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The Pope's social encyclical comes at a time when Australian churches increasingly have to provide charity to those who have been failed by the state. For charity to constitute true giving, social organisations must also be prepared to commit politically.
This week's release of the new social encyclical Caritas in Veritate expands moral teaching to promote a concept of 'human ecology' that covers both human life and the environment. It would seem that Benedict is not a climate change sceptic.
The Pope's encyclical on social teaching is not a strident critique of capitalism, but it does confront abuses in the global economy. Benedict is critical of the free market ideology which extolled wealth creation but ignored the need for equity and social justice.
In his forthcoming response to the global financial crisis, Pope Benedict does not have to reinvent the wheel. Catholic social writings have long insisted that economics must be directed to serve the good of everyone, not just the rich.
The Pope's criticism of condoms was forged in a Western context, but reflects an aspect of the African experience of AIDS. There, a value-free Western strategy has been inadequate because it does not deal with important cultural factors.
Pope Benedict's decision to lift the excommunication of four dissident Bishops has caused controversy. The decision raises wider questions about the unity of the Catholic Church, which bear on a current conflict within the Church in Brisbane.
There is tension in the churches between those focused on piety and those engaged with social justice. Benedict's document on globalisation will presumably stress that concern for social justice is essential to the Church's mission.
Sheik Hilaly compared rape victims to 'uncovered meat'. Bishop Anthony Fisher stated parents of abuse victims were 'dwelling crankily on old wounds'. Unequal criticism of the remarks suggests sexual assault has been appropriated as a cultural or sectarian wedge.
Pope Benedict's apology to abuse victims included a directive to the local church to extend compassion and justice. The Church's 'Towards Healing' protocol is not a cheap substitute for criminal prosecution or civil liability.
It's hard to think of anybody who would not have welcomed Pope Benedict's apology for sexual abuse. By contrast, nobody could have been pleased to hear an exasperated Bishop Anthony Fisher refer last week to those 'dwelling crankily ... on old wounds'.
World Youth Day pilgrims have said they are going to 'hear' Pope Benedict. In the time of John Paul II, they spoke of 'seeing' the Pope. The emphasis has switched from theatre to scholarship.
In his keynote message to the World Food Summit Pope Benedict XVI called for new strategies to promote food production. Feeding the world population in the coming decades is as big a challenge as climate change, and no less important.
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