Soclicitudo Rei Socialis Document everyday Language

The following text is a translation of Pope John Paul II's pastoral letter into everyday language. This is not the official text. When citing the document, you are encouraged to use the official text.

Our thanks to Orbis Books for permission to post this translation here. This text is taken from a book by Joseph Donders entitled John Paul II: The Encyclicals in Everyday Language.

December 30, 1987

Updating and extending Pope Paul VI's On the Development of Peoples (1967) this encyclical stresses that the inequalities between the rich and the poor in the North and the South are growing, though the goods in this world are created and meant for everybody. Greed, power, and the consequent "structures of sin" in the East and the West have to be replaced by solidarity and by respect not only for each human person, but also for our environment. The church's aim is a commitment to justice and a preferential love for the poor on a national as well as international scale.

I. Introduction

1. The constant concern of the church
for the development of humanity and earthly society
has expressed itself in different ways.
Recent popes have written letters about these issues,
starting with the statement by Pope Leo XIII
On the Condition of Workers in 1891.
Since then the church has continued
to read and interpret current events
in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit.
A whole body of social teaching developed in this way.

2. This present letter to you
is written to mark the twentieth anniversary
of a great and lasting contribution to this teaching,
the letter of Pope Paul VI On the Development of Peoples,
published March 26, 1967.

3. We write this letter to you
not only to commemorate and honor
Paul VI and his insights,
but also to update and extend them.

4. Today time passes more quickly
because of the developments all around us.
During the last twenty years,
the structure of the world
has been changing notably,
presenting totally new features.
So much so that on the eve of the year 2000
a widespread expectancy has been growing,
like a new "Advent."

II. On the Development of Peoples

5. The letter of Pope Paul VI
On the Development of Peoples
struck many as original.

6. Yet it should be seen
as a response to the declarations
of the Second Vatican Council,
which had ended on December 8, 1965.
That Council stated in a document,
The Church in the Modern World,
that the joys and the hopes,
the griefs and anxieties,
the poverty and underdevelopment
in which millions of human beings live,
are the joys and hopes,
the griefs and anxieties
of the followers of Christ.

7. In his letter On the Development of Peoples
Paul VI stressed that we in the church should be aware
of what is happening around us;
that we should interpret those signs of the times
in the light of the Gospel;
that we should be aware
of the service we are supposed to render to humanity,
and especially to the poor;
that we should be conscious
of the terrible inequalities
between the different peoples in the world;
that we should not forget
that the goods in this world
were created and meant for everybody;
that we should cherish the culture and technology
that contribute to human liberation,
recognizing their limits;
and that we should insist
that the more developed nations
should help the developing countries.

8. This approach was new for three reasons.
First: the term "development"
comes from the vocabulary
of the social and economic sciences.
Pope Paul VI, however, emphasized
the ethical and cultural character
of the problems connected with development
and the need of the church's intervention
offering principles, norms, and directives,
applying the Gospel.

9. A second newness is the wider outlook.
It is the first time that the "social question"
is seen in a worldwide, global dimension.
Those problems did not lose their national or local importance,
but they should no longer be seen
as isolated and disconnected cases.
The developing nations are more numerous
than the developed nations.
There is an unequal distribution of goods,
neither through the fault of the poor,
nor through a sort of inevitability.
Christians, especially political leaders
and citizens of rich countries,
must be conscious of this fact
and take it into consideration
in their personal decisions
and governmental decisions.
This moral obligation
is the duty of solidarity.
Development should be defined
taking into account our universal interdependence.
Development cannot consist
in the simple accumulation of wealth
and the greater availability of goods and services
at the expense of the development of the masses.

10. Third, we see the originality of
On the Development of Peoples
best in its best-remembered sentence
—its summary and its historic label:
"Development is the new name for peace."
All over the world victims of injustice
are tempted to respond with violence,
at those who first treated them with violence,
as happens at the beginning
of so many wars and conflicts.
How can one justify the fact
that huge sums of money,
which could and should be spent
on the development of the destitute,
are used for the enrichment of some
or to stockpile weapons?
If development is the new name for peace,
war and preparations for war
are the major enemy
of the healthy development of peoples.
If we take the common good of all humanity
as our norm,
—their "spiritual and human development"—
instead of individual greed,
peace would be possible.

