FROM RERUM NOVARUM TO LAUDATO SI

1. FROM RERUM NOVARUM TO LAUDATO SI

2. FROM RERUM NOVARUM TO LAUDATO SI 125 Years of Rerum Novarum: A tradition of thought that is still a source of inspiration for any social movement

3. Solving the wretched living conditions of that time not only through charitable measures. Structural adjustments are required: • A wage befitting of human dignity. • A plea for humane labour laws. • After some hesitation, also the right to independent associations of workers.

4. With a special emphasis: That Christ’s love be directed first and foremost at the poor and those suffering injustice. • Focus on three aspects: • 1. The method • 2. The principles • 3. Vision of the future

6. In the beginning CST was a fixed social doctrine focusing on the creation of an organic society in which all strata would co-operate in harmony. From Pope John XXIII on, the more inductive line of “see – judge – act”.

7. SEE: analyse the situation. JUDGE: assess the situation in light of the Gospel and other principles of integrity and justice.ACT: elaborate a strategy for measures. From Pope John XXIII on, the more inductive line of “see – judge – act”.

8. GAUDIUM ET SPES 1965 Added two elements here • Abandoning the idea of a church as a ‘perfect society’ which stands on its own beside the world. • The church is a community, connected with humanity and all people of good will, participating in the creation of a more humane and just society.

9. GAUDIUM ET SPES 1965 Added two elements here In this way the Gospel becomes a lens through which political, economic and social developments are interpreted. It enables the community of faith to criticise everything directed against humanity, to appreciate that which is valuable and to interpret it as a sign of God’s work in history. Thus God’s people are there not for themselves, but for the whole world..

10. LAUDATO SI 2015: Important addition of Pope Francis in the ‘greening’of the social doctrine. Laudato Si pleads for a meaningful broadening of the concept of the ‘environment’. It includes both the natural and the societal environment in which humankind lives.

11. LAUDATO SI 2015: Important addition of Pope Francis in the ‘greening’of the social doctrine. SO: besides the ecology of the living environment there is also economic and social ecology, cultural ecology, the ecology of everyday life, in other words ... an integral ecology.

12. Summarized: Development in 4 steps Solid social doctrine: Collaboration between all social classes Inductive method: Seeing, judging, acting 1965: Gaudium et Spes The Gospel as a lens 2015: Laudato Si Integral ecology

14. 1 • Human dignity, for future generations too • Common good – universal destination of goods – ecological wellbeing 2 • Justice– three components and social justice in a • broader sense 3 • Subsidiarity and the role of the civil society 4 • Solidarity as an expression of the affinity between man and nature 5

15. 1 • Human dignity, for future generations too • Every social, political and economic measure must be judged in light • of these questions • does it contribute to the dignity of man as a whole (not just homo economicus) • and everyone(nobody is to be excluded, including the poor and migrants)

16. 1 • Human dignity, for future generations too Pacem in Terris 1963 The church endorses the universal human rights! The defence of human dignity is at the core of the church’s conception of work. Man should not be reduced to purely a means of production. Against any form of inhuman working conditions. Laudato Si deepens the importance of human dignity even further. Not only man but creation in its entirety must be respected, by future generations as well.

17. 2 • Common good – universal destination of goods – ecological wellbeing The common good refers to the creation of the social conditions required to enable groups and individuals to develop fully. The idea of the common good is interconnected with the universal destination of goods. Every person is entitled to a share in the fruits of the earth. The possession of business shares or land is only acceptable if it yields not only financial profit but social gain as well.

18. 2 • Common good – universal destination of goods – ecological wellbeing And ownership of the means of production is only fair and legal if put to the service of useful work. Speculation and concentration of ownership to satisfy personal lust for lucre is unjustified and represents an abuse in the eyes of God and man. The common good cannot be achieved separately from integral ecology.

19. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE 2. GENERAL OR CONTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE 3. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

20. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE Refers to a contractual relationship in which both parties. This relationship is characterised by equivalence. It leads to fair trade and just wages.

21. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE 2. GENERAL OR CONTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE This refers to the civic duty to contribute to the common good. This contribution is not only of an economic nature, but also of a social, artistic, intellectual or contemplative nature.

22. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. TRANSACTIONAL JUSTICE 2. GENERAL OR CONTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE 3. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE Distributive justice is a necessary correction of the ever-increasing inequality that undermines political stability and prevents development. The law of social justice prohibits one class excluding the other from the distribution of acquired wealth.

23. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. Social justice must be viewed in a very broad context! When people do not have enough opportunities to make a contribution to the development of their society owing to sickness, disability, unemployment or other limitations whatever their nature, society is obliged to provide them with the means and opportunities to become active citizens in societal life.

