Redeemer of Man
REDEMPTOR HOMINIS
The Redeemer of Man
On the Redemption and the Dignity of
the Human Race
Pope John Paul II
To
his Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate, the Priests, the Religious Families,
the Sons and Daughters of the Church, and to all men and women of good will.
Venerable Brothers and Dear Sons and
Daughters,
Greetings and Apostolic Blessing
The Redeemer of Man, Jesus Christ, is the
center of the universe and of history. To him go my thoughts and my heart in this solemn moment of
the world that the Church and the whole family of present-day humanity are now
living. In fact, this time, in which God in his hidden design has entrusted to
me, after my beloved Predecessor John Paul I, the universal service connected
with the Chair of Saint Peter in
2. We also are in a certain way in a season of a new
Advent, a season of expectation: "In
many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he has spoken to us by a Son . . .," [3] by the Son, his Word,
who became man and was born of the Virgin Mary. This
act of redemption marked the
3. It was to Christ the Redeemer that my
feelings and my thoughts were directed on 16 October of last year, when, after
the canonical election, I was asked: "Do you accept?" I then replied:
"With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother
of Christ and of the Church, in spite of the great difficulties, I
accept." Today I wish to make that reply known publicly to all without
exception, thus showing that there is a link between the first fundamental
truth of the Incarnation, already mentioned, and the ministry that, with my
acceptance of my election as Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter,
has become my specific duty in his See.
4. I chose the same names that were chosen
by my beloved Predecessor John Paul I. Indeed, as soon as he announced to the
Sacred College on 26 August 1978 that he wished to be called John Paul--such a
double name being unprecedented in the history of the Papacy--I saw in it a clear
presage of grace for the new pontificate. Since that pontificate lasted barely
33 days, it falls to me not only to continue it but in a certain sense to take
it up again at the same starting point. This is confirmed by my choice of these
two names. By following the example of my venerable Predecessor in choosing
them, I wish like him to express my love for the unique inheritance left to the
Church by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI and my personal readiness to develop
that inheritance with God's help.
5. Through these two names and two
pontificates I am linked with the whole tradition of the Apostolic See and with
all my Predecessors in the expanse of the twentieth century and of the
preceding centuries. I am connected, through one after another of the various
ages back to the most remote, with the line of the mission and ministry that
confers on Peter's See an altogether special place in the Church. John XXIII
and Paul VI are a stage to which I wish to refer directly as a threshold from
which I intend to continue, in a certain sense together with John Paul I, into
the future, letting myself be guided by unlimited trust in and obedience to the
Spirit that Christ promised and sent to his Church. On the night before he
suffered he said to his apostles: "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go
away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to
you." [5]
"When the
Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also
are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning." [6] "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all
the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he
will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." [7]
6. Entrusting myself fully to the Spirit of
truth, therefore, I am entering into the rich inheritance of the recent
pontificates. This inheritance has struck deep roots in the awareness of the
Church in an utterly new way, quite unknown previously, thanks to the Second
Vatican Council, which John XXIII convened and opened and which was later
successfully concluded and perseveringly put into effect by Paul VI, whose
activity I was myself able to watch from close at hand. I was constantly amazed
at his profound wisdom and his courage and also by his constancy and patience
in the difficult post-councilar period of his pontificate. As helmsman of the
Church, the bark of Peter, he knew how to preserve a providential tranquility
and balance even in the most critical moments, when the Church seemed to be
shaken from within, and he always maintained unhesitating hope in the Church's
solidity. What the Spirit said to the Church through the Council of our time,
what the Spirit says in this Church to all the Churches[8] cannot lead to
anything else--in spite of momentary uneasiness--but still more mature solidity
of the whole People of God, aware of their salvific mission.
7. Paul VI selected this present day
consciousness of the Church as the first theme in his fundamental Encyclical
beginning with the words Ecclesiam Suam. Let me refer first of all to this
Encyclical and link myself with it in this first document that, so to speak,
inaugurates the present pontificate. The Church's consciousness, enlightened
and supported by the Holy Spirit and fathoming more and more deeply both her
divine and her human mission, and even her human weaknesses this consciousness
is and must remain the first source of the Church's love, as love in turn helps
to strengthen and deepen her consciousness. Paul VI
left us a witness of such an extremely acute consciousness of the Church.
Through the many things, often causing suffering, that went to make up his pontificate
he taught us intrepid
love for the Church, which is, as the Council states, a "sacrament or sign
and means of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind."[9]
8. Precisely for this reason, the Church's
consciousness must go with universal openness, in order that all may be able to
find in her "the unsearchable riches of Christ"[10] spoken by the
Apostle of the Gentiles. Such openness, organically joined with the awareness
of her own nature and certainty of her own truth, of which Christ said: "The word which you hear is
not mine but the Father's who sent me," [11]! is what gives the Church her apostolic, or in other
words her missionary, dynamism, professing and proclaiming in its integrity the
whole of the truth transmitted by Christ. At the same time she must carry on
the dialogue that Paul VI, in his Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam called "the
dialogue of salvation," distinguishing with precision the various circles
within which it was to be carried on.[12] In referring today to this document
that gave the program of Paul
VI's pontificate,
I keep thanking God that this great predecessor of mine, who was also truly my
father, knew
how to display ad extra, externally,
the true countenance of the Church, in spite of the various internal weaknesses
that affected her in the postconciliar period. In this way much of the human family has become, it seems,
more aware, in all humanity's various spheres of existence, of how really
necessary the
9. Gratitude is due to Paul VI because,
while respecting every particle of truth contained in the various human
opinions, he preserved at the same time the providential balance of the bark's
helmsman.[14] The
Church that I--through John Paul I--have had entrusted to me almost immediately
after him is admittedly not free of internal difficulties and tension. At the
same time, however, she is internally more strengthened against the excesses of
self-criticism: she can be said to be more critical with regard to the various
thoughtless criticisms, more resistant with respect to the various
"novelties," more mature in her spirit of discerning, better able to
bring out of her everlasting treasure "what is new and what is
old,"[15] more intent on her own mystery, and because of all that more
serviceable for her mission of salvation for all: God "desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [16]
10. In spite of all appearances, the Church is now more united in
the fellowship of service and in the awareness of apostolate. This unity
springs from the principle of collegiality, mentioned by the Second
11. The principle of collegiality showed itself particularly
relevant in the difficult postconciliar period, when the shared unanimous
position of the College of the Bishops--which displayed, chiefly through the
Synod, its union with Peter's Successor--helped to dissipate doubts and at the
same time indicated the correct ways for renewing the Church in her universal
dimension.
Indeed, the Synod was the source, among other things of that essential momentum
for evangelization that found expression in the Apostolic Exhortation
"Evangelii Nuntiandi,"[17] which was so joyously welcomed as a
program for renewal which was both apostolic and also pastoral. The same line
was followed in the work of the last ordinary session of the Synod of the
Bishops, held about a year before the death of Pope Paul VI and dedicated, as
is known, to catechesis. The results of this work have still to be arranged and
enunciated by the Apostolic See.
12. As we are dealing with the evident
development of the forms in which episcopal collegiality is expressed, mention
must be made at least of the process of consolidation of national Episcopal Conferences throughout the Church and of other collegial structures of an
international or continental character. Referring also to the centuries-old
tradition of the Church, attention should be directed to the activity of the
various diocesan, provincial and national Synods. It was the Council's idea, an idea
consistently put into practice by Paul VI, that structures of this kind, with
their centuries of trial by the Church, and the other forms of collegial
collaboration by Bishops, such as the metropolitan structure--not to mention
each individual diocese should pulsate in full awareness of their own identity
and, at the same time, of their own originality within the universal unity of
the Church.
