Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Reading Octogesima Adveniens, Part I

Reading Octogesima Adveniens, Part I

Last updated on: January 31, 2021 at 7:00 pm by David Cruz-Uribe

Reading Octogesima Adveniens, Part I 2021-01-31T19:00:19-05:00 David Cruz-Uribe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This blog post is the first post where I reflect on Octogesima Adveniens, the last CST document from Paul VI. My previous reflections were about Populorum Progressio, Gaudium et Spes, Pacem in Terris, Mater et Magistra, Quadragesima Anno, and Rerum Novarum. This document is somewhat different than the previous ones, as it is an apostolic letter and not an encyclical, and it is not addressed to the whole Church. Rather, it is addressed to Cardinal Maurice Roy, President of the Council of the Laity and of the Pontifical Commission Justice and Peace. It was written to mark the 80th anniversary of the publication of Rerum Novarum In 52 paragraphs it reflects on some of the many problems facing the world community, and discusses the challenges for Christians to respond to them in light of the gospel. The text ranges from very specific issues to broader philosophical concerns, but is not intended to be a new and definitive statement of Catholic social teaching. As Paul VI says in the final paragraph,

In expressing these reflections to you, venerable brother, we are of course aware that we have not dealt with all the social problems that today face the man of faith and men of goodwill….We address these present reflections to you with the aim of offering to the Council of the Laity and the Pontifical Commission Justice and Peace some fresh contributions, as well as an encouragement, for the pursuit of their task of “awakening the People of the God to a full understanding of its role at the present time” and of “promoting the apostolate on the international level” (par. 52)

In our first discussion we read paragraphs 1-29, and we were very much in agreement that much of the document was very clear, and moreover was very relevant to the present day. Indeed, some of the passages struck us as almost prescient. However, we immediately got hung up on paragraph 29, which in some ways served as a philosophical introduction to the subsequent paragraphs. (We thereby skipped some of the introductory paragraphs, though we returned to them in our second discussion.) It is short, and is both obscure and rich in possibilities:

It has been possible today to speak of a retreat of ideologies. In this respect the present time may be favorable for an openness to the concrete transcendence of Christianity. It may also be a more accentuated sliding towards a new positivism: universalized technology as the dominant form of activity, as the overwhelming pattern of existence, even as a language, without the question of its meaning being really asked. (par. 29)

We were confused by several terms. What did the text mean by a “retreat of ideologies“? And what was the “new positivism“? The great ideological division that underlay the political division between the American and Soviet blocs was still very much present, and ideological (and military) skirmishing would continue along the periphery in Africa and Latin America for another 20 years, until the collapse of the Soviet Union. I was reminded of an argument made in the 1990s by the continental philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who argued that the “end of history“, as promulgated by Francis Fukuyama and others, really marked the triumph of a liberal ideology that insisted it was not an ideology but really just the natural order of things. This would seem to be in accord with the description of positivism as an “overwhelming pattern of existence” that was not questioned but just accepted.

Thinking of the present day, one example of this “overwhelming pattern of existence” is the widespread use of the internet and social media. It is ubiquitous, and in the past 25 years it has moved to occupy a central role in society (at least in the US), but only now are we beginning to realize both its extent and the often pernicious impact that it has had on society. This situation is similar to the introduction of TV and radio in the previous generations. Indeed, in a different context, one of my former students recently called my attention to the article by Franz Fanon, This is the Voice of Algeria (pdf). Fanon discusses the general rejection of radio by Algerians in the 40’s and early 50’s, viewing it as being French and foreign to their culture, and the ways in which their cultural understanding of radio, and their rapid embrace of it, was triggered by the beginning of the Algerian war of independence. Paul VI was conscious of the impact that these new media were having, for both good and evil, on human society. Earlier in the text, he noted that

by their very action the media of social communication are reaching the point of representing as it were a new power. One cannot but ask about those who really hold this power, the aims that they pursue and the means they use, and finally, about the effect of their activity on the exercise of individual liberty, both in the political and ideological spheres and in social, economic and cultural life….[T]he public authorities cannot ignore the growing power and influence of the media of social communication and the advantages and risks which their use involves for the civic community and for its development and real perfecting. (par. 20a, b)

As someone noted, TV was strikingly different in that it was a visual medium. Originally, the internet was based on written texts, but with increase in bandwidth and computing power, it too has evolved into a visual media. As Marshall McLuhan noted, “the medium is the message” and the shift from written to visual has had a substantial impact. One small example is my own son, who, when he wants to learn something online, will look for a video rather than an article.

Our discussion then shifted to the concern raised by the Pope about those who “hold this power” over social media, and the uses and misuses that this power can entail. We were discussing this two weeks after the attack on the US Capitol, in which social media played a prominent role in organizing the attack and shaping public perception of it. Naturally, we began to think about the role of Facebook, Twitter, and online news media played in all of this, and whether and how this abuse of social media could have been avoided. One member pointed to the end of paragraph 20, in which Paul VI argues for an active government role in social media:

[Governments] are called upon to perform their own positive function for the common good by encouraging every constructive expression, by supporting individual citizens and groups in defending the fundamental values of the person and of human society, and also by taking suitable steps to prevent the spread of what would harm the common heritage of values on which orderly civil progress is base. (par. 20c)

While the first part about “enouraging” and “defending” seem benign, there was some concern about what “taking suitable steps to prevent” would entail, and if this would degenerate into governmental censorship and control of social media. One member referred to the extraordinary control that China exercises over social media, shaping and policing content in ways that make it perhaps the first technological dictatorship. On the other hand, as the Pope noted, there are many different kinds of control, and while government is (or rather, ought to be) concerned with advancing the common good, many of those who control social media are only concerned with economic wealth and power, often the antithesis of the common good. In the end, Facebook does not care at all about the content which they provide, in these sense that it does not matter to them if it is harmless (cat memes), positive (real sharing between groups and individuals) or negative (racist hate speech, anti-scientific nonsense about vaccines). Their only concern is whether the content can be manipulated in such a way as to increase clicks and views, and so generate more data and more revenue for the company.