III. Survey of the Contemporary World

11. Though the publication
of the Development of Peoples
was acclaimed for its novelty twenty years ago,
the social conditions in which we live
are no longer the same.
So let us have a look
at the world as it is now.

12. The first fact to note is
that the optimistic hopes of development at that time
appear far from realized.
This in spite of some real individual
and combined national efforts
promoted by the United Nations Organization.

13. Certain results were achieved,
but no one can deny
that the present situation is negative.
Though it would suffice to face squarely
the hundreds of millions of people
whose situation got worse,
let us give some indicators
of the sad state of our world.

14. First, there is the persistent and widening gap
between the more developed North
and the developing South—
though there are some pockets
of appalling poverty in the North
and a good number
who are scandalously rich in the South.
The major part of humanity, living in the South,
lag far behind in food, availability of drinking water,
hygiene, health, and housing,
working conditions (especially for women),
and life expectancy.
As the rate of progress in the North
is more rapid than that in the South
the underdeveloped nations find themselves
falling behind faster and faster.
No wonder that we speak about different worlds
in our one world:
the First World, the Second World,
the Third World, and sometimes even the Fourth World.
These names are a sign
that things do not go well,
that our unity is compromised.
We in the church
—believing in the unity of the human race—
cannot remain indifferent to this situation.

15. There are other,
even more disturbing evils
due to underdevelopment:
lack of education, illiteracy,
the impossibility of a higher education,
inability to share in the building of one's nation,
various forms of exploitation,
economic, social, political and even religious oppression
of the individual's rights,
and discrimination, of which the meanest is racism.
Another form of oppression
is the denial of the right
to economic initiative.
Experience shows
that the denial of this right
diminishes and destroys
the spirit of resourcefulness.
Everyone is leveled down
to a false and unwholesome equality,
leading to passivity, dependence,
and submission to an all-embracing bureaucracy
that is bad for all.
Not only Third World individuals
but even Third World nations
are sometimes deprived of the right
to determine their own economic
political, social, and cultural life.
Something else should be noted here.
No one political party in a nation
has the right to become the sole leader,
a situation that always leads to a dictatorship
where persons do not count,
in spite of all that is said to the contrary.
Poverty is not only
a question of having no material goods.
Is the lack of human rights
not also a form of poverty?
Maybe we have been thinking too much
of poverty only as something economic.

16. Responsibility for the deterioration
from bad to worse in so many underdeveloped regions
rests on both the developing nations,
especially on those holding economic and political power,
and on the more developed nations,

which have not made a sufficiently great effort.
One must denounce
the economic, financial, and social
mechanisms and structures
that are manipulated
by the rich and powerful
for their own benefit at the expense of the poor.

17. The world is now so interdependent
that either all the nations of the world
participate in a just way,
or it will not be true development.
One of the indicators of this lack of development
is homelessness.
The housing crisis afflicts developing nations
but also developed nations.

18. Another common indicator
of this lack of development
is unemployment.
The number of unemployed in the developed world
in 1987 was 8 percent, or 29 million men and women.
Unemployment in the developing nations
is much greater.

19. A third indicator is the international debt.
The hope had been to invest loans in development,
but now the debtor nations find themselves in a position
of exporting their capital to service their loans,
thus crunching their own people's meager standard of living.
The borrowed money became counterproductive.

20. One of the reasons for the delay
in the process of development
is the division of the world into two blocs,
the East and the West—
the capitalistic West and the communist East.
Each bloc has its own ideology,
its own propaganda and indoctrination.
The opposition between the two
is also a military one.
This tension, which sometimes has taken
the form of "cold war"
and at other times has led to wars "by proxy,"
has dominated the period after the Second World War.
And though recently some progress has been made
—agreeing on the destruction of one type of nuclear arms—
the threat remains.

21. Neither the East's nor the West's
ideas of development are perfect.
Both systems need the correction
of the church's social teaching.
Many countries that recently have become independent
are aware that they are involved
in the struggle between those two blocs.
This danger made some of them organize themselves
into the International Movement for Non-Aligned Nations.

