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Michael Sean WintersSeptember 25, 2009

The New Republic has an interesting review of Pope Benedict's encyclical Caritas in Veritate. I think it speaks well of both that non-Catholic journal and of the substantiveness of Pope Benedict's thought, that they even took cognizance of it, and did so more thoughtfully than many Catholic commentators. At the very least, Professor Nirenberg who wrote the article did not approach his text with a red and gold pen to highlight the parts with which he agreed and blame the rest on the Vatican bureaucracy. Readers should note that the New Republic does not keep its articles available on-line for free for very long but you can access it now and print it out as well. You need to be a subscriber to access their archives.

Here are my thoughts on Nirenberg's essay.

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14 years 6 months ago
The question could be asked if America has ever taken a red or gold pen to Papal teaching?In the case you are harking back to of George Weigel ,it was obvious that he took a view of the new Encyclical which more or less said that the Holy Father did not have economics as his strong point.He may be right.America often chides the Vatican for speaking on subjects outside of its competence and make the same mistake as George Weigel made.  The Church has its strong point in Theology and those who would argue against a theological vision being applied to Economics or sexual relations are in the same camp.Without the Theological vision given by Jesus and taught by the Church we would be less than human.Reduced to instinct.When Pope Paul tried to save married couples and Catholics from this reduction he was called Quijote.When Pope Benedict did it ,the wind blew his way and he was spoken of as a new Castro.Rampant Capitalism ,unchecked markets and the Pill and all that it implies are the same in the view of the Church.God gave us reason for a purpose.Pope Paul "expert in humanity" said that the Pill would create more divorces,abortion and a devaluation of the female body.He was laughed at,his logic was flawed they said.  Every catholic and Christian needs a good theology,the writers who captured the spirit and the Theological brilliance of poor people and peasants are aware of this.  

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