Catholic Social Science Review

The aim of the paper is to identify the economic component of Pope Benedict XVI’s Africae Munus exhortation of 2011, and then to relate his reflection to selected elements of contemporary economic thought. This will be done through a critical analysis of the text combined with a discussion of its diagnosis of the most important economic challenges for Africa and proposals for action in this field. The Pope, listening to the voice of the Second African Synod of 2009, treats the continent in a subjective manner, focusing on the tasks of the Church and local authorities and communities. In doing so, he appeals to the international community to respect the sovereignty of the continent and its specificity, and to beware of ideological pressures. The economic problems addressed in the document are shown from an integral perspective, having its source in Catholic social teaching.

Catholic social teaching prescribes decentralized politics and protections for workers, once traditionally provided by associations such as medieval workers’ guilds. The animating principle behind this idea is subsidiarity. This article considers the political actions of Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States (1837–1841), which resulted in the creation of the two-party system now used in America. Van Buren was not Catholic, and his actions were motivated by a desire to prevent the rise of oligarchy in American. Nevertheless, by providing a careful analysis of the term “subsidiarity” and the actions of Van Buren, the author concludes Van Buren’s political actions were a very good illustration Catholic social teaching in action, and, by extension, how deeply (and unwittingly!) the United States has been influenced by Catholic precepts.

There is much bad feeling, both real and cultivated, circulating these days between peoples of European decent, and peoples of Native American (both North and South America) descent, especially with regard to recent discoveries of historical events which occurred at schools run by American and Canadian authorities, as well as by the Catholic Church. Such scandals have hampered ongoing reconciliation efforts, and led to accusations of the existence of a concerted program of abuse and subjugation on the part of the Catholic Church. This article explores the issue, by way of a careful examination of the history of natural law thinking, as well as the formal statements of the popes regarding the actions of Europeans in the New World. While not glossing over historical misdeeds, it concluded that papal statements, articulated in the natural law tradition, were consistent in their condemnation of slavery and misuse of native peoples. They were also, sadly, ignored. The author concludes that a better understanding of natural law ideas is needed, both to understand the past, as well as to provide a method of reconciliation and moving forward, for the future.

As scholars and academics, members of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists are not immune to the problem of sometimes overlooking our Catholic focus in our analyses of the social events and problems of the day. This article, whose author has a background in psychology and mental health care services, seeks to challenge us on that point. Without denigrating the incredible contributions natural science has made to human life, particular the field of health care, the article reminds us that many human problems stem from supernatural causes, such as sin, and require divine, rather than human solutions. The article gore on to present some speculations about how things will be during two periods of future history—the time of the antichrist and the era of peace—and concludes by reminding us of some of the subtle but significant things that have happened in the field of faith-based healing of late.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus caritas est rightly receives much attention for the beautiful discussion of the nature of love in the encyclical’s first part. The second part of the encyclical, however, does not receive the attention it deserves. There Benedict describes the proper role of the Church in bringing about justice, and moreover, teaches that not only a commitment to justice is necessary for the securing of the common good, but also social charity which perfects and surpasses justice. Pope Benedict describes the important role of politics in advancing the common good while also emphasizing the necessity of charity for politics to perform its function well, and ultimately, for a good which transcends the demands of justice to be attained.