The same spirit of collaboration and shared responsibility is spreading among
priests also, as is confirmed by the many Councils of Priests that have sprung
up since the Council.
That spirit has extended also among the
laity, not only strengthening the already existing organizations for lay
apostolate but also creating new ones that often have a different outline and
excellent dynamism. Furthermore, lay people conscious of their responsibility
for the Church have willingly committed themselves to collaborating with the
Pastors and with the representatives of the Institutes of consecrated life, in
the spheres of the diocesan Synods and of the pastoral Councils in the parishes
and dioceses.
13. I must keep all this in mind at the
beginning of my pontificate as a reason for giving thanks to God, for warmly
encouraging all my brothers and sisters and for recalling with heart felt
gratitude the work; of the Second Vatican Council and my great predecessors,
who set in motion this new surge of life for the Church, a movement that is
much stronger than the symptoms of doubt, collapse and crisis.
14. What shall I say of all the initiatives
that have sprung from the new ecumenical orientation? The unforgettable Pope John XXIII set out the problem of
Christian unity with evangelical clarity as a simple consequence of the will of
Jesus Christ himself, our Master, the will that Jesus stated on several occasions but to which
he gave expression in a special way in his prayer in the Upper Room the night
before he died: "I
pray...Father...that they may all be one." [18] The Second
15. There are people who in the face of the
difficulties or because they consider that the first ecumenical endeavors have
brought negative results would have liked to turn back. Some even express the
opinion that these efforts are harmful to the cause of the Gospel, are leading
to a further rupture in the Church, are causing confusion of ideas in questions
of faith and morals and are ending up with a specific indifferentism. It is
perhaps a good thing that the spokesmen for these opinions should express their
fears. However, in this respect also, correct limits must be maintained. It is
obvious that this new stage in the Church's life demands of us a faith that is
particularly aware, profound and responsible. True ecumenical activity means
openness, drawing closer, availability for dialogue, and a shared investigation
of the truth in the full evangelical and Christian sense; but in no way does it
or can it mean giving up or in any way diminishing the treasures of divine
truth that the Church has constantly confessed and taught. To all who, for
whatever motive, would wish to dissuade the Church from seeking the universal
unity of Christians the question must once again be put: Have we the right not
to do it? Can
we fail to have trust--in spite of all human weakness and all the faults of
past centuries--in our Lord's grace as revealed recently through what the Holy
Spirit said and we heard during the Council? If we were to do so, we would deny
the truth concerning ourselves that was so eloquently expressed by the Apostle:
"By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in
vain." [19]
16. What we have just said must also be
applied--although in another way and with the due differences to activity for
coming closer together with the representatives of the non-Christian religions,
an activity expressed through dialogue, contacts, prayer in common,
investigation of the treasures of human spirituality, in which, as we know
well, the members of these religions also are not lacking. Does it not sometimes happen that the firm
belief of the followers of the non-Christian religions--a belief that is also
an effect of the Spirit of truth operating outside the visible confines of the
Mystical Body--can make Christians ashamed at being often themselves so
disposed to doubt concerning the truths revealed by God and proclaimed by the
Church and so prone to relax moral principles and open the way to ethical
permissiveness. It is a noble thing to have a predisposition for understanding
every person, analyzing every system and recognizing what is right; this does
not at all mean losing certitude about one's own faith[20] or weakening the
principles of morality, the lack of which will soon make itself felt in the
life of whole societies, with deplorable consequences besides.
17. While the ways on which the Council of
this century has set the Church going, ways indicated by the late Pope Paul VI
in his first Encyclical, will continue to be for a long time the ways that all
of us must follow, we can at the same time rightly ask at this new stage: Now,
in what manner should we continue? What should we do, in order that this new
advent of the Church connected with the approaching end of the second
millennium may bring us closer to him whom Sacred Scripture calls
"Everlasting Father," Pater futuri saeculi[21] This is the fundamental
question that the new Pope
must put to himself on accepting in a spirit of obedience in faith the call
corresponding to the command that Christ gave Peter several times: "Feed
my lambs,"[22] meaning: Be the shepherd of my sheepfold, and again:
"And when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." [23]
18. To this question, dear Brothers, sons
and daughters, a fundamental and essential response must be given. Our response
must be: Our
spirit is set in one direction, the only direction for our intellect, will and
heart is--towards Christ our Redeemer, towards Christ, the Redeemer of man. We
wish to look towards him--because there is salvation in no one else but him,
the Son of God--repeating what Peter said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life." [24]
19. Through the Church's consciousness,
which the Council considerably developed, through all levels of this
self-awareness, and through all the fields of activity in which the Church
expresses, finds and confirms herself, we must constantly aim at him "who is the head,"[25]
"through whom are all things and through whom we exist,"[26] who is
both "the way, and the truth"[27] and "the resurrection and the
life,"[28] seeing whom, we see the Father,[29] and who had to go away from
us[30]--that is, by his death on the Cross and then by his Ascension into
heaven--in order that the Counsellor should come to us and should keep coming
to us as the Spirit of truth.[31] In him are "all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge,"[32] and the Church is his Body.[33] "By her relationship with Christ,
the Church is a kind of sacrament or sign and means of intimate union with God,
and of the unity of all mankind,[34] and the source of this is he, he himself,
he the Redeemer.
20. The Church does not cease to listen to
his words. She rereads them continually. With the greatest devotion she
reconstructs every detail of his life. These words are listened to also by
non-Christians. The life of Christ speaks, also, to many who are not capable of
repeating with Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God."[35] He,
the Son of the living God, speaks to people also as Man: it is his life that
speaks, his humanity, his fidelity to the truth, his all embracing love.
Furthermore, his death on the Cross speaks--that is to say the inscrutable
depth of his suffering and abandonment. The Church never ceases to relive his
death on the Cross and his Resurrection, which constitute the content of the
Church's daily life. Indeed,
it is by the command of Christ himself, her Master, that the Church unceasingly
celebrates the Eucharist, finding in it the "fountain of life and
holiness,"[36] the efficacious sign of grace and reconciliation with God,
and the pledge of eternal life. The Church lives his mystery, draws
unwearyingly from it and continually seeks ways of bringing this mystery of her
Master and Lord to humanity to the peoples, the nations, the succeeding
generations, and every individual human being as if she were ever repeating, as
the Apostle did:
"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified."
[37] The Church stays within the sphere of the mystery of the Redemption, which
has become the fundamental principle of her life and mission.
