Context Pope John Paul II issued his last major social encyclical, Centesimus Annus, in 1991. It commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum. Momentous historical events shape its content. Communism fell in much of Eastern Europe in 1989. The Gulf War had just ended, and the USSR would soon collapse. John Paul II’s...
Context Pope John Paul II’s 1987 social encyclical Sollicitudo rei Socialis marks the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio. Sollicitudo rei Socialis is also known by the English title On Social Concerns. It was the first major Catholic Social Teaching document to mark the anniversary of a social encyclical other than Rerum Novarum. Major Issues...
Context Pope Paul VI reflects on the challenges of post-industrial society and the inadequacy of ideologies to address them in this 1971 Apostolic Letter. Octogesima Adveniens is an open letter addressed to the President of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Roy. Although it is not a social encyclical, Octogesima Adveniens is...