Perspectief 2017-36

2017-36 JT Chapter 3: Comparative analysis 33 Reageer Chapter 3: Comparative analysis In this thesis we have discussed a representative selection of writings and speeches on the refugee crisis within the Roman Catholic Church and Lutheran churches. We have studied official ecclesial documents published by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, theological articles and statements by influential individuals in each church. We will now proceed to a comparative analysis of Catholic and Lutheran perspectives on the refugee crisis and seek out the convergences and divergences present within and between the two churches. Firstly we will consider their doctrines pertaining to migration and refugees and their underlying theological argumentation. Since these arguments are not solely theoretical but pertain directly to practice and are therefore the basis for Christian humanitarian and political action, we will then briefly compare the two churches’ practical responses to the crisis as well as confront the positions found in both churches with international humanitarian law. 1. Doctrinal divergences and convergences Catholic social teaching has been laid out in documents since the late nineteenth century but finds its traditional inspiration in both the Bible and major exponents of tradition such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Although the most prominent point of departure for Catholicism’s social thought lies in Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, the Catholic Church’s stance on dealing with refugees in particular was developed in more recent decades. Pope John Paul II was the first to make explicit the Church’s views on refugees. His documents on the topic were further elaborated upon by popes Benedict XVI and Francis. We cannot surpass the importance of papal magisterium when dealing with the Catholic position, given the organisational structure of the Catholic Church and the universal impact of the Roman magisterium, which plays a vital role in the development and proclamation of the Church’s social teaching. This immediately becomes clear for

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