I have heard it said that Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope JPII) helped to write Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae.Or do they assign the details to others?
If a pope is unable to finish an encyclical, does the next pope finish it or does it get thrown out?
I would say that the pope would indeed have some helpers or “proof readers” possibly, to help him with grammar and perhaps also make some suggestions on how to express himself better with what he wants to say.Or do they assign the details to others?
If a pope is unable to finish an encyclical, does the next pope finish it or does it get thrown out?
Fr. John LaFarge was said to have drafted an encyclical on racial matters for Pius XI, whose successor did not publish it. Thus a pope apparently may use “ghost writers.”Or do they assign the details to others?
If a pope is unable to finish an encyclical, does the next pope finish it or does it get thrown out?
Yep, What matters is that the Pope authors it, in that he is the published author of the encyclical.Fr. John LaFarge was said to have drafted an encyclical on racial matters for Pius XI, whose successor did not publish it. Thus a pope apparently may use “ghost writers.”
No, popes are not bound to adopt the unpromulgated and unfinished works of their predecessors.
Rarely an encyclical will be penned by another hand. For instance Pius XII wrote “Mit Brenner Sorge” (“With burning anxiety” - a letter to the German people shortly after Hitler came to power) when Pius XI was still on the throne.Or do they assign the details to others?
If a pope is unable to finish an encyclical, does the next pope finish it or does it get thrown out?
Mit Brennender Sorge was actually written by Pius XI–it was published in 1937, two years before Pius XII was elected Pope.Rarely an encyclical will be penned by another hand. For instance Pius XII wrote “Mit Brenner Sorge” (“With burning anxiety” - a letter to the German people shortly after Hitler came to power) when Pius XI was still on the throne.
Normally however the Pope has enough (name removed by moderator)ut to make him the real as well as the nominal author. The extent to which the text is mulled over or discussed by assistants varies.
The new Pope would take a decision on an unfinished encyclical by a predecessor. It could be thrown out or it could be published with minor emendations. However it would not be published posthumously as an “Encyclical from the late Pope”.