Benedict XVI may issue social encyclical on June 29

Rome, Italy, Apr 24, 2009 / 11:37 am MT (CNA).- The Italian media published statements Thursday by the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino, who said Pope Benedict XVI would publish his third encyclical—this time on social issues—on June 29.

“I believe June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, will be the definitive date” for the publication of the document, the cardinal said during a congress on globalization at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

According to Vatican sources, the encyclical’s title could be “Caritas in veritatis.” It will focus on social changes that have occurred in the world since Paul VI’s encyclical “Populorum Progressio” and since the advent of globalization.

Benedict XVI’s first two encyclicals were “Deus caritas est,” published in 2006, and “Spe salvi,” published in 2007.