Word: magistra
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Unsettled by Pope John XXIII's recent encyclical Mater et Magistra, William F. Buckley Jr.'s National Review turned a cold eye on the problems of God and man at the Vatican. After dismissing the encyclical as ''a venture in triviality" in one issue, the magazine returned to the attack with the revelation that "conservative Catholic circles"-of which Editor Buckley, 35, is the razor-tongued wunder-kind-were muttering "Mater si, Magistra no." At that, the Jesuit weekly America jumped into the fray, proclaiming that the National Review "owes its Catholic readers and journalistic allies...
Last week, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope John XXIII issued his own social encyclical, a message firmly oriented toward the new problems of the mid-20th century. Titled Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) and addressed broadly to "all Christians," it is 25,000 words long-probably the longest encyclical in history-and ranges farther and wider than either of its two predecessors. It is also more polished; John and his advisers have been tinkering with it for many months, and its publication was reportedly delayed several times for last-minute changes...
...Mater et Magistra takes careful measure of the massive power that science and technology have given the state to raise living standards and increase social welfare. It also warns the state of the danger this power carries to restrict the freedom of the individual. The state must therefore be careful to protect "the right that individual persons possess of being always primarily responsible for their own upkeep and that of their own family, which implies that in the economic systems the free development of productive activities should be permitted and facilitated...