Caritas in Veritate. In his third encyclical letter issued on December 25, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI discusses the relationship between morality and the economy, with the current global economic crisis in mind. Building on Pope Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio, Pope Benedict reminds us that living by Christ’s truth in love is at the heart of the Church’s social teaching. Benedict emphasizes that technology alone is not enough to build up society. He states that both Love and Truth are essential elements of an effective response to the problems of global development. The work is addressed to the global society: political leaders, business leaders, religious leaders, financiers and aid agencies, and all people of good will.

Although the Church does not offer specific technical solutions to economic and development problem, it does offer the moral principles which inform the building of such solutions. All those acting in the economic sphere need to be informed by ethics as well as the profit motive. Other areas discussed include hunger, the environment, migration, sexual tourism, bioethics, cultural relativism, social solidarity, energy, and population issues.

Keywords:church documents