Summary #1 (Gaudium Et Spes)

The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, was published in 1965 under Pope Paul VI. The preface and introduction to Gaudium establish the basis upon which the document is founded. The preface expresses the desire of the Church to actively communicate with the modern world and focuses specifically on the humankind. As the world was rapidly changing, Gaudium urges a renewal in human society, testifying to the “Godlike seed” which is present in every person. This document proclaims that their only goal is to carry out Christ’s work – to witness to the truth, to withhold judgment, and to serve.

Gaudium emphasizes that the Church has always been obligated to recognize the “signs” of the times and translate its meaning through Jesus’ teachings. Eager to take part in the new changes, the Church reaffirms that she is able and willing to answer humankind’s questions about this life and the next. Gaudium also brings attention to the inequalities still present in such a modern world – hunger and poverty, illiteracy, and new forms of social and psychological “slavery”. Despite the advances – from biological to the social sciences – humankind is giving more thought to the regulation of the population and its growth. Due to this change in attitude, values can be called into question, especially the values of the youth, who often choose to rebel against the ways of their parents or educators. This often comes into play with religion, as during this time it was not an unheard of occurrence for a person to completely abandon God or religion.

Gaudium also cites social inequalities, between men and women as well as races and other kinds of social orders, as a severe imbalance in society. This imbalance only aggravates distrust and conflicts, as humankind are both the cause of this imbalance and also become the victims to it. And yet, there is a change in society because people believe that certain benefits can and should be extended to everyone. At the root of this desire, Gaudium argues, is a deeper yearning that cannot be satisfied by trivial pursuits of material gain. The Church, which continues to remain the same, earnestly wishes to share the knowledge that she has with humankind in order to help them find solutions to the issues that the modern world faces.