Introduction
Sollicitudo rei socialis(on social concern) of John Paul II is an encyclical letter which was issued in December 1987. This is the seventh encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II. It was issued to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Paul VI’s encyclical letter on the development, Populorum progression. Indeed, as Paul VI’s letter, John Paul’s document focuses on the issue of human development. John Paul when he looks back twenty years after the publication of Populorum progressio he finds the poor of the world still in desperate. In Sollicitudo rei socialis he names the obstacles to development, give vision of authentic human development and lay down some guidelines for implementation of the vision. Therefore this paper will analyze threes important issues treated by this document namely, preferential option for the poor, social function of the created good. Finally, this paper will assess it significant of the document in our time.
Historical Context of the Document…show more content… Socially, John Paul in 198os experienced a world division, one side Soviet Union and nations of the Warsaw pact, and on the other side the United States and the countries of NATO. These superpowers of the world accelerated the arms race, which heightened the tension around the world. Moreover, John Paul experienced a growing chasm between the rich and poor nations, as well as between rich and poor within nations, as he describes North and South division as well as a division between first world (wealthier nations) and the third world (poorer nations). His two trips in 1987 in Latin America and the other in Poland were of particular significant in this encyclical letter . John Paul II witnessed injustices oppressions of many Catholics, who deserved to get a clear direction from the Church on how to find a way out of the turmoil and poverty around