Thesis advisor: Lisa Sowle Cahill / In what sense is Catholic social teaching theological? Undoubtedly theology is a resource for ethical reflection but it can also be an outcome of it. This dissertation explores the theological contribution of post-Vatican II papal social encyclicals on development. Particular historical challenges and also specific worldviews adopted by the popes shape ethical reasoning and political priorities for action, but they do more. They stimulate theological thinking by making options among diverse theological frameworks, favoring certain concepts or symbols and downplaying others, and thus, they contribute to entering the mystery of God’s salvific love and allowing it to seize us. Chapter one offers some guidelines for a theological reading of social encyclicals. Vatican II with its “principle of pastorality” works as a compass. Karl Rahner, whose theology is always at the same time anthropology and Christology, is a privileged partner for the investigation. The history of half a century of debates on theories of development is the background. Chapters two to four analyze successively Paul VI’s Populorum progressio (PP), John Paul II’s Sollicitudo rei socialis (SRS), and Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate (CiV) by retrieving elements of context, highlighting the theological meaning of their methodological options, and exploring their insights about the mystery of being human and the mystery of “Jesus Christ for us.” In the 1960s, PP develops a theology which highlights incarnation and God’s grace at work in this world (neo-Thomist framework). Twenty years later, when early hopes about development have faded, SRS pursues this lead but also rebalances it with a greater concern for sin and redemption brought by Christ in the world (Augustinian framework). It also incorporates categories put forward by Latin American liberation theology such as structures of sin, liberation, and option for the poor which stress the structural dimension of sin and grace (Liberationist framework). At the dawn of the 21st century and showing concerns for growing secularization in Western countries, CiV insists on God’s transcendence (Augustinian framework) while still showing traces of the two other theological frameworks because of his addressing challenges of global justice. The final chapter offers three guidelines for theology which arise from the recognition of the theological nature of the church’s social teaching. (1) Without losing sight of its transcendental origin, theology ought to begin within history and with human experience. (2) A Christian anthropology ought to manifest the unity of the personal and social dimensions of being human which calls for both personal conversion and structural change. (3) Christologies can articulate approaches from above and from below in a variety of ways but the inescapability of the latter needs to be stressed in connection with taking seriously the option for the poor. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Que la question du développement soit une question qui intéresse la théologie est aujourd’hui une évidence pour les théologiens. Depuis le Concile Vatican II, à l’exception de Jean Paul I, les papes successifs ont consacré chacun une encyclique entière à la question du développement. Ces encycliques abordent le développement comme une question à la fois économique, politique, sociale et surtout théologique et morale. Notre thèse cherche à répondre à une question historique très pertinente pour la pensée théologique en ce qui concerne le développement : Comment le développement est-t-il devenu une question théologique ? Quel est le processus qui a permit au développement de prendre une place importante dans la théologie ? Nous avons fait une étude du document principal qui a permis à l'église d’entrer en dialogue avec le monde et ses problèmes : La Constitution pastorale sur l'église dans le monde de ce temps Gaudium et spes. Nous avons montré comment les Pères conciliaires ont pu, à partir de leur travail au Concile, mettre en marche une dynamique en faveur du développement et de là ont pu élaborer un enseignement théologique sur le développement. Le sujet qui a conditionné tout le débat sur le développement est l’homme et son bien-être, l’homme créé par Dieu et qui collabore avec Dieu pour achever sa création. Une approche à la fois historique et théologique nous a permis de donner à notre thème un contenu précis et à élaborer ce qu’on peut désigner comme une théologie du développement. / For most theologians today, it goes without saying that development is a theological question. Since after the second Vatican Council, with the exception of Pope John-Paul I, all the other popes published an encyclical letter on development. Each of these encyclicals treats development as economic, political, social and especially theological question. Our research is an attempt to respond to a very important historical question for theological thought: How did development become a theological question? What processes led to its becoming a current and important theological issue? To respond to the above questions, we studied the principal document through which the Church entered into dialogue with the world during the second Vatican Council: The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world Gaudium et spes. The council Fathers, in the said documents, gave development an elaborate theological treatment. All the debate on development in the Council was dominated by the consideration for man and his well-being; man created by God and called by him to continue collaborating with him in his work of creation. By using a historical and theological approach, we were able to give to our theme a reasonable elucidation. This method also helped us to elaborate what could be designated as a theology of development.