Catholic Social Teaching

Encyclical Letter of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II

Venerable Brothers, Beloved Sons and Daughters,

Health and the Apostolic Blessing!

1. The Centenary of the promulgation of the encyclical which begins with the words Rerum Novarum,[1] by my predecessor of venerable memory Pope Leo XIII, is an occasion of great importance for the present history of the Church and for my own pontificate. It is an encyclical that has the distinction of having been commemorated by solemn papal documents from its fortieth anniversary to its ninetieth. It may be said that its path through history has been marked by other documents which paid tribute to it and applied it to the circumstances of the day.[2]

('Pastoral Constitution: On the Church in the Modern World')

 Proclaimed By His Holiness, Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965.

1. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds.

Dear Families!

1. The celebration of the Year of the Family gives me a welcome opportunity to knock at the door of your home, eager to greet you with deep affection and to spend time with you. I do so by this Letter, taking as my point of departure the words of the Encyclical edemptor Hominis, published in the first days of my ministry as the Successor of Peter. There I wrote that man is the way of the Church. (1)

Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Paul VI promulgated on March 26, 1967

To the Bishops, Priests, Religious,

the Faithful and to All Men

Of Good Will

1. The development of peoples has the Church's close attention, particularly the development of those peoples who are striving to escape from hunger, misery, endemic diseases and ignorance; of those who are looking for a wider share in the benefits of civilization and a more active improvement of their human qualities; of those who are aiming purposefully at their complete fulfillment. Following on the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council a renewed consciousness of the demands of the Gospel makes it her duty to put herself at the service of all, to help them grasp their serious problem in all its dimensions, and to convince them that solidarity in action at this turning point in human history is a matter of urgency.

Encyclical Letter Of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II

To the Bishops, Priests, Religious Families, Sons and

Daughters of the Church and All People Of Good Will

for the Twentieth Anniversary of

Venerable Brothers and dear Sons and Daughters, Health and the Apostolic Blessing!

1. The social concern of the Church, directed towards an authentic development of man and society which would respect and promote all the dimensions of the human person, has always expressed itself in the most varied ways. In recent years, one of the special means of intervention has been the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiffs which, beginning with the Encyclical Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII as a point of reference,[1] has frequently dealt with the question and has sometimes made the dates of publication of the various social documents coincide with the anniversaries of that first document.[2]