Encyclicals in Time of Crisis explores five magisterial teachings released at a pivotal time in the history of the Church and the world, when great peril and global ills threatened the Body of Christ. After an insightful review on the history and nature of encyclicals and how they should be received by the faithful, Father Meconi dives into five influential papal documents that confronted the spirit of the world, providing a short biography on the men who wrote them, the historical context in which they were written, and how they clarified Church teaching on the most pressing cultural issues, including:
- Leo XIII''s Rerum Novarum aiding the plight of the working class during the industrialization of the late nineteenth century;
- Pius XII''s Mystici Corporis calling the human family back to their original unity in Christ during the bloodshed of World War II;
- John''s XXIII''s Pacem in Terris, dubbed the Church''s "immortal encyclical" by Benedict XVI, warning us during the nuclear age of our destructive tendencies and the thirst for power; Paul VI''s brave promulgation in Humanae Vitae of the Church''s teaching on human sexuality and the sanctify of life at the height of the sexual revolution;
- John Paul II''s Veritatis Splendor championing the Lord of all Truth during the moral relativism that plagued the world at the turn of the twenty-fist century.
With each of these documents, the man sitting on the Chair of Peter sought to guide, teach, and support a flock wandering in the treacherous hills of the world, and offer a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ as the antidote to the world''s problems.
Encyclicals in Times of Crisis shows how the Church serves as the voice of Christ, a defender and protector of His truth. It is at once a sweeping historical tour of the last century as well as a succinct guide to understanding the Church''s most profound teachings.
