POPE JOHN PAUL II
CENTESIMUS ANNUS
ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II ON THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF RERUM NOVARUM
Venerable Brothers, Beloved Sons and Daughters, Health and the Apostolic
Blessing!
1. The Centenary of the promulgation of the encyclical which begins with
the words "Rerum Novarum,"[1] by my predecessor of venerable memory
Pope
Leo XIII, is an occasion of great importance for the present history of
the Church and for my own pontificate. It is an encyclical that has the
distinction of having been commemorated by solemn papal documents from
its fortieth anniversary to its ninetieth. It may be said that its path
through history has been marked by other documents which paid tribute to
it and applied it to the circumstances of the day.[2]
In doing likewise for the hundredth anniversary, in response to requests
from many bishops, Church institutions, and study centers, as well as
business leaders and workers, both individually and as members of
associations, I wish first and foremost to satisfy the debt of gratitude
which the whole Church owes to this great Pope and his "immortal
document."[3] I also mean to show that the vital energies rising from
that root have not been spent with the passing of the years, but rather
have increased even more. This is evident from the various initiatives
which have preceded, and which are to accompany and follow the
celebration, initiatives promoted by episcopal conferences, by
international agencies, universities and academic institutes, by
professional associations and by other institutions and individuals in
many parts of the world.
2. The present encyclical is part of these celebrations, which are meant
to thank God--the origin of "every good endowment and every perfect gift"
(Jan 1:17)--for having used a document published a century ago by the See
of Peter to achieve so much good and to radiate so much light in the
Church and in the world. Although the commemoration at hand is meant to
honor Rerum Novarum, it also honors those encyclicals and other
documents
of my predecessors which have helped to make Pope Leo's encyclical
present and alive in history, thus constituting what would come to be
called the Church's "social doctrine," "social teaching" or even "social
magisterium."
The validity of this teaching has already been pointed out in two
encyclicals published during my pontificate: Laborem Exercens on human
work, and Sollicitudo Rei Socialis on current problems regarding the
development of individuals and peoples.[4]
3. I now wish to propose a "rereading" of Pope Leo's encyclical by
issuing an invitation to "look back" at the text itself in order to
discover anew the richness of the fundamental principles which it
formulated for dealing with the question of the condition of workers. But
this is also an invitation to "look around" at the "new things" which
surround us and in which we find ourselves caught up, very different from
the "new things" which characterized the final decade of the last
century. Finally, it is an invitation to "look to the future" at a time
when we can already glimpse the third millennium of the Christian era, so
filled with uncertainties but also with promises--uncertainties and
promises which appeal to our imagination and creativity, and which
reawaken our responsibility, as disciples of the "one teacher" (cf. Mt
23:8), to show the way, to proclaim the truth and to communicate the life
which is Christ (cf. Jn 14:6).
A rereading of this kind will not only confirm the permanent value of
such teaching, but will also manifest the true meaning of the Church's
Tradition which, being ever living and vital, builds upon the foundation
laid by our fathers in the faith, and particularly upon what "the
Apostles passed down to the Church"[5] in the name of Jesus Christ, who
is her irreplaceable foundation (cf. 1 Cor 3:11).
It was out of an awareness of his mission as the successor of Peter that
Pope Leo XIII proposed to speak out, and Peter's successor today is moved
by that same awareness. Like Pope Leo and the popes before and after
him,
I take my inspiration from the Gospel image of "the scribe who has been
trained for the kingdom of heaven," whom the Lord compares to "a
householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old"
(Mt 13:52). The treasure is the great outpouring of the Church's
Tradition, which contains "what is old"--received and passed on from the
very beginning--and which enables us to interpret the "new things" in the
midst of which the life of the Church and the world unfolds.
Among the things which become "old" as a result of being incorporated
into Tradition, and which offer opportunities and material for enriching
both Tradition and the life of faith, there is the fruitful activity of
many millions of people, who, spurred on by the social Magisterium, have
sought to make that teaching the inspiration for their involvement in the
world. Acting either as individuals or joined together in various groups,
associations and organizations, these people represent a great movement
for the defense of the human person and the safeguarding of human
dignity. Amid changing historical circumstances, this movement has
contributed to the building up of a more just society or at least to the
curbing of injustice.
The present encyclical seeks to show the fruitfulness of the principles
enunciated by Leo XIII, which belong to the Church's doctrinal patrimony
and, as such, involve the exercise of her teaching authority. But
pastoral solicitude also prompts me to propose an analysis of some events
of recent history. It goes without saying that part of the responsibility
of pastors is to give careful consideration to current events in order to
discern the new requirements of evangelization. However, such an analysis
is not meant to pass definitive judgments, since this does not fall per
se within the Magisterium's specific domain.
4. Towards the end of the last century the Church found herself facing an
historical process which had already been taking place for some time, but
which was by then reaching a critical point. The determining factor in
this process was a combination of radical changes which had taken place
in the political, economic and social fields, and in the areas of science
and technology, to say nothing of the wide influence of the prevailing
ideologies. In the sphere of politics, the result of these changes was a
new conception of society and of the State, and consequently of authority
itself A traditional society was passing away and another was beginning
to be formed--one which brought the hope of new freedoms but also the
threat of new forms of injustice and servitude.
In the sphere of economics, in which scientific discoveries and their
practical application come together, new structures for the production of
consumer goods had progressively taken shape. A new form of property
had
appeared--capital; and a new form of labor--labor for wages,
characterized by high rates of production which lacked due regard for
sex, age or family situation, and were determined solely by efficiency,
with a view to increasing profits.
In this way labor became a commodity to be freely bought and sold on the
market, its price determined by the law of supply and demand, without
taking into account the bare minimum required for the support of the
individual and his family. Moreover, the worker was not even sure of
being able to sell "his own commodity," continually threatened as he was
by unemployment, which, in the absence of any kind of social security,
meant the specter of death by starvation.
The result of this transformation was a society "divided into two
classes, separated by a deep chasm."[6] This situation was linked to the
marked change taking place in the political order already mentioned. Thus
the prevailing political theory of the time sought to promote total
economic freedom by appropriate laws, or, conversely, by a deliberate
lack of any intervention. At the same time, another conception of
property and economic life was beginning to appear in an organized and
often violent form, one which implied a new political and social
structure.
At the height of this clash, when people finally began to realize fully
the very grave injustice of social realities in many places and the
danger of a revolution fanned by ideals which were then called
"socialist," Pope Leo XIII intervened with a document which dealt in a
systematic way with the "condition of the workers." The encyclical had
been preceded by others devoted to teachings of a political character;
still others would appear later.[7] Here, particular mention must be made
of the encyclical Libertas Praestantissimum, which called attention to
the essential bond between human freedom and truth, so that freedom
which
refused to be bound to the truth would fall into arbitrariness and end up
submitting itself ...
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