24. 3 • Justice – three components and social justice in the broader sense. Thus social justice is not only a question of distributing society’s financial means, but first and foremost a question of offering opportunities and education to enable people to have the basic skills for playing a full part in society. Pope Francis adds ‘intergenerational solidarity’ to that.

25. 4 • Subsidiarity – the role of the civil society Social and societal relations cannot be derived from a relationship between individuals and a state or a supranational structure like the European Union. Between the state level and that of the individual there is an important, complex civil society known as the middle ground. This includes all kinds of communities that contribute in their own ways to the development of society (family, groups of volunteers, associations, trade unions, political parties, universities etc.)

26. 4 • Subsidiarity – the role of the civil society That which can be resolved on a level below that of the state and on the level of those concerned must not be taken over by the state or a supranational organisation. However, the state can stipulate rules of play and standards, with which these forms of participation must comply.

27. 4 • Subsidiarity – the role of the civil society The necessity of a plurality of movements with a distinct worldview . In the space between the individual and the state, there must also be room for a conversation between organisations and movements which are grounded in a particular worldview. Their distinct view of economic, social and cultural challenges often provides significant added value, as opposed to the conventional views often based on the dominant narratives of economic wealth.

28. 5 • Solidarity as an expression of the affinity between man • and nature. The logic of solidarity is the logic of a covenant or connectedness, not of a contract. “Everything is connected” (Laudato Si 91) The starting point of solidarity is the refusal to interpret society as the sum of individuals who try to realize autonomously their self-interest.

29. 5 • Solidarity as an expression of the affinity between man • and nature. The so-called ‘neutral’ state. This insight is of major importance in the discussion on secularism and the so-called ‘neutral’ state. If the ‘neutral’ state wishes to restrict the relationship with its citizens to purely establishing a legal framework regulating the self-determination of citizens via-à-vis the state, this results in an erosion of civil society which has a lively array of participative involvement to offer.

30. 5 • Solidarity as an expression of the affinity between man • and nature. The so-called ‘neutral’ state. When reflecting on a just society, one must keep in mind not only the interests of one’s own people or nation, but also the interests of refugees and migrants. Solidarity conceived as ‘world solidarity’ is the radical alternative to the globalisation of self-interest and indifference.

32. 1 Love and compassion Love cannot be reduced to individual charity. It is by nature associated with justiceand gives it its face. There will always be a need for spontaneous forms of love and solidarity that help prevent the ‘everyone’ in fair distribution degenerating into anonymous and objectified relations.

33. 1 Love and compassion Love personalises the structural response to problems, whilst justice is taking shape in institutions. In this sense, love is at the heart of the social thought. Its application for justice must never be disconnected from the tangible encounter with the poor.

34. 1 Love and compassion “We humans are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together through God’s love for all creatures, which also unifies us in a profound affinity with Sister Sun, Brother Moon and Mother Earth.”

35. 2 Forward-looking imagination It is our power of imagination that enables us ‘to discover in the present the neglected opportunities concealed within it, and to orientate this present to a better future’. It enables man to penetrate both ‘inexorably the horizon’ with which he ‘can find security’,and break through the limits ‘within which he wishes to restrict his actions’.

36. 2 Forward-looking imagination When defining and solving problems, individuals and primarily groups of people are inclined to resort to conventional intellectual models. They are familiar to us. They represent a safe framework and tend to ensure the ‘positive status quo’.

37. 2 Forward-looking imagination The challenge: becoming aware of the deeper undercurrent of history Take heed of the deeper levels of consciousness, in more concrete terms: the deeper undercurrent of the evolution of the world, in which God moves everything towards the attainment of that which is good, despite resistance. Not only re-interpret, but commit and regenerate yourselves, enrol in the movement of history into a future that wishes to manifest itself in the good direction in each of us and in every community.

38. 2 Forward-looking imagination The challenge: becoming aware of the deeper undercurrent of history Becomingconnected and co-creativewithGod’spresence in all whatis, leads to the search for one’shighestown self as a communitythatbearswitness of the best potential for the future.

39. FROM RERUM NOVARUM TO LAUDATO SI

40. The attached PowerPoint presentation was compiled under the supervision of Dr. Johan Verstraeten, Professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at KUL (the Catholic University of Leuven) and Director of the Centre for Catholic Social Doctrine, and on the basis of his texts.

41. We decided to process the core substance of his vision as faithfully as possible in the presentation. This provides education professionals, teachers and the leaders of social movements a sufficiently solid basis for them to work with this presentation themselves. They can furnish its content with a complementary explanation and comments of their own in any educational situation.

42. We are making this PowerPoint presentation available in Dutch, French, English, Italian and Spanish. Anyone wishing to contact Prof. Johan Verstraeten about specific aspects of the content may do so by e-mailing: Johan.verstraeten@kuleuven.be.

43. This is an initiative of Horizonmediavzw, the European Centre for Workers’ Questions (EZA), and the European Social Week.