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1. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Barbara E. Wall

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fiftieth anniversary of justice in the world

2. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Thomas Massaro

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Many of the social concerns treated in the document Justice in the World are also addressed in the social teachings of Pope Francis. This is no coincidence, especially given the background and commitments of Francis—an innovative church leader from the periphery of Latin America who has emerged as a powerful voice for global justice. The seeds of faith-based advocacy for a liberative and just economic development, which were planted by the 1971 Synod of Bishops, continue to be cultivated by Francis in both words and deeds of solidarity with the poor. While Justice in the World and the social teachings of Francis display certain differences in focus, rhetoric, and vocabulary, the common message of these two Catholic voices demanding structural reform of the global economy remains striking. Half a century apart as they are, both serve as influential agents of change for church and world.
3. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Martin Owhorchukwu Ejiowhor Orcid-ID

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The statement that “action on behalf of justice” is a “constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel” in the 1971 Synod of Bishops’ Justice in the World (JW) has been widely debated in Catholic social teaching. Popes, beginning with Paul VI, have tactfully, albeit indirectly, responded to it as they reflected on the theme of evangelization. This article traces the history of the magisterium’s reception of JW with special attention to this controversial statement. An analysis of JW in juxtaposition with succeeding papal documents on evangelization reveals that Pope Francis’s culture of encounter introduces a paradigm shift while rehabilitating the original ideas of JW. In conclusion, this article sheds new light on evangelization and the Church’s social mission, wherein both charity and justice are constitutive.
4. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Clemens Sedmak, Orcid-ID Mathias Nebel Orcid-ID

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In this article, the authors articulate the question “From where do we speak?” They explain the status of this question and then discuss the question “From where do the authors of the document Justice in the World speak?” They identify four reference points: a pneumatologic commitment, a perception of injustice, a belief in the Gospel basis of action on behalf of justice, and a recognition of self-involvement. This part of the text has been written by Clemens Sedmak. In the second part, they ask the question: “From where do we speak now?” After a few remarks on the climate crisis and the sexual abuse crisis, they focus on “the wounded sociality” of the present day. They explore the relationship between justice and this wounded sociality, taking the categories of social friendship and fraternity as points of reference (from Pope Francis’s encyclicals Laudato si’ and Fratelli tutti), and enter a conversation with three authors: Michael Sandel, Teresa Godwin Phelps, and Paul Ricoeur. This section has been authored by Mathias Nebel.
5. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Kathleen Bonnette Orcid-ID

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In this essay, the author “scrutiniz[es] the ‘signs of the times’ and seek[s] to detect the meaning of emerging history” to explore the call to conversion issued by the 1971 Synod of Bishops in Justice in the World (JW). In that document, they condemn oppressive systems of domination that hinder authentic human development and urge people toward conversion of the Spirit, which “frees [them] from personal sin and from its consequences in social life.” To determine what it is that people are to convert from, this essay builds on an evolutionary framework—developed through Augustine’s ecology and contemporary scientific theory—and explores how this framework can help limit the pursuit of domination in favor of promoting a more integrated and just world. Doing so contributes to the dialogue concerning how Christians can “work out their salvation by deeds of justice,” in light of the prescient framework delivered in JW.
6. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Gabriel Tumba Hassan

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Despite the universal similarities of antidevelopment problems, the problems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are unique, intense, and multifaceted. They oscillate from incompetent and corrupt government plagued with violent conflict, to the lack of provision for social needs, to ethno-religious bigotry, and result in the lack of conditions and expanded opportunities for people to pursue their well-being. Though these problems have links to the colonial era, I argue, using qualitative and historical approach methods, that the bulk of them are with postcolonial and contemporary state actors; here the search for solutions must begin. I proposed a target-approach strategy that blends Amartya Sen’s capability approach and Catholic social teaching to facilitate an integral human development in SSA.
7. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Tebaldo Vinciguerra Orcid-ID

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This paper reflects the viewpoint of a member of the ecology and creation desk of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Contributive justice is proposed as a beacon that should guide all actions that aim to address the injustices in the world—chiefly, the challenges related to natural resources and the care for the environment. This care requires an enabling context: being cautious with the meritocratic narrative; implementing good governance; avoiding a paternalist stance according to which one relies totally on the state’s action and, instead, going beyond what is a strictly legal requirement and even beyond reciprocity for the sake of solidarity and for protecting the commons. In conclusion, genuine gratuitousness—in this case, as applied to water management—is presented as a key contribution for society. The text is rooted in the recent magisterium and in the 50-year-old synodal document Justice in the World.

other topics

8. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Pavel Chalupnicek Orcid-ID

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Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’ (LS) calls for a wide engagement of all levels of society and of people of all trades in finding solutions to the world’s current social and environmental crisis. However, not much is known about its reception among social scientists. This article surveys responses to LS by economists in three distinct groups: “mainstream” economics, degrowth economics, and the social economy movement. While the first group has not engaged with the encyclical so far, the remaining two groups have produced a variety of responses, which are discussed to highlight their common themes, as well as their differences. It is argued that this discussion can provide a better understanding of the opportunities for and limitations to further engagement between Catholic social thought and economics.
9. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Joe Evans Orcid-ID

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This essay examines Catholic social teaching in the context of human trafficking in South Asia during armed conflict and natural disasters. Using a see-judge-act framework to construct the argument, this paper is focused on finding ways to narrow the gaps in these efforts. The gaps occur horizontally when individual issues become isolated from a larger effort, failing to recognize that many challenges are symptoms of a larger problem. The gaps also occur vertically, with the divide between theory and practice. The Church, including religious and lay actors, can diminish the threat and damage from human trafficking through a comprehensive implementation of Catholic social teaching that has a theological foundation and is conscious of the relevant cultural factors.

book reviews

10. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
María Teresa

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11. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Todd Salzman

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12. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Daniel P. Scheid

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13. Journal of Catholic Social Thought: Volume > 18 > Issue: 2
Brian P. Flanagan

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