At the same time, other companies use social media to sell products that we do not really need: they use media to create demand where there was none before. As Paul VI noted, “superficial needs are ingeniously created” (par. 9) I am reminded of the dystopian novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Though not as popular as Orwell’s 1984, I think it has a lot to say to us about the kinds of control that unbridled capitalism has come to exercise over our lives (and indeed, or very bodies). One small passage describes the creation of new recreational equipment: development is driven by the rigid requirement that any new toy or machine must be more complicated and more expensive than previous ones, so that when people are convinced to purchase them they will contribute to the bottom line of the corporations:

“Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption. It’s madness. Nowadays the Controllers won’t approve of any new game unless it can be shown that it requires at least as much apparatus as the most complicated of existing games.” (Brave New World, Chapter 3)

Unlike, in Brave New World, however, we are not forced to consume more: rather, we are convinced that we want to consume more. Moreover, while we object to government surveillance, we freely allow stores and businesses to track us and shape what we see by what they want to sell us. (Anyone who has ever idly searched for a consumer product and then been bombarded for ads for similar items on Facebook and prominent links in Google searches should be familiar with this phenomenon.)

At this point our discussion began to bounce among some of the other parts of the encyclical. We turned to the paragraphs on urbanization (paragraphs 1013), and the problem of loneliness:

Man is experiencing a new loneliness; it is not in the face of a hostile nature which it has taken him centuries to subdue, but in an anonymous crowd which surrounds him and in which he feels himself a stranger. (par. 10a)

Life in the city seems to foster disconnection Moreover, this problem is actually exacerbated by social media: I am sure you have all seen a variation of a rather common scene here in a college town: a dinner party consisting of a group of young people all staring at their phones and ignoring those physically present. While social media (particularly Zoom and other forms of video conferencing) have made some degree of connection possible during the pandemic, they have also revealed themselves to be poor substitutes for physical proximity. I noticed this teaching this semester: I started with two online lectures, in which the students were so distant that they would not even turn on their cameras; once I got them into class they warmed up and became very engaged and interactive.

The text lists a number of problems: loneliness can lead to anomie; urbanization creates “new proletariats” (par. 10b, the first time this word has appeared in a social encyclical):

Behind the facades much misery is hidden, unsuspected even by the closest neighbors; other forms of misery spread where human dignity founders: delinquency, criminality, abuse of drugs and eroticism. (par. 10b)

However, the text does not retreat from the existence of cities, calling for some return to a mythologized agrarian past. It notes correctly that urbanization is “undoubtedly an irreversible stage in the development of human societies” (par. 10a). Indeed, while many middle-class people want to move out of the “city” or even heavily developed suburbs to enjoy “rural life”, few of them want to actually take up the rigors of actual farm life. And in the third world, despite horrors of urban poverty, many people still find it preferable to life in the countryside.

Paul XI does, however, call upon Christians to take an active part in addressing the evils that the new forms of civilization have created in their midst. Christians are asked to break through the barriers of isolation that urbanization has created, see the plight of the neighbors, and act to address it both by acts of personal charity and by building up new and more human social structures:

To build up the city, the place where men and their expanded communities exist, to create new modes of neighborliness and relationships, to perceive an original application of social justice and to undertake responsibility for this collective future, which is foreseen as difficult, is a task in which Christians must share. (par. 12)

There is a need for new kinds of ministry adapted to the needs of an urban poor. Already in the 19th century this was seen in the ministry of people such as St. John Bosco in Italy, or Blessed Fr. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, in the United States. (For all their problems, the Knights have tried to continue this legacy of urban ministry.) More recently Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement were at the forefront of applying Catholic social teaching to create new and innovative forms of ministry to address the needs of the urban poor. In many ways, this is a recurring theme in Catholic history. The early Christians first spread among the urban poor of the Roman empire, and it was their charity and work with the sick that attracted much attention and many converts. And the Franciscans and other mendicant orders in the high Middle Ages were very successful in part because they adapted their ministry to meet the needs of the newly redeveloping urban areas of southern Europe.

We concluded our discussion by noting the first appearance of environmentalism in Catholic social teaching:

While the horizon of man is thus being modified according to the images that are chosen for him, another transformation is making itself felt, one which is the dramatic and unexpected consequence of human activity. Man is suddenly becoming aware that by an ill-considered exploitation of nature he risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation. (par. 21a)

Here were taken the first steps away from thinking about humanity’s dominion over the world and instead talk about its stewardship of God’s creation. This idea will continue to expand and reach new heights in Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si.

Catholic Social Teaching

David Cruz-Uribe

Papal Social Encyclicals

Previous Post

January 24, 2021

Reading Populorum Progessio, Part III

Next Post

February 7, 2021 Reading Octogesima Adveniens, Part II

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Animals that chew the cud but do not have split hooves are considered clean to eat.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE