Lebret and the birth of development ethics within Catholic Social Teaching

ABSTRACT This paper presents the contributions of the French Dominican priest Louis-Joseph Lebret to the emergence of development ethics. Starting from his life and experiences, it outlines his concept of development and its multiple dimensions. Development is presented as an interdisciplinary endeavour, open to many sources of knowledge. It is equally seen as a problem for the entire planet which should have the human ascent of all as its primary objective. This notion helped to introduce the idea of international solidarity into the concept of development. Development is equally presented as having a direct link to global peace. Emphasizing the important role that the West has to play in the planetary endeavour of development, Lebret proposed dialogue of civilizations as a befitting type of collaboration between the West and the rest of the world. His contributions are finally presented as having relevance for development in Africa today. This is done by examining his major ideas in the light of current African development initiatives.