22. They were becoming mere cogs
on the gigantic wheel of one of the two blocs.
Besides, both blocs got so concerned about their security
that astronomical amounts of money were spent on weapons,
instead of on development of the poorer nations.

23. It is urgent that the opposition
between the East and the West
be overcome and that their leadership
be willing to contribute to the common good.

24. The arms race, the production of arms,
the stockpiling of nuclear weapons, and the arms trade
are moral distortions in a world crying for justice.
They lead us more quickly to death
than to life and development.
The results of all this are millions of refugees
and many acts of terrorism.

25. Something must be said
about the population growth.
In the South there is the problem of very high birth rates,
while in the North the birth rate has dropped.
Attempts to solve these population problems
must respect the freedom of choice
and the difference in cultures.
It is wrong for richer nations
to economically force the poorer nations
to restrict their birth rate.

26. This survey of the world in which we live
would be incomplete if we did not mention
its positive points.
An ever increasing number of people are aware
of their human dignity and rights.
The Declaration of Human Rights
played a great role in this growing concern
not only for the rights of individuals
but also of nations and peoples,
each with its own culture and identity.
The conviction is growing that being radically interdependent
we have a common destiny and are in need of solidarity.
The desire for peace is intensifying.
We understand better
that peace is for all or for none.
We are more aware of the limits of our resources,
and of the need to respect nature.
More and more leaders are committed
to try to heal the world's ills.
Our great international and regional organizations
are a great help in all this.
Some Third World countries
have succeeded in reaching
a certain self-sufficiency and development.

IV. Authentic Human Development

27. Development is not an easy, automatic,
and limitless process.
The old and optimistic dream
of a spontaneous and continuous progress
was shattered by what happened to us during this century.

28. Getting richer
or technologically better equipped
does not make for happiness.
Unless these developments are guided
by moral understanding
and the true good of the human race,
they easily become oppressive.
Next to the underdevelopment of the many,
there is a superdevelopment for the few,
Superdevelopment leads to a throwaway society
and to enormous waste.
Excessive access to all kinds of things,
—sometimes called consumerism—
enslaves people and does not make them happy.
The more one possesses,
the more one wants,
while the deeper human hopes
remain unsatisfied and even stifled.
"Having" more things
does not necessarily mean 'being"
more or being better.
"Having" only helps us
when it contributes
to a more complete "being."
The present picture is
that there are the few who possess much
but who are stunted in "being"
because they want more and more;
and there are the many who having little or nothing
and who do not succeed in realizing
their basic human vocation.

29. Material goods
and the way we are developing the use of them
should be seen as God's gifts to us.
They are meant to bring out in each one of us
the image of God.
We must never lose sight of how we have been created:
from the earth and from the breath of God.
In this way we are related to the rest of creation,
and we are asked to use creation
according to the will of God,
to whom we are related too.
Human beings having a divine likeness
and created from the beginning as a couple
—and therefore social—
are called to immortality.
Our use of creation
and human development in general
should be related to that vocation.

30. Development and growth
belong to humanity's vocation.
The story of humankind in Sacred Scripture
is one of constant achievements.
In his turn Jesus asked us to use our talents
and make them fruitful.
All should work together
for the full development of others:
"development of the whole human being
and of all people."

31. Faith in Christ should guide us
in this task of working together.
Part of God's plan in Christ includes precisely
our personal and common effort
to upraise the human condition
and to overcome all the difficulties
along our way.
Humarity's dream of "unlimited progress"
is validated as we are called
to share in Christ's glory.
Struggling against underdevelopment
and superdevelopment,
our corruptible bodies
will one day put on incorruptibility,
when all valuable human works and actions
will be conserved and redeemed.
No wonder that in the early church
some had an optimistic vision
of human history and human effort.
They believed in the lasting value
of true human accomplishments,
and their contribution to God's kingdom
in Jesus Christ.
From of old the church understood and felt
that it is our task to relieve
the misery of the suffering,
both far and near.
The needs of the poor even outweigh
the "need" for costly decorations, vestments,
and utensils in worship.
It could be obligatory to sell those goods
in order to provide food, drink, clothing, and shelter
for those who lack these things.