21. The Redeemer of the world! In him has
been revealed in a new and more wonderful way the fundamental truth concerning
creation to which the Book of Genesis gives witness when it repeats several
times: "God saw that it was good."[38] The good has its source in
Wisdom and Love. In
Jesus Christ the visible world which God created for man; [39] the world that,
when sin entered, "was subjected to futility"[40]-recover again its
original link with the divine source of Wisdom and Love. Indeed, "God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son." [41]
As this link was broken in the man Adam, so in the Man Christ it was reforged. [42] Are we of the twentieth century not
convinced of the overpoweringly eloquent words of the Apostle of the Gentiles
concerning the "creation (that) has been groaning in travail together
until now"[43] and "waits with eager longing for the revelation of
the sons of God,"[44] the creation that "was subjected to
futility"? Does not the previously unknown- immense progress--which has
taken place especially in the course of this century--in the field of man's
dominion over the world itself reveal --to a previously unknown degree-- that
manifold subjection "to futility"? It is enough to recall certain phenomena, such as the threat of
pollution of the natural environment in areas of rapid industrialization, or
the armed conflicts continually breaking out over and over again, or the
prospectives of self-destruction through the use of atomic, hydrogen, neutron
and similar weapons, or the lack of respect for the life of the unborn. The
world of the new age, the world of space flights, the world of the previously
unattained conquests of science and technology--is it not also the world
"groaning in travail"[45] that "waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God"? [46]
22. In its penetrating analysis of
"the modern world," the Second
25. As we reflect again on this stupendous
text from the Council's teaching, we do not forget even for a moment that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
become our reconciliation with the Father. [48] He it was, and he alone, who satisfied the Father's
eternal love, that fatherhood that from the beginning found expression in
creating the world, giving man all the riches of creation, and making him
"little less than God,"[49] in that he was created "in the image
and after the likeness of God." [50] He and he alone also satisfied that
fatherhood of God and that love which man in a way rejected by breaking the
first Covenant[51] and the later covenants that God "again and again
offered to man."[52] The
redemption of the world--this tremendous mystery of love in which creation is
renewed [53], at its deepest root, the fullness of justice
in a human Heart--the Heart of the First-born Son--in order that it may become
justice in the hearts of many human beings, predestined from eternity in the
First-born Son to be children of God [54] and
called to grace, called to love. The Cross on Calvary, through which Jesus Christ--a Man, the
Son of the Virgin Mary, thought to be the son of Joseph of Nazareth"
leaves" this world, is also a fresh manifestation of the eternal
fatherhood of God, who in him draws near again to humanity, to each human
being, giving him the thrice holy "Spirit of truth."[55]
24. This revelation of the Father and
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which stamp an indelible seal on the mystery of
the Redemption, explain the meaning of the Cross and death of Christ. The God
of creation is revealed as the God of redemption, as the God who is
"faithful to himself,"[56] and faithful to his love for man and the
world, which he revealed on the day of creation. His is a love that does not draw back before
anything that justice requires in him. Therefore "for our sake (God) made
him (the Son) to be sin who knew no sin." [57] If
he "made to be sin" him who was without any sin whatever, it was to
reveal the love that is always greater than the whole of creation, the love
that is he himself, since "God is love." [58] Above all, love is greater than sin, than weakness, than the "futility of
creation";[59] it
is stronger than death;
it is a love always ready to raise up and forgive, always ready to go to meet
the prodigal son,[60] always looking for "the revealing of the sons of
God,"[61] who are called to the glory that is to be revealed."[62]
This revelation of love is also described as mercy;[63] and in man's history this revelation of love and
mercy has taken a form and a name: that of Jesus Christ.
25. Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is
incomprehensible; for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed
to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it
his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer
"fully reveals man to himself." If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of
the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness,
dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption
man becomes newly "expressed" and, in a way, is newly created. He is
newly created! "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor
free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus."[64] The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly--and not
just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even
illusory standards and measures of his being--he must with his unrest, uncertainty
and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to
Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must
"appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the
Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process
takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but
also of deep wonder at himself. How
precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he "gained so great a
Redeemer,"
[65] and if God "gave
his only Son" in order that man "should not perish but have eternal
life."
[66]
26. In reality, the name for that deep
amazement at man's worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good
News. It is also called Christianity. This amazement determines the Church's
mission in the world and,, perhaps even more so, "in the modern
world." This amazement, which is also a conviction and a certitude --at
its deepest root it is the certainty of faith, but in a hidden and mysterious
way it vivifies every aspect of authentic humanism--is closely connected with
Christ. It also fixes Christ's place--so to speak, his particular right of
citizenship-in the history of man and mankind. Unceasingly contemplating the
whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith
that the Redemption that took place through the cross; has definitely restored
his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning
that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal
mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection.
27. The Church's fundamental function in
every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the
awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God,
to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking
place in Christ Jesus. At the same time man's deepest sphere is involved--we mean the sphere of human
hearts, consciences and events.
28. The second
29. With regard to religion, what is dealt
with is in the first place religion as a universal phenomenon linked with man's
history from the beginning, then the various non-Christian religions, and
finally Christianity itself. The Council document on non-Christian religions,
in particular, is filled with deep esteem for the great spiritual values,
indeed for the primacy of the spiritual, which in the life of mankind finds
expression in religion and then in morality, with direct effects on the whole
of culture. The
Fathers of the Church rightly saw in the various religions as it were so many
reflections of the one truth, "seeds of the Word,"[67] attesting
that, though the routes taken may be different, there is but a single goal to
which is directed the deepest aspiration of the human spirit as expressed in
its quest for God
and also in its quest, through its tending towards God, for the full dimension of
its humanity, or in other words for the full meaning of human life. The Council
gave particular attention to the Jewish religion, recalling the great spiritual
heritage common to Christians and Jews. It also expressed its esteem for the
believers of Islam, whose faith also looks to Abraham. [68]
30. The opening made by the Second Vatican Council has enabled the
Church and all Christians to reach a more complete awareness of the mystery of
Christ, "the mystery hidden for ages"[69] in God, to be revealed in
time in the Man Jesus Christ,
and to be revealed continually in every time. In Christ and through Christ God
has revealed himself fully to mankind and has definitively drawn close to it;
at the same time, in Christ and through Christ man has acquired full awareness
of his dignity, of the heights to which he is raised, of the surpassing worth
of his own humanity, and of the meaning of his existence.
31. All of us who are Christ's followers
must therefore meet and unite around him. This unity in the various fields of
the life, tradition, structures and discipline of the individual
32. Jesus Christ is the stable principle and fixed center of the
mission that God himself has entrusted to man. We must all share in this
mission and concentrate all our forces on it, since it is more necessary than
ever for modern mankind. If this mission seems to encounter greater opposition
nowadays than ever before, this shows that today it is more necessary than ever
and, in spite of the opposition, more awaited than ever. Here we touch indirectly on the mystery of
the divine "economy" which linked salvation and grace with the Cross.
It was not without
reason that Christ said that "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,
and men of violence take it by force" [70] and moreover that "the
children of this world are more astute . . . than are the children of
light," [71] We gladly accept this rebuke, that we may be
like those "violent people of God" that we have so often seen in the history of the Church and
still see today, and that we may consciously join in the great mission of
revealing Christ to the world, helping each person to find himself in Christ,
and helping the contemporary generations of our brothers and sisters, the
peoples, nations, States, mankind, developing countries and countries of
opulence--in short, helping everyone to get to know "the unsearchable
riches of Christ,"[72] since these riches are for every individual and are
everybody's property.
33. In this unity in mission, which is decided principally by Christ
himself, all Christians must find what already unites them, even before their
full communion is achieved.
