Spiritual Leo XIII: Rerum Novarum [English translation], v1, 7 Sept 2009.

[Patricia]

Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
Rerum Novarum
Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Capital and Labor
1891

Converted at the request of a member.

[GA Russell]

Thank you Patricia!

Rerum Novarum was the basis of the Distributist school of thought championed by GK Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc in England in the 20s and 30s, especially during the Depression.

I have become interested in Distributism recently due to the worldwide financial crisis in general and in the US the Henry Paulson bailouts in particular.

So reading Rerum Novarum will give me the opportunity to understand (I hope!) the premises of the distributist alternative to capitalism and socialism.

[Avalon]

Thank you, Patricia! A gem, worth re-reading.

For those interested, all Papal documents are available in electronic text at the Vatican website, I believe all are copyright-free, even recent and current works.

The most recent (June, 2009) encyclical written by (current) Pope Benedict XVI, "Charity in Truth," can be found here:


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

An example of a popular work by Pope John Paul II, "On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World," is available here:


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html

These Papal works are available to copy from the website in English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish.

[GA Russell]

Many thanks for the tip, Avalon!

I know that Amazon is selling the eBook of Charity in Truth for $14.99, and I wondered why the Pope would agree to such a price tag on something one assumes he would like everyone to read.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Avalon

For those interested, all Papal documents are available in electronic text at the Vatican website, I believe all are copyright-free, even recent and current works.

Avalon, I followed your link, and I couldn't find how to download these encyclicals for an eBook reader. Am I missing something?

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Avalon, I followed your link, and I couldn't find how to download these encyclicals for an eBook reader. Am I missing something?

GA, open the web page. Then click on the "file" option on your toolbar. Choose "save as." This opens a window which gives you a choice of formats in which to save. I save as "webpage complete", i.e. html..

This works for any webpage that you want to save.
You may then edit the webpage in Word. Open it. Choose "edit in Word", which is on the file menu of the toolbar in IE8, and on the Edit menu in some earlier versions of IE.
At this stage, you can just save as an RTF, or in any other format that your reader will use. Alternatively, the html can be popped into Calibre, Book Designer or another conversion tool, and you can make an Ebook.

I hope this helps.

[GA Russell]

Thanks Patricia! That helps a lot! This really opens up the whole world of the internet to an eBook reader.

[Avalon]

Sorry, Russell. just found this.

I don't believe the Pope has anything to do with price, his work is free to all. Just like Pride & Prejudice or Tom Sawyer could be published by anyone today and offered at any price, the document you refer to was priced by the publisher.

The Daughters of Saint Paul, a religious community, has taken on the ministry of printing papal documents in serviceable, plain, soft cover, pamphlet form, at low prices. Presumably they have few overhead costs, as the Sisters who do the work are performing a labor of love with little recompense, they make no profit beyond supporting their community, and the original work is copyright free. They have Charity in Truth on their website for $6.95:

https://store.pauline.org/English/tabid/56/List/0/CategoryID/525/Level/a/Default.aspx

It is also on Amazon in paperback for $6.95, offered by the US Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), another non-profit organization.

The work you saw was probably offered by a commercial printing firm like Ignatius Press that has workers who must be paid, and possibly did not think would sell enough copies to justify the typing/ebook publishing, especially since you can get the work free, and if you know how, make your own etext. Ebook publishing is new to Ignatius, probably their prices will fall as they get more familiar with it. And still a great service for those who aren't comfortable doing their own conversion - some people have a fear of, and really never use, their USB connection, don't ask me why.

Although Catholicism is the largest religion in the world, many Catholics do not purchase encyclicals, but receive religious instruction from the pulpit. In other words, encyclicals have small printing runs, and can't compete with best-seller pricing on mass market titles. An exception would be the Catechism of the Catholic Church, released in the 1990's, that was a best seller and eventually was released in sub-$5 mass market editions.

Not an expert in publishing, and probably way more than you need on this topic, just my thoughts . . .

And thanks for great tip, Patricia. I was simply highlight/select/copying to a Word file on my computer and then using Calibre. Your method is so much more professional!

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Avalon

The work you saw was probably offered by a commercial printing firm, maybe had nicer binding, heavier paper, perhaps included commentary or analysis, and was printed by workers who must be paid.

Hi Avalon,

Actually, the $14.95 was for the Kindle eBook, as advertised in a catalogue I received.

I think the catalogue was from Ignatius Press but I'm not positive on that.

[Patricia]

My pleasure, Avalon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Avalon

Thank you, Patricia! A gem, worth re-reading.

For those interested, all Papal documents are available in electronic text at the Vatican website, I believe all are copyright-free, even recent and current works.

I don't believe so. Click the "Copyright" link at the bottom of the site.

[Patricia]

Papal encyclicals are also available here:
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/
and here:
http://www.shc.edu/theolibrary/docs.htm

Previous popes have had no problem with allowing the word (and their own words) to be spread.
However, papa Ratzi has insisted on charging publishers. The story is here:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/02...copyright.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...icle717916.ece

However, the current situation does have a loophole:

LEV says news organizations can quote from the pope's speeches, encyclicals and other writings without charge. They can also publish full texts for free provided they cite Vatican copyright. But if a text is published separately, they should pay royalties.

I got this encyclical from a non-Vatican source. It was written long before the current rules as imposed by Benedict XVI.

[GA Russell]

I received this email from the Vatican Sept.16, which said in part:

"we acknowledge receipt of your email dated 14th September 2009, regarding your request to download papal encyclicals and other church documents.

We have the pleasure of informing you that we grant you the permission to create a link with the Vatican website www.vatican.va where you will find our publications and all the Vatican official documents."