In the first article on solidarity, I focused on what it is and how it connects to the Old and New Testaments. By way of introduction, I noted that it figures importantly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church[fn]Hereinafter referred to as the CCC,[/fn] the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church[fn] Hereinafter referred to as the Compendium.[/fn], a number of papal encyclicals and one conciliar document. In this essay, I delve into these connections...

In particular, I will discuss the following in connection with each other...

And, of course, we must include in this review the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes [Joy and Hope] also known by the designation Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965[fn]Coincident with the 24th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to the U.S. entry into World War II.[/fn]

When we try to trace the use of ideas like solidarity through historical documents, we need to remember that terminology changes over time. We also need to remember that almost all papal documents, and almost all documents that originate within the Catholic hierarchy, are originally composed in Latin. Furthermore, the Compendium cites these documents through the Acta Apostolicae Sedis[fn]Abbreviated as AAS in its footnotes. The link to the AAS in this footnote is to the 1931 edition, and it covers Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno.[/fn].

Technical note...

It helps to see how a modern word like solidarity is rendered in Latin. Google Translate derives "coniunctionis" from "solidarity"[fn]As it happens, the Latin words "coniuncti" (meaning "uniting") and "coniunctio" (meaning "unions") occur frequently in these documents.[/fn], yet, when we try to translate "conionctionis" from Latin into English using the same tool, we get, instead, "bond"[fn]Other related connecting words include concord, share and charity. In some instances, we may find partnership, commonwealth and association to be relevant. Interestingly, it appears that one cannot find words like philanthropy, philanthropic or philanthropist in these documents.[/fn]. Of course, "bond" applies to many more circumstances than the specifically human virtue of "solidarity", and its dictionary meaning is much more general. Nevertheless, when we consider how "bond" applies to human beings, we find something pretty special, e.g. the "bond" of matrimony and the "bond" of friendship come to mind. In the legal world, we also see the word "bond" as referring to a legal agreement, even an amount of money rendered as a surety in the case of someone who is believed to have broken a law and whose case has not yet been tried in a court. In all of these cases, the word in question is a noun. Thus, tracing the idea of solidarity through historical documents requires some level of interpretation. Since I am not fluent in Latin, the connections i make in the lists below are, in part, guesswork.

Curiously, one can find an incidence of the English word "solidarity" in the official translation of Pope John XXiII's Pacem in Terris. That paragraph is ¶ 107. Compare the English to the original Latin:

• We therefore take this opportunity of giving Our public approval and commendation to every undertaking, founded on the principles of human solidarity or of Christian charity, which aims at relieving the distress of those who are compelled to emigrate from their own country to another.
• Quas ob causas, publice probamus laudamusque, hac data opportunitate, ea omnia incepta, quae fraternae coniunctionis vel christianae caritatis principiis conformata, eo pertinent, ut aerumnae eorum releventur, qui a suis locis ad alia semigrare adigantur.

Here it seems clear enough that "human solidarity" is a translation of "fraternae coniunctionis". "Fraternae", by itself, is "fraternal", as one might expect[fn]Although the challenge of finding an appropriate dictionary for Church Latin is challenging all by itself, it seems![/fn]. The challenge of finding the matching Latin paragraph is increased because the official Latin version does not have paragraph numbers[fn]One can, of course, find this paragraph in the appropriate issue of Acta Apostolicae Sedis, but, alas, sans paragraph numbers![/fn]. Pope John XXIII's term, , appears to be unique in official Vatican documents, as a focused Google search, using the site-focused criteria (site:vatican.va "fraternae coniunctionis"), would seem to indicate.

...end technical note.

Paragraphs in Church documents that focus on solidarity

Rerum novarum

See ¶ 22[fn]This paragraph is the start of the discussion of solidarity, it seems to me.[/fn], 24[fn]Christ is the model.[/fn], 25[fn]This paragraph, in translation to English, uses the term "friendship", applying it to economic and social classes to promote the common good. John Paul II notes this in his encyclical Centessimus Annus.[/fn], 34[fn]In modern terms, we would say that solidarity promotes the common good, especially solidarity with the laborers.[/fn], 47[fn]This paragraph connects fairness with the common good, thus promoting solidarity of interests.[/fn], 51, 53[fn]And this paragraph is about the damage to society as a whole when solidarity is violated by the ruling authority of the state.[/fn]

Quadragesimo anno

See ¶ 81, 84, 85, 89, 135[fn]This paragraph is a very tough critique of the absence - even the violation of - solidarity.[/fn], 137[fn]This paragraph is a beautiful exposition of the need for Christian solidarity in everyday affairs. It makes it clear that even strict justice is not enough. A spirit of compassion and cooperation is required.[/fn]

