Why I DO Read Papal Encyclicals: Windows Into the Popes' Minds and Souls

(Recently a Catholic magazine published an article by a writer who does not read Encyclicals.  I understood some of his reasoning, but here below is why I do.)

 
I do read Papal Encyclicals for several reasons:  One, they provide a history of the Church through the vision and actions of any particular Pope since Pope Benedict XIV penned his letter on the duties of the bishops in 1740, Ubi Primum.  Since then about 300 encyclicals have shared Popes’ perspective on a myriad of pertinent themes in the life of the Church and challenges for the Church.  These include slavery, religious unity, economic paradigms, procreation, marriage and family,  and evangelization.  Some focus on particular saints and their contributions to the Faith; certain regions are highlighted, and others extol Our Blessed Mother and the Holy Rosary, along with other devotions.  

Two, encyclicals serve as barometers of the degree and types of  influences on church leaders and leadership.  While reading an Encyclical requires understanding the content in the context of the time period in which it was written, all of these precious letters should embrace Truth that is immutable since the founding of the Catholic Church.   

Three,  encyclicals illuminate Scripture and the Magisterium in exceptional ways though some letters are more apparently compatible than others.  Still, even when a Pope has seemed to veer towards worldly or inappropriately secular vision, the entire library of Encyclicals are available to clarify and support unchangeable tenets of the Faith.

Four, when reviewing the impact of any Pope on the Church, during or post Papacy, students of he Faith can better ascertain why he made certain decisions or appointments, for better or worse, accepting that Popes themselves are fallible.  

However, some Encyclicals are better written than others;  more than a few are difficult to wade through having more an appearance of an extensive  treatise (or monograph) than a formal, but relatively easy to understand,  letter.  We can only pray that the former is not intentional, as the laity should be encouraged to acquaint themselves with this mode of communication and grow in knowledge and understanding of the fullness of faith through them.  What follows are two divergent examples of encyclicals on the same topic of evangelization.  Comparing and contrasting them illustrates both the benefits and concerns of such letters on matters related to our daily walk.

Beforehand I contemplated who is to be evangelized, how, and why.  I understand  evangelization to be necessary for salvation and building up the Kingdom,  that which the Church promotes according to Mark 16:15-16:  He(Jesus) said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  And Matthew 4:17, “From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.”  Other Scripture extols the faithful to act in charity, especially towards the weakest among us, but fidelity to truth cannot be negated or minimized when serving others and bringing them to Jesus Christ and embracing the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  This should be accomplished gently and with respect for the person being evangelized but without partiality or timidity,  I read the letters by Pope Francis and Pope Paul VI with the foregoing as the foundation of evangelization.

It required days for me to consume ninety-five pages of Pope Francis’s 2013 Evangelii Gaudium to the bishops, clergy, consecrated persons and the lay faithful on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World.  I admit some “digestion” issues even after finishing the final page.  My reading of Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi (On Evangelization in the Modern World) to the Episcopate, to the Clergy, and to all the faithful of the entire world proceeded much smoother and quicker.  The content, organization and language was “laity” friendly.   Of special note, I read Pope Paul VI’s encyclical after Pope Francis’s, and that was a fortunate judgment.  Otherwise, I may not have read past Chapter One of Pope Francis’s exhortation.  

That is not where the differences ended.  Pope Paul VI’s encyclical was on topic to a much greater degree than Pope Francis’s letter, and, regrettably, the latter’s content leaned into areas that Pope Paul VI specifically warned against.  The following is a general analysis but readers are encouraged to study these beyond my interpretation.    

Pope Francis liberally sprinkled his encyclical with the word “joy,” but its extensive use, along with where the word was interjected, failed to specify its spiritual fruitfulness. Many times I had to ask myself, where is the evangelization in a particular reference.  Subjects like “repentance” were mentioned, but not the clear path to such.  Then in the scope of subtopics, the Pope declares he will discuss at length:  reform of the Church in her missionary outreach; temptations faced by pastoral workers; the Church, understood as the entire “People of God” which evangelizes; the homily and preparation of such; the inclusion of the poor in society; peace and dialogue within society; and the spiritual motivation for mission (oddly placed last).  

Already I am sensing with some trepidation that Pope Francis is sharing the Gospel in socialistic terms.  I do not know how to say it otherwise or couch the encyclical in a more favorable way.  Among the flags:  “Pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed.”  Subtext (which is later expanded and echoes throughout):  Pastoral ministry reaches everyone where he or she is and accepts them where he or she is, as all believers are to be celebrated for that which they hold to be true.  Pope Francis also specifically cites his concerns when a parish priest speaks about temperance ten times in a liturgical year but only mentions charity of justice two or three times.  (It seemed to me that these are not mutually exclusive topics, but the unwritten criticism is that the doctrine can never overshadow outreach to the poor.)

Yet, there are greater concerns, as the encyclical sympathizes (and excuses)  rather than evangelizes the poor and in concert with worldly organizations and nonChristian government partners.  The letter hovers over deflecting musings, obviously against the traditional clergy,  such as confessionals being used as “torture chambers” rather that places of mercy.  (Parenthetically, I have not experienced anything close to such  torment while living in several states and with some very orthodox priests.)  Pope Francis speaks of “countless issues being studied and reflected upon with great freedom;”  of “differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology, and pastoral practice, if open to be reconciled by the Spirit in respect and love, can enable the Church to grow.”  He then expounds that, in essence, there is no monolithic body of doctrine.  Here, I pause and apologize to the reader, as it would take about ninety-five pages to address the myriad puzzlements in this letter. However, there is no emphasis on our true mandated mission which is to bring people to Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, wholly and totally, as the only way path to God  and ultimately for eternity.

Though published thirty eight years earlier, Pope Paul VI’s letter on evangelization brings forth timeless clarity and charity with a keen focus on salvation and the kingdom of God without distinction according to status, nationality, or circumstances.  His letter could be summed up as follows:  He wrote:  “This kingdom and salvation, which are the key words of Jesus Christ’s evangelization, are available to every human being as grace and mercy, and yet, at the same time, each individual must gain them by force—they belong to the violent says the Lord (24) through toil and suffering, through a life lived according to the Gospel, through abnegation  and the cross, through the spirit of the beatitudes.  But above all, each individual gains them through a total interior renewal, which the Gospel calls metanoia; it is a radical conversion, a profound change of mind and heart.”  (Section 10) 

With respect to the Church, Pope Paul VI noted that it exists in order to evangelize, to preach and teach, to convert and reconcile sinners to God and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass.  In contrast to Pope Francis more “global” empathy for different beliefs, Pope Paul VI stated affirmatively:  There is no true evangelization if the name, the teaching, and the life , the promise, the kingdom, and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God is not proclaimed.” (Section 22)

Pope Paul VI also addressed the temporal and political liberations even when seeking justification in the Old or New Testament and positioning itself as today’s theology:  Whenever its  “zeal lacks a truly spiritual dimension and whenever its final goal is not salvation and happiness in God…”it carries within itself the germ of its own negation.”  He further expounds of the fact that evangelization “exercises its full capacity when it achieves the the most intimate relationship…between the Word and the sacraments.”  

It goes without saying—though I will—that evangelization that fails to convey and  bring people to the Word and Sacraments, is hollow and potentially deadly as the recipient of any false “outreach” may be directed down the wrong path and possibly into the arms of the enemy.   

This is also true of any Encyclical that does not genuinely evangelize, but as alluded to earlier, reading—studying—Encyclicals can sharpen our understanding and defense of the Faith through the prism of Papal writing.