The Verona-based Van Thuan Observatory has recently launched its website, reports the Zenit news service. The Observatory’s namesake, the late Cardinal Van Thuan, was the recipient of the the Acton Institute Faith and Freedom Award in 2002.

On first glance, I think this resource has a long way to go. The ‘sources and documents’ page links you to only two documents. I don’t quite know how to respond to assemblies like this. It seems to me that if one wanted to dive into Catholic social thought, all the major encyclicals and other documents are on-line already at the Vatican (i.e. Centesimus Annus, Rerum Novarum, and many others).

However, hopefully sites such as this will serve as a starting points for many, leading them back to the source documents.