This is apostolic and missionary unity, missionary and apostolic unity. Thanks
to this unity we can together come close to the magnificent heritage of the
human spirit that has been manifested in all religions, as the Second
34. For this reason the Church in our time attaches
great importance to all that is stated by the Second Vatican Council in its
Declaration on Religious Freedom, both the first and the second part of the
document.[77] We perceive intimately that the truth revealed to us by God
imposes on us an obligation. We have, in particular, a great sense of
responsibility for this truth. By Christ's institution the Church is its
guardian and teacher having been endowed with a unique assistance of the Holy
Spirit in order to guard and teach it in its most exact integrity.[78] In
fulfilling this mission, we look towards Christ himself, the first
evangelizer,[79] and also towards his Apostles, martyrs and confessors. The Declaration on Religious Freedom shows us
convincingly that, when Christ and, after him, his Apostles proclaimed the
truth that comes not from men but from God ("My teaching is not mine, but
his who sent me,"[80]
that is the
Father's), they preserved, while acting with their full force of spirit, a deep
esteem for man, for his intellect, his will, his conscience and his freedom. [81] Thus the human person's dignity
itself becomes part of the content of that proclamation, being included not
necessarily in words but by an attitude towards it. This attitude seems to fit
the special needs of our times. Since man's true freedom is not found in
everything that the various systems and individuals see and propagate as
freedom, the Church, because of her divine mission, becomes all the more the
guardian of this freedom, which is the condition and basis for the human
person's true dignity.
35. Jesus Christ meets the man of every age, including our own, with
the same words: "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you
free."
[82] These words
contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an
honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom,
and the warning to
avoid every kind
of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that
fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world. Today also, even after two thousand years,
we see Christ as the one who brings man freedom based on truth, frees man from
what curtails, diminishes and as it were breaks off this freedom at its root, in
man's soul, his heart and his conscience. What a stupendous confirmation of
this has been given and is still being given by those who, thanks to Christ and
in Christ, have reached true freedom and have manifested it even in situations
of external constraint!
36. When Jesus Christ himself appeared as a
prisoner before Pilate's tribunal and was interrogated by him about the
accusation made against him by the representatives of the Sanhedrin, did he not
answer: "For
this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to
the truth"?
[83] It was as if with these words spoken before the judge at the decisive
moment he was once more confirming what he had said earlier: "You will know the truth and the truth
will make you free."
In the course of
so many centuries, of so many generations, from the time of the Apostles on, is
it not often Jesus Christ himself that has made an appearance at the side of
people judged for the sake of the truth? And has he not gone to death with
people condemned for the sake of the truth? Does he ever cease to be the
continuous spokesman and advocate for the person who lives "in spirit and
truth"?
[84] Just as he does not cease to be it before the Father, he is it also with
regard to the history of man. And in her turn the church, in spite of all the
weaknesses that are part of her human history, does not cease to follow him who
said: "The hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." [85]
37. When we penetrate by means of the continually and rapidly
increasing experience of the human family into the mystery of Jesus Christ, we
understand with greater clarity that there is at the basis of all these ways
that the Church of our time must follow, in accordance with the wisdom of Pope
Paul VI, [86] one single way: it is the way that has stood
the test of centuries and it is also the way of the future. Christ the Lord
indicated this way especially, when, as the Council teaches, "by his
Incarnation, he, the Son of God, in a certain way united himself with each
man." [87] The Church therefore sees its fundamental
task in enabling that union to be brought about and renewed continually. The
Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find
Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life, with
the power of the truth about man and the world that is contained in the mystery
of the Incarnation and the Redemption and with the power of the love that is
radiated by that truth. Against a background of the ever increasing historical
processes, which seem at the present time to have results especially within the
spheres of various systems, ideological concepts of the world and regimes,
Jesus Christ becomes, in a way, newly present, in spite of all his apparent
absences, in spite of all the limitations of the presence and of the
institutional activity of the Church. Jesus Christ becomes present with the
power of the truth and the love that are expressed in him with unique
unrepeatable fullness in spite of the shortness of his life on earth and the
even greater shortness of his public activity.
38. Jesus Christ is the chief way for the
Church. He himself is our way "to the Father's house"[88] and is the
way to each man. On this way leading from Christ to man, on this way on which
Christ unites himself with each man, nobody can halt the Church. This is an
exigency of man's temporal welfare and of his eternal welfare. Out of regard
for Christ and in view of the mystery that constitutes the Church's own life,
the Church cannot remain insensible to whatever serves man's true welfare, any
more than she can remain indifferent to what threatens it. In various passages in its documents the
Second
39. Accordingly, what is in question here is man in all his
truth, in his full magnitude. We are not dealing with the "abstract"
man, but the real, "concrete," "historical" man. We are
dealing with "each" man, for each one is included in the mystery of
the Redemption and with each one Christ has united himself for ever through
this mystery.
Every man comes into the world through being conceived in his mother's womb and
being born of his mother, and precisely on account of the mystery of the
Redemption is entrusted to the solicitude of the Church. Her solicitude is
about the whole man and is focused on him in an altogether special manner. The
object of her care is man in his unique unrepeatable human reality, which keeps
intact the image and likeness of God himself.[92] The Council points out this
very fact when, speaking of that likeness, it recalls that "man is the
only creature on earth that God willed for itself."[93] Man as
"willed" by God, as "chosen" by him from eternity and
called, destined for grace and glory--this is "each" man, "the
most concrete" man, "the most real"; this is man in all the
fullness of the mystery in which he has become a sharer in Jesus Christ, the
mystery in which each one of the four thousand million human beings living on
our planet has become a sharer from the moment he is conceived beneath the
heart of his mother.
40. The Church cannot abandon man, for his
"destiny," that is to say his election, calling, birth and death,
salvation or perdition, is so closely and unbreakably linked with Christ. We
are speaking precisely of each man on this planet, this earth that the Creator
gave to the first man, saying to the man and the woman: "subdue it and
have dominion."[94] Each man in all the unrepeatable reality of what he is
and what he does, of his intellect and will, of his conscience and heart. Man
who in his reality has, because he is a "person," a history of his
life that is his own and, most important, a history of his soul that is his
own. Man who, in keeping with the openness of his spirit within and also with
the many diverse needs of his body and his existence in time, writes this
personal history of his through numerous bonds, contacts, situations, and
social structures linking him with other men, beginning to do so from the first
moment of his existence on earth, from the moment of his conception and birth. Man in the full truth of his existence, of his
personal being and also of his community and social being--in the sphere of his
own family, in the sphere of society and very diverse contexts, in the sphere
of his own nation or people (perhaps still only that of his clan or tribe), and
in the sphere of the whole of mankind--this man is the primary route that the
Church must travel in fulfilling her mission: he is the primary and fundamental
way for the Church, the way traced out by Christ himself, the way that leads invariably through the
mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption.
41. It was precisely this man in all the
truth of his life, in his conscience, in his continual inclination to sin and
at the same time in his continual aspiration to truth, the good, the beautiful,
justice and love that the Second Vatican Council had before its eyes when, in
outlining his situation in the modern world, it always passed from the external
elements of this situation to the truth within humanity: "In man himself many elements wrestle
with one another. Thus, on the one hand, as a creature he experiences his
limitations in a multitude of ways. On the other, he feels himself to be
boundless in his desires and summoned to a higher life. Pulled by manifold
attractions, he is constantly forced to choose among them and to renounce some.
Indeed, as a weak and sinful being, he often does what he would not, and fails
to do what he would. Hence he suffers from internal divisions, and from these
flow so many and such great discords in society." [95]
42. This man is the way for the Church--a
way that, in a sense, is the basis of all the other ways that the Church must
walk--because man--every man without any exception whatever--has been redeemed
by Christ, and because with man--with each man without any exception whatever--Christ is in a way
united, even when man
is unaware of it: "Christ, who died and was raised up for all, provides
man"--each man and every man--"with the light and the strength to
measure up to his supreme calling."[96]
Since this man is the way for the Church,
the way for her daily life and experience, for her mission and toil, the Church
of today must be aware in an always new manner of man's "situation."
