Redemptor Hominis Summary

Redemptor Hominis Summary

This is the most fundamental document of Pope John Paul's pontificate, which can be used as a guide to almost every endeavor of the Holy Father. Unlike most previous encyclicals, it was addressed not only to Bishops, priests, religious and the Catholic faithful, but indeed to the whole world, "to all men and women of good will." This signifigant phrase notified the world that John Paul II was not going to be concerned primarily with internal Church affairs, but rather with the primary mission of the Church: the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From the first paragraph, the Holy Father is looking ahead to the celebration of "the great Jubilee,,, which will reawaken in us in a special way our awareness of the key truth of faith... 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.'" (n. 1) Thus, the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 has been a signifigant milestone for the Pope since the beginning of his pontificate. This also userscores the fact that Christianity is a religion which has at its center a concrete historical event: the "fullness of time", as John Paul will return to many times in his teaching.

The brief pontificate of John Paul I is recalled in paragraph 4, and John Paul II links himself to the work of Popes Paul VI and Blessed John XXIII by pointing out that his predecessor chose the innovative double-name to indicate that he would carry on the work of the two Pontiffs who oversaw the Second Vatican Council. This implementation of the Council is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit (n. 5), as the Holy Father indicates, and he will continue this task in a collegial manner with the assistance of the Bishops throughout the world (nos. 11-12).

Ecumenical endeavors were at the core of the Council, and Pope John Paul II has the goal of reunification of all the Churches and Communities in Christ (nos. 14-15), as well as growing in communion with non-Christian communities (nos. 16-17). The reason for all this activity is simple: because Christ wills it, and Christ is the head of all humankind (nos. 18-20).

In the Incarnation, Christ, the Son of God, assumed a human nature and came to earth to "fully reveal man to himself and bring to light his most high calling" (n. 22, quoting from Gaudium et Spes 22). The Incarnation is a message of love from God the Father to fallen humanity. This act of love renews all creation, and is the greatest evidence of God's mercy toward humankind (nos. 22-24).

The practical conclusion to this is that Man needs to love in return to be fully human. "Man cannot live without love." Only in relationship to others, and to Christ, can each man discover what it means to be human. God wishes to know and love each member of the human race, and he was willing to send his Son to die to show his love for us. "How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he 'gained so great a Redeemer', and if God 'gave His only Son' in order that man 'should not perish but have eternal life.'" (n. 25).

Given this great truth about the love of God for humanity, it is the Church's job to proclaim the message of salvation to all the world, in every age, in season and out of season (n. 27). She does this both in words and in deeds, especially by proclaiming to man an "awareness of his dignity, of the heights to which he is raised, of the surpassing worth of his own humanity, and of the meaning of his existence." (n. 30) Human dignity is the root value of all of the Church's activity.

"The Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life, with the power of the truth about man and the world that is contained in the mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption and with the power of the live that is radiated by that truth." (n. 37)

The Church, though a community made of individuals who themselves are part of political systems, must not be identified with any political or ideological system - the Church is, rather, "a sign and a safeguard of the transcendence of the human person." (again quoting Gaudium et Spes, n. 76). This is why the Church speaks out to political and social entities, in order to promote the "whole truth about Man". Each and every concrete Man is "the way for the Church -- a way that, in a sense, is the basis of all the other ways that the Church must walk" (n. 42).

The Holy Father calls attention to the lack of development in ethics and morals as major advances in technology and civilization are realized. In every advance, Pope John Paul urges that the following questions are asked: "Does this progress, which has man for its author and promoter, make human life on earth 'more human' in every aspect of that life? Does it make it more 'worthy of man'?" (n. 46). "Do all the conquests attained until now and those projected for the future for technology accord with man's moral and spiritual progress? In this context is man, as man, developing and progressing or is he regressing and being degraded in his humanity?" (n. 47).

In Creation, God gave Man the charge to exercise "dominion" over the earth and take charge of all created things (Gen. 1:28). But, as the Holy Father points out, "The essential meaning of this 'kingship' and 'dominion' of man over the visible world, which the Creator himself gave man for his task, consists in the priority of ethics over technology, in the primacy of the person over things, and in the superiority of spirit over matter." (n. 49).

Political, ideological, and economic systems must not usurp the essential dominion that each individual man has in his own life. "Man cannot relinquish himself or the place in the visible world that belongs to him. he cannot become the slave of things, the slave of economic systems, the slave of production, the slave of his own products. A civilization purely materialistic in outline condemns man to such slavery, even if at times, no doubt, this occurs contrary to the intentions and the very premises of its pioneers." (n. 50). This is a direct challenge to every political and economic system, from Communism to Free-Market Capitalism, every system that places profits or economic classes over individuals.

