Rerum Novarum

Since that seminal letter on the principle of worker’s rights, solidarity, and the abuse of the economic abuse of the poor was written, most popes since Leo XIII have added to the direction and expectation of the Church’s focus on an option of the poor to include Pope Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno (40 years after Rerum Novarum), Paul VI’s Octogesima Adveniens (80 years after Rerum Novarum), and Pope John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus (100 years after Rerum Novarum). Though not a part of the chronological addition to Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II, along with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all written extensively on the concern of poverty, its negative effect on the world, and the need to return to Gospel values in an effort to combat these social and economic evils (CST.org). Because of this invaluable leadership, the Church as an institution and through her lay ministries affiliated with the local parishes, has not only “talked the talk” but is also “walking the walk” where needs of the poor are…

In Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo the XIII articulates the Roman Catholic belief that differences in wealth and class are inevitable and that they are naturally occurring. These differences, he argues on page 5, necessarily result from the variation in ability, skill, health, and fitness which God grants to humans. Since God sees fit to grant an unequal distribution of the aforementioned conditions and since God is perfectly just, it must be the case that the necessary result of those unequal…

Rerum Novarum and the Communist Manifesto address the antagonistic relationship between the upper and lower classes. Pope Leo’s adamant opposition to the communist approach creates an aura of dissimilarity, which deters from the otherwise obvious parallelistic nature of the two documents. Examination beyond Leo’s criticism allows homogeneity to be observed in both argument structure and objective. This essay will validate the parallelism of the documents according to the most literal and…

He moves on to explain that the world in its totality exists because of the operation of material forces and natural laws and therefore the gods or death shall not be feared. The universe, as per De rerum natura, operates according to physical principles and not as per the divine intervention of gods and the traditional Roman deities. Not only does he defy the fear of the deities that rests in humans but he also goes on to speak against the concept of an afterlife. According to him, body…

Essentially, the term self is how one perceives themselves. Over the years, the meaning of self has been debated amongst ancient philosophers such as Lucretius and Apuleius. Some say self is the innermost sense of a person, some say self represents one’s relationship with others and some say that the self is in fact and illusion. In the ancient Hellenistic period, self have been presented in the poem “De Rerum Natura” by Lucretius, as well as the novel “the Golden Ass” by Apuleius. Additionally,…

If the ancient philosopher, Epicurus, gave the Sermon on the Mount, found in the New Testament, he would say: “Blessed are those who are untroubled and unperturbed, for they shall find serenity.” His enthusiastic follower, Lucretius, used his superb poetical gifts to draw his readers into the desire-reducing materialism of Epicureanism. He challenged others to live their lives by cultivating a balanced, peaceful way of being. Lucretius believed the attainment of this peace of mind was through a…

Rerum Novarum establishes the position of the Church on issues pertaining to the proper relationship between capital and labor. The vision explained by this document emphasizes the duties and responsibilities that bind owners of capital and workers to each other. Rerum Novarum provides a strong defense describing among a few things such as private property, the right of workers and forming unions. First and foremost, justice needs to be given equally and fairly. The poor are members of the…

way that allows said individual to live a modest lifestyle without any government assistance. Currently, minimum wage workers remain in states of need and dependency because of their extremely low incomes. The Catholic Church hopes to change this current situation and establish a more just distribution of wealth among all individuals. Rerum Novarum, the first social encyclical published by Leo XIII in 1891, highlights the absolute necessity of a just wage. The encyclical states, “The…

is amid the underlying periods of the Industrial Revolution in England. This expansion in the measure of pay that a normal family saw does not, in any case, balance the abuse that the specialists saw amid this period. This is particularly valid as to the specialists of the female sex that were liable to the same amount of physical work as men however saw an essentially littler measure of pay for the work that they attempted. Amid this time period there were additionally three unique precepts…

the world was planned and created for sharing among those who live in it. As “the sinful selfishness of men…had destroyed this ideal possibility and made exclusive possession the only safeguard against tendency of men to take advantage of one another” (pg91). In other words Adam and Eve sabotaged this plan when they damaged the human nature of all humans, in damaging their own. In doing this God’s plan became unrealizable and thus makes private property the necessary evil it has been viewed as…