That means that she must be aware of his possibilities, which keep returning to
their proper bearings and thus revealing themselves. She must likewise be aware
of the threats to man and of all that seems to oppose the endeavor "to
make human life ever more human"[97] and make every element of this life
correspond to man's true dignity--in a word, she must be aware of all that is
opposed to that process.
43. Accordingly, while keeping alive in our memory the picture that
was so perspicaciously and authoritatively traced by the Second
44. The man of today seems ever to be under threat from what he
produces, that is to say from the result of the work of his hands and, even
more so, of the work of his intellect and the tendencies of his will. All too soon, and often in an unforeseeable
way, what this manifold activity of man yields is not only subjected to
"alienation," in the sense that it is simply taken away from the
person who produces it, but rather it turns against man himself, at least in
part, through the indirect consequences of its effects returning on himself. It
is or can be directed against him. This seems to make up the main chapter of
the drama of present-day human existence in its broadest and universal
dimension. Man therefore lives increasingly in fear. He is afraid that what he produces--not all
of it, of course, or even most of it, but part of it and precisely that part
that contains a special share of his genius and initiative--can radically turn
against himself; he is afraid that it can become the means and instrument for
an unimaginable self-destruction, compared with which all the cataclysms and
catastrophes of history known to us seem to fade away. This gives rise to a question: Why is it
that the power given to man from the beginning by which he was to subdue the
earth[98] turns against himself, producing an understandable state of disquiet,
of conscious or unconscious fear and of menace, which in various ways is being
communicated to the whole of the present-day human family and is manifesting
itself under various aspects?
45. This state of menace for man from what
he produces shows itself in various directions and various degrees of
intensity. We
seem to be increasingly aware of the fact that the exploitation of the earth,
the planet on which we are living, demands rational and honest planning. At the
same time, exploitation of the earth not only for industrial but also for
military purposes and the uncontrolled development of technology outside the
framework of a long-range authentically humanistic plan often bring with them a
threat to man's natural environment, alienate him in his relations with nature
and remove him from nature.
Man often seems to see no other meaning in his natural environment than what
serves for immediate use and consumption. Yet it was the Creator's will that
man should communicate with nature as an intelligent and noble
"master" and "guardian," and not as a heedless
"exploiter" and "destroyer."
46. The development of technology and the
development of contemporary civilization, which is marked by the ascendancy of
technology, demand a proportional development of morals and ethics. For the
present, this last development seems unfortunately to be always left behind.
Accordingly, in spite of the marvel of this progress, in which it is difficult
not to see also authentic signs of man's greatness, signs that in their
creative seeds were revealed to us in the pages of the Book of Genesis, as
early as where it describes man's creation,[99] this progress cannot fail to
give rise to disquiet on many counts. The first reason for disquiet concerns
the essential and fundamental question: Does this progress, which has man for its author and promoter,
make human life on earth "more human" in every aspect of that life?
Does it make it more "worthy of man"? There can be no doubt that in
various aspects it does. But the question keeps coming back with regard to what
is most essential--whether in the context of this progress man, as man, is
becoming truly better, that is to say more mature spiritually, more aware of
the dignity of his humanity, more responsible, more open to others, especially
the neediest and the weakest, and readier to give and to aid all.
47. This question must be put by Christians, precisely because Jesus
Christ has made them so universally sensitive about the problem of man. The same question must be asked by all
men, especially those belonging to the social groups that are dedicating
themselves actively to development and progress today. As we observe and take
part in these processes we cannot let ourselves be taken over merely by
euphoria or be carried away by one-sided enthusiasm for our conquests, but we must all ask ourselves, with absolute
honesty, objectivity and a sense of moral responsibility, the essential
questions concerning man's situation today and in the future. Do all the
conquests attained until now and those projected for the future for technology
accord with man's moral and spiritual progress? In this context is man, as man,
developing and progressing or is he regressing and being degraded in his
humanity? In men and "in man's world," which in itself is a world of
moral good and evil, does good prevail over evil? In men and among men is there a growth of
social love, of respect for the rights of others--for every man, nation and
people--or on the contrary is there an increase of various degrees of
selfishness, exaggerated nationalism instead of authentic love of country, and
also the propensity to dominate others beyond the limits of one's legitimate
rights and merits and the propensity to exploit the whole of material progress
and that in the technology of production for the exclusive purpose of
dominating others or of favoring this or that imperialism?
48. These are the essential questions that
the Church is bound to ask herself, since they are being asked with greater or
less explicitness by the thousands of millions of people now living in the
world. The subject of development and progress is on everybody's lips and
appears in the columns of all the newspapers and other publications in all the
languages of the modern world. Let us not forget however that this subject
contains not only affirmations and certainties but also questions and points of
anguished disquiet. The latter are no less important than the former. They fit
in with the dialectical nature of human knowledge and even more with the
fundamental need for solicitude by man for man, for his humanity, and for the
future of people on earth. Inspired
by eschatological faith, the Church considers an essential, unbreakably united
element of her mission this solicitude for man, for his humanity, for the
future of men on earth and therefore also for the course set for the whole of
development and progress. She finds the principle of this solicitude in Jesus
Christ himself,
as the Gospels witness. This is why she wishes to make it grow continually
through her relationship with Christ, reading man's situation in the modern
world in accordance with the most important signs of our time.
49. If therefore our time, the time of our generation, the time that
is approaching the end of the second millennium of the Christian era, shows
itself a time of great progress, it is also seen as a time of threat in many
forms for man.
The Church must speak of this threat to all people of good will and must always
carry on a dialogue with them about it. Man's situation in the modern world
seems indeed to be far removed from the objective demands of the moral order,
from the requirements of justice, and even more of social love. We are dealing here only with that which found
expression in the Creator's first message to man at the moment in which he was
giving him the earth, to "subdue" it. [100] This first message was confirmed by Christ the Lord in
the mystery of the Redemption. This is expressed by the Second Vatican Council
in these beautiful chapters of its teaching that concern man's
"kingship," that is to say his call to share in the kingly
function--the munus regale--of Christ himself.[101] The essential meaning of this
"kingship" and "dominion" of man over the visible world,
which the Creator himself gave man for his task, consists in the priority of
ethics over technology, in the primacy of the person over things, and in the
superiority of spirit over matter.
50. This is why all phases of present-day progress must be followed
attentively.
Each stage of that progress must, so to speak, be x-rayed from this point of
view. What is in
question is the advancement of persons, not just the multiplying of things that people can use. It is
a matter--as a contemporary philosopher has said and as the Council has
stated--not
so much of "having more" as of "being more."[102] Indeed there is already a real perceptible danger
that, while man's dominion over the world of things is making enormous
advances, he should lose the essential threads of his dominion and in various
ways let his humanity be subjected to the world and become himself something
subject to manipulation in many ways--even if the manipulation is often not perceptible
directly--through the whole of the organization of community life, through the
production system and through pressure from the means of social communication. Man cannot relinquish himself or the place in
the visible world that belongs to him; he cannot become the slave of things,
the slave of economic systems, the slave of production, the slave of his own
products.
A civilization
purely materialistic in outline condemns man to such slavery, even if at times, no doubt, this occurs
contrary to the intentions and the very premises of its pioneers. The present
solicitude for man certainly has at its root this problem. It is not a matter
here merely of giving an abstract answer to the question: Who is man? It is a
matter of the whole of the dynamism of life and civilization. It is a matter of
the meaningfulness of the various initiatives of everyday life and also of the
premises for many civilization programs, political programs, economic ones,
social ones, state ones, and many others.
