A hymn to joy” “

Benedict XVI’s first encyclical “Deus caritas est”, officially presented on 25 January, has met with a warm welcome, not least in Europe. Below are some of the comments and reflections of European bishops on the document. AUSTRIA. The Pope’s encyclical “tackles the most central theme of the Christian faith: love”: according to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, the document “is a clear signal of the fact that Benedict XVI… places in the foreground the fundamental faith in the final victory of love over all injustices. God is love and man was created for love, and finds his fulfilment in love. This is the positive message of the Pope”. The cardinal said he was particularly moved “by the fact that, in spite of suffering, Benedict XVI should trust so firmly in the power of love”. “The encyclical”, which “expresses the Pope’s reflections on the relation between Church and State, may also be of great interest for politicians” and “is also a clear encouragement to caritas not to let itself be discouraged by critical voices, but to commit itself actively to achieve general conditions of fairness in economic, political and social life”. Bishop Ludwig Scharz (Linz) expressed appreciation for the fact that the Pope chose “love for God and for our neighbour” as the theme of his first encyclical. “Love forms part of the essence of Christianity”, he declared, and the Pope “has illuminated it in the light of the Bible, of history and the present”. BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA. “The new encyclical is truly a fine sign” through which Benedict XVI shows that there’s a great love for man in his heart”, says Ivo Tomasevic, spokesman of the bishops of Bosnia Herzegovina. “The Pope – Tomasevic stresses – has already showed clarity in the faith and doctrine of the Church. Now, with strong words, he shows the love of God and the love of Christians for their fellowmen. The words of love can be understood by everyone, and this is a strong invitation to all of us to show and enable others to know the beauty and greatness of God’s love and of our mission in this world where so much is spoken of love”, but almost exclusively “at the physical level: people speak of pleasure without self-sacrifice, without God and without the willingness to place oneself at the service of others”. FRANCE. It’s “a fundamental text that takes by surprise those who were expecting a programmatic discourse, in the traditional meaning of the term. Instead, it refers all the baptised to love as the centre and beating heart of their spiritual life, inviting them to base their various tasks in society and in the world on it”, commented Monsignor André Dupleix, assistant general secretary of the French Bishops’ Conference. “Benedict XVI, that high-powered intellectual, who is used to the most challenging debates of our time” – continues Dupleix -, in this encyclical “tackles as a pastor the essential and most imperative witness and commitment of Christians in our societies: the service of charity”. In the view of Monsignor Dupoleix, “the fact that the start of a pontificate should rest on the rock and drink at the source of the whole Christian tradition” is “a great sign of hope”. GERMANY. “It’s clear that thanks to its profound appeal to the Bible and the message that underlies it”, this encyclical “has a radical ecumenical character” and “represents for us an impulse deeply rooted at the theological, spiritual, pastoral and social level”, commented the bishop of Mainz and president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann. “We bishops, and not we alone – he continued – approve and express gratitude for the choice and exposition of the theme. It encourages us in our efforts for justice and love, not least also in consideration of the current emergency of the social State. The bishop of Fulda, Heinz Josef Algermissen, said he was “deeply moved” by reading the encyclical. It is – he said – a “profound and at the same time direct meditation on God, who is love, and on the consequences for our image of God and of man”. The bishop of Erfurt, Joachim Wanke, considers the choice of the theme “programmatic”: “Our life in society together, as also the human future of the world, is based on these two mainstays: justice and love”. Bishop Gebhard Fürst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart recommends the reading of the encyclical not only to the faithful, but also to leaders of church, state and society. The document “may also offer guidance to the young”. ITALY. “The bishops, in addressing their affectionate and deferential thoughts to the Holy Father, have expressed deep gratitude for his illuminating and inspiring teaching and have welcomed with joy his first encyclical Deus caritas est“, says the final communiqué of the permanent Council of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, held in Rome from 23 to 26 January. According to the bishops, “the document, which consists of two closely interconnected parts – the first more speculative in nature and the second more concrete in character, dedicated to the ecclesial exercise of the commandment of love in its various dimensions –, ought to constitute a significant point of reference for the life and mission of the Church in Italy”. “In this way – conclude the bishops -, we wish, in our communication of the faith and as part of an integrated pastoral ministry, to share the Pope’s intention, to speak of the love with which God fills us and which we in turn are called to communicate to others”. HOLLAND. Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis, archbishop of Utrecht and president of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference, announcing that a translation of the text of the encyclical into Dutch is being prepared, declared that “Benedict XVI has offered us a document of great richness and profundity”. “The choice of the theme – according to Simonis – is surprising: reflecting on the nature of love, it leads us to the very heart of the Christian faith: God is love. The encyclical is written in a simple and accessible style and will be a source of inspiration and reflection to all people of good will”. “The Pope – continues Cardinal Simonis – points out, above all, that Christianity does not lead to any opposition between ‘eros’ and ‘agape’, between love between human beings – including sex – and love of God. Only when eros is reduced to a purely physical means, or an article of merchandise – explains the cardinal -, does any conflict arise with the Christian faith”. This is a reflection, according to Simonis, “that will not only move many readers, but will also ‘open our eyes’ to the discovery of this Christian view of faith”. UNITED KINGDOM. “The encyclical has been favourably accepted both by Catholics and by the secular press, because the Pope’s words are full of optimism and positive in their attitude to sexuality and the importance it has in human life”, on condition that it be not commercialised, commented Kieran Conry, bishop of Arundel and Brighton, a diocese on the south of England. “I think – continued the bishop – that the encyclical was a surprise for those who have always considered the Pope a severe person and rather out of touch with contemporary society. In the encyclical, on the contrary, Benedict XVI shows understanding for the problems and difficulties of our age and great pastoral sensitivity”. According to Conry “the secular media will henceforth treat the teaching of the Catholic Church in a different way because the encyclical has shown that Catholicism is not in the least a prescriptive and stern discipline that repudiates the needs of humanity, but a religion in tune with the difficulties and struggles of our time”. SLOVENIA. “The Slovene bishops have been particularly struck by the profundity of the Pope’s words and reflection. The theme of love, examined in all its facets and dimensions, invites the faithful to reading and meditation”, commented Monsignor Andrei Saje, general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Slovenia, in expressing the warm welcome given by the bishops of his country to “Deus caritas est”. “Through love – he added, paraphrasing the words of the Pope – the Christian expresses the fundamental choice of his life. At the basis of his faith is the meeting with Christ that gives a new horizon and a decisive direction to life”. SPAIN. “Benedict XVI leads us by the hand through a reflection illuminated by faith and by reason, so that we come to know the infinite gratuitousness and beauty of the love with which God loved us in the creation and in the history of salvation”, declared Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid and president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. The cardinal emphasised that “the Pope’s illuminating explanation on the close relation between the theoretical and practical postulates of justice and the possibility of its realization”, through a life inspired by charity, “is of great actuality” in our time. “If read and meditated on with calmness, this document is a song to hope: the hope that springs from faith in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God”, comments Antonio Dorado Bosco, bishop of Málaga. “The Pope reminds us that Christianity impels human love to its highest goals”, observes Msgr. Dorado, and teaches that “Christian love” must “be based on the personal meeting with Jesus Christ, rise above all ideologies and parties, and never be converted into a weapon of proselytism”. TURKEY. Positive reactions to Deus caritas est have also been expressed in Turkey, where the bishops will dedicate a session of their next plenary assembly on 9 February to a discussion of the papal encyclical. The announcement of the special session was made by Monsignor Georges Marovitch, spokesman of the Turkish bishops, to whom the text of the encyclical has been distributed in preparation for it. “The theme of charity and love tackled by the Pope – he declared – only confirms us on the road of dialogue and mutual love, especially as regards ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, dimensions that we are called to experience on a daily basis here in Turkey”.