The promotion of freedom is important, but it must not come at the risk of merely shifting power, as John Paul points out, "instead of bread and cultural aid, the new states and nations awakening to independent life are being offered, sometimes in abundance, modern weapons and means of destruction placed at the service of armed conflicts and wars that are not so much a requirement for defending their just rights and their sovereignty but rather a form of chauvinism, imperialism, and neocolonialism of one kind or another. We all know well that the areas of misery and hunger on our globe could have been made fertile in a short time, if the gigantic investments for armaments at the service of war and destruction had been changed into investments for food at the service of life." (n. 57). Again and always, the Church seeks to protect the dignity of individual persons, rather than promote class struggle.

In closing the section of this encyclical which was directed toward the non-Catholic world, John Paul spoke on the importance of religious freedom and the ability of the Church (and all believers) to move about freely in its tasks. The Second Vatican Council's document on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, which John Paul helped write as Archbishop of Krakow was his starting point. As the Holy Father asked, "I appeal in the name of all believers throughout the world to those on whom the organization of social and public life in some way depends, earnestly requesting them to respect the rights of religion and of the Church's activity. No privilege is asked for, but only respect for an elementary right. Actuation of this right is one of the fundamental tests of man's authentic progress in any regime, in any society, system or milieu." (n. 67).

The remainder of the Encyclical turns back to the Church itself and its relationship to the Trinity. John Paul writes of the mystery of the Holy Spirit, a mystery that he will explore deeper in Dominum et Vivificantem, on the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Spirit is the animating force of the Church, the source of our oneness in Christ (nos. 70-71).

The divine truths which have been handed down to us must be the touchstone of all preaching, and the Bishops must at prudently to protect the truth from all distortions. It is up to theologians to further explicate the teaching of the Church so that the Gospel may be preached within every cultural millieu. The advance of human knowledge must not leave the truths of theology behind, and thus certain academic approaches to truth, such as pluralism, may be used legitimately, granted that there is a unity of Faith and Morals within the household of Faith (nos. 72-75).

The responsibility for handing on the Faith is not restricted to the Bishops, but is a shared responsibility, extending to priests, religious, lay catechists, and families. All forms of vocation must be open to proclaiming the truths of the Faith in their own fields (no. 76-77). "As members of the People of God, they all have their own part to play in Christ's prophetic mission and service of divine truth" (no 77).

The Eucharist, the "most perfect Sacrament of ...union" between God and mankind, is thus the most important source and sign of our human dignity. Once again returning to the central theme of the document, that of the dignity of mankind, John Paul links the importance of carrying out even the smallest letter of the liturgical law of the Church with the call to promote human dignity. It is in respecting the Eucharist, equally a Sacrament of Sacrifice, a Sacrament of Communion, and a Sacrament of Presence, that we show honor to the One who has valued our dignity by dying on the cross (nos. 78-81).

The Eucharist is a sacrament that leads us to the Sacrament of Penance. In Penance, individuals are converted to the Lord, and the Church fully exercises her responsibility to defend "the human soul's individual right: man's right to a more personal encounter with the crucified forgiving Christ" (no. 83).

The true meaning of freedom is presented by the Holy Father in the closing section of his inaugural encyclical. "Freedom is a great gift only when we know how to use it consciously for everything that is our true good. Christ teaches us that the best use of freedom is charity, which takes concrete form in self-giving and in service" (n. 89).

The Mother of Jesus Christ, Mary, is the final image that Pope John Paul presents in this document. She is the one through whom God the Father sent His Son to the world, thus revealing our human dignity and making us children of the Father. Mary is, therefore, a model Christian, for she was the first to say "yes" to Jesus; she was the proto-Christian. She, by giving herself fully to God in assenting to the Incarnation, is best able to help us understand what it means. As John Paul writes, "we believe that nobody else can bring us as Mary can into the divine and human dimension of this mystery. Nobody has been brought into it by God Himself as Mary has" (n. 92). The Holy Father will write much more about Our Lady in his subsequent teachings.

John Paul deliberately spent more of his teaching in this first encyclical in engaging the world, rather than focussing on internal Church affairs. This is a document that serves as a mission statement for one of the longest and most prolific pontificates in history. It is a profoundly ambitious mission, but with the experience of 22 years of Pope John Paul's service at the helm of the Barque of Peter, it appears that his ambitions have been mostly fulfilled. The hopes for Ecumenism have fallen short, but he has reached his goal of preparing the Church for entrance into the new Millennium.