Mater et Magistra

See ¶ 3, 6, 32, 39[fn]Alas, no government can force people to be charitable, and any effort to do so tends to rob people of personal initiative - to the detriment of all.[/fn], 43[fn]See, also, ¶ 174 of the Compendium.[/fn], 45, (75, 76 and 77 form a group that examines the proper balance of profit sharing and ownership), (78, 79, 80 and 81 also form a group. This group examines the criteria that government ought to take into account in promoting the common good.), 119, 120[fn]This paragraph points out that private individuals and private groups are generally more effective agents of charity than government officials. Today, so-called NGOs, especially those whose function is organized charity, are often important contributors to the common good.[/fn]

Pacem in Terris

See ¶ 13, 355, 36, 40, 56, 87, 98, 99, 129, 171

Gaudium et Spes

See ¶ 3[fn]This is an opening paragraph expressing the Council's desire to offer (motivated by its solidarity with) humanity the wisdom of the Church.[/fn], 4[fn]This paragraph focuses on two major issues: the division of the world's powers into opposing ideological blocks and the extent of poverty and illiteracy in the world's poor nations. The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 16-28, 1962) and the entry of the U.S. into the Vietnam War (August, 1964) underscore this tension. The black comedy, Dr. Strangelove was released in theaters on January 29th of that year.[/fn], 32[fn]This paragraph makes the point that Judeo/Christian scripture underscores the communitarian (in the OED's definition) nature of God's work with humanity.[/fn], 38[fn]This paragraph summarizes the mission of Jesus Christ to humanity, that he expresses God's self-giving love in his sacrifice on the Cross and the sacramental expression of that sacrifice in the Eucharist (from the Greek εὐχᾰ́ρῐστος [which transliterates to eucharistos] which connects to the Thanksgiving meal of the Jewish Passover. See the Catechism, ¶ 1328 and 1329.[/fn], 48[fn]This paragraph speaks of the solidarity of husband and wife secured by the sacrament of Matrimony.[/fn], 57[fn]This paragraph speaks cautiously, but optimistically of the advance of scientific knowledge and the possibilities it presents for enabling human communities to prosper in solidarity.[/fn], 75[fn]Without mentioning the principle of subsidiarity, this paragraph identifies key needs of governmental systems to support the efforts of smaller communities, acting in solidarity, to promote the common good.[/fn], 85[fn]This paragraph establishes the need for donor/rich and receiver/poor nations to work together for the common good out of a sense of solidarity and laying aside all vain ambitions.[/fn], 90[fn]This paragraph advocates the establishment of local and universal Catholic organizations/institutions whose purpose is to aid countries in need, and operating according to the principle of solidarity.[/fn]

Populoum Progressio

See ¶ 17[fn]Unlike previous encyclicals, this one makes extensive use of the term "solidarity".[/fn], 44, 48, 52, 62, 64, 65, 67[fn]This paragraph builds on Leviticus 19:33-34. It does not say, however, that nations must have open borders, nor that nations must provide a "safety net" to any and all. Nor does this encyclical make that claim.[/fn], 69[fn]Immigrant workers should be treated humanely. This is not always the case, especially if they are undocumented.[/fn], 73[fn]See "Huck’s Hero Paul Kurtz Is Changing Lives With Good Business | Huckabee" for an example of how solidarity is meant to work![/fn], 84[fn]This is about luxury taxes to support foreign aid. Alas, luxury taxes have a checkered history. See, for example, "Luxury tax in the United States". Our Congress and our Presidents have tended to take new income sources and fritter them away.[/fn]

