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Link to share: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-selfishness.htm
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Misleading and Non-Christian Terms in Church Teaching Documents: "Selfishness” (Egoism) and "selfish"
When Pope John Paul II addresses the destructive behavior of people in his encyclical “Sollicitudo rei socialis” (1987), he speaks of "selfishness" and describes it with "desire for profit", the "thirst for power" and with "imposing one's will upon others” (chap. 37). "Selfishness" and "selfish" (egoistic) are terms that a therapist or pastoral worker never uses when describing someone's destructive behavior. In my opinion, this is superficial, misleading and does not correspond to the Christian faith in a Church Doctrinal Letters. With such terms, a person is not understood, but to put a label on them. Destructive behaviors are often called sin by the then pope or caused by "structures of sin" or by "original sin”.
Pope Francis often speaks of the devil in such contexts. But also in his encyclical "Fratelli Tutti" (2020) one can often read about "selfishness" and "selfish". He sees selfishness as part of the so-called "concupiscence" (Fratelli Tutti, Chap. 166), which is understood as "inclination to sin". But this traditional moral-theological term is also outdated and shows how deficient the Church's dialogue with the findings of modern psychology is. All of these moralizing or traditional theological terms are of little help in understanding the causes of a person's destructive and hurtful behavior today.
That is why Jesus urged about 2000 years ago "Stop judging!" (Mt 7:1) and Vatican II took up this demand of Jesus when it says in "Gaudium et Spes": "(God) forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone" (GS 28) Another word of Jesus points in the same direction: "(God) himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked." (Lk 6:35c) Jesus clearly rejects moralizing and pejorative terms. But we humans usually fail to refrain from using pejorative terms towards hurting fellow human beings if we do not remain in a constant process of deeper understanding. This process has only reached its goal, i.e. we have only understood a person when we recognize the burdens of fate, the mental entanglements and creaturely experiences of littleness that have triggered feelings of inferiority in this person, which that person then tries to compensate for with destructive behaviors (greed, lust for power, egoism, ...).
However, when church documents of faith describe people's destructive behavior in derogatory terms, then obviously those responsible in the Vatican have not developed an up-to-date theological anthropology and have not yet understood central statements of the Bible and thus the Christian faith. Why do those responsible in the Vatican understand so little about the human psyche and the meaning of the commandments in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (e.g. Mt 7:1: "Stop judging!")? And why don't our theology professors and bishops confront those responsible in the Vatican with their deficits?
Manfred Hanglberger
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis
Selfishness (5x): In the chap. 10, 14, 26, 36,47 selfish (2x): 23, 39
(10)
(14) In fact, Just as social inequalities down to the level of poverty exist in rich countries, so, in parallel fashion, in the less developed countries one often sees manifestations of selfishness and a flaunting of wealth which is as disconcerting, as it is scandalous.
(26) From the depth of anguish, fear and escapist phenomena like drugs, typical of the contemporary world, the idea is slowly emerging that the good to which we are all called and the happiness to which we aspire cannot be obtained without an effort and commitment on the part of all, nobody excluded, and the consequent renouncing of personal selfishness.
(36) One can certainly speak of "selfishness" and of "shortsightedness," of "mistaken political calculations" and "imprudent economic decisions." ».
(37) On the one hand, the all-consuming desire for profit, and on the other, the thirst for power, with the intention of imposing one's will upon others.
(47) Though it be with sorrow, it must be said that just as one may sin through selfishness and the desire for excessive profit and power, one may also be found wanting with regard to the urgent needs of multitudes of human beings submerged in conditions of underdevelopment, through fear, indecision and, basically, through cowardice.
(23) When the West gives the impression of abandoning itself to forms of growing and selfish isolation, and the East in its turn seems to ignore for questionable reasons its duty to cooperate in the task of alleviating human misery, then we are up against not only a betrayal of humanity's legitimate expectations - a betrayal that is a harbinger of unforeseeable consequences - but also a real desertion of a moral obligation.
(39) The intermediate groups, in their turn, should not selfishly insist on their particular interests, but respect the interests of others.
In der Enzyklika „Fratelli Tutti“ von Papst Franziskus (2020)
Selfishness (4x): 11; 89; 113; 166. egotistic (1x): 35 self-centred (1x): 89 selfish (3x): 159; 199; 229
11.
89. Closed groups and self-absorbed couples that define themselves in opposition to others tend to be expressions of selfishness and mere self-preservation.
113. Every society needs to ensure that values are passed on; otherwise, what is handed down are selfishness, violence, corruption in its various forms, indifference and, ultimately, a life closed to transcendence and entrenched in individual interests.
166 It has to do with human weakness, the proclivity to selfishness that is part of what the Christian tradition refers to as “concupiscence”: the human inclination to be concerned only with myself, my group, my own petty interests. Concupiscence is not a flaw limited to our own day. It has been present from the beginning of humanity, and has simply changed and taken on different forms down the ages, using whatever means each moment of history can provide. Concupiscence, however, can be overcome with the help of God.
35 Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation.
89 Nowadays, our noblest social instincts can easily be thwarted by self-centred chats that give the impression of being deep relationships.
159 Or when, at other times, they seek popularity by appealing to the basest and most selfish inclinations of certain sectors of the population.
199 Yet “between selfish indifference and violent protest there is always another possible option: that of dialogue.
229 The Bishops of South Africa have pointed out that true reconciliation is achieved proactively, “by forming a new society, a society based on service to others, rather than the desire to dominate; a society based on sharing what one has with others, rather than the selfish scramble by each for as much wealth as possible;
Link to share: https://hanglberger-manfred.de/en-selfishness.htm
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