Forty Years - Populorum Progressio

Forty years ago, on 26 March 1967, the Church spoke about people-centric development, about solidarity. The Church predicted the global nature of social issues and it urged that free trade be subject to the demands of social justice.

These issues and many others were all taken up in Pope Paul VI's encyclical, Populorum Progressio.

Populorum Progressio inspired many of the faithful around the world to work for justice and peace. In its 5th paragraph, the Holy Father also announced the creation of a Pontifical commission for "Justice and Peace", to "fulfill the wishes of the Council and to demonstrate the Holy See's concern for the developing nations" (the Council referred to the then-recently completed Vatican Council II), whose purpose was "to awaken in the People of God full awareness of their mission today. In this way they can further the progress of poorer nations and international social justice, as well as help less developed nations to contribute to their own development."

Over the last forty years, Justice and Peace commissions were established all over the world to carry out this work.

Here in Hong Kong, in 1979, a group of people answered Pope Paul VI's call and started the Center for the Progress of Peoples to serve justice and peace efforts. Today we call ourselves the Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples (ACPP) to reflect the Asian focus of our work. Our services include:

• "Urgent Appeals" to alert people about injustices and call for their solidarity action;

• informational resources (like our website) on justice and peace work and issues;

• networking among all those working for justice and peace - national justice and peace commissions, among the laity, clergy and religious through the Justice and Peace Workers (JPW) Forum, as well as all people of goodwill; and

• training programmes on social justice and human rights advocacy.

On the fortieth anniversary of the publication of Populorum Progressio, we feel that this encyclical remains as relevant today as when it was first published. Particularly, it advocates for the full development of all peoples (not just some people), for solidarity with the weak, justice in trade, universal charity and authentic development for peace. All peoples of goodwill are called to urgently act together in the world of poverty, hunger, consumerism, injustice in social and economic progress and all forms of violence.

To stimulate your thoughts on this important Catholic Social Teaching, please click here for a speech which Fr. Peter Henriot S.J. made to the CIDSE Forum, "The Church Speaking Out On Social Justice Today" in January 2006, entitled, "Populorum Progressio: Challenge and Guidance for the Church Today."

In this document, he discussed what Populorum Progressio can mean in the Church's effort to advocate for global justice today, analyzing it in 5 important aspects. Populorum Progressio speaks on issues of globalization, trade, cultural considerations, going beyond economic interdependence to human inter-connectedness. In its condemnation of neo-liberal solutions for development and calls for urgency in reforms, it shows its contemporary, futuristic and radical nature. He concludes with 3 implications that call us to action.

We also recommend the following documents and links for your information and reference:

1) the original text of Populorum Progressio:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_26031967_populorum_en.html

2) as an update to the original text, an abridged and updated "translation" of Populorum Progressio prepared by Fr. R. V. Bogan:
http://www.cafod.org.uk/get_involved/livesimply/resources

3) how the Church has collated and updated all its social teachings in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of Church:
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html

To see what you can do to respond to the call made in Populorum Progressio: "For peace. . . with a more perfect form of justice among men" (#76), as well as the call made in the more recent Compendium of the Social Doctrine of Church, please visit our website at www.acpp.org

When you visit our website, you will be invited to take simple actions like writing letters to show your solidarity; you can read how others have answered the call of the Catholic Social Teachings and continue to do so, learn about human rights, justice and peace, as well as find resources to help you in your quest. You can share with others how you are working for justice and peace, through the Justice and Peace Workers' Bulletin (for inquiries and contribution, please contact hotline@acpp.org).

We welcome any support which you can give for our work in promoting the spirit of Populorum Progressio. You can make cheques payable to: "Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples Ltd."

Our thanks to CAFOD, "livesimply" and Fr. Henriot S.J. / JCTR for allowing us to reproduce some of their documents on Populorum Progressio.