MATER ET MAGISTRA

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE JOHN XXIII 

ON CHRISTIANITY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS

In his encyclical Mater et Magistra, John XXIII declares that the Catholic Church is
“Mother and Teacher of all Nations,” responsible for the care and guidance of God’s
people. Just as Christ was concerned for both the spiritual and physical needs of
people, so too is the Church.

John identifies Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891; English translation, 1891) as the first
major compendium of Catholic social teachings, noting how it opened new avenues for
the Church’s social mission. He summarizes the encyclical, its circumstances, and
impact. Four key points are the dignity of work, just wages, the right to private property,
and the importance of the family. John then discusses Quadragesimo Anno (1931;
English translation, 1931), which Pope Pius XI issued to clarify some points of Rerum
Novarum and address the circumstances of his day. Pius XII provided an update in a
radio address on May 15, 1941.

Twenty years later, John XXIII finds that conditions have improved the dignity and
security of the working classes. Nations have adopted many forms of economic
regulation and redistribution, but these improvements are not evenly spread across all
segments of the economy. Despite this progress, millions of people around the world
live in abject poverty, while a few live in extreme luxury. A nation’s greatness should not
be measured by the size of its military or gross national product but on the redistribution
of its prosperity. Both communist and capitalist economies are based on a self-
destructive competition. In contrast, John calls for all societies to adopt a spirit of
Christian brotherhood and cooperation.

John XXIII emphasizes subsidiarity, a belief that higher-level organizations should do

only what cannot be accomplished at lower levels of society. Even though technology
allows governments to have wider spheres of influence, the state must keep a balance
between human rights and human liberty. One counterbalance to government power is
the ability of individuals to form private associations to promote various causes.

John notes that there is nothing wrong with state ownership of productive goods, so
long as it is guided by the concept of subsidiarity. Government officials should be
appointed for their virtue and held to strict checks and balances. However, individuals
and private groups are always better than governments at promoting spiritual goods.

The purpose of work is the fulfillment of the human person, John says. Work itself is
more important than the profits earned, and there is no purpose in work that degrades
the human person. Workers must not be treated like machines; management should
listen to their input. They must be taught culture, religion, and morality. Companies can
help build justice by paying fairer wages and giving their employees more authority,
employing as many people as possible, and reducing class distinctions among their
workers. Even the dividends paid to shareholders can work to balance out the economy.

The agricultural segment does not advance in pace with industry and service. John calls
on agricultural workers to keep up to date with technology and efficiency. To do this,
they need proper educational and economic support from society. He calls on
governments to improve public works in rural areas. He asks for proportional taxes,
special credit programs, insurance programs, and price protection to help farmers.
Agriculture is family centered, provides for humanity’s most basic needs, and involves
direct participation with God’s creation. It incorporates many scientific disciplines.
Farming cooperatives and support organizations help farmers keep up with the latest
knowledge and technology.

John asserts that population density and distribution of natural resources would not be
problems if societies were willing to share their abundance with others. However, it is far
more important to help impoverished nations develop and sustain their own economies.
More developed nations must not use this aid or education as a tool for colonialism.
Local cultures must be safeguarded. Economic and scientific progress must never come
at the cost of human dignity or spiritual growth.
The pope argues that the various political ideologies in the world fail to achieve a proper
social order because they fail to include God’s role in society. When there is no
transcendent morality, “justice” comes to mean whatever the speaker wants. Yet, many
people in advanced societies are beginning to see the emptiness of a secular lifestyle.
Related to this is modern disregard for the Sabbath, as human dignity demands a day
for rest and prayer.

John observes that God has provided humanity with seemingly limitless resources and
the mental capacity to use them. The real problem of poverty has to do the failure of
people to live in solidarity. People’s dominion over nature does not entitle them to abuse
natural resources indiscriminately.

John establishes a hierarchy for Catholic social principles: the sanctity of life and dignity
of the person, then mutual cooperation and brotherhood, and the importance of the
family. He then lists three steps for addressing social problems: analysis of the situation,
judgment according to moral principles, and practical application. Catholics of goodwill
may disagree about the practical application, but they must do so respectfully.
Arguments about what is theoretically best should never get in the way of what is
possible.

