The Papacy: Populorum Progressio

"The world is sick. The poor nations remain poor while the rich ones become still richer. The very life of poor na tions, civil peace in developing countries, and world peace itself are at stake."

So, last week, declared Paul VI in Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples), the fifth encyclical of his 45-month pontificate. The fourth major document of the Roman Catholic Church in the past six years to deal with socioeconomic problems,* the 12,000-word encyclical was in some ways the Pope's most striking pronouncement. In it, he gave unexpected...

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