51. If we make bold to describe man's
situation in the modern world as far removed from the objective demands of the
moral order, from the exigencies of justice, and still more from social love,
we do so because this is confirmed by the well-known facts and comparisons that
have already on various occasions found an echo in the pages of statements by
the Popes, the Council and the Synod.[103] Man's situation today is certainly not uniform but marked with
numerous differences. These differences have causes in history, but they also
have strong ethical effects. Indeed everyone is familiar with the picture of
the consumer civilization, which consists in a certain surplus of goods
necessary for man and for entire societies--and we are dealing precisely with
the rich highly developed societies--while the remaining societies--at least
broad sectors of them--are suffering from hunger, with many people dying each
day of starvation and malnutrition. Hand in hand go a certain abuse of freedom by one group--an
abuse linked precisely with a consumer attitude uncontrolled by ethics--and a
limitation by it of the freedom of the others, that is to say those suffering
marked shortages and being driven to conditions of even worse misery and
destitution.
52. This pattern, which is familiar to all,
and the contrast referred to, in the documents giving their teaching, by the
Popes of this century, most recently by John XXIII and by Paul VI,[104]
represent, as it were, the gigantic development of the parable in the Bible of
the rich banqueter and the poor man Lazarus.[105] So widespread is the
phenomenon that it brings into question the financial, monetary, production and
commercial mechanisms that, resting on various political pressures, support the
world economy. These are proving incapable either of remedying the unjust
social situations inherited from the past or of dealing with the urgent
challenges and ethical demands of the present. By submitting man to tensions
created by himself, dilapidating at an accelerated pace material and energy
resources, and compromising the geophysical environment, these structures
unceasingly make the areas of misery spread, accompanied by anguish,
frustration and bitterness.[106]
53. We have before us here a great drama that can leave nobody
indifferent. The person who, on the one hand, is trying to draw the maximum
profit and, on the other hand, is paying the price in damage and injury is
always man. The drama is made still worse by the presence close at hand of the
privileged social classes and of the rich countries, which accumulate goods to
an excessive degree and the misuse of whose riches very often becomes the cause
of various ills. Add
to this the fever of inflation and the plague of unemployment--these are
further symptoms of the moral disorder that is being noticed in the world
situation and therefore requires daring creative resolves in keeping with man's
authentic dignity.[107]
54. Such a task is not an impossible one. The principle of solidarity, in a wide sense,
must inspire the effective search for appropriate institutions and mechanisms,
whether in the sector of trade, where the laws of healthy competition must be
allowed to lead the way, or on the level of a wider and more immediate
redistribution of riches and of control over them in order that the
economically developing peoples may be able not only to satisfy their essential
needs but also to advance gradually and effectively.
55. This difficult road of the indispensable transformation of the
structures of economic life is one on which it will not be easy to go forward
without the intervention of a true conversion of mind, will and heart. The task requires resolute commitment by
individuals and peoples that are free and linked in solidarity. All too often
freedom is confused with the instinct for individual or collective interest or
with the instinct for combat and domination, whatever be the ideological colors
with which they are covered. Obviously these instincts exist and are operative,
but no truly human economy will be possible unless they are taken up, directed
and dominated by the deepest powers in man which decide the true culture of
peoples. These are the very sources for the effort which will express man's
true freedom and which will be capable of ensuring it in the economic field
also. Economic
development, with
every factor in its adequate functioning, must be constantly programmed and realized within a
perspective of universal joint development of each individual and people, as was convincingly recalled by my
Predecessor Paul VI in "Populorum Progressio." Otherwise, the category of "economic
progress" becomes in isolation a superior category subordinating the whole
of human existence to its partial demands, suffocating man, breaking up
society, and ending by entangling itself in its own tensions and excesses. It
is possible to undertake this duty. This is testified by the certain facts and
the results, which it would be difficult to mention more analytically here.
However, one thing is certain: at the basis of this gigantic sector it is
necessary to establish, accept and deepen the sense of moral responsibility,
which man must undertake. Again and always man.
56. This responsibility becomes especially evident for us Christians
when we recall--and we should always recall it--the scene of the last judgment
according to the words of Christ related in Matthew's Gospel. (Mt 25:31-46) [108]
57. This eschatological scene must always be "applied" to
man's history; it must always be made the "measure" for human acts as
an essential outline for an examination of conscience by each and every one: "I was hungry and you gave me no
food . . . naked and you did not clothe me . . . in prison and you did not visit
me."[109] These words become charged with even stronger warning, when we
think that, instead of bread and cultural aid. the new States and nations
awakening to independent life are being offered, sometimes in abundance, modern
weapons and means of destruction placed at the service of armed conflicts and
wars that are not so much a requirement for defending their just rights and
their sovereignty but rather a form of chauvinism, imperialism, and
neocolonialism of one kind or another. We all know well that the areas of
misery and hunger on our globe could have been made fertile in a short time, if
the gigantic investments for armaments at the service of war and destruction
had been changed into investments for food at the service of life.
58. This consideration will perhaps remain
in part an "abstract" one. It will perhaps offer both
"sides" an occasion for mutual accusation, each forgetting its own
faults. It will perhaps provoke new accusations against the Church. The Church, however, which has no weapons at
her disposal apart from those of the spirit, of the word and of love, cannot
renounce her proclamation of "the word . . . in season and out of
season."[110]
For this reason she does not cease to implore each side of the two and to beg
everybody in the name of God and in the name of man: Do not kill! Do not
prepare destruction and extermination for men! Think of your brothers and
sisters who are suffering hunger and misery! Respect each one's dignity and
freedom!
59. This century has so far been a century
of great calamities for man, of great devastations, not only material ones but
also moral ones, indeed perhaps above all moral ones. Admittedly it is not easy
to compare one age or one century with another under this aspect, since that
depends also on changing historical standards. Nevertheless, without applying
these comparisons, one still cannot fail to see that this century has so far
been one in which people have provided many injustices and sufferings for themselves.
Has this process been decisively curbed? In any case, we cannot fail to recall
at this point, with esteem and profound hope for the future, the magnificent
effort made to give life to the United Nations Organization, an effort
conducive to the definition and establishment of man's objective and inviolable
rights, with the member States obliging each other to observe them rigorously.
This commitment has been accepted and ratified by almost all present-day
States, and this should constitute a guarantee that human rights will become
throughout the world a fundamental principle of work for man's welfare.
60. There is no need for the Church to
confirm how closely this problem is linked with her mission in the modern
world. Indeed it is at the very basis of social and international peace, as has
been declared by John XXIII, the Second
61. If, in spite of these premises, human
rights are being violated in various ways, if in practice we see before us
concentration camps, violence, torture, terrorism, and discrimination in many
forms, this must then be the consequence of the other premises, undermining and
often almost annihilating the effectiveness of the humanistic premises of these
modern programs and systems. This necessarily imposes the duty to submit these
programs to continual revision from the point of view of the objective and
inviolable rights of man.
62. The Declaration of Human Rights linked with the setting up of
the United Nations Organization certainly had as its aim not only to depart
from the horrible experiences of the last world war but also to create the
basis for continual revision of programs, systems and regimes precisely from
this single fundamental point of view, namely the welfare of man--or, let us
say, of the person in the community--which must, as a fundamental factor in the
common good, constitute the essential criterion for all programs, systems and
regimes.
If the opposite happens, human life is, even in time of peace, condemned to
various sufferings and, along with these sufferings, there is a development of
various forms of domination, totalitarianism, neocolonialism and imperialism
which are a threat also to the harmonious living together of the nations.
