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In the Challenge of Integral Human Development: Theology in Post- Vatican II Catholic Social Teaching

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In the Challenge of Integral Human Development: Theology in Post- Vatican II Catholic Social Teaching 'God for Us' in the Challenge of Integral Human Development: Theology in Post- Vatican II Catholic Social Teaching Author: Grégoire Catta Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104436 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2015 Copyright is held by the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0). Boston College School of Theology and Ministry ‘GOD FOR US’ IN THE CHALLENGE OF INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: THEOLOGY IN POST-VATICAN II CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING A Dissertation by GRÉGOIRE CATTA, SJ submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology May 2015 © copyright by GRÉGOIRE CATTA 2015 ‘God for Us’ in the Challenge of Integral Human Development: Theology in Post-Vatican II Catholic Social Teaching By Grégoire Catta, SJ Director: Lisa Sowle Cahill Readers: David Hollenbach, SJ, John R. Sachs, SJ Abstract In what sense is Catholic social teaching theological? Undoubtedly theology is a resource for ethical reflection but it can also be an outcome of it. This dissertation explores the theological contribution of post-Vatican II papal social encyclicals on development. Particular historical challenges and also specific worldviews adopted by the popes shape ethical reasoning and political priorities for action, but they do more. They stimulate theological thinking by making options among diverse theological frameworks, favoring certain concepts or symbols and downplaying others, and thus, they contribute to entering the mystery of God’s salvific love and allowing it to seize us. Chapter one offers some guidelines for a theological reading of social encyclicals. Vatican II with its “principle of pastorality” works as a compass. Karl Rahner, whose theology is always at the same time anthropology and Christology, is a privileged partner for the investigation. The history of half a century of debates on theories of development is the background. Chapters two to four analyze successively Paul VI’s Populorum progressio (PP), John Paul II’s Sollicitudo rei socialis (SRS), and Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate (CiV) by retrieving elements of context, highlighting the theological meaning of their methodological options, and exploring their insights about the mystery of being human and the mystery of “Jesus Christ for us.” In the 1960s, PP develops a theology which highlights incarnation and God’s grace at work in this world (neo-Thomist framework). Twenty years later, when early hopes about development have faded, SRS pursues this lead but also rebalances it with a greater concern for sin and redemption brought by Christ in the world (Augustinian framework). It also incorporates categories put forward by Latin American liberation theology such as structures of sin, liberation, and option for the poor which stress the structural dimension of sin and grace (Liberationist framework). At the dawn of the 21st century and showing concerns for growing secularization in Western countries, CiV insists on God’s transcendence (Augustinian framework) while still showing traces of the two other theological frameworks because of his addressing challenges of global justice. The final chapter offers three guidelines for theology which arise from the recognition of the theological nature of the church’s social teaching. (1) Without losing sight of its transcendental origin, theology ought to begin within history and with human experience. (2) A Christian anthropology ought to manifest the unity of the personal and social dimensions of being human which calls for both personal conversion and structural change. (3) Christologies can articulate approaches from above and from below in a variety of ways but the inescapability of the latter needs to be stressed in connection with taking seriously the option for the poor. A.M.D.G. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments v Abreviations vii Introduction 1 I. A Theoretical Question with Pastoral Implications 5 II. Theology and Theologies 7 III. Magisterium 12 IV. A Theological Reading of the Social Encyclicals 13 Chapter One: Orientations for a Theological Reading of Catholic Social Teaching 23 I. Vatican II: A “Sure Compass” 25 a) Proclaiming the Christian Faith in an Historical Context 27 b) The Pastoral Turn of Vatican II and the Implications for its Reception 31 c) Dei Verbum 37 d) Gaudium et Spes 42 e) Conclusion 51 II. Karl Rahner in the Background 52 a) A Theologian for the Twenty-first Century 53 b) The Notion of Mystery and its Role in Theology 56 c) Anthropology, Christology, and Theology 60 d) God and the World 65 e) Love of God and Love of Neighbor 70 f) Conclusion 73 III. The Specificity of the Notion of Development in Catholic Social Teaching 74 a) Post-World War II Theories of Economic Development 75 b) Catholic