32. To commit oneself
to the development of the whole person
and every human being
is an obligation not only for the individual,
but also for societies and nations,
and especially for the Catholic community
and the other Christian churches.
The Catholic Church is eager to collaborate
with those other churches
and other religions.
Collaboration in this development
is a duty for all and toward all,
East, West, North, South.
If people try to achieve it in only one part of the world,
they can do it only at the expense of others,
and their own development will be jeopardized.
This need for development
may not be used to impose on others
one's own way of life or own religious belief.

33. True development must respect and promote
personal, social, economic, and political human rights,
including the rights of nations and of peoples.
Mere economic development
makes the human person prisoner
of economic planning and selfish profit.
If there is no respect
for the moral, cultural, and spiritual dimensions
of the human person
material goods, and technical resources
will prove unsatisfactory and even debasing.
"What, then will anyone gain
by winning the whole world
and forfeiting his life?" (Mt. 16:26).
In every nation and society
this implies and presupposes a lively awareness
of the rights of each and every person,
the right to life at every stage of its existence,
the rights of the family as the basic social community,
justice in labor relations, political rights,
and religious freedom.
On the international level
there must be respect
for the identity of each people,
with its own culture and history.
All have an equal right
to be seated at the common table,
instead of lying outside the door like Lazarus.
True development
must be based on love of God and neighbor.
In the words of Pope Paul VI:
it will be a "civilization of love."

34. We even have to respect
the natural world around us.
We cannot use the different kinds of beings
—animals, plants, minerals—
simply as we wish.
We have to take their nature into account.
We should realize
that our natural resources are limited.
We should be aware of the consequences
of the use of those resources, the pollution of our world,
with its serious consequences for our health.
All these considerations show us again
the moral dimension of these matters.

V. A Theological Reading of Modern Problems

35. The reasons that development does not proceed
are not only economic.
Political motives play their role.
An effective political will is needed.
Sadly, that will has been lacking.
Why was this?
What are the reasons
that people hinder development?
Why are decisions not made to use
the available scientific and technical resources
to help people to develop?

36. A world divided into blocs,
in which instead of solidarity
imperialism and exploitation hold sway,
can only be a world structured in sin.
Those structures of sin
are rooted in sins committed by individual persons,
who introduced these structures
and reenforced them again and again.
One can blame selfishness,
shortsightedness, mistaken political decisions,
and imprudent economic decisions;
at the root of the evils that afflict the world
there is—in one way or another—sin.
God's will, God's plan for humanity,
God's mercy and justice
—expressed in the ten commandments—
are not respected.

37. Among the actions and attitudes opposed to God's will
two are very typical:
greed and the thirst for power.
Not only individuals sin in that way;
so do nations and world-blocs.
That is why we spoke of "structures of sin,"
Hidden behind all kinds of so-called
economic or political considerations,
are real forms of idolatry:
the worship of money, ideology,
class, and technology.
The evil that afflicts the world
is a moral evil.
That it is sin
also indicates what we should do about it,
what path to follow.

38. It is a long and difficult path,
but we have to set out on it.
We have to be converted.
We have to change our spiritual relationship
with self, with neighbor,
with even the remotest human communities,
and with nature itself,
in view of the common good
of the whole individual and of all people.
To use the language of the Bible, we have to be converted.
The growing awareness of our interdependence
among individuals and nations,
the growing concern
for the injustices and violations of human rights
even in far-off countries,
can help in that conversion.
This felt interdependence is a new moral category,
and the response to it is the "virtue" of solidarity.
Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion
or a shallow sadness
but a firm and persevering determination
to commit oneself to the common good.
It is in attitude squarely opposed
to greed and the thirst for power.