John closes with the assertion that putting God’s law first will not prevent, but enhance,
human progress. It is impossible for those driven by the love of Christ to fail in charity to
others.

The early 1960’s saw the world facing the grim reality of the Cold War and the nuclear
arms race, with the threat of a nuclear holocaust. The Berlin Wall, constructed in 1961,
had become a chilling symbol of the polarization of relations between the Soviet Union
and the Western capitalist nations. The Cuban missile crisis in 1962 had brought the
world to the very brink of war, and Pope John XXIII had been personally involved as a
correspondent between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev. This alarming event, however, precipitated an eloquent response from the
Vatican in the form of the encyclical Pacem in Terris. Issued on April 11, 1963, at the
start of the Easter weekend, the encyclical was addressed to not only the Catholic
community, or even just the Christian community, but also “all men of good will.” It
acknowledged peace as a goal and necessity that transcended all denominational and
national boundaries, and it appealed to all on the level of common humanity.

The entire encyclical was an affirmation of human rights and duties, appealing to its
audience on the grounds of a common humanity within a global community. While it
echoes and develops certain ideas put forth in Pope John’s 1961 encyclical Mater et
Magistra (English translation, 1961), it is the first Vatican document to address issues
essentially on an international order. In the introduction, Pope John states that the only
way to establish peace on earth is to follow God’s order. This divine order is outlined in
the first four of five parts of the encyclical.

Part 1 is primarily a discussion of the rights of the human being, such as a “worthy
standard of living”; religious, economic and political freedoms; and the right to immigrate
and emigrate. This statement of human rights also reflects the political and social times
of the mid-twentieth century, when civil rights were a major issue, especially concerning
racial segregation and inequality in the southern part of the United States (incidentally,
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” in which King argues that
active nonviolent resistance is the only true Christian response to injustice, was
published in the same week as Pope John’s encyclical). The human rights outlined in
part 1 also bear resemblance to the United Nations’ 1948 “Universal Declaration of
Human Rights,” and by aligning Catholic teachings with the goals of a worldwide
government, the Vatican showed that its interest lay in not only the Catholic community
but also the entire world.

Part 2 addresses the responsibility of figures of public authority. Public authority should
be representative of the divine order, and therefore all laws should be made to uphold
the moral order and to protect and promote the rights of humans outlined in part 1.
These individual rights must be upheld and respected by public officials as it is the
primary duty of public authority and government is to serve the greater good.
Part 3 is concerned with the relations between sovereign nations. Individual nations, like
individual people, have rights and dignity, and no other nation should infringe on or
violate the rights of another nation. The same values of liberty and justice that should
govern the single nation should also govern the relations between nations on the global
level, and therefore no nation should threaten the liberty or freedom of another nation.
Pope John identifies the most significant threat to all liberty and freedom to be nuclear
warfare, and a powerful section of part 3 calls for immediate and total disarmament. The
global fear inspired by the magnitude of these weapons violates human security and
makes global peace impossible.

Part 4 asserts that the “universal common good” takes precedence over the interests of
individual nations and calls for a “worldwide public authority” similar to the United
Nations, only stronger, to sufficiently protect the individual or nation being threatened by
a nation that has violated the divine moral order.

Part 5, “Pastoral Exhortations,” is a call for members of the Church community to take a
more active part in the promotion of rights outlined in the first four parts. It
acknowledges the recent scientific and technical advances made and entreats that
advances in the teaching of ethics and religion be made so as to ensure that all further
scientific and technical progression adheres to the ethics of the moral order. Pope John
calls for cooperation between those involved in science, politics, and religion to actively
achieve global peace. He also urges all members of the Catholic community, including
the laity, to incorporate these peaceful values into their lives, to actively work toward the
peaceful world order proscribed in the encyclical, and to assist the non-Catholic and
non-Christian members of the global community in political and social orders so that
they effectively move toward the goal of realizing world peace.

