BENEDICT XVI’S FIRST ‘ IS ’

CHARITY IS NEEDED TO EASE THE WORLD’S SUFFERING, SAYS POPE IN HIS FIRST MAJOR PASTORAL LETTER

N HIS FIRST ENCYCLICAL, ever, the term “love” is frequently Pope Benedict XVI called for a used and misused, he said. Most deeper understanding of love as commonly, it is understood as rep- I a gift from God to be shared in resenting “,” the erotic love a self-sacrificial way, both at a per- between a man and a woman. The sonal and social level. Church, from its earliest days, pro- The pope said love between cou- posed a new vision of self-sacrificial ples, often reduced today to selfish love expressed in the word “,” sexual pleasure, needs to be purified he said. to include “concern and care for the At times, the pope said, the other.” Church, with all its command- Love is also , he said, and ments and prohibitions, has been the Church has an obligation to help accused of poisoning eros or of being the needy wherever they are found ready to “blow the whistle” just — but its primary motives must when the joy of erotic love present- always be spiritual, never political ed itself. or ideological. But in modern society, he said, it The nearly 16,000-word encycli- has become clear that eros itself has Pope Benedict XVI signs his first encyclical in cal, titled Deus Caritas Est (God Is his private library at the Vatican Jan. 23 in been exalted and the human body Love), was issued Jan. 25 in seven the company of Leonardo debased. languages (www.vatican.va). Sandri, assistant papal secretary of state. “Eros, reduced to pure ‘sex,’ has Addressed to all Catholics, it was become a commodity, a mere ‘thing’ divided into two sections, one on the meaning of love to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes in history, the other on the practice of love a commodity. This is hardly man’s great ‘yes’ to the by the Church. body. On the contrary, he now considers his body and The pope said his aim was to “speak of the love his sexuality as the purely material part of himself, to which God lavishes upon us and which we in return be used and exploited at will,” he said. must share with others.” The two aspects, personal Properly understood, he said, eros leads a man and love and the practice of charity, are profoundly inter- woman to marriage, a bond that is exclusive, and connected, he said. therefore monogamous, as well as permanent.

THE CHURCH’S VISION OF LOVE FINDING THE BALANCE The encyclical begins with a phrase from the First While it is true that the happiness of eros can give peo- Letter of John: “God is love, and he who abides in love ple a “foretaste of the divine,” eros needs to be disci- abides in God, and God abides in him.” The pope said plined and purified if it is to provide more than fleet- the line expresses the ing pleasure, the pope said. heart of the Christian The solution is to redis- faith, which understands THE POPE DEFINES A PROPER cover a balance between the creator as a loving the ecstasy of eros and the God and which sees understanding of love unselfish love of agape, he Christ’s death as the ulti- said. mate sign of God’s love in today’s world. The key to regaining for man. this balance, he said, lies in In today’s world, how- a personal relationship

8 www.kofc.org with God and an understanding of the sacrificial love of Christ. He said Christ gives the ultimate lesson in “love of neighbor,” which means: “I love even the person whom I do not like or even know.” The pope said there was an essential interplay between love of God and love of neighbor. “If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God,” he said. “But if in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be ‘devout’ and to perform my ‘religious duties,’ then my relationship with God will also grow arid,” he said.

THE CHURCH’S ROLE IN BUILDING A JUST SOCIETY The second half of the encyclical makes two main points: I As a community, the Church must practice love through works of charity Pope Benedict XVI gestures to the faithful gathered for the weekly general audience and attend to people’s sufferings and in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Jan. 25, the day his first encylical was issued. needs, including material needs. I The Church’s action stems from its spiritual cited Blessed of Calcutta as an example mission and must never be undertaken as part of a of love in action. political or ideological agenda. “One does not make the world more human by The pope said there was a connection between the refusing to act humanely here and now,” he said. And commitment to justice and the ministry of charity, charity will always be necessary, even in the most just but also important distinctions. Building a just social society, he said. and civil order is an essential political task to which In any case, he said, it is an illusion to think that the Church contributes through its social doctrine, the state can provide for all needs and fully resolve but it “cannot be the Church’s immediate responsibil- every problem. ity,” he said. “We do not need a state which regulates and con- “A just society must be the achievement of poli- trols everything,” but a state that supports initiatives tics, not of the Church,” he added. arising from different social forces, he said. The “The Church cannot and must not take upon her- Church is one of those forces, he said. self the political battle to bring about the most just The pope said that those working for society possible. She cannot and must not replace the charitable organizations need to be witnesses of the state,” the pope said. faith as well as professionally competent in humani- “Yet at the same time she cannot and must not tarian affairs. remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice,” he The Church’s charitable activities, he said, should said. The Church’s role is to make the rational argu- not be seen as opportunities for proselytism, in the ments for justice and awaken the spiritual energy sense of imposing the Church’s faith on others. needed for the sacrifices that justice requires, he “But this does not mean that charitable activity said. must somehow leave God and Christ aside,” he said. “Christian charitable activity must be independent Without proposing specific guidelines, he added: “A of parties and . It is not a means of changing Christian knows when it is time to speak of God and the world ideologically, and it is not at the service of when it is better to say nothing and to let love speak worldly stratagems, but it is a way of making present alone.” here and now the love which man always needs,” he The pope said that prayer should not be forgotten said. as the Church tries to alleviate the immense needs around the world. LOVE IN ACTION “People who pray are not wasting their time, even The pope examined and rejected the Marxist argu- though the situation appears desperate and seems to ments that the poor “do not need charity but justice,” call for action alone. Piety does not undermine the and that charity is merely a means of preserving a sta- struggle against the poverty of our neighbors, however tus quo of economic injustice. He said the Church extreme,” he said. — Reported by John Thavis, must help the needy wherever they are found, and he Catholic News Service. I

TEXT: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE c olu mbia march 2006 9 ABOVE: AP PHOTO/ANDREW MEDICHINI, LEFT: CNS PHOTO FROM L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO /