Octogesima Adveniens

Pope Paul VI begins this let­ter by urg­ing greater efforts for jus­tice and not­ing the duties of local church­es to re- spond to spe­cif­ic sit­u­a­tions. The Pope then dis­cuss­es a wide vari­ety of new social prob­lems which stem from ur- ban­iza­tion. These issues include women, youth, and the “new poor.” Paul VI next treats mod­ern aspi­ra­tions and ideas, espe­cial­ly lib­er­al­ism and Marx­ism. He stress­es the need to ensure equal­i­ty and the right of all to participate
in soci­ety. He con­cludes this let­ter by encour­ag­ing all Chris­tians to reflect on their con­tem­po­rary sit­u­a­tions, apply Gospel prin­ci­ples, and take polit­i­cal action when appropriate.