	PapalTeaching.com \| home Redemptor Hominis Summary \| Redemptor Hominis Links \| Back to Encyclicals Index
	Redemptor Hominis Summary This is the most fundamental document of Pope John Paul's pontificate, which can be used as a guide to almost every endeavor of the Holy Father. Unlike most previous encyclicals, it was addressed not only to Bishops, priests, religious and the Catholic faithful, but indeed to the whole world, "to all men and women of good will." This signifigant phrase notified the world that John Paul II was not going to be concerned primarily with internal Church affairs, but rather with the primary mission of the Church: the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From the first paragraph, the Holy Father is looking ahead to the celebration of "the great Jubilee,,, which will reawaken in us in a special way our awareness of the key truth of faith... 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.'" (n. 1) Thus, the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 has been a signifigant milestone for the Pope since the beginning of his pontificate. This also userscores the fact that Christianity is a religion which has at its center a concrete historical event: the "fullness of time", as John Paul will return to many times in his teaching. The brief pontificate of John Paul I is recalled in paragraph 4, and John Paul II links himself to the work of Popes Paul VI and Blessed John XXIII by pointing out that his predecessor chose the innovative double-name to indicate that he would carry on the work of the two Pontiffs who oversaw the Second Vatican Council. This implementation of the Council is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit (n. 5), as the Holy Father indicates, and he will continue this task in a collegial manner with the assistance of the Bishops throughout the world (nos. 11-12). Ecumenical endeavors were at the core of the Council, and Pope John Paul II has the goal of reunification of all the Churches and Communities in Christ (nos. 14-15), as well as growing in communion with non-Christian communities (nos. 16-17). The reason for all this activity is simple: because Christ wills it, and Christ is the head of all humankind (nos. 18-20). In the Incarnation, Christ, the Son of God, assumed a human nature and came to earth to "fully reveal man to himself and bring to light his most high calling" (n. 22, quoting from Gaudium et Spes 22). The Incarnation is a message of love from God the Father to fallen humanity. This act of love renews all creation, and is the greatest evidence of God's mercy toward humankind (nos. 22-24). The practical conclusion to this is that Man needs to love in return to be fully human. "Man cannot live without love." Only in relationship to others, and to Christ, can each man discover what it means to be human. God wishes to know and love each member of the human race, and he was willing to send his Son to die to show his love for us. "How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he 'gained so great a Redeemer', and if God 'gave His only Son' in order that man 'should not perish but have eternal life.'" (n. 25). Given this great truth about the love of God for humanity, it is the Church's job to proclaim the message of salvation to all the world, in every age, in season and out of season (n. 27). She does this both in words and in deeds, especially by proclaiming to man an "awareness of his dignity, of the heights to which he is raised, of the surpassing worth of his own humanity, and of the meaning of his existence." (n. 30) Human dignity is the root value of all of the Church's activity. "The Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life, with the power of the truth about man and the world that is contained in the mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption and with the power of the live that is radiated by that truth." (n. 37) The Church, though a community made of individuals who themselves are part of political systems, must not be identified with any political or ideological system - the Church is, rather, "a sign and a safeguard of the transcendence of the human person." (again quoting Gaudium et Spes, n. 76). This is why the Church speaks out to political and social entities, in order to promote the "whole truth about Man". Each and every concrete Man is "the way for the Church -- a way that, in a sense, is the basis of all the other ways that the Church must walk" (n. 42). The Holy Father calls attention to the lack of development in ethics and morals as major advances in technology and civilization are realized. In every advance, Pope John Paul urges that the following questions are asked: "Does this progress, which has man for its author and promoter, make human life on earth 'more human' in every aspect of that life? Does it make it more 'worthy of man'?" (n. 46). "Do all the conquests attained until now and those projected for the future for technology accord with man's moral and spiritual progress? In this context is man, as man, developing and progressing or is he regressing and being degraded in his humanity?" (n. 47). In Creation, God gave Man the charge to exercise "dominion" over the earth and take charge of all created things (Gen. 1:28). But, as the Holy Father points out, "The essential meaning of this 'kingship' and 'dominion' of man over the visible world, which the Creator himself gave man for his task, consists in the priority of ethics over technology, in the primacy of the person over things, and in the superiority of spirit over matter." (n. 49). Political, ideological, and economic systems must not usurp the essential dominion that each individual man has in his own life. "Man cannot relinquish himself or the place in the visible world that belongs to him. he cannot become the slave of things, the slave of economic systems, the slave of production, the slave of his own products. A civilization purely materialistic in outline condemns man to such slavery, even if at