“To achieve a moral ecology under which the dignity and solidarity of all peoples can thrive,” says Michal Novak, “we must take small steps, little by little—yet not lose sight of the goal.”

Caritapolis, the City ofCaritas. That is, in effect, how St. Augustine definedThe City of God.Obviously, most of the world is not Christian, nor even Western, so a term likeCaritapolisis not native to much of humankind. Pope Paul VI and later popes preferred the expression “civilization of love.” That phrase, too, is apt, since even the pagan sage Cicero deemed friendship to be the cohesive inner bond that suffuses cities with trust. In other words, between the deeper, richer Christian view and the secular view there is an analogue. There is an earthy way ing near to the idea ofCaritapolis.

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