Social Teaching about the Development of Peoples in the 1960s 80 c) Evolutions in Theories of Development since the 1960s 87 Chapter Two: Paul VI’s Populorum progressio: Development, Justice, and Peace 93 I. Context 95 a) The World in the Mid-Sixties 96 b) A Pope in the Aftermath of Vatican II 98 c) Inspiring Personalities and Movements 100 II. Methodology and Style 104 a) See-Judge-Act Approach 105 b) Dialogue 111 c) Conclusion 119 i III. Theological Anthropology 120 a) Transcendent Humanism 120 b) Social Being 129 c) Conclusion 137 IV. Christology 138 a) Jesus and the Poor 139 b) Union with Christ 143 c) Conclusion 147 V. Conclusion: The Theology of Populorum Progressio 148 Chapter Three: John Paul II’s Sollicitudo Rei Socialis: Development in Freedom and Solidarity 153 I. Context 157 a) The World in the Mid-Eighties 158 b) Latin American Liberation Theology 161 c) A Pope from Eastern Europe 165 II. Methodology and Style 168 a) Reframing the See-Judge-Act Approach 169 b) Dialogue Tempered 174 c) Theological Interpretation 178 III. Theological Anthropology 182 a) The Vocation to Be Human 183 b) Sin and Structures of Sin 187 c) Solidarity 193 d) Liberation 196 e) Conclusion 200 IV. Christology 202 a) Christ the Redeemer and the Revealer 203 b) Jesus Christ and the Poor 210 c) Conclusion 216 V. Conclusion: The Theology of Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 217 Chapter Four: Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate: Development in Charity and Love 221 I. Context 224 a) Crises 224 b) Globalization 227 c) Secularization, Benedict XVI, and Europe 229 d) Chiara Lubich, Focolare, and the Economy of Communion 231 e) Conclusion 234 II. Methodology and Style 235 a) Deductive Methodology 236 b) Dialogue? 238 c) Theological Interpretation 241 ii III. Theological Anthropology 244 a) Development as Vocation 245 b) Gift and Gratuitousness 248 c) Relationality and Communion 252 d) Personal Conversion and Social Change 256 IV. Christology 260 a) Word Christology 261 b) Spirit Christology 266 V. Conclusion: The Theology of Caritas in Veritate 269 Chapter Five: Theological Reflections 273 I. Theology and Historicity 276 II. Personal Conversion and Structural Changes 287 III. Christology: From Above or From Below? 298 Afterword 313 Bibliography 317 iii iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although writing a dissertation is a rather solitary endeavor it is also the fruit of numerous conversations and explorations in a community of learning and it would have been impossible to achieve it without the help and support of many people. May they all find here the acknowledgment of my profound gratitude. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my director Lisa Sowle Cahill for accepting to guide me and advise me on this project. Her generous encouragements and precious comments at each stage of the process were invaluable. I am also extremely grateful to my readers, David Hollenbach, SJ and John R. Sachs, SJ, for their constant support and guidance, and to the director of the STD program, James Bretzke, SJ I want to thank the students and faculty members of the Boston College ethics seminar who have given valuable input on my work including James Keenan, SJ, Stephen Pope, Andrea Vicini, SJ, Mary Jo Iozzio, Kenneth Himes, OFM, Kevin Ahern, Michael Jaycox, René Micallef, SJ, Gonzalo Villagran, SJ, Hoa Dinh, SJ, Joshua Snyder, Chris Jones, Conor Kelly, Katherine Ward, Marianne Tierney, James O’Sullivan, Bambang Irawan, SJ, Kate Jackson, Antuan Ilgit, SJ Thank you also to my colleagues of the STD colloquium at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Writing this dissertation would not have been possible without the generosity and limitless availability of Simon Smith, SJ, who reviewed with patience and precision the various drafts up to the final version and drove me through the subtleties of English language. Thank you Si, I am eternally indebted to you! I am most grateful to the Society of Jesus, to my provincial, Jean-Yves Grenet, who entrusted this mission to me, to my rectors at the Saint Peter Faber Jesuit Community, Brighton, Brad Schaeffer and Jim Gartland, who have been incredibly supportive in providing such a favorable environment for my doctoral studies. Thank you to my Jesuit professors in Paris, Alain Thomasset, Christoph Theobald, Étienne Grieu, for their acute feedback and constant support on my project. Thank you to Bertrand Heriard Dubreuil and to the CERAS’ team for offering feedback as well. I am extremely grateful to the companions with whom I shared this mission of doctoral studies during four years: Román Guridi, Mario Insulza, Cathal Doherty, Francis Alvarez in Boston; Antoine Paumard, Erwan Chauty, Nicolas Steeves, Pierre Molinié, Guilhem Causse in France. Thank you, Kenneth Hughes and Paul Harman, for your wisdom and brotherly accompaniment throughout these years. Thank you, Tom Simisky for introducing me to the US culture from Superbowl to Thanksgiving. Thank you to all my Jesuit brothers with whom I lived at Hurtado House and Harrington House while working on this project.
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