December 30 marks the anniversary of “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis” 1987 – The Bishops of Ontario offer a brief outline of Catholic social teaching, particularly as it affects human labour, over the past one hundred years. Three stages can be distinguished….
“In Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (The Social Concern of the Church), Pope John Paul refers to the presence of these sorts of “interdependencies” in our world.
He also notes an interdependency in the causes of our social ills.
It is the same “desire for profit” and the same “search for power” that lie behind our social problems everywhere. It is these causes that account everywhere for the debasing of work, the destruction of the social fabric, and the gradual loss of a caring society. The response to that interdependency, as the pope points out, must be a renewed spirit of solidarity on our part. It is in that spirit of solidarity that we, on the lOOth anniversary of Rerum Novarum, invite Catholics, the labour movement as a whole, business and government leaders, and all people of good will to work together for the creation of a genuinely human society.
For a full range of reactions to the encylcial visit http://www.shc.edu/theolibrary/resources/comments_srs.htm