times, no doubt, this occurs contrary to the intentions and the very premises of its pioneers." (n. 50). This is a direct challenge to every political and economic system, from Communism to Free-Market Capitalism, every system that places profits or economic classes over individuals. The promotion of freedom is important, but it must not come at the risk of merely shifting power, as John Paul points out, "instead of bread and cultural aid, the new states and nations awakening to independent life are being offered, sometimes in abundance, modern weapons and means of destruction placed at the service of armed conflicts and wars that are not so much a requirement for defending their just rights and their sovereignty but rather a form of chauvinism, imperialism, and neocolonialism of one kind or another. We all know well that the areas of misery and hunger on our globe could have been made fertile in a short time, if the gigantic investments for armaments at the service of war and destruction had been changed into investments for food at the service of life." (n. 57). Again and always, the Church seeks to protect the dignity of individual persons, rather than promote class struggle. In closing the section of this encyclical which was directed toward the non-Catholic world, John Paul spoke on the importance of religious freedom and the ability of the Church (and all believers) to move about freely in its tasks. The Second Vatican Council's document on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae, which John Paul helped write as Archbishop of Krakow was his starting point. As the Holy Father asked, "I appeal in the name of all believers throughout the world to those on whom the organization of social and public life in some way depends, earnestly requesting them to respect the rights of religion and of the Church's activity. No privilege is asked for, but only respect for an elementary right. Actuation of this right is one of the fundamental tests of man's authentic progress in any regime, in any society, system or milieu." (n. 67). The remainder of the Encyclical turns back to the Church itself and its relationship to the Trinity. John Paul writes of the mystery of the Holy Spirit, a mystery that he will explore deeper in Dominum et Vivificantem, on the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Spirit is the animating force of the Church, the source of our oneness in Christ (nos. 70-71). The divine truths which have been handed down to us must be the touchstone of all preaching, and the Bishops must at prudently to protect the truth from all distortions. It is up to theologians to further explicate the teaching of the Church so that the Gospel may be preached within every cultural millieu. The advance of human knowledge must not leave the truths of theology behind, and thus certain academic approaches to truth, such as pluralism, may be used legitimately, granted that there is a unity of Faith and Morals within the household of Faith (nos. 72-75). The responsibility for handing on the Faith is not restricted to the Bishops, but is a shared responsibility, extending to priests, religious, lay catechists, and families. All forms of vocation must be open to proclaiming the truths of the Faith in their own fields (no. 76-77). "As members of the People of God, they all have their own part to play in Christ's prophetic mission and service of divine truth" (no 77). The Eucharist, the "most perfect Sacrament of ...union" between God and mankind, is thus the most important source and sign of our human dignity. Once again returning to the central theme of the document, that of the dignity of mankind, John Paul links the importance of carrying out even the smallest letter of the liturgical law of the Church with the call to promote human dignity. It is in respecting the Eucharist, equally a Sacrament of Sacrifice, a Sacrament of Communion, and a Sacrament of Presence, that we show honor to the One who has valued our dignity by dying on the cross (nos. 78-81). The Eucharist is a sacrament that leads us to the Sacrament of Penance. In Penance, individuals are converted to the Lord, and the Church fully exercises her responsibility to defend "the human soul's individual right: man's right to a more personal encounter with the crucified forgiving Christ" (no. 83). The true meaning of freedom is presented by the Holy Father in the closing section of his inaugural encyclical. "Freedom is a great gift only when we know how to use it consciously for everything that is our true good. Christ teaches us that the best use of freedom is charity, which takes concrete form in self-giving and in service" (n. 89). The Mother of Jesus Christ, Mary, is the final image that Pope John Paul presents in this document. She is the one through whom God the Father sent His Son to the world, thus revealing our human dignity and making us children of the Father. Mary is, therefore, a model Christian, for she was the first to say "yes" to Jesus; she was the proto-Christian. She, by giving herself fully to God in assenting to the Incarnation, is best able to help us understand what it means. As John Paul writes, "we believe that nobody else can bring us as Mary can into the divine and human dimension of this mystery. Nobody has been brought into it by God Himself as Mary has" (n. 92). The Holy Father will write much more about Our Lady in his subsequent teachings. John Paul deliberately spent more of his teaching in this first encyclical in engaging the world, rather than focussing on internal Church affairs. This is a document that serves as a mission statement for one of the longest and most prolific pontificates in history. It is a profoundly ambitious mission, but with the experience of 22 years of Pope John Paul's service at the helm of the Barque of Peter, it appears that his ambitions have been mostly fulfilled. The hopes for Ecumenism have fallen short, but he has reached his goal of preparing the Church for entrance into the new Millennium.