Indeed, it is a significant fact, repeatedly confirmed by the experiences of
history, that violation of the rights of man goes hand in hand with violation
of the rights of the nation, with which man is united by organic links as with
a larger family.
63. Already in the first half of this
century, when various State totalitarianisms were developing, which, as is well
known, led to the horrible catastrophe of war, the Church clearly outlines her
position with regard to these regimes that to all appearances were acting for a
higher good, namely the good of the State, while history was to show instead
that the good in question was only that of a certain party, which had been
identified with the State.[111] In reality, those regimes had restricted the
rights of the citizens, denying them recognition precisely of those inviolable
human rights that have reached formulation on the international level in the
middle of our century. While
sharing the joy of all people of good will, of all people who truly love
justice and peace, at this conquest, the Church, aware that the
"letter" on its own can kill, while only "the spirit gives
life," [112] must continually ask, together with these
people of good will, whether the Declaration of Human Rights and the acceptance
of their "letter" mean everywhere also the actualization of their
"spirit." Indeed, well-founded fears arise that very often we are
still far from this actualization and that at times the spirit of social and
public life is painfully opposed to the declared "letter" of human
rights. This state of things, which is burdensome for the societies concerned,
would place special responsibility towards these societies and the history of
man on those contributing to its establishment.
64. The essential sense of the State, as a
political community, consists in that the society and people composing it are
master and sovereign of their own destiny. This sense remains unrealized if,
instead of the exercise of power with the moral participation of the society or
people, what we see is the imposition of power by a certain group upon all the
other members of the society. This is essential in the present age, with its
enormous increase in people's social awareness and the accompanying need for
the citizens to have a right share in the political life of the community,
while taking account of the real conditions of each people and the necessary
vigor of public authority.[113] These therefore are questions of primary
importance from the point of view of the progress of man himself and the
overall development of his humanity.
65. The Church has always taught the duty to act for the common good
and, in so doing, has likewise educated good citizens for each State.
Furthermore, she has always taught that the fundamental duty of power is
solicitude for the common good of society; this is what gives power its
fundamental rights. Precisely in the name of these premises of the objective
ethical order, the rights of power can only be understood on the basis of
respect for the objective and inviolable rights of man. The common good that
authority in the State serves is brought to full realization only when all the
citizens are sure of their rights. The lack of this leads to the dissolution of
society, opposition by citizens to authority, or a situation of oppression,
intimidation, violence, and terrorism, of which many examples have been
provided by the totalitarianisms of this century. Thus the principle of human
rights is of profound concern to the area of social justice and is the measure
by which it can be tested in the life of political bodies.
66. These rights are rightly reckoned to
include the right to religious freedom together with the right to freedom of
conscience.
The Second
67. Even if briefly, this subject must also
be dealt with, because it too enters into the complex of man's situations in
the present-day world and because it too gives evidence of the degree to which
this situation is overburdened by prejudices and injustices of various kinds.
If we refrain from entering into details in this field in which we would have a
special right and duty to do so, it is above all because, together with all
those who are suffering the torments of discrimination and persecution for the
name of God, we are guided by faith in the redeeming power of the Cross of
Christ. However, because of my office, I appeal in the name of all believers throughout
the world to those on whom the organization of social and public life in some
way depends, earnestly requesting them to respect the rights of religion and of
the Church's activity. No privilege is asked for, but only respect for an
elementary right. Actuation of this right is one of the fundamental tests of
man's authentic progress in any regime, in any society, system or milieu.
68. This necessarily brief look at man's
situation in the modern world makes us direct our thoughts and our hearts to Jesus
Christ, and to the mystery of the Redemption, in which the question of man is
inscribed with a special vigor of truth and love. If Christ "united himself with each
man," [115] the Church lives more profoundly her own
nature and mission by penetrating into the depths of this mystery and into its
rich universal language. It
was not without reason that the Apostle speaks of Christ's Body, the Church.
[116] If this Mystical Body of Christ is God's People--as the Second Vatican
Council was to say later on the basis of the whole of the Biblical and
patristic tradition--this means that in it each man receives within himself that breath of life that comes
from Christ.
In this way, turning to man and his real problems, his hopes and sufferings,
his achievements and falls--this too also makes the Church as a body, an
organism, a social unity perceive the same divine influences, the light and
strength of the Spirit that come from the crucified and risen Christ, and it is
for this very reason that she lives her life. The Church has only one life:
that which is given her by her Spouse and Lord. Indeed, precisely because Christ united himself with
her in his mystery of Redemption, the Church must be strongly united with each
man.
69. This union of Christ with man is in itself a mystery. From the
mystery is born "the new man," called to become a partaker of God's
life, [117] and newly created in Christ for the fullness
of grace and truth.
[118] Christ's union
with man is power and the source of power, as Saint John stated so incisively
in the prologue of his Gospel: "(The Word) gave power to become children
of God." [119]
Man is transformed
inwardly by this power as the source of a new life that does not disappear and
pass away but lasts to eternal life. [120]
This life, which the Father has promised and offered to each man in Jesus
Christ, his eternal and only Son, who, "when the time had fully
come," [121] became incarnate and was born of the Virgin
Mary, is the final fulfillment of man's vocation. It is in a way the fulfillment of the
"destiny" that God has prepared for him from eternity. This
"divine destiny" is advancing, in spite of all the enigmas, the
unsolved riddles, the twists and turns of "human destiny" in the
world of time. Indeed, while all this, in spite of all the riches of life in
time, necessarily and inevitably leads to the frontier of death and the goal of
the destruction of the human body, beyond that goal we see Christ. "I am the resurrection and the life, he
who believes in me . . . shall never die." [122]
In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the tomb and then rose again,
"our hope of resurrection dawned . . . the bright promise of
immortality," [123] on the way to which man, through the death of
the body, shares with the whole of visible creation the necessity to which
matter is subject.
We intend and are trying to fathom ever more deeply the language of the truth
that man's Redeemer enshrined in the phrase "It is the spirit that gives
life, the flesh is of no avail."[124] In spite of appearances, these words
express the highest affirmation of man--the affirmation of the body given life
by the Spirit.
70. The Church lives these realities, she
lives by this truth about man which enables him to go beyond the bounds of
temporariness and at the same time to think with particular love and solicitude
of everything within the dimensions of this temporariness that affect man's
life and the life of the human spirit, in which is expressed that never-ending
restlessness referred to in the words of Saint Augustine: "You made us for
yourself, Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." [125] In this creative restlessness beats and
pulsates what is most deeply human--the search for truth, the insatiable need
for the good, hunger for freedom, nostalgia for the beautiful, and the voice of
conscience. Seeking to see man as it were with "the eyes of Christ
himself," the Church becomes more and more aware that she is the guardian
of a great treasure, which she may not waste but must continually increase.
Indeed, the Lord Jesus said: "He who does not gather with me
scatters." [126] This treasure of humanity enriched by the inexpressible mystery
of divine filiation [127] and by the grace of "adoption as
sons" [128] in the Only Son of God, through whom we call
God "Abba, Father," [129]
is also a powerful
force unifying the Church above all inwardly and giving meaning to all her
activity. Through this force the Church is united with the Spirit of Christ,
that Holy Spirit promised and continually communicated by the Redeemer and
whose descent, which was revealed on the day of Pentecost, endures for ever.