Solicitudo Rei Socialis

See ¶ 9[fn]Notice that John Paul II's paragraphs tend to be much longer than those of his predecessors. Note, also,that his encyclical has active HTML footnotes, which were added years after the development of the first version of HTML in 1993.[/fn], 21[fn]This paragraph calls attention to the vexing problems of corruption in foreign aid, both at the giving and the receiving ends.[/fn], 23[fn]This paragraph calls attention to the need of international blocs of nations (such as NATO vs. the Soviet Union) to resolve their differences in order to deescalate tensions and arms buildups. As history would soon demonstrate, Pope John Paul II would play a key role in bringing down the Soviet Communist Bloc. Alas, our own politicians, and the people as a whole, failed to learn the lessons of history.[/fn], 26[fn]This paragraph notes the vast increase of international interdependence (a natural outgrowth of advances in communication and transportation) and the deeply negative impact of what the pope would call the "culture of death", making the growth of a moral regime of international solidarity of nations impossible.[/fn], 33[fn]This paragraph notes that solidarity and freedom (or, as we might say, solidarity and subsidiarity) belong together in a just society.[/fn], 36[fn]To quote the encyclical, "It is important to note therefore that a world which is divided into blocs, sustained by rigid ideologies, and in which instead of interdependence and solidarity different forms of imperialism hold sway, can only be a world subject to structures of sin." This is inevitably the case when the sides battle each other in "proxy" nations. In such "structures of sin" true solidarity is impossible.[/fn], 38[fn]To use the insight and language of Marshall McLuhan, we might put it this way, "We all share responsibility for the injustices in the "global village". There are many NGOs that take this very seriously. There are also some rather large ones that sponsor such injustices.[/fn], 39[fn]This paragraph dwells on the peace that comes from true solidarity, and even introduces a new Latin phrase, "opus solidaritatis pax" (literally, "work solidarity peace", or "peace results from the work of solidarity").[/fn], 40[fn]True solidarity amounts to self-sacrificial love (in Greek, ἀγάπη (which, transliterated, becomes agapē) for the sake of the other, as Christ loved us! It is modeled on the inner Communion of the Holy Trinity, which God intends to share with us![/fn], 45[fn]This paragraph encourages the development of local enclaves of developing nations, in solidarity with each other.[/fn], 47[fn]This final paragraph challenges individuals and peoples to rise to the demands for solidarity among nations.[/fn]

Centessimus Annus

See ¶ 10[fn]This paragraph connects "solidarity" with "friendship".[/fn], 15[fn]This paragraph connects the virtue of subsidiarity in governance to the virtue of solidarity among economic classes.[/fn], 16[fn]For me, this paragraph connects to what Alexis de Tocqueville said about the American spirit of forming cooperative ventures aimed at improving the public good.[/fn], 22[fn]In August of 1991, the reforms initiated by President Gorbachev were in serious danger from an attempted coup initiated by members of the Communist Party. This churn had been developing for some time, and contributed to the seriousness of this paragraph.[/fn], 23[fn]This paragraph is an appreciation of the remarkable power of organized, peaceful citizen protest of injustice, exemplified by the Polish Solidarity [in Polish, Solidarność] movement.[/fn], 29[fn]In this paragraph, the Pope identified two historical strains that threatened the progress of civilization toward a just order. Today, we can give them names: (1) materialism and (2) religious fundamentalism. Materialism is a major hallmark of today's "Progressive" movement, as well as of the various Socialist and Communist governments. Religious fundamentalism is a major hallmark of militant Islam [and one can find it in other major world religions, as well] which denies the role of the individual conscience in accepting a religion.[/fn], 41[fn]The Pope identifies a serious thread of alienation in democratic societies, as well, even (or especially) under free enterprise capitalism. This can be traced, it seems to me to the work of the WWI Committee on Public Information [or CPI] (not to mention the programs of the opposing sides in WWI), established under the Wilson Administration to support the war propaganda effort. This committee, drew on the expertise of Edward Louis Bernays, who has been credited by some with the invention of modern psychological warfare, the use of techniques to manipulate human desires. We live with the legacy of that in our commercial ad industry. The impact has been to inflate conspicuous consumption and diminish the cohesion of neighborhoods and communities. This, in turn, has led to the growth of the welfare state and our continuously burgeoning bureaucracies at all levels of government.[/fn], 43[fn]In this paragraph, the Pope offers the social teaching of the Church as an indispensable and ideal orientation in the development of a just and flourishing society. He points to (without using the term) the damage caused by monopolies to the proper operation of markets.[/fn], 49[fn]This paragraph expands on the problem of alienation of individuals, portraying them as caught between two poles: the government and the market, where each pole seeks only exploitation, where each considers the individual to be a mere "cog".[/fn], 51[fn]This paragraph recapitulates the need for individual initiative in the flourishing of societies, not just through inventiveness and hard work but through the love of neighbor that makes solidarity possible. As the poet John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself."[/fn], 61[fn]The Pope here summarizes the challenges faced by the world, in general, and the Church, in particular, in establishing a society based upon solidarity and Christian charity, a society that recognizes that man is not only material, but also spiritual.[/fn]

Compendium

See ¶ 77, 91, 96, 98, 102, 103, 117, 147, 150, 157, 160, 174, 189, 193, 194, 196, 203, 213, 221, 229, 230, 238, 234, 242, 246, 248, 249, 264, 282, 293, 305, 306, 308, 309, 319, 321, 322, 325, 326, 327, 332, 333, 334, 335, 340, 342, 343, 351, 355, 356, 357, 359, 363, 367, 373, 374, 384, 391, 415, 417, 420, 433, 443, 446, 448, 449, 467, 474, 475, 476, 483, 485, 486, 529, 556, 561, 562, 564, 565, 577, 580, 580, 582