Humani generis
Humani generis is a papal encyclical that Pope Pius XII promulgated on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". It primarily discussed, the encyclical says, "new opinions" which may "originate from a reprehensible desire of novelty" and their consequences on the Church.
For other uses, see Humani generis (disambiguation).
Humani generis
Encyclical of Pope Pius XII
12 August 1950
18 of the pontificate
Influences[edit]
There was speculation that Dutch Jesuit Sebastiaan Tromp, professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, had assisted in drafting the encyclical.[1]
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964), professor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, is said to have been a major influence on the content of the encyclical.[2]
Content[edit]
Role of theology[edit]
Humani generis states: "This deposit of faith our Divine Redeemer has given for authentic interpretation not to each of the faithful, not even to theologians, but only to the teaching authority of the Church."[3]
In Humani generis, Pope Pius held a corporate view of theology. Theologians, employed by the Church, are assistants, to teach the official teachings of the Church and not their own private thoughts. They are free to engage in all kinds of empirical research, which the Church will generously support, but in matters of morality and religion, they are subjected to the teaching office and authority of the Church, the Magisterium.
Legacy[edit]
Fr. Brian Van Hove, SJ states that Humani generis caused "a freezing of systematic theology into a Thomist orthodoxy", remarking that the "freeze" was later ameliorated by Pope John Paul II's 1993 Veritatis splendor.[1] For example, Fr. Henri de Lubac (later Cardinal de Lubac) wrote about his plan for a comprehensive theological project integrating "patristics, liturgy, history, philosophical reflection [...] The lightning bolt of Humani generis killed the project."[14]