Soooooooooooooooooooo sublte, isn't it.....wow.....M A R A N A T H A !!!!!!!

[had to smile at the comic strip]

This is a great compilation of the news I want to hear about.  Very good post!  Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

There are already world economic authorities...dozens of them. The Pope called for a reform of those authorities in a manner that makes them responsive to the poor as opposed to the wealthy. This is in keeping with Catholic social teaching and the teaching of Jesus Himself. It is a gross mischaracterization to equate this with some call for a "new world order" in the sense it is being referred to here. The word "new" appears nowhere in the Holy Father's encyclical in this regard.

You can read the whole thing, instead of just believing what the media tells you, if you like:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - 

I apologize for the delay. Several factors prevented me from reading all 32 pages (10pt single spaced), 28,108 words of the pope's letter until a bit ago.

First, the main point at hand (emphasis mine)...

Benedict wrote:

"67. In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth. One also senses the urgent need to find innovative ways of implementing the principle of the responsibility to protect[146]  and of giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making. This seems necessary in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity. To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago. Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good[147], and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth. Furthermore, such an authority would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights[148]. Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums. Without this, despite the great progress accomplished in various sectors, international law would risk being conditioned by the balance of power among the strongest nations. The integral development of peoples and international cooperation require the establishment of a greater degree of international ordering, marked by subsidiarity, for the management of globalization[149]. They also require the construction of a social order that at last conforms to the moral order, to the interconnection between moral and social spheres, and to the link between politics and the economic and civil spheres, as envisaged by the Charter of the United Nations. "

New as in revamped... Benedict wants a UN with "real teeth." That's new.

"There is urgent need of a true world political authority ...such an authority would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights. Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties..."

True world authority... that's new. Something that will dominate all the nations.

Benedict says: "In our own day, the State finds itself having to address the limitations to its sovereignty imposed by the new context of international trade and finance, which is characterized by increasing mobility both of financial capital and means of production, material and immaterial. This new context has altered the political power of States. Today, as we take to heart the lessons of the current economic crisis, which sees the State's public authorities directly involved in correcting errors and malfunctions, it seems more realistic to re-evaluate their role and their powers, which need to be prudently reviewed and remodelled so as to enable them, perhaps through new forms of engagement, to address the  challenges of today's world. Once the role of public authorities has been more clearly defined, one could foresee an increase in the new forms of political participation, nationally and internationally, that have come about through the activity of organizations operating in civil society; in this way it is to be hoped that the citizens' interest and participation in the res publica will become more deeply rooted."

Hey, look, the word "new," four times!

The Catholic Church's social doctrine thinks it looks like Jesus', but it doesn't. Consistently through out the letter, Benedict talks about Christian humanism, human endeavor, human goals. Yes, He says that we need God... but he does not seem to real understand what that means.

"It is Christ's charity that drives us on: “caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14). The urgency is inscribed not only in things, it is not derived solely from the rapid succession of events and problems, but also from the very matter that is at stake: the establishment of authentic fraternity."

No. He's got it wrong. Let's read II Corinthians 5:14-15: "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

Paul says the love of Christ compels him to preach the Gospel to the Corinthians because Christ died for all, so that those who live live for Christ. Read the grammar in the sentence. It is NOT about fraternity.

Fraternity only comes when each seeks Christ on His own.... and so enters into the family of God. "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has God as his Father..." I John 5:1

The Catholic Church means well in it's social doctrine, but it is misguided. It is trusting in it's own works and reason (do a word search of reason in the pope's letter).

Benedict's theme of love in truth is sound... but his reasoning toward human unity (by humans) is faulty.

" Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
      Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
 It will be health to your flesh,
      And strength to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your possessions,
      And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
      And your vats will overflow with new wine. " - Proverbs 3

Verses 5 and 6 are key here: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart,   And lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him,  And He shall direct your paths."

At times Benedict seems to say this... then He says, "Integral human development on the natural plane, as a response to a vocation from God the Creator, demands self-fulfilment in a “transcendent humanism which gives [to man] his greatest possible perfection: this is the highest goal of personal development”.

No! The highest goal of personal development is to know God, to know Christ, to know Jesus.

Benedict says: "Taught by her Lord, the Church examines the signs of the times and interprets them, offering the world what she possesses as her characteristic attribute: a global vision of man and of the human race”[46]. "

This global vision is a human impossibility. Only Christ Himself can make this a reality. The better we know Him, individually and as a Body, the more people we expose to Christ's Good News of a coming Kingdom, perfect global kingdom (not this corrupt UN or anything like it), ruled by The Man-God (Jesus himself), the sooner He returns to establish this Kingdom and so the utopia that Benedict believes can be gotten by human achievement.

Yes, he says we must seek God... but then tells governments: "I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world's economic and social assets, that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: “Man is the source, the focus and the aim of all economic and social life”"

No. Christ is the source, focus and aim of ALL life. Once Christ is no longer source, focus and aim, all goes off kilter. And that is the world we live in, have always lived in, will always live in until Christ establishes his Kingdom on Earth. Only He can bring order to this disorder!

Don't get me wrong... we must aid the poor... but that is an individual decision and has no bearing on governments. Just like belief in Christ cannot be forced on whole populations, neither can Christ's commands to love our neighbor.

Even Benedict says this: "Solidarity is first and foremost a sense of responsibility
on the part of everyone with regard to everyone[93], and it cannot
therefore be merely delegated to the State."

And even in this he is wrong... solidarity cannot be delegated to a State. A State should exist because of solidarity... not solidarity because of the State.

This is even true in the Kingdom of God. The citizens of God's coming Kingdom will be there because they chose to unite themselves with God, not because God forced them to unite themselves with Him.