Commenting on how Pope Benedict XVI addressed the economic crisis and development challenges in “Caritas in Veritate” is Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach, a member of the British House of Lords and Vice-Chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He has served in an advisory capacity to the Acton Institute and delivered published papers on globalization and Third World development at the Institute’s international conferences. Click here for the original article appearing in The Times. July 13, 2009 The Times Pope Benedict...

I recently spoke with journalist Antonio Gaspari of the the Zenit news agency about Caritas in Veritate. Here’s the interview that Zenit published: Kishore Jayabalan: Development Involves “Breathing Space” ROME, JULY 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- An Acton Institute director is explaining the importance of “Caritas in Veritate” for India and China, and is pointing out the innovative ideas of Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical. Kishore Jayabalan is the director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office. He is a former analyst for the...

In mentary, “The Pope, the Rabbi, and the Moral Economy,” Samuel pares recent statements by Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, and Pope Benedict XVI, on the market economy and other social questions. “Benedict and Sacks rigorously deny that markets are intrinsically flawed,” Gregg writes. “Each also maintains that there are fundamental limits to state power. They do, however, insist that morality’s ultimate e from neither state nor market.” Gregg demonstrates the parallels between Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate...

Kishore Jayabalan, director of Istituto Acton (the Acton Institute’s Rome office), was interviewed by Vatican Radio concerning the authentic human development concerns of the whole person, which is a topic discussed in Caritas in Veritate. Jayabalan discussed how development schemes throughout the world should look at the aspirations of each individual person. Furthermore, in Caritas in Veritate there is a mention of a “breathing space” used a few times in the encyclical. This breathing space aspect means developing a vibrant...

At the time of his election in April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI was widely perceived to be a “conservative” in our modern political parlance. It should not surprise, then, that mentators have expressed either shock or joy, depending on their own affiliations, with last Tuesday’s publication of his encyclical letter Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), the first extended statement on social and economic issues of his pontificate. Conservatives are dismayed by his calls for increased foreign aid, the redistribution...

In an earlier post, I already set out my own attitude of humility before the pope’s encyclical. I recognize the respect due both his office and his tremendous personal learning. There is no question that what the pope has said about the nature of truth is stupendously good. In that post, I expressed a degree of unease with some of the economic thought, at least as I perceived it, in the encyclical. Looking it over again, here are the parts...

Joan Lewis, EWTN’s Rome bureau chief, covered Pope Benedict XVI’s general audience address on Wednesday, July 8 , during which the pontiff mented on his landmark social encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” the day after it was officially released by the Vatican. Below is a summary of Benedict’s address to visitors in Rome, including Lewis’s own translation. Yesterday, the Vatican released Pope Benedict’s third encyclical, “Caritas in veritate,” along with an official summary of the 144-page document that has six chapters...

Energy has been a hot topic not just in the United States but throughout the world. From cap-and-trade legislation to the talks that occurred at the G8 Summit, energy is making headlines everywhere. Caritas in Veritate also addresses the issue of energy; however, it is in a different light from that which is occurring in the politics. In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict calls for us to be more conscious of our use of energy, and for larger, more developed...

Ray Nothstine, Associate Editor at the Acton Institute, had his Acton Commentary, “Veterans First on Heath Care” republished by The Citizen, a newspaper in Fayetteville, Georgia. Nothstine explains in the article that the federal government needs to prove that it can provide adequate health care for 8 million veterans before we can trust them to provide health care reform for the entire United States. Nothstine points out flaws with medical system operated by the Veterans Administration. It is a timely...

Today’s Wall Street Journal Europe carries an editorial titled “Jamais on Sunday” approving of the French government’s attempt to allow some businesses to open on Sunday: Parliament is likely today to pass a bill that would scrap the 1906 law restricting Sunday work. The law’s original purpose was to keep Sundays sacred — France’s empty churches show how well that’s worked — and the Catholic Church remains a strong supporter. But it has e emblematic of the regulatory red tape...