A reader writes:
Can you give us some guidance on your blog regarding the new Compendium [of the Church’s social teachings] that came out this week?
How do we answer critics who say that it elevates lesser social issues to a position on par with pro-life issues?
I am very reluctant to comment on a text without having the chance to examine it firsthand. This is why I haven’t commented on the Comendium thus far. For an unknown reason, it doesn’t seem to have yet been posted online, and although I put in a request to have a hardcopy shipped to us extra-expedited, it hasn’t yet arrived (probably will arrive late this week or early next), and I’ll be in a better position to comment at that time.
Despite this, the question that you pose is one that I can comment on at least briefly, as follows:
It would be almost inconceivable, given the stress that the Holy See has placed on abortion and related pro-life questions (euthanasia, embryonic stem cells, etc.), that the text would elevate lesser social issues to the point that they are on the same level as these.
Basically, people who are saying that it does this (a) are commenting on the text without having read it themselves and (b) commenting on it in a particularly brain-dead way, as it would be completely contrary to the way that Rome has been speaking about the relative gravity of these issues.
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