Mater et magistra was written in observance of the 70th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's social encyclical Rerum novarum.

Mater et magistra begins by praising three earlier papal documents on social topics and summarizing their key points.

[6] Pope John summarized the main points of Rerum novarum as work, private property, the role of the state, right of association, and human solidarity.

[11] Individual freedom and initiative must balance with necessary action of the civil authority, including the appropriate public ownership of property, based on the principle of subsidiarity.

[15] Specific suggestions include: The Pope comments on disproportions that exist between the population and the amount of arable land, as well as different levels of agricultural methods, in different parts of the world.

Even more powerful are efforts to provide the citizens of those nations with the necessary resources and training to implement modern methods and speed up development.