Washington D.C., Jul 14, 2009 / 21:49 pm
George Weigel has provided a second reaction to Pope Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical “Caritas In Veritate,” saying the document raises questions about the “moral ecology” of the economy, the continuity of Catholic teaching and the prudential application of Catholic principles.
In his July 7 reaction to the encyclical, published at National Review Online, Weigel claimed to distinguish portions of the encyclical written by the Pope and portions written by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, asserting its style “resembles a duck-billed platypus.”
He revisited the encyclical in a July 13 analysis at National Review Online, where he referred to scholarly debate about whether the Second Vatican Council is an example of “continuity” with the Church’s past or a “rupture.” Similarly, Weigel claims, there is question about whether there are one or two Catholic social doctrine traditions, one stemming from Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum” and another from Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical “Populorum Progressio.”
The latter work, in Weigel’s view, lacks discipline in “closely identifying specific policy recommendations with points of theological principle.” He stressed the importance of distinguishing between “principles of Catholic social doctrine and specific prudential judgments about public policy.” This approach is not “picking and choosing,” he said, but rests on questions of prudence and practicality.