Pope John Paul II was preparing encyclical on charity and globalization

Vatican City, Apr 10, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In the months before his death, Pope John Paul II had been preparing an encyclical on charity as a response to the phenomenon of globalization, Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences, told CNA.

The Argentinean archbishop, who was commissioned by the Pope to consolidate a specific branch of the Pontifical Academy dealing with social sciences, told CNA that the subject of globalization was a social issue of particular concern to the late Pontiff.

“The Holy Father considered globalization to be an irreversible fact, and he was moderately optimistic about its reach,” the prelate said.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that John Paul II was deeply concerned about the inequalities that are liable to occur if human liberty is not used correctly to fix the gap between rich and poor and to attain similar levels of development, wellbeing and justice in the world.

“The Pope was working on this in an encyclical on charity, as was reported at one time,” Archbishop Sanchez Sorondo said.  “He was convinced that Christian charity, in its fullest expression, was the answer to the possible voids left by globalization,” he added.