The rights of future generations : in search of an intergenerational ethical theory

Abstract

One of the most far-reaching directives to come out of the Second Vatican Council was the call addressed to the Church to scrutinise the signs of the times. The Council declares that the Church has the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and of answering, in language intelligible to every generation, the questions arising at any given time. It is therefore the essential task of the Church to be aware of and to understand the aspirations, the yearnings, and the often dramatic features of the world in which we live. In this way, the Council expresses the Church's willingness to cooperate in tackling the main problems facing the world, to help create greater justice, and to foster a deeper sense of solidarity among mankind, even though the Church itself admits that it does not always have "at hand the solution to particular problems".

By pointing out this challenge facing the Church, the Council "desires to add the light of revealed truth to mankind's store of experience, so that the path which humanity has taken in recent times not be a dark one". In the preface to its second part dealing with will some particular urgent problems, the Pastoral Constitution draws the attention of all "to a consideration of these [problems] in the light of the Gospel and of human experience." The Church takes human experience as its starting-point and strives to understand the anguish and hopes of every generation in its attempt to render service to all mankind. Only by remaining open to the changing experience through which man passes in the course of history can the Church try to find answers to the new questions and anxieties, grief and conflicts of humanity. The discovery of human experience as a basic source of theology was an important step which led to greater dialogue between the Church and the world. Rather than to seclude herself from humanity, the mission of the Church is to be a driving force in history. It is only by being present in the world that the Church can listen attentively to the hope and anguish of humanity. Thus, the Conciliar vision of the Church's role in the modern world suggests that theology is not static, but rather an ongoing process to find out new answers to novel queries which arise from the dynamic human experience.