The Pope's Social Encyclical ...

... hasn't even come out yet, and already some are once again jumping the gun in prematurely condemning those who they assume will be out of step with what the Holy Father will have to say.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Prior to the release of Spe Salvi, many assumed the Pope's second encyclical would be a social encyclical and, just as they do now, got an early start on indentifying those who would balk at and/or try to spin the Holy Father's writings on the Church's social teachings.

However, when the second encyclical didn't pan out as anticipated, focus shifted to the upcoming third encyclical - once again with assumptions made about those who would be vindicated and those who would be roundly repudiated by the Pope.

All the speculation on whose hats will be handed to them by the Holy Father sorta reminds me of how Pope Benedict was going to come to America and deliver a scathing denunciation of Bush's Iraq War policies. Suffice it to say, that particular instance of counting eggs before they were hatched led to some major disappointment in various quarters.

Given that so many have so often guessed so wrong on how Joseph Ratzinger would perform as Pope, I think the most prudent and charitable posture to take until Caritas in Veritate is released is the one Blackadder urges:

Perhaps we should wait and see what the encyclical actually says [ED.: not to mention wait and see how the people being criticized actually respond to the encyclical] before we start condemning people for not abiding by it.