Development and Population: Policy Perspectives and Catholic Teaching

Abstract

In the 1970's both the theory of development and the thinking on population policy in relationship to development have undergone significant revision. The purpose of this article is to note some of the broad trends in such analysis and to illustrate how Catholic teaching relates to the development-population debate. The relationship is more complex than descriptions often given of it by Catholics and other analysts. This essay seeks to examine the complexity and to propose a way of shaping a position on development and population which can enrich the wider debate and open new avenues of approach for the church.