and pushing, thanks to the same work, his power over the visible world, in any case, a person at each stage of this process does not cross the original plan of the Creator” – said in “Laborem zzertsens”. This means that in rejecting the idea of the self-sufficiency of man as a subject, John Paul II emphasizes the substantial value of the divine will, which must act for man as the essence, the core of all his thoughts and deeds. Thus, the Central idea of the Church’s social doctrine in relation to work is not so much the recognition of its objective significance, but rather its eschatological value. “In human labor,” John Paul II proclaims, ” the Christian acquires a little of the cross of Christ and accepts it in the spirit of the atonement with which Jesus Christ accepted death for our sake. In work, thanks to the light that penetrates us on the resurrection of Christ, we constantly find glimpses of a new life, a new good, we find as it were

the proclamation of the “new heaven and new earth,” in which man participates precisely because of the hardships of labor.”

Along with the official social doctrine of Catholicism within the Church, there are a number of currents of religious thought that, within the framework of “theology of politics”, “theology of liberation”, etc., offer alternative solutions to the most pressing socio-economic and socio-political problems. “Theology of politics” combines heterogeneous and even opposite from the point of view of social class positions ideological and theoretical trends. This term is also used for theorists of left-wing Christian movements and supporters of moderate reformism. In the “theology of politics” this is the only place where the divine presence is localized, and direct participation in social and transformative activities is declared to be the way of existence of the Christian faith.

“Theology of politics” opposes the neutrality of religion in relation to politics, it seeks to develop an ideology that would involve religion in the struggle for social progress. “The Church,” says one of the founders of this movement, J. B. Metz, ” can no longer turn a blind eye to the fact of social conditioning of religion. Opponents of Christianity, referring to this very conditionality, criticize religion as the ideology of the ruling classes. For this reason, theology that tortures-

in order to resist this criticism, it is necessary to deal with the socio-political consequences of its images and ideas.” Metz and other proponents of” theology of politics ” recognize that in the past there was a connection between the Christian Church and the exploitative classes. But today, in their opinion, the situation has changed radically. If before the Church acted as an institution of suppression, now it must manifest itself as an institution of liberation of people. Metz defines the purpose of the Church in its relation to the world as an institution of social

criticisms. He appeals to the ” eschatological reserve of the Church.” “Any eschatology,” he writes, ” must become the political theology of social criticism.”

Catholicism, according to the German theologian, has all the necessary prerequisites for this, since the Church in

in its fundamental documents, it emphasizes its independence from any particular form of social structure. Since the Church aspires to the eternal, it is not satisfied with any of the existing earthly political systems, and acting consistently, it is in constant opposition to any society.

Another major opposition social doctrine of the official Church is the “theology of liberation”, which was widely spread in the 70-80s of the XX century in developing countries, especially in Latin America and Africa. The main ideas were formulated in the works of the Peruvian Catholic priest G. Gutierrez, and they are currently being developed in Latin America.-

ke-W. Assman, F. Bettu, L. Boff, E. Dussel, P. Pritchard, X.-M. Sombrino, etc.; in Africa-K. Appia-Kubi, A. Basak, B. Naudet, J. V. Shipende, D. tutu, etc.