CARITAS IN VERITATE
Germany: “a grand work””A decisive contribution to the current debate on globalisation and justice”: this is the opinion of mgr. Robert Zollitsch, President of the German Bishops Conference, about Benedict XVI’s encyclical “Caritas in veritate”, presented in the Vatican today. “The time of its publication too – the day just before the G8 at L’Aquila – highlights the urgency of the purpose. The Pope does not just appeal to the leaders of the most important industrialised nations in the world, asking them to bravely face the current challenges without neglecting the necessary ethic grounds; but he encourages all the people of good will to consider themselves the players instead of the victims of the current development. Everyone must change mentality”, Zollitsch urged. The archbishop of Freiburg defined Pope Ratzinger’s third encyclical as “a grand work that keeps into account the fundamental prerequisites for all the people of good will in connection with an evolution and a globalisation that are on a human scale and worthy of the human person”. According to Zollitsch, the document is a “major step” along the journey of Catholic social doctrine, considering the fact that the Pope’s goal is not to provide political or economic guidance; it is instead to “look again at a dimension of development that is fundamental but neglected: a consistent development that pursues those principles of justice and common good which are the expression of love in truth”. The encyclical “not only carefully analyses the signs of the time, but it also points at the necessary criteria that should be adopted to promote justice in a sustainable way and all over the world”.Ireland: for “the integral human development”The Bishops of Ireland welcomed the publication of Benedict XVI’s new Encyclical “Caritas in veritate” (Love in truth), dedicated to the integral human development in charity and truth, in a statement released today. The statement enumerates the key points of the Encyclical which, they wrote, “highlights the inseparable connection between love and truth”. “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way”, they added quoting the Encyclical. For this reason, they said, “Christians need to be ready to proclaim this love in society. The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church derives from the dynamic of love given and received through our relationship with God and our neighbour”. Among the challenges facing our society today, there is that of globalisation. “In a globalised society our understanding of the common good must be extended to the relations between nations”, that is to say that “we need to share goods and resources, not only technical progress. We need to ensure that, in the context of an ever more globalised labour market, measures taken by States to increase economic competitiveness do not militate against the fulfilment of their obligation to protect the poor and the most vulnerable”. Other key issues in the Encyclical are “the protection of Creation, as well as the right to food, water and life”.Belgium: “a clear vision of today’s society””Truth and love are at the heart of the Pontiff’s Encyclical. Truth enables us to have a clear vision of today’s society while love compels us to act”. A few hours after the publication of “Caritas in veritate”, Benedict XVI’s Social Encyclical, the Belgian Bishops’ Press Office released a first statement commenting on the text: “in the first Encyclical of the 21st century, the Pope invites us to a new reflection on the meaning and purpose of economy and to an ethical review of the development paradigm, thus reminding us that a global economy developing outside moral values will inevitably reach an impasse”. “Without being partisan – said the Belgian Bishops -, the Church does not aim to serve wild capitalism, she does not propose technical solutions, she does not want to decide for the States, but she is called to accomplish a mission of truth to serve a society protecting individuals and their dignity. There is no full development, no universal common good without the spiritual and moral well-being of the people considered in their integrity of body and soul”.France: “a great message of hope””A great message of hope addressed to those Catholics and men of good will who want to reflect” on the questions raised by the Christian faith. This is the “personal impression” conveyed by card. André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and president of the French Bishops’ Conference, upon reading Benedict XVI’s Encyclical “Caritas in veritate”. The news was relayed by the French bishops’ president himself in a statement published on the Bishops’ Conference website. “Mankind has both the mission and the means to run the world in which we live” and “can transform it” in order to “promote justice and love in human relations as well as in the social and economic areas”. This is – according to the cardinal -, the “message of hope”. Two are the “most significant points” of the Papal document: the idea that “human activity, in all its sectors, is always subject to moral responsibility” and “the reflection on globalisation and its relationship with development”. Despite the many and complex themes that are discussed, “the Encyclical – concluded card. Vingt-Trois – is unified by the general perspective of responsibility in social and economic actions” whose “ultimate and definite criterion” is “the service of man”.
