THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Theological Justification for the Establishment of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace ( Iustitia et pax) A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Sacred Theology © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Andrew Small Washington, D.C. 2010 The Theological Justification for the Establishment of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace ( Iustitia et pax) Rev. Andrew Small, OMI, LL.M., S.T.D. Director: Rev. Brian V. Johnstone, C.SS.R., S.T.D. A central tenet of the aggiornamento undertaken by the Second Vatican Council was the Church’s role in and relationship to the modern world. Pope John XXIII’s call for a “pastoral” Council reached a new level of intensity in the Council’s debates on the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes . As if to acknowledge the inchoate nature of the Church’s new vision for its role in the world, the Pastoral Constitution mandated creation of a new organism of the universal Church that would extend reflection and action on the Church’s social engagement beyond the Council. This mandate, contained in article 90 of Gaudium et spes would become the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. This dissertation examines the history and theological foundations of the process leading to this decision, focusing on the development of the theology of the Church’s relationship with the world during the Council itself and the immediate aftermath. Having established a new entity of the Roman Curia, Paul VI provided a basic text for the work of the new Commission two months after its establishment in his Encyclical Letter, Populorum progressio . In seeking to respond to the challenges of the modern world, the study demonstrates how the Church was obliged to reflect upon its nature and mission in two ways. First, it sought from within its own teaching, reasons both for the Church’s engagement with the world and the proper mode for such engagement by all the People of God, each according to his or her state. Second, the Council drew upon the history of social teaching and formulated positive recommendations designed to respond to a series of prevailing social problems summarized under the category of “justice and peace.” In this way, the new understanding of the Church’s engagement with the world was closely identified with the Church’s response to the problems of poverty and social conflict. This dissertation by Andrew Small fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in theology and religious studies approved by Brian V. Johnstone, S.T.D., as Director and by John Ford, S.T.D. and Joseph Capizzi, Ph.D., as Readers. _____________________________________ Brian V. Johnstone, C.SS.R., S.T.D., Director ____________________________________ John Ford, C.S.C., S.T.D., Reader ____________________________________ Joseph Capizzi, Ph.D., Reader ii “ONLY CONNECT THE PROSE AND THE PASSION AND BOTH WILL BE EXALTED , AND HUMAN LOVE WILL BE SEEN AT ITS HEIGHT. LIVE IN FRAGMENTS NO LONGER …” E. M. Forster, 1910 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I Origins of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace Before and During the Council ...................................................................................................................6 1 Preparation and Convocation................................................................................. 7 2 The Council in Action ......................................................................................... 16 3 Synthesis.............................................................................................................. 75 II Implementation of article 90 from December 1965 to January 1967 ...................79 1 Three Sources of Resistance to the New Organism ............................................ 80 2 Stage One: Working Group on Article 90........................................................... 84 3 Stage Two: The Provisional Commission of Cardinal Roy .............................. 110 4 Catholicam Christi Ecclesiam ........................................................................... 118 III The Development of a Theological Foundation for Justpax during the Council Period........................................................................................................................125 1 A Call from the Church of the Poor Group ....................................................... 126 2 Discussion during the Third Session ................................................................. 130 3 Discussion during the Fourth Session ............................................................... 164 4 Theories on Human Development in Discussions about Justpax ...................... 196 5 Gaudium et spes on Human Development ........................................................ 219 6 Gaudium et spes on the Mission of the Laity.................................................... 250 7 Gaudium et spes on Ecumenical Collaboration................................................. 263 8 Concluding Observations .................................................................................. 269 IV Development of a Theological Foundation for Justpax after the Council..........273 1 Justification for a Separate Commission ........................................................... 274 2 Populorum Progressio on Integral Human Development................................. 326 3 Concluding Observations .................................................................................. 354 Concluding Reflections and Questions for Further Development..................................367 1 Synthesis............................................................................................................ 367 2 Questions for Today .......................................................................................... 373 3 A Final Word..................................................................................................... 387 Selected Bibliography..........................................................................................................389 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are too many people to thank by name after a project of several years duration. For his original inspiration and quiet confidence in my ability to undertake doctoral studies, I would like to thank the first Provincial of the U.S. Oblate Province, David Kalert, OMI. Special thanks go to my dissertation director, Dr. Brian V. Johnstone C.SS.R for his guidance in adumbrating the road to be traveled. Thanks also to the two readers, Dr. John Ford C.S.C. and Dr. Joseph Capizzi for their labors with the thesis. I would also like to thank my Oblate confreres as well as my other community at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, especially Regina Grunert, Patrick Markey and my good friend, Katherine Nuss. The legendary Tom Quigley, colleague and mentor, deserves thanks for his wisdom, wit and eagle eye. I would like to thank in a special way George McLean, OMI and Séamus Finn, OMI for their insight and example and for embodying, each in their own way, the mission and direction set forth by the Second Vatican Council and studied in this dissertation. A continuing debt of gratitude is owed to David Power, OMI, whose intellectual ethic, academic rigor and personal commitment made him a indispensable guide. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their abiding love and support, especially my mother, Mary Alice and my dear departed father, Francis, who always knew I could do it. v Introduction The Scope and Purpose of the Present Study The Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes, committed the Church to engage the world by transforming it according to the vision of God’s kingdom. Concerned that the enthusiasm to tackle the world’s problems expressed during the Council’s latter sessions would wane once the bishops returned home, a small group of Anglo-American clergy and laity, which had been active during the Council, formed a core group among those calling for some concrete action on behalf of the Church to face the problems of poverty and under-development. Their goal was to concretize the Council’s frequently expressed concern for the world’s poor. Through their efforts, as well as those of a series of individual sympathizers, between 1963 and 1965, this group managed to insert Article 90 into Gaudium et spes. This article called for the creation of “some organization of the universal Church to arouse the Catholic community to promote the progress of areas which are in want and foster social justice between nations.” 1 A little over a year after the Council’s closure, and after extensive consultation on how to implement article 1 Vatican Council II, “De Ecclesia in Mundo Huius Temporis: Gaudium et spes,” AAS 58 (1966): 1025- 1120. English translation for the Council texts are found in Norman P. Tanner, “Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils,” Vol. 2, (London: Sheed and Ward; Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1990): 817- 1135. 1 2 90, Paul VI responded to Article 90 in January 1967 by establishing the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, known at the time as Justpax .1 Dominant throughout this period was the question: How should the Church respond to the Council’s call to engage the “urgent problems” facing humankind in the mid-1960s?