Arrival of the Japanese edition, the compendium!

The long-awaited Japanese edition of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church has just rolled off the press and now on sale from the CBCJ, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan at 3,000 yen plus tax. The 500-page Japanese edition is a translation from the original edition published in 2004 by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Key person for this Japanese edition is Fr.Mick Seigel, SVD, a professor of Nanzan Univeristy and a former secretary for JPIC in the general administration of the Divine Word Missionaries in Rome. He has also organised the symposium on the social doctrine of the Church to commemorate the publication of the compendium on 4 July in Sophia University, 3 October in Nanzan and 3 November in St.Thomas University.

On 25 October, 2004, Cardinal RENATO RAFFAELE MARTINO, the president of the Pontifical council for Justice and Peace had a press conference on the occasion of the publication of the compendium and made the following comment.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church offers a complete overview of the fundamental framework of the doctrinal corpus of Catholic social teaching. Faithful to the authoritative recommendation made by the Holy Father John Paul II in No. 54 of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America, the document presents "in a complete and systematic manner, even if by means of an overview, the Church’s social teaching, which is the fruit of careful Magisterial reflection and an expression of the Church’s constant commitment in fidelity to the grace of salvation wrought in Christ and in loving concern for humanity’s destiny" (Compendium, 8).

So if you are interested in the social doctrine of the Church, try to read this important document now in Japanese.