Key Magisterial Teaching

• Social Encyclicals
  • Rerum Novarum- On Capital and Labor, Pope Leo XIII
  • Libertas- On the Nature of Human Liberty, Pope Leo XIII
  • Quadragesimo Anno- On Reconstruction of the Social Order, Pope Pius XI
  • Divini Redemptoris- On Atheistic Communism, Pope Pius XI
  • Mit Brennender Sorge- On the Church and the German Reich, Pope Pius XI
  • Mater et Magistra- On Christianity and Social Progress, Pope John XXIII
  • Pacem in Terris- On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty, Pope John XXIII
  • Octogesima Adveniens- On the Eightieth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Paul VI
  • Populorum Progressio- On the Development of Peoples, Pope Paul VI
  • Gaudium et Spes- On the Church in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI
  • Evangelii Nuntiandi- On Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI
  • Laborem Exercens- On Human Work, Pope John Paul II
  • Sollicitudo Rei Socialis- On the Twentieth Anniversary of Populorum Progressio, Pope John Paul II
  • Centesimus Annus- On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II
  • Dives in Misericordia- On the Mercy of God, Pope John Paul II
  • Veritatis Splendor- On the Splendor of Truth, Pope John Paul II
  • Evangelium Vitae- On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life, Pope John Paul II
  • Deus Caritas Est- On Christian Love, Pope Benedict XVI (Note: This is not properly a social encyclical)
• Ecclesia in America, Pope John Paul II
• Instruction of Theology of Liberation, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
• Instruction On Christian Freedom And Liberation, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
• Social Agenda
• Other magisterial texts on the Vatican website

Secondary Sources

• Religion and Liberty
• Journal of Markets & Morality
• Challenging the Modern World: Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II and the Development of Catholic Social Teaching, Dr. Samuel Gregg
• Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics, Alejandro Chafuen
• City of God, St. Augustine
• Person and Community, Karol Wojytla
• Christian Social Witness and Teaching: the Catholic Tradition from Genesis to Centesimus Annus, vol. 2, Fr. Roger Charles
• Summa Theologica: II-I, questions 90-108 and II-II, questions 32, 66, St. Thomas Aquinas

Books written by Centesimus Annus Conference speakers

• The Moral Mandate for Freedom, Rocco Buttiglione
• Truth as a Ground of Freedom, Rev. Avery Dulles, S.J.
• Witness to Hope, George Weigel
• Building the Free Society, George Weigel and Robert Royal
• The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Michael Novak
• The Fire of Invention, Michael Novak
• Will it Liberate? Questions About Liberation Theology, Michael Novak
• Karol Wojtyla: The thought of the man who became JPII, Rocco Buttiglione
• The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, Michael Novak
• Love and Economics: Why the laissez-faire family Doesn’t Work, Jennifer Roback Morse
• The Creation of Wealth, Lord Brian Griffiths- ISBN: 0877845662
• From Rerum Novarum to Today, Cardinal George Pell-ISBN: 087270100X

Economics Resources

• Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville
• The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich Hayek
• A Humane Economy, Wilhelm Roepke
• The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
• Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell
• Applied Economics, Thomas Sowell
• Classical Economics Reconsidered, Thomas Sowell
• The Mystery of Capital, Hernando de Soto
• The Elusive Quest for Growth, William Easterly
• Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. 2nd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983., Becker, Gary
• The Capitalist Revolution: Fifty Propositions about Prosperity, Equality, & Liberty. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1986., Berger, Peter L.

Other Resources

• For a more detailed reading list go to Acton Recommended Reading Page