What Ever Happened to Octogesima Adveniens?

Abstract

O CTOGÉSIMA ADVENIENS, Paul VFs letter in 1971 to Maurice Cardinal Roy, 1 marked the eightieth anniversary of Rerum novarum. The letter, in particular its paragraph 4, was heralded as a central expression of a historically conscious methodology in magisterial teaching. Paul VI there highlighted the historically constituted nature of the social teaching of the Church, the role of the local community, and the difficulty as well as the undesirability of a single universal papal message or solution to problems. What has happened to this articulation of a historically conscious methodology in the last 20 years? One response to this question can be uncovered by tracing how and in which contexts this significant paragraph has been used in the encyclical teachings of John Paul Π.Although the historically constituted nature of the social teachings of the magisterium has already been documented, 2 one must remem ber first, that the works prior to Paul VI and Vatican Council II were not as devoid of historically conscious methodologies as some would like to believe, 3 and second, that Gaudium et spes and the writings of Paul VI were not as historically conscious as proponents would like to maintain. 4 Documentation has demonstrated, however, that the en cyclical writings of John Paul II intentionally stray from the earlier emerging articulation of a historically conscious methodology 5 in pref-1 Paul VI, "Octogésima adveniens," Acta Apostolícete Sedis 63 (1971) 401-44.

Social Welfare and Catholic Social Teaching: Foundational Theological Principles for Case Studies

“…The text of the 1967 social encyclical of Paul VI is perhaps the most dramatic case in point; Populorum Progressio (Paul VI 2010b) deals with the urgent need for a new international economic order in the wake of rapid decolonization in a way that breaks new ground for its evident eager attentiveness to hearing the cry of the poor and engaging in a brand of social analysis that is modest and humble. Arguably, then, every papal social encyclical since Vatican II has reflected this shift in both method and tone, although commentators such as Mary Elsbernd have detected occasional papal backsliding on certain occasions, such as when John Paul II retreats from the previous progressive and inductive methodological commitments in his social teaching documents (Elsbernd 1995).…”