One of the main themes of the 37th convention of the Secretary Generals of the European Episcopal Conferences was the encyclical “Caritas in Veritate”

One of the main themes of the 37^th convention of Secretary Generals of European Episcopal Conferences, which took place July 9-12, 2009, at a retreat in Brukhovychi near Lviv, was the third encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI entitled “Caritas in Veritate” (Mercy in truth). This document, written by the Holy Father, was signed on June 29, 2009, and was published on July 7 in Latin, Italian, French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. During a meeting with religious journalists, Fr. Guns Langendorfer, PhD, Secretary of the German Episcopal Conference, explained that the third encyclical addressed social issues, drawing upon the famous 1967 encyclical of his predecessor Pope Paul VI entitled “Populorum Progressio” (Progress of nations). In the opinion of Fr. Guns, Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes three main points in “Caritas in Veritate.” Firstly, the focus of his document is humans, not business or money. Fr. Duarte da Kunya, Secretary General of the European Council of Episcopal Conferences commented that, “the main idea behind the encyclical is that the Church is centered around humans. The Church has to look at humanity in its totality, in its development and to assist this development on all levels: intellectual, spiritual, economic, political and social. This is the task of the Church – to protect humanity.” Secondly, people, as citizens of their respective countries, have the right to take part in state life. “The poor and the marginalized cannot influence or have a voice in their own country, this has to change,” said Fr. Langendorf. Thirdly, different countries have a different level of development. It is necessary to pay attention to poorer countries and to help them. “We should think about polycentrism. Countries do not have identical economies, which is why we have to open markets. In this way, countries will not only do what is good for the European Union, or some other powerful states, but rather they will make it a priority to help those that are suffering the most,” explained the Secretary of German Episcopal Conference. Secretary of Synod of Bishops of the UGCC Bishop Bohdan (Dzyurakh) commented on the importance of social service for the Church. “The social service theme is very important for us, especially when we take into consideration how communist rule forbade the Church’s charitable activities. The Church has become active again in these areas which had been previously appropriated by the state. The Church can give something greater than bread: it can give love, Divine care, and the feeling of closeness to other humans. For this reason, the new encyclical will be of great help in further developing important social services,” commented Bishop Bohdan. Background Information Pope Benedict XVI signed the first encyclical “Deus caritas est” (God is love) on December 25, 2005. It was circulated a month after its completion and was an original theological reflection about the essence of divine love as the basis for the church’s mission of mercy and love of humanity. The second encyclical of the Pontific “Spe salvi” (Rescued a hope) was published on November 30, 2007 and described the Christian understanding of hope in today's world. 

Information Department of the UGCC