Encyclical Letter (Populorum Progressio) of His Holiness Paul VI by Divine Providence Pope [antikvár]

To Our Dearest Sons and Brothers Health and Apostolic Blessing INTRODUCTION Social Teaching of the Popes 1. The development of peoples has the Church's close attention, particularly the development of those peoples who are striving to escape from hunger, misery, endemic diseases and ignorance; of those who are looking for a wider share in the benefits of civilization and a more active improvement of their human qualities; of those who are aiming purposefully at their complete fulfilment. Following on the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council a renewed consciousness of the demands of the Gospel makes it her duty to put herself at the service of all, to help them grasp their serious problem in all its dimensions, and to convince them that solidarity in action at this turning point in human history is a matter of urgency. 2. Our predecessors in their great Encyclicals, Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum,1 Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno2 and John XXIII in Mater et Magistral and Pacem in Terris4 - not to mention the messages of Pius XII5 to the world - did not fail in the duty of their office of shedding the light of the Gospel on the social questions of their times. 3. Today the principal fact that we must all recognize is that the social question has become world-wide. John XXIII stated this in unambiguous terms6 and the Council echoed him in its Pastoral Con- 'Cf. Acta Leonis XIII, v. XI (1892), pp. 97-148. 2Cf. AAS 23 (1931), pp. 177-228. 3Cf. AAS 53 (1961), pp. 401^64. 4Cf. AAS 55 (1963), pp. 257-304. 5Cf., for example, the Radio Message of 1 June 1941, for the 50th anniversary of Leo XTO's Encyclical Rerum Novarum, AAS 33 (1941), pp. 195-205; Christmas Radio Message of 1942, AAS 35 (1943), pp. 9-24; Address to Catholic Sodalities of Italian Workers on the anniversary of the Encyclical Rerum Novarum, 14 May 1953, AAS 45 (1953), pp. 402-408. 'Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Mater et Magistra, AAS 53 (1961), p. 440. 5