The Influence of Changes in Socio-Economic Thinking on the Development of Post-Vatican II Catholic Social Teaching
Abstract
As Gaudium et spes (1965), Octogesima adveniens (1971), Justitia in mundo (1971) and Evangelii nuntiandi (1975) demonstrate, the emphasis of official Catholic teaching on social and political economy changed within a decade from optimism about aid-giving to suspicion of donor intentions and a pleading for a loosening of economic dependency. The optimism of modernization theory helped to shape the arguments of Gaudium et spes and Populorum progressio. Dependency theory helped to shape the visions of Octogesima adveniens, Justitia in mundo and Evangelii nuntiandi. The subsequent papal documents of John Paul II on Catholic social teaching, such as Sollicitudo rei socialis (1987), fall under another influence: namely the shift from a purely economic and political analysis of the problem of development to a cultural analysis.