Encyclical Does Not Advocate World-State
Much of the buzz around Benedict XVI's complex and multi-faceted new encyclical in the secular press has centered on just one paragraph, number 67.
Taken out of context, without the countervailing statements in the rest of the document, and removed from the organic whole of Catholic social teaching, it is being trumpeted by many as the Pope's call for an international government -- one with sovereign powers akin to those the U.S. federal government wields over the 50 states, or the European Union (some fear) will soon exercise over member nations.
To most of us, such a prospect is not a dream but a nightmare. As I wrote in my early comments on "Caritas in Veritate" at
InsideCatholic.com: "Perhaps I am too Augustinian, but I cannot help deeply suspecting that any such state would by its very nature begin or (more likely) end as a tyranny. The very monopoly of its power, and the fact that there was not one square inch of the earth from which anyone could escape its clutches, would remove any check or balance from its bureaucrats."
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John Zmirak: The Pope and Global Tyranny [2009-07-14] [Zenit]
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