Mater et Magistra
| Mater et magistra Latin : Mother and Teacher Encyclical letter of Pope John XXIII |
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| Date | 15 May 1961 |
| Argument | On the increasing development of social issues in the light of the Christian doctrine |
| Encyclical number | 5 of 8 of the pontificate |
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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.
Mater et magistra was written in observance of the 70th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum. It also refers to the social teaching of Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno, and of Pope Pius XII in a radio broadcast given 1 June 1941. The document mentions the following changes in the world since then:
The Second Vatican Council opened a little more than a year after Mater et magistra was promulgated.
Mater et magistra begins by praising three earlier papal documents on social topics and summarizing their key points.
Rerum Novarum is extolled: “here for the first time was a complete synthesis of social principles, formulated with such historical insight as to be of permanent value to Christendom... rightly regarded as a compendium of Catholic social and economic teaching”; “the Magna Charta of social and economic reconstruction”; whose influence was not only apparent in later Church documents, but “discernible too in the subsequent legislation of a number of States” Pope John summarized the main points of Rerum Novarum as work, private property, the role of the state, right of association, and human solidarity. He summarized the main message of Quadragesimo anno, as two key points:
He also mentioned a radio address given by Pope Pius XII on 1 June 1941, in which he had commemorated the 50th anniversary of Rerum Novarum and reiterated its message on subjects of the right use of material goods, work, and family.
Mater et magistra frequently explains the common good as a desirable balance between different elements of the society or the economy. For example, a business must balance its unity of direction with the needs of its individual workers. Development and progress in the industrial, service, and agricultural sectors must balance. Individual freedom and initiative must balance with necessary action of the civil authority, including appropriate public ownership of property, based on the principle of subsidiarity. Economic progress should balance with social progress, especially a reduction in inequality.
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