catholicworldreport.com
2026-06-19
I recently read Bishop Joseph Strickland's May 26th essay critiquing Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (MH), and I wanted to comment on it by drawing insights from the encyclical itself.
One of the more surprising criticisms from Bishop Strickland is that the encyclical places humanity at the center and thus eclipses God, salvation, and the supernatural end of man. While the concern for preserving the primacy of God is commendable, the criticism ultimately fails because it misunderstands both the nature of Catholic Social Doctrine and the theological logic that has animated the Church's social teaching from the nineteenth century through the present day.
The central issue is simple. Bishop Strickland assumes that a concentrated focus on the human person necessarily signals a diminished focus on God. Catholic theology has never accepted such a premise. In fact, the Incarnation itself destroys that assumption. Christianity is the religion of the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14). Christianity proclaims that God entered human history through a human nature (Phil 2:6-11). Christianity proclaims that Christ reveals both God and man (Gaudium et Spes, 22).
Consequently, a profound examination of the human person is often one of the most Christological activities the Church can undertake.
The challenge of applying Catholic social teaching by James Kalb
The Front Royal Statement outlines cardinal principles for Catholic education by Noelle Mering