Comendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

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Hi,

Have any of you read the book Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It can be found for free on the Vatican website and for a decent price on Amazon and most Catholic bookstores. i am wondering what you think about this document?

Joshua
 
Yes I have it and have read @75% in slow reflective detail…also I use it often to see if my thoughts on “current social events”…my understanding and my positions are … at least in the Church’s Social Doctrine “ballpark” (in vast majority of cases/scenarios…I am pretty close)…and with the Compendium’s help I come to a fuller and more orthodox position/ascent to the Church’s teaching.

I have noticed that when I use my basic understanding of the Church’s Social Doctrine…coupled to what the Compendium teaches me…to analyze a political social position or a government social (proposed) policy …the depth and nuances…and complexity of the many factors of the issue/policy…that are found and articulated in the Social Doctrines of the Church are simply…masterful and very Christ-centered. I am often humbled and in awe on many occasions…not my most likely disposition.

When I hear something re: social policy “from someone inside” the Church that sounds wrong or misfocused…the Compendium gives me a much better and deeper understanding of where that “bogus” view is coming from…it is usually from a Christ-centered heart that is usually over emphasizing some aspect of Church Social Doctrine and likewise, simply underestimating other aspects or neglecting to take them into account.

Pax Christi
 
Lancer said:
Yes I have it and have read @75% in slow reflective detail…also I use it often to see if my thoughts on “current social events”…my understanding and my positions are … at least in the Church’s Social Doctrine “ballpark” (in vast majority of cases/scenarios…I am pretty close)…and with the Compendium’s help I come to a fuller and more orthodox position/ascent to the Church’s teaching.

I have noticed that when I use my basic understanding of the Church’s Social Doctrine…coupled to what the Compendium teaches me…to analyze a political social position or a government social (proposed) policy …the depth and nuances…and complexity of the many factors of the issue/policy…that are found and articulated in the Social Doctrines of the Church are simply…masterful and very Christ-centered. I am often humbled and in awe on many occasions…not my most likely disposition.

When I hear something re: social policy “from someone inside” the Church that sounds wrong or misfocused…the Compendium gives me a much better and deeper understanding of where that “bogus” view is coming from…it is usually from a Christ-centered heart that is usually over emphasizing some aspect of Church Social Doctrine and likewise, simply underestimating other aspects or neglecting to take them into account.

Pax Christi
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Lancer,

Have you read any of the original social encyclicals of the popes that the compendium is based on?

Joshua
 
joshrp said:
Hi,

Have any of you read the book Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It can be found for free on the Vatican website and for a decent price on Amazon and most Catholic bookstores. i am wondering what you think about this document?

Joshua
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Greetings Joshrp,

Can you provide that link for that document at the Vatican Website? I am not too good at doing searches and cannot get it to pull up.

Thank you.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
 
I do not have the Compendium of SJ, but here is one critique of it:
A Lost Opportunity: The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
A Review Essay
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Given that the Compendium ends on such an inspiring note, it is disappointing to report that the text does not live up to the expectations many had for it.
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This is primarily due to the Compendium’s departures from the objectives set for it in Ecclesia in America. This might have been avoided had the Compendium’s drafting enjoyed the quality of editorship that makes the Catechism of the Catholic Church such an outstanding document. No doubt many people labored to produce the Compendium, but many of the difficulties identified above could presumably have been rectified by editors whose attention was upon keeping the Compendium faithful to its designated purpose. Not only would such an effort have produced a document perhaps half of the Compendium’s size, but it would have reduced the chances of the confusions outlined above appearing in the text.
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Two important cautionary notes are made in the introductory chapter. One is a reminder that Catholic social teaching is not static by virtue of the fact that it is attentive to changes in social life with the passing of time (CCSD, no. 9). Examples of such changes might be the defeat of Communism, the emergence of new scientific possibilities, the Great Depression, and so forth.
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The second caution underlined in the Compendium’s introduction is that “it is good to keep in mind that the citations of magisterial texts are taken from documents of differing authority. Alongside council documents and encyclicals, there are also papal addresses and documents drafted by offices of the Holy See. As one knows, but it seems to bear repeating, the reader should be aware that different levels of authority are involved…
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acton.org:80/publications/mandm/mandm_article_33.php

And as always, in this age it is good to identify the ***political ***opinions and matters relating to ***prudential judgment ***from the truly moral ones.
 
Tigg said:
I do not have the Compendium of SJ, but here is one critique of it:

acton.org:80/publications/mandm/mandm_article_33.php

And as always, in this age it is good to identify the ***political ***opinions and matters relating to ***prudential judgment ***from the truly moral ones.
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Greetings Tigg,

I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to get Acrobat Reader to work on my computer to get to this document. Is there anyway you could send it to me in my email? Can you please copy and paste it and send it in an email. I am sorry to ask you do to this, but I cannot get it to load on properly. I would appreciate it very much.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
 
Anathama_Sit said:
Greetings Tigg,

I have spent the last 30 minutes trying to get Acrobat Reader to work on my computer to get to this document. Is there anyway you could send it to me in my email? Can you please copy and paste it and send it in an email. I am sorry to ask you do to this, but I cannot get it to load on properly. I would appreciate it very much.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
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Sure - I have it copied into a word doc.
 
Tigg said:
Sure - I have it copied into a word doc.
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Greetings Tigg,

My gratitude and appreciation for you sending that document to me. I am glad that I just happened to be online, because my inbox would have only held 5 messages. Looking through it the document seemed to have many good points.

God bless you.
Anathama Sit
 
joshrp said:
vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
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Greetings Joshrp,

I am seeming to have a problem downloading all the rest of the page on my computer. Do you know of anywhere else this document may be located online in full? I cannot afford to get the book.

If not, then I will go ahead and grit my teeth and continue to download it. I have been going after this document for days now. Usually I do not have a problem with the Vatican website, in fact it works well for me, for some particular reason, this document is presenting a lot of headaches.

Thanks to Tigg, I got the critique on it, but I would like to have the orginal document in hand while reading the critique.

God bless.
Anathama Sit
 
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