AMERICA/CHILE - Principles and values of the social teaching of the Church in view of a new Constitution

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 elections   social doctrine   episcopal conferences   social situation   politics  

agensir

Santiago (Agenzia Fides) - The Chilean Episcopal Conference (CEC) has published a document that collects the main teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church in social matters, in order to offer before the May 2021 elections. The text aims to propose elements of discernment, both to who seek to represent the Chilean people in the development of a new constitution, as well as the citizens who will elect them and all people of good will.
The CEC note underlines that through the document "Principles and Values of the Social Teaching of the Church", published on the website www.iglesia.cl/participacionciudadana, the Church intends to propose "the treasure of wisdom and humanity that it received from Jesus Christ , and offers it to believers and non-believers, in the conviction that these teachings illuminate social problems in the light of God – as written in the presentation of the text -. In fact, there are some common and immutable principles that unite all cultures, that are independent of consensus and that the Church seeks to teach with her Magisterium. That is why she hopes that these pages will contribute to the necessary constituent dialogue in the search for the common good".
The document collects the main teachings of the Social Doctrine of the Church, contained above all in the social encyclicals, such as Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII, to all the Popes of the twentieth century, and reaching "Fratelli Tutti" of Pope Francis of 2020. To this doctrinal body must be added other interventions of the magisterium at the local level. In addition, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a document prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in 2004, deserves a special mention. All this material has been organized according to "principles" and "values". The text also offers an extensive bibliographic reference for an in-depth study of the various topics.
The initiative is part of the process of drafting a new Constitution for the country after the result of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020 (see Fides, 27/10/2020), celebrated at the height of a long period of crisis that Chile is going through in all fields - political, economic, social and religious - since October 2019. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 13/4/2021)


Share: