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SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS (ON SOCIAL CONCERN)

JOHN PAUL II

I. About the document

o An encyclical of Pope John Paul II upon the development of man and society to the
bishops, priests, religious families, sons and daughters of the church and all the people
of good will for the 20th anniversary of Populorum Progressio.
II. About the Author
o Pope John Paul II discusses global development and its ethical/moral dimensions. He
builds on Pope Paul VI's The Development of People, and after surveying the state of
poor countries, he considers the confrontation between the two global blocs. He then
points to the "structures of sin" as obstacles to development and calls for conversion
towards solidarity.
III. Concern of the Church
o The main concern of the church is directed towards an authentic development of man
and society which would respect and promote all the dimensions of the human person.
o Specific problems identified:
 Widening gap between the developed and developing countries in terms of:
 Productions and distribution of goods – denial of economic initiative or
limitation in the name of an alleged “equality” of everyone in society
diminishes
 Health and housing – lack of adequate housing, unemployment and
international debt all threaten humanity.
 Terrorism – explicitly forbidden in Christianity, also threatens the safety
and security of society.
 Humanity’s development is always in danger of not following God’s will
and falling to the temptation of idolatry.
IV. Addressing the Issues
o Recognizing social sins as accumulation and concentration of the many personal sins.
 The Pope recognized social sins as the collective behaviour of certain social
groups, big or small, or even of whole nation and blocs of nations which the
church proclaims to be cases of social sin that result from the accumulation and
concentration of many personal sins.
o Themes introduced:
 The dignity of human person
 Human beings are created in the image of God and therefore, are
endowed with dignity. This inherent dignity carries with it certain basic
 rights and responsibilities which are exercised within a social
framework.
 The common good
 While dignity of the human person is affirmed, individuals live in
common with others and the rights of individuals must be balanced with
the wider common good of all. The rights and needs of others must
always be respected.
 Solidarity
 Human beings are social by nature and do not exist merely as
individuals. When considering the human community it must be
remembered that it consists of individual and social elements.
 Option for the poor
 This refers to seeing the world through the eyes of the poor and
standing with the poor in solidarity. This should lead to action for justice
with and on behalf od this who are poor and marginalised.
o Moral principle
 Development must respect one’s religion and way of life. With this, human
rights should also be promoted. The church has its duties to relieve the sorrow
of the suffering and work within a hierarchy of values to supple the basic needs
of humanity.

V. Conclusion
o Humanity’s journey toward development is often in danger of not obeying God’s will
and falling to the temptation of idolatry. While men and women look for development
in this world, the death of Christ infinitely exceeds any progress we could obtain, even
as humanity struggles to grapple with underdevelopment and super development, we
must keep in our mind that one day all the works and actions that are worth of man will
be redeemed.