Pacem In Terris

The Pope is the head of the Church: he represents the ultimate religious authority. However, as a Bishop of Rome, the Pope is also in command of certain secular affairs, including some military aspects. Certainly, the Pope is a link between the earthly and the divine realms. Problems arise when the imperfect world the Pope physically lives in interferes with his heavenly objectives. Taking Pope Gregory I as an example, I am going to look at his letters to analyze how he reconciled his political and spiritual goals, whether he valued one category over the other, and how he justified it.

This was agreed on the 20th July through the Concordat agreement between state and Vatican. Their actions in the end, regarding the Church, proved to be effective indeed for he obtained his ultimate goal – eliminate political opposition – by granting something that didn’t carry substantial drawbacks itself.

The contribution of Pope John XXIII has been profound, as many of his initiatives and actions are still resonating today. His acceptance of Jesus’ words “I came to save all nations.” Represented his motivation to do well and bring peace upon the world. He was an advocate of Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace. It is through his development of the Second Vatican Council, his contribution to ecumenism and his empathy for humanity that Pope John XXIII made a significant impact upon the development and expression of Christianity.

During his Papacy, Pope John XXIII published several encyclicals promoting world peace(Pacem in Terris) and increasing the consciousness of one’s dignity and rights of workers, women and newly independent nations (Mater et Magisterum). Pacem in Terris was addressed to the whole world and received warmly by Christians and non-Christians alike. It altered thinking about the Cold War and initiated the resurgence of Catholic social teaching.

because they did not want to admit that a Pope could adopt and promote a heretical belief.

On page 37, Manchester states, “At any given moment the most dangerous enemy in Europe was the reigning pope.” The popes of the church were their Holy Fathers, but

The first one is that pope is not God. That the pope is comparing himself to God on the same level. According to document 1 the author states “that the bishop (the pope) is head of the holy church. And certainly the apostles of Jesus Christ never constrained any man to believe this concerning himself.” It means that the pope is saying that the head of the church and that he is teaching false things about god’s word. The next critical thing is the selling of indulgences.

In the United States, there has often been debate over whether the U.S. Constitution is a “living constitution.” A “living constitution” is the idea that the interpretation of constitutional phrases should take into account the contemporaneous society. In other words, practices and traditions of the government have the ability to change and transform over time in accordance with the changes in society. Similarly, there has often been debate in the religious community as to whether the practices and traditions of the church have the ability to change and transform in order to better suit the needs of its constituents. Two Popes in the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis and Pope Pius IX, have published documents with opposing viewpoints about the church’s ability to change and transform over time. The aforementioned documents also highlight other issues commonly debated within the church. Ultimately, Pope Francis favors a more progressive church, that is opento change, while Pope Pius IX favors a church with more rigid guidelines that follow traditional practices.

1. “ Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control” (United Nations, 2012).

The letter then ends with a great inspirational message, a message that conveys the desire of the pope to fix what needs to be fixed. The letter also gives the authoritative sense that the changes will be hard but they must happen. In just one letter Pope Innocent III has asserted his sphere of influence over Europe and it's people. "No one shall plead as an excuse difficulties of the journey or obstacles of strife..." No one shall plead excuses, that is, not the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors or representatives of royalty through out the continent. Innocent III had essentially put out a summons and like a lord sending summons to his vassal, left people with only one option in how to answer the summon.

Section 7 as stated by the Charter states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice” (Constitution Act, 1982, s 7). Furthermore,

the human rights of every individual must be acknowledged and the basic human needs of every individual and family must be met. There must also be a peaceful

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

It was quickly adopted by the United States and fifty other countries. This feature of equality was a very important. The attraction for other countries is that it let them feel like they would have a say in the General Assembly. This aspect is a major reason why the United Nations now has grown to include 185 nations, almost every country in the world. (Charter 321)

The wording used in the papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno in written by Pope Pius X1 in1931 as cited by (Ibid) illustrates this endorsement. The language used in the encyclical reflects the dominance and