The encyclical was part of Pope John’s efforts to revitalize the church and its teaching in
the mid-twentieth century by calling the Second Vatican Council in 1962. However,
stricken with stomach cancer, Pope John died two months after issuing Pacem in Terris,
before the completion of the Council.
 PACEM IN TERRIS

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE JOHN XXIII 

ON ESTABLISHING UNIVERSAL PEACE IN TRUTH,
JUSTICE, CHARITY, AND LIBERTY

Pacem in terris (lit. Peace on Earth) was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John

XXIII on 11 April 1963 on the rights and obligations of individuals and of the state, as
well as the proper relations between states. It emphasized human dignity and equality
among all people, and made mention of issues such as the rights of women, nuclear
non-proliferation, and the United Nations, all of which it endorsed. It was the last
encyclical drafted by John XXIII, who had been diagnosed with cancer in September
1962 and died two months after the encyclical's completion. Biographer Peter
Hebblethwaite called it Pope John's "last will and testament". [1] Published on Holy
Thursday, the Pope called it his "Easter gift".

Pope John XXIII wrote the encyclical Pacem in Terris in April of 1963 to address a world
deeply engaged in the Cold War. The Berlin Wall had just gone up and the Cuban
Missile Crisis frightened millions as nuclear weapons began to proliferate.

At a time in world history marked by powerful new weapons, rivalry, and fear His
Holiness sought to reassure not only the Catholic World, but also all people, that peace
on earth is possible through the divinely established order.

The world has seen continued economic, scientific, and technological growth. These
tremendous advances are examples of “the infinite greatness of God Himself, who
created both man and the universe.” (Paragraph 3)

All of humanity was created in God’s own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26.) and
endowed with intelligence and freedom and give power over the earth. We were also
given free will along with certain rights and duties.

Each person has the right to life and the means necessary to live their life. In addition,
all of humanity has a natural right to be respected, to worship God, to live their life as
they choose, to work and support a family, to form associations, to emigrate, and to take
an active role in public life. All people also have the duty to preserve their life, to respect
the rights of others, work together for the common good, and maintain an attitude of
responsibility.

The purpose of the public authority, or government, is to attain the common good. This
is best achieved when personal rights and duties are protected. The condition of people
is a major consideration when determining the form of government in a country.
Government must also never disregard the moral law and justice must be administered
impartially.
Relations between states ought to also be characterized by truth, justice, willing
cooperation, and freedom. Nations who have achieved significant scientific, cultural and
economic development shouldn’t exert unjust political domination over other states, but
instead ought to use their advances to advance the global common good.

Each country has the right to existence, to self development, and the means to achieve
their development. Minority groups should be protected and be allowed to live in
association with the other peoples within a state. The encyclical continues by discussing
relations between races and the issue of political refugees.

John XXIII was very distressed to see the enormous ongoing build up of arms during
arms the Cold War – particularly the cost and the resources devoted to it. He called for
a process of disarmament by every nation.

At the same time, he repeats the appeal made in Mater et Magistra that every nation
assists those in economic development. The continued integration of the world
economy has meant that no state can pursue its own interests in isolation. Growing
economic interdependence requires cooperation for progress.

In a 1983 pastoral letter “The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response”
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop commented on Church teachings on war and
peace. Written during the height of the Cold War, the letter emphasizes the Church’s
strong desire for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

In exceptional cases, determined by the moral principles of the just-war tradition, some
uses of force are permitted. The Church recognizes that while every nation has a right
and duty to defend itself against unjust aggression, offensive war of any kind is not
morally justifiable. Even a defensive response to an unjust attack may go far beyond the
limits of legitimate defense if it causes destruction that violates the principle of
proportionality.

In a world with ever increasing technology, it is important to remember that nuclear and
conventional weapons should never be used for "the indiscriminate destruction of whole
cities or vast areas with their populations. . . ." (Pastoral Constitution, #80.) The
intentional killing of innocent civilians or non-combatants is always wrong.

To avoid war we must be intent on building peace in an increasingly interdependent

world. Working with other states to provide for the common good is a constant endeavor
and Catholics must urge their political leaders to do so.