Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

[matthias]

Has anyone here seen the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”. (Link to Vatican page. Link to Amazon page.)

I got a copy of it and this thing is fantastic. Instead of threading through tons of encyclicals and straining to understand everything in context and understanding the language of the time etc. This new compendium covers the Churches social doctrine in great detail. 480 pages of content and it is an offical vatican issued text so it has some authority (at least in regard to authentically representing Catholic belief).

I am supprised because I have heard so little on EWTN radio about it or in other places and it is like having a Universal Catholic Catechism just for Social issues.

I would love to know if anyone has done a program on EWTN or otherwhere based on this book. I followed the Fr. Corapi series on the Catechism and it’s great. I would love to see a series about this text. Has anyone seen such a series? Why is this document so little talked about?

 

[Brendan]

It’s not talked about as much because it’s a Compendium, a shortened version of teachings that are already out there and known.

In much the same way as you will hear people talk and quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but won’t talk all that much about it’s companion volume, the Compentium of the Catechism.

 

[kell0618]

The Compendium is good, but it really helps to have the complete Catechism on-hand to refer to. Since you are in the US, I suggest you check out the US Catechism for Adults. It is a readable Catechism and is filled with lots of ‘bonus’ material that helps to explain the various teachings. It is not available on-line; you’ll have to spring for the $25 for a paperback.

 

[puzzleannie]

in answer to OP most publishers of religion textbooks, RCIA materials etc. for youth and adults have a companion volume or course on Catholic Social Teaching. Loyola Press catechist and DRE training series have one, and they also have an adult ed-evangelism course for adults that has a component on this. Saint Mary’s Press, Silver-Burdett and other co’s have a component in their YM-high school series. Ask your DRE to see catalogs from such publishers or go on their websites. Some of these courses would be great for a parish adult ed. There is a new adult ed called Faith and Light (I think, I think from either Ignatius or Loyola) with an excellent course on this topic. There are 2-3 earlier volumes that contain the social justice encyclicals, some with commentary and discussion, from the 50s- 60s, that have been reprinted or never out of print. It is also a topic in most Jr Hi or HS series, which include it as part of the Church History book (usually 8th or 9th grade).

 

[matthias]

The Compendium is good, but it really helps to have the complete Catechism on-hand to refer to. Since you are in the US, I suggest you check out the US Catechism for Adults. It is a readable Catechism and is filled with lots of ‘bonus’ material that helps to explain the various teachings. It is not available on-line; you’ll have to spring for the $25 for a paperback.

Thanks but I actually have all three of the documents you mention above. I wasn’t talking about the Compendium of the Catechism. If you read my OP you should be able to figure out that what I am talking about is a Compendium of Social Doctrine. I know that it doesn’t say anything new but what it does do is systematically gather together all of the Social teaching for the last several hundred years into one 480 page document. It is a work on order with what was done with the original CCC only focusing on the Social Doctrine. I have a copy and have looked through it and it is a very impressive work.

It’s not talked about as much because it’s a Compendium, a shortened version of teachings that are already out there and known.

In much the same way as you will hear people talk and quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but won’t talk all that much about it’s companion volume, the Compentium of the Catechism.

This is true (that it says nothing new) but never before have all the teachings been collected into one official document of such scope. Again, it is a huge document (480 pages) that is very well indexed and etc. In the past each encyclical or other document addressed single issues. This is more on par with a Catechism that covers the entire topic of Social Doctrine. I am unaware of any past official document (perhaps unofficial or local official but not official universal) that has attempted to do this.

Anyway…
I was hoping that maybe someone like Fr. Pacwa or some other expert may have done a program on this new document. I know that Fr. Pacwa has a series that went through a lot of JPII’s encyclicals and stuff and I thought maybe someone has done a series on this document.