39. The exercise of solidarity is valid
when members of each society
recognize others as persons—
the more influential feeling responsible for the weaker,
the weaker doing what they can for the good of all,
and the intermediate groups respecting the interests of the others.
Positive signs in our world
are the growing awareness of the solidarity
of the poor among themselves
and their efforts to support each other,
even to the point of nonviolent demonstrations
to present their needs and rights
to oftentimes corrupt and inefficient authorities.
The same yardstick can be used in international relations.
Interdependence must be transformed into solidarity,
grounded on the principle that
the goods of creation are meant for all.
Avoiding every type of imperialism,
the stronger nations must
feel responsible for the other nations,
based on the equality of all peoples
and with respect for the differences.
Solidarity helps us to see the "other"
as our neighbor, as a helper,
to be made a sharer in the banquet of life
to which all are equally invited by God.
Solidarity is the path to peace
and at the same time to development.
Interdependence demands
the abandonment of blocs,
the sacrifice of all forms of economic,
military, or political imperialism
and the conversion of distrust into collaboration.
The fruit of solidarity is peace.

40. Solidarity is a Christian virtue.
It seeks to go beyond itself
to total gratuity, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
It leads to a new vision of the unity of humankind,
a reflection of God's triune intimate life;
it leads to communion.

VI. Guidelines

41. The church has no technical solutions to offer,
but being an "expert in humanity"
the church has something to say
about the nature, conditions, requirements, and aims
of authentic development
and the obstacles that stand in its way.
The church's social teaching
is not a third way between capitalism and communism.
It is not an ideology.
Its aim is to guide Christians.
It asks for a "commitment to justice."

42. A consistent theme of Catholic social teaching is
the option or love of preference for the poor.
Today, this preference has to be expressed
in worldwide dimensions,
embracing the immense numbers of the hungry,
the needy, the homeless, those without medical care,
and those without hope.
Another characteristic principle of this teaching is
that the goods of the world
are originally meant for all.
The right to private property is valid,
but all private property is under a "social mortgage."

43. Concern for the poor must be translated at all levels
into concrete actions:
—reform of the international trade system
—reform of the world's monetary and financial system
—a more just use of technology exchanges
—a review and updating of the existing international organizations.

44. Above all, development demands
that the needy countries have a spirit of initiative,
favoring the self-affirmation of each citizen
and helping themselves in such areas
as literacy, basic education,
adequate food production,
and reformation of political institutions.

45. The less affluent nations of the same area
should establish forms of cooperation
that will make them less dependent
on more powerful producers.
They should come together in partnership
to be able to accomplish together
what they cannot do on their own.

VII. Conclusion

46. Peoples and individuals aspire to be free,
a noble and legitimate desire.
Human beings are totally free
only when they are completely themselves
in the fulless of their rights and duties.
The main obstacle to that freedom
is sin and the structures produced by sin.
The freedom Jesus gave us
encourages us to become
the servants of all.

47. Even though the world situation looks grim,
there is no reason for despair.
In human beings there exists
a fundamental goodness,
and the history of today
is open to the future of the kingdom of God.
We are all called, indeed obliged,
to face the challenge of the last ten years
of the second millennium.
One may sin by greed and the desire for power,
but one may also sin in these matters
through fear, indecision, and cowardice!
Every individual is called to play his or her part
in this peaceful campaign to secure development in peace.
47I appeal to all
to be convinced of the seriousness of the moment,
to fulfill your commitment by the way you live,
by the use of your resources,
by your civic activity,
by contributing to economic and political decisions,
and by personal involvement
in national and international undertakings.
I address all those baptized,
but likewise the Jewish people,
as well as the Muslims,
and the followers of the world's religions.

48. However imperfect and temporary are all things
that can and ought to be done
in order to make people's lives "more human,"
nothing will be lost or will have been done in vain.
It will all serve for the coming
of the definitive kingdom of God.

49. In these difficult moments in our world,
I entrust to Mary and to her intercession
all that I have written in this letter
and all the efforts being made to contribute
to the true development of peoples.
Her maternal concern
extends to all the personal and social aspects
of people's life on earth.

Father, you have given all peoples one common origin,
and your will is to gather them as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of all with the fire of your love
and the desire to ensure justice for all our brothers and sisters.
By sharing the good things you give us
may we secure justice and equality for every human being,
an end to all division,
and a human society built on love and peace.