Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI, 1967
This was a class lecture, delivered in late 2020. (Sorry for the occasional distractions) It focuses upon one of the most significant of the papal encyclicals, one that engaged the concept of liberation theology. Paul VI considered himself a Third World Pope, someone whose responsibilities stretched far beyond the Catholic world.
This is an extremely deep, very intellectual encyclical. It would be good if you would download the encyclical and have it in front of you as a reference as you listen.
If we use the word “radical” to mean “going to the roots of a problem” then this document is radical. It is also very sympathetic to the uprisings in Central America at the time.
Pay special attention to the Three New Teachings, i.e., things the pope is saying that pushes church teachings beyond what it had been before.
This was released in 1967 on Easter weekend. The pope read it to an assembled crowd of cardinals and other church leaders.
If you have listened to the podcast on Rerum Novarum, these two go together well, but are quite different.
Some terms you will encounter
Just War
St. Thomas, St. Augustine
Colonialism and imperialism
Finance capital, the international imperialism of money, economic dictatorship
Liberalism as an ideology of capitalism
Two Realms/ Two Plains
Ecclesiastical
Vocation
Humanae Vitae, an encyclical
Natural law
Just wage and just trade agreements