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Today, Pope Benedict released his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), the first social encyclical since Pope John Paul II wrote Centesimus Annus in 1991.  Signed last week on the feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul (June 29th), its public release was obviously timed to coincide with the beginning tomorrow of the G-8 summit in Italy, since the subject of the letter is the economy.

Not surprisingly, the encyclical states that moral values and judgments must have a place in economic recovery and development.  Of course, this raises the question of whether and to what extent the Church (in Rome or elsewhere) should be involving itself in such wordly matters as the wealth of nations, but I’m not sure that once raised the question will get much attention.  It’s more likely that the press will focus on excerpts along the lines of those found on Forbes website, such as:

“Profit is useful if it serves as a means towards an end that provides a sense both of how to produce it and how to make good use of it. Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.”

It’s doubtful that the mainstream media will want to focus as much on the role of religion in public discourse -

“Religious freedom does not mean religious indifferentism, nor does it imply that all religions are equal. Discernment is needed regarding the contribution of cultures and religions, especially on the part of those who wield political power, if the social community is to be built up in a spirit of respect for the common good. Such discernment has to be based on the criterion of charity and truth. . . .
“The exclusion of religion from the public square — and, at the other extreme, religious fundamentalism — hinders an encounter between persons and their collaboration for the progress of humanity. Public life is sapped of its motivation and politics takes on a domineering and aggressive character. Human rights risk being ignored either because they are robbed of their transcendent foundation or because personal freedom is not acknowledged. Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue and effective cooperation between reason and religious faith. Reason always stands in need of being purified by faith: this also holds true for political reason, which must not consider itself omnipotent.”

. . . or on the deeper underlying themes of our accountability for one another:

“Hence, in the pursuit of development, there is a need for “the deep thought and reflection of wise men in search of a new humanism which will enable modern man to find himself anew”. But that is not all. Underdevelopment has an even more important cause than lack of deep thought: it is “the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples”. Will it ever be possible to obtain this brotherhood by human effort alone? As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers.”

Anyway, you may want to study the full text of the letter here.