a cardinal from Germany. Have you read this Encyclical?
Summary of Charity and Truth
Charity in Truth has 6 chapters, an Introduction, and a conclusion. The first chapter of the Encyclical focuses on Pope Paul VI’s “Populorum Progressio,” which “underlined the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice. … The Christian faith does not rely on privilege or positions of power, … but only on Christ.” Pope Paul VI “pointed out that the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order.” They lie above all in the will, in the mind and, even more so, in “the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples.”
Chapter three of the Charity in Truth is entitled “Fraternity, Economic Development and Civil Society,” praises the “experience of gift,” not usually recognized, “because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life.” Yet development, “if it is to be authentically human, needs to make room for the principle of gratuitousness.” As for the logic of the market, it “needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility.”
The fourth chapter of the Encyclical is on “The Development of People, Rights and Duties. The Environment.” Governments and international organizations, says Benedict, cannot “lose sight of the objectivity and ‘inviolability’ of rights.” In this context, the Pope also dedicates attention to “the problems associated with population growth”
“The Co-operation of the Human Family” is the title and focus of chapter five of Charity in Truth, and Benedict highlights how “the development of peoples depends, above all, on a recognition that the human race is a single family. Hence, Christianity can offer its contribution to development only if God has a place in the public realm.”
The sixth and final chapter of Charity in Truth is titled “The Development of Peoples and Technology.” Pope Benedict warns against the “Promethean presumption” of humanity thinking, “it can re-create itself through the ‘wonders’ of technology”. Technology, he says, cannot have “absolute freedom.
The Writings of Pope Benedict 16
Benedict 16, nee John Cardinal Ratzinger, was a prolific author. He wrote 61 books and 3 encyclicals as Pope, Charity in Truth, God is Love, In hope we are Saved. Here is a listing of his many books.
Theological Highlights of Vatican II; Introduction to Christianity; Faith and Future. Chicago; The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God; Daughter Zion: Meditations on the Church’s Marian Belief; Dogma and Preaching; Principles of Christian Morality; Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy; The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church; Seek That Which Is Above: Meditations through the Year; Behold the Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology;
The Blessing of Christmas: Meditations for the Season; Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology; Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life; Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Essays in Ecclesiology; Ministers of Your Joy: Scriptural Meditations on Priestly Spirituality; The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure; To Look on Christ: Exercises in Faith, Hope, and Love; A Turning Point for Europe?; The Nature and Mission of Theology: Essays to Orient Theology in Today’s Debates;
In the Beginning…: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall; Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today; A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ in Liturgy Today; Salt of the Earth: The Church at the End of the Millennium; Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977; Many Religions, One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World; The Spirit of the Liturgy; God and the World; God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life; Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions; Introduction to Christianity (revised ed.);
Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion; Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church; Mary: The Church at the Source; Way of the Cross; On the Way to Jesus Christ; Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures; Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief; Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts; God’s Revolution: Pope Benedict XVI’s Cologne Talks; Values in a Time of Upheaval; God Is Love: Deus Caritas Est; What It Means to Be a Christian;
Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam; On Conscience; Europe: Today and Tomorrow; New Outpourings of the Spirit; Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church; God’s Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office; Saved in Hope: Spe Salvi; The Fathers; Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine; Charity in Truth: Caritas in Veritate; Saint Paul;
The Joy of Knowing Christ: Meditations on the Gospels; Light of the World: The Pope, The Church, and the Signs of the Times.
The Fathers, Volume II: The Apostles; The Virtues; Great Teachers; Holiness Is Always in Season; Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week;
Holy Women; Doctors of the Church; Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives; The Faith. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor;
Prayer. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor; From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church; and the appropriately titled What Is Christianity? The Last Writings.
Conclusion
Anytime a Pope writes an encyclical, all Catholics should read it. This one in well-written by an experienced author. This book should only apply to Catholics but will likely be a curiosity to others. It is short, only 6 chapters and 93 pages. It is also very readable. The summary of this entire work is that charity lies at the heart of the church.
