Treading between joy and grief: Gaudium et Spes, Louis-Joseph Lebret, and the challenge of modernity

ABSTRACT The concept of modernity is fraught with contestation, a wedge that divides people, practices, institutions, and beliefs. This chasm is particularly pronounced for traditional institutions like the Catholic Church that must contend with one of two dissatisfying options: wholesale acceptance of modernism, which can lead to charges of revisionism and infidelity to tradition, or stalwart rejection of modernism, which can lead to accusations of rigidity and irrelevance. There is, however, a third possibility, a hybrid approach that respects and values the teachings of tradition while taking seriously the special problems and insights of the modern condition. This approach is taken by The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World (also known as Gaudium et Spes), the final document of the Second Vatical Council (1962–1965). This realization, however, did not emerge from detached reflection or theological debate, but rather, through the work of pioneer Catholic social thinkers and activists like the French Dominican Louis-Joseph Lebret (1897–1966). This article examples how Lebret's analysis of modernity and its problems evolved during his life and work, and how these insights ultimately helped shape the moral anthropology that enlivens the approach of Gaudium et Spes.