Pope Benedict and the 'urgent need of a true world political authority'

I am adding my little ole contribution to my post of links at The Ultimate 'CARITAS IN VERITATE' Papal Encyclical Linkfest and Updates


It is quite unfortunate that this segment will grab all the headlines and no doubt be misinterpreted and used by the foes of the Church for all sort of mischief. I am already seeing anti Christ stuff (sigh)

Again this is with qualifers of course and the qualifiers will be missed.

In section 57 we see

A particular manifestation of charity and a guiding criterion for fraternal cooperation between believers and non-believers is undoubtedly the principle of subsidiarity[137], an expression of inalienable human freedom. Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. Such assistance is offered when individuals or groups are unable to accomplish something on their own, and it is always designed to achieve their emancipation, because it fosters freedom and participation through assumption of responsibility. Subsidiarity respects personal dignity by recognizing in the person a subject who is always capable of giving something to others. By considering reciprocity as the heart of what it is to be a human being, subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state. It is able to take account both of the manifold articulation of plans — and therefore of the plurality of subjects — as well as the coordination of those plans. Hence the principle of subsidiarity is particularly well-suited to managing globalization and directing it towards authentic human development. In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together. Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way[138], if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.

Now this is the rub. This reform is not easy and the Holy Father is not exactly offering a blueprint(which he admits is not his role) on how this should be done.

As soon as saw this I thought of this piece that Contentions ran the other day. See International Law as Gangplank. I will quote part of it at length

The whole point of law is to prevent humans from interacting in a world where only power dictates human affairs, and instead, to establish a system of rules grounded in justice. But for this to happen, a lot of power needs to be forcibly shifted away from the powerful, and into the hands of — well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?

In a democratic society, the power is shifted into the hands of the police and courts of justice. These, in turn, are held accountable to a whole apparatus of elections, approvals, and appointments, the bottom line of which is that if people charged with effecting justice abuse their power, everyone will know about it, and those responsible will be punished and deterred. Also, there are principles and rules of legislation to make sure that laws are just — such as, for example, the idea that laws should not be enforced selectively, or passed with a specific person as the target.

In the international arena, however, the whole process of “law” doesn’t have an effective system of accountability or of checks and balances. This is its Achilles’ heel, which proponents of international law are permanently trying to make us ignore. Instead of being created by elected legislatures, executed by appointed enforcement apparatuses, and applied by judicial officials, international law is defined in a series of treaties that are often themselves a reflection of power politics, and its enforcement lies in the hands of unaccountable bodies like the UN, and especially a swath of NGOs, many of which receive their budgets from interest groups. The lack of an effective system of accountability means that individual countries can bear the brunt of a power politics that is supercharged with the legitimacy and invasive tools of law. Nowhere is this felt more keenly than with regard to Israel............

More at the above link. Now that does not mean such a system is impossible. But for such a thing to happen and to meet the qualifiers that Holy Father is talking about the above has to grappled with.