“Cannot you read the signs of the times?”: this question, taken from the verse of Matthew’s Gospel, is the title chosen by the bishops of Belgium for a pamphlet published in recent days with the objective – says the introduction – “not of making resounding statements, but rather of pointing out that, contrary to the opinion of some, the Church is not a nagging scold who spends her time rebuking her members”. To someone who asks: “When she speaks, does not the Church say too many negative things about what is happening in the world? Does she really love the world?”, the bishops reply by underlining “the positive values proposed by the Church and, only after, the negative aspects. Her task – they explain – is to establish the road to be followed, rather than plant pickets to right and left”. According to the bishops, “every no conceals a yes” and “Christians have many resources at their disposal to make man happier and society more liveable”; to this end, “the gospel values are indispensable”. Recalling, for example, the encyclical of Benedict XVI Deus caritas est, the bishops call it “a breath of fresh air, for believers and for everyone else. In it the Pope speaks in a positive manner of erotic love, though it has to be purified and ennobled”. “That does not mean – says the document – that everything is permitted, but nor should we forget that what is prohibited is the negative aspect of a positive value”. “The Church – the bishops continue – defends life in all its forms; when she says no, it is to death she refers”. But the Church also pronounces her “gratitude and admiration” for the Creation and “is always filled with an attitude of forgiveness and compassion” for “the weakness, the lapses and the recovery of man”. “Christian faith – says the bishops – professes a profound and unshakeable optimism in the potential of the human being, his intelligence, science and culture”. As for politics, “the Church cannot fail to take an interest in it – explain the bishops -, for it is the task of the Church, while not directly intervening in the order of the State, legislation or executive and judicial powers”, to remind the State that “before the de facto ethics that it prescribes for its citizens there exists a pre-political ethos” founded on the values “of the dignity of the human person”, and that “it is not the parliamentary majority that establishes the truth”.
