This book is the first volume in the Pacem in Terris Press Series on Postmodern Catholic Social Teaching. This new stage of Catholic Social Teaching was inaugurated by Blessed Pope John XXIII (1958-1963). To honor the 50th Anniversary of PACEM IN TERRIS in 2013, the book offers a summary and commentary for this famous 1963 encyclical letter of Pope John XXIII. The summary provides a clear and detailed overview of John's embrace of the modern human-rights tradition as the foundation for world peace. The commentary provides historical and philosophical context.But John disengaged the modern human-rights tradition from what he saw as its erroneous philosophical foundation in modern ideologies. Instead, he re-rooted it in the older, deeper, and richer philosophical foundation of Natural Law. Early Christianity had appropriated the philosophical tradition of Natural Law from the Roman Stoics, who in turn had developed it from the Greek Socratic tradition, and especially from Aristotle. John's encyclical begins by praising the natural order of the universe and the natural order in human beings, all of which he describes as rooted in the Divine order. It then outlines his theory of human rights first in the relationship between human beings and individual political communities, second in the relationship among political communities themselves, and third in relationship of political communities to the world community. In this encyclical, John made three remarkable innovations for Catholic Social Teaching. First, he called for an end to the arms race and for radical disarmament. Second, he eliminated the former ban against Catholic dialogue and cooperation with socialists and communists by distinguishing between error itself and actual persons in error. Third, recognizing the emergence of a new world economy, he called for a democratic global political authority capable of ordering the world economy for the common good — in “truth, justice, love, and liberty.” The book portrays John in his teaching as a foundational Catholic prophet for the new global stage of Catholic Christianity, and correlatively as a foundational human prophet for the new global stage of the human journey.

The banner of humankind blows over Pacem in Terris whenever it is open. The five stripes symbolize five subdivisions of the one human race; brown, black, red, white, yellow, unite at the top, each one is free to blow in the wind according to its own nature. The banner is tubular, so there is no first no last! No one is on top, no one at the bottom. Each stripe is double: Male/female. For: To be human, or not to be, that’s the questions!

The thesis of this essay may be stated quite briefly: Vatican II is a demonstration model of the phenomenological method employed on an international scale. It exemplifies the final developmental stage, postulated by Husserl, of an inter subjective phenomenology which would take its point of departure, not from individual subjectivity, but from transcendental intersubjectivity. Vatican II, accordingly, offers a unique application of a universal transcendental philosophy in the field of religious reflection for the practical purposes of moral and socio cultural renewal. Phenomenology, as a distinctively European development, is relatively un known in America - at least in its pure form. Our contact with this style of 1 intuitive reflection is usually filtered through psychology or sociology. How ever, Edmund Husserl, The Father of Phenomenology, was originally trained in mathematics, and he entered the field of philosophy because he recognized 2 that the theoretical foundations of modern science were disintegrating. He foresaw that, unless this situation were rectified, modern men would eventually slip into an attitude of absolute scepticism, relativism, and pragmatism. After the First World War he saw this theoretical problem mirrored more and more in the social turbulence of Europe, and his thoughts turned to the need for a 3 renewal at all levels of life. In 1937 when Nazism was triumphant in Germany, and Europe on the brink of World War II, he wrote his last major work, The 4 Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Philosophy.

“In the heart of this world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us alone, for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward. Praise be to him!” – Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ In his second encyclical, Laudato Si’: On the Care of Our Common Home, Pope Francis draws all Christians into a dialogue with every person on the planet about our common home. We as human beings are united by the concern for our planet, and every living thing that dwells on it, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. Pope Francis’ letter joins the body of the Church’s social and moral teaching, draws on the best scientific research, providing the foundation for “the ethical and spiritual itinerary that follows.” Laudato Si’ outlines: The current state of our “common home” The Gospel message as seen through creation The human causes of the ecological crisis Ecology and the common good Pope Francis’ call to action for each of us Our Sunday Visitor has included discussion questions, making it perfect for individual or group study, leading all Catholics and Christians into a deeper understanding of the importance of this teaching.

Mater Et Magistra Mater Et Magistra is the encyclical written by Pope John XXIII on the topic of "Christianity and Social Progress." It was promulgated on 15 May 1961. The title means "mother and teacher," referring to the role of the church. It describes a necessity to work towards authentic community in order to promote human dignity. It taught that the state must sometimes intervene in matters of health care, education, and housing.

Assaults on the dignity and the rights of the human person have been central to the ongoing crisis of the modern era in the last hundred years. This book takes a searching look at the roots of this problem and the various approaches to it by the eight men who led the Catholic Church in the twentieth century, from Pope St. Pius X and his crusade against Modernism to Pope St. John Paul II and his appeal for a renewed rapprochement between faith and reason. Thus it offers a distinctive, illuminating interpretation of recent world events viewed through the lens of an ancient institution, the papacy. The fascinating story is told by a veteran observer of Church affairs through short profiles of the eight popes, which include crucial, often little-known facts. The book includes substantial excerpts from the writings of the popes that give important insights into their personalities and thinking. It also includes a useful overview of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and its pivotal role in reshaping the Catholic Church. Serious and open-minded readers, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, as well as students of Church history will find this unique work an informative, timely, and inspiring guide to understanding many central events and issues of our times.

"The Catholic Church is in disarray. A crisis of authority followed on the false optimism of the Second Vatican Council, just as it did on the empty hopes of President Kennedy's 'Camelot.' In Bare Rusined Choirs, Mr. Wills takes the confusion of the Church as a model of institutional breakdown, not only in religion but in the state."--Page 4 of cover