Praised be to God for the release of Pope Leo XIV’s first encylclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas. There are many newsworthy dimensions to the document, and I offer first reactions to its highlights in my latest at Catholic World Report. It’s not an attempt at a comprehensive survey of the document—I had to set aside many fascinating threads to keep the essay readable—but a reflection on themes in the encyclical that I find especially noteworthy in light of my professional expertise and particular life experience.
If you’ve followed the Holy Father’s homilies, catecheses, and public addresses, the broad direction of the document is not surprising. Even so, I found myself genuinely astonished by the theological depth and architectural coherence of the text. In particular, my approach in this piece springs from an inconspicuous phrase near the end of the document, where Leo describes the human person as fulfilled only in embracing a “covenant between glory and fragility.”
UPDATE: Here’s a link to a lovely conversation I had with Marcus Peter about the encyclical on EWTN Radio’s Ave Maria in the Afternoon. N.B., Our 2-segment discussion begins at the 31:00 mark.
(Image: Karen Cann/Unsplash.com)
