At long last!

Caritas in veritate, the third Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, has finally been released this morning.

I have only been able to read the first three pages so far today, but I already like it very much. Consider these little gems:

"Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. John 8:22)" (1).

"All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never
abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person" (1).

"Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love" (3).

"A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance" (4).

In my free moments this morning I will be happily reading this encyclical. After Mass this morning I worked on the high school Mass schedule for the coming year and in an hour I will have lunch with a friend. I've been invited to the lake this afternoon - an invitation that I am happy to accept - and will then go to soccer practice. Dinner will be had at Buffalo Wild Wings. After that, it's back the encyclical.

Thank you, Holy Father, for this timely treasure!

Good news

Tuesday morning will see the publication of Pope Benedict XVI's third encyclical letter, Caritas in veritate. (There is still some question as to whether the English title will be translated as Love in Truth or as Charity in Truth. I prefer the latter.)

For those like myself who prefer something more than a simple print out of the text (nevertheless, you can be certain I will print a copy as soon as it is available), Ignatius Press will publish the encyclical in three different formats. You can pre-order the hard copy now.

The encyclical cometh

The long-awaited third encyclical letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, titled Caritas in veritate (Love in Truth), will be released on Tuesday, 7 July 2009:

VATICAN CITY, 1 JUL 2009 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a
.m. on Tuesday 7 July a press conference will be held to present Benedict XVI's
new Encyclical "Caritas in veritate".

Participating in the conference will be: Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", and Stefano Zamagni, professor of political economy at the University of Bologna, Italy and consultor of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

What's this?

Rocco's been on holiday for the last couple of weeks but now that he's back he's been busy and he's drummed up a special little find that I somehow missed.

Apparently, the third encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, titled Caritas in veritate (Love in Truth) will be released the last day of this month. Let's hope so!

Ignatius Press, my favorite publisher, already has a page dedicated to the new encyclical. The product description says:

Pope Benedict’s third encyclical, Love in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), applies the themes of his first two encyclicals —love and hope (God Is Love, Saved in Hope) — to the world’s major social issues. Drawing on moral truths open, in principle, to everyone (the natural law) as well as on the teachings of the gospel (revelation), Pope Benedict addresses Catholics and non-Catholics alike, challenging us all to recognize and then to confront the social evils of our day.

The first part of the encyclical examines the dynamic teaching of Benedict’s predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Both men contributed greatly to the body of doctrine known as “Catholic social teaching”. Both men challenged the simplistic division of political perspectives into “conservative” and “liberal”, and “right” and “left”. Both men were convinced that the natural moral law and the teaching of the Gospel were indispensable for a world in desperate search of hope and meaning.

In the second part Benedict surveys the social issues that confront the human race today—assaults on the dignity of the human person such as the attack on human life, poverty, issues of war and peace, terrorism, globalization, and environmental concerns. Benedict provides sound moral principles to address these social and economic problems, and to promote a culture of life and genuine peace.

In this outstanding work, Pope Benedict shows us why so many observers regard him as the world’s leading moral voice, as well as one of the most insightful and profound social/political thinkers of our day.

I guess it's time to get back to my posts commenting on Spe salvi.