GAUDIUM ET SPES IN LIGHT OF FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AND THE PRESENT SITUATION IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Keywords:
Catholic Social Teaching, European Integration, Global Governance, Globalization, Human Rights, International Relations, Just War, Peace, TerrorismAbstract
This paper presents an analysis of chapter V, “The Fostering of Peace
and the Promotion of a Community of Nations” of Gaudium et spes,
which discusses “The Avoidance of War” and “Setting Up An
International Community.” After a short presentation of the historical
context and the debate at the Second Vatican Council it focuses on
changes in the situation in the following 50 years and on the
subsequent developments in Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Special
attention is paid to the development of the concept of just war in the
light of the present terrorist threat. Following this, implications of CST
on the international dimension of human rights, democracy and free
economics are discussed. In the subsequent section, CST on the nature
and evaluation of the international order, political unification of the
world and the idea of global governance are analysed. The final part
deals with the views of CST, especially of the recent Popes on European
integration.
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