Thus the powers of the Spirit, [130] the gifts of the Spirit, [131] and the fruits of the Holy Spirit [132] are revealed in men. The present-day Church seems to repeat
with ever greater fervor and with holy insistence: "Come, Holy
Spirit!" Come! Come! "Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our
dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away; Bend the stubborn heart
and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go
astray."
[133]
71. This appeal to the Spirit, intended
precisely to obtain the Spirit, is the answer to all the
"materialisms" of our age. It is these materialisms that give birth
to so many forms of insatiability in the human heart. This appeal is making
itself heard on various sides and seems to be bearing fruit also in different
ways. Can it be said that the Church is not alone in making this appeal? Yes it
can, because the "need" for what is spiritual is expressed also by
people who are outside the visible confines of the Church.[134] Is not this
confirmed by the truth concerning the Church that the recent Council so acutely
emphasized at the point in the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium"
where it teaches that the Church is a "sacrament or sign and means of
intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind?"[135] This
invocation addressed to the Spirit to obtain the Spirit is really a constant
self-insertion into the full magnitude of the mystery of the Redemption, in
which Christ, united with the Father and with each man, continually
communicates to us the Spirit who places within us the sentiments of the Son
and directs us towards the Father.[136] This is why the Church of our time--a
time particularly hungry for the Spirit, because it is hungry for justice,
peace, love, goodness, fortitude, responsibility, and human dignity--must
concentrate and gather around that Mystery, finding in it the light and the
strength that are indispensable for her mission. For if, as was already said,
man is the way for the Church's daily life, the Church must be always aware of the dignity of the divine
adoption received by man in Christ through the grace of the Holy Spirit [137] and of his destination to grace and glory. [138] By reflecting ever anew on all this,
and by accepting it with a faith that is more and more aware and a love that is
more and more firm, the Church also makes herself better fitted for the service
to man to which Christ the Lord calls her when he says: "The Son of man
came not to be served but to serve."[139] The Church performs this
ministry by sharing in the "triple office" belonging to her Master
and Redeemer. This teaching, with its Biblical foundation, was brought fully to
the fore by the Second
72. In the light of the sacred teaching of
the Second Vatican Council, the Church thus appears before us as the social
subject of responsibility for divine truth. With deep emotion we hear Christ
himself saying: "The
word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me."[141] In
this affirmation by our Master do we not notice responsibility for the revealed
truth, which is the "property" of God himself, since even he,
"the only Son," who lives "in the bosom of the Father," [142] when transmitting that truth, as a
prophet and teacher, feels the need to stress that he is acting in full
fidelity to its divine source? The same fidelity must be a constitutive quality
of the Church's faith, both when she is teaching it and when she is professing
it. Faith as a specific supernatural virtue infused into the human spirit makes
us sharers in knowledge of God as a response to his revealed word. Therefore it
is required, when
the Church professes and teaches the faith, that she should adhere strictly to
divine truth, [143] and should translate it into living attitudes
of "obedience in harmony with reason." [144] Christ himself, concerned for this fidelity to divine truth,
promised the Church the special assistance of the Spirit of truth, gave the
gift of infallibility [145] to those whom he entrusted with the mandate
of transmitting and teaching that truth [146]--as has besides been clearly defined by the First
Vatican Council [147] and has then been repeated by the Second Vatican Council
[148]and he furthermore endowed the whole of the People of God with a special
sense of the faith. [149]
73. Consequently, we have become sharers in
this mission of the prophet Christ, and in virtue of that mission we together
with him are serving divine truth in the Church. Being responsible for that truth also means loving it and
seeking the most exact understanding of it, in order to bring it closer to
ourselves and others in all its saving power, its splendor and its profundity joined with simplicity.
This love and this aspiration to understand the truth must go hand in hand, as
is confirmed by the histories of the saints in the Church. These received most
brightly the authentic light that illuminates divine truth and brings close
God's very reality, because they approached this truth with veneration and
love--love in the first place for Christ, the living Word of divine truth, and
then love for his human expression in the Gospel, tradition and theology. Today we still need above all that
understanding and interpretation of God's Word; we need that theology. Theology
has always had and continues to have great importance for the Church, the
People of God, to be able to share creatively and fruitfully in Christ's
mission as prophet.
Therefore, when theologians, as servants of divine truth, dedicate their
studies and labors to ever deeper understanding of that truth, they can never
lose sight of the meaning of their service in the Church, which is enshrined in
the concept intellectus fidei. This concept has, so to speak, a two-way
function, in line with Saint Augustine's expression: intellege, ut
credas--crede, ut intellegas,[150] and it functions correctly when they seek to
serve the Magisterium, which in the Church is entrusted to the Bishops joined
by the bond of hierarchical communion with Peter's Successor, when they place
themselves at the service of their solicitude in teaching and giving pastoral
care, and when they place themselves at the service of the apostolic
commitments of the whole of the People of God.
74. As in preceding ages, and perhaps more
than in preceding ages, theologians and all men of learning in the Church are
today called to united faith with learning and wisdom, in order to help them to
combine with each other, as we read in the prayer in the liturgy of the
memorial of Saint Albert, Doctor of the Church. This task has grown enormously today
because of the advance of human learning, its methodology, and the achievements
in knowledge of the world and of man. This concerns both the exact sciences and
the human sciences, as well as philosophy, which, as the Second
75. In this field of human knowledge, which
is continually being broadened and yet differentiated, faith too must be
investigated deeply, manifesting the magnitude of revealed mystery and tending
towards an understanding of truth, which has in God its one supreme source. If
it is permissible and even desirable that the enormous work to be done in this
direction should take into consideration a certain pluralism of methodology,
the work cannot however depart from the fundamental
unity in the teaching of Faith and Morals which is that work's end.
Accordingly,
close collaboration by theology with the Magisterium is indispensable. Every
theologian must be particularly aware of what Christ himself stated when he
said: "The word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent
me." [152] Nobody, therefore, can make of theology as it
were a simple collection of his own personal ideas, but everybody must be aware of being in
close union with the mission of teaching truth for which the Church is
responsible.
76. The sharing in the prophetic office of
Christ himself shapes the life of the whole of the Church in her fundamental
dimension. A particular share in this office belongs to the Pastors of the
Church, who teach and continually and in various ways proclaim and transmit the
doctrine concerning the Christian faith and morals. This teaching, both in its
missionary and its ordinary aspect, helps to assemble the People of God around
Christ, prepares for participation in the Eucharist and points out the ways for
sacramental life. In 1977 the Synod of the Bishops dedicated special attention
to catechesis in the modern world, and the mature results of its deliberations,
experiences and suggestions will shortly find expression--in keeping with the
proposal made by the participants in the Synod--in a special papal document.
Catechesis certainly constitutes a permanent and also fundamental form of
activity by the Church, one in which her prophetic charism is manifested:
witnessing and teaching go hand in hand. And although here we are speaking in
the first place of priests, it is however impossible not to mention also the
great number of men and women religious dedicating themselves to catechetical
activity for love of the divine Master. Finally, it would be difficult not to
mention the many lay people who find expression in this activity for their
faith and their apostolic responsibility.
77. Furthermore, increasing care must be
taken that the various forms of catechesis and its various fields--beginning
with the fundamental field, family catechesis, that is, the catechesis by
parents of their children--should give evidence of the universal sharing by the
whole of the People of God in the prophetic office of Christ himself. Linked
with this fact, the Church's responsibility for divine truth must be
increasingly shared in various ways by all. What shall we say at this point
with regard to the specialists in the various disciplines, those who represent
the natural sciences and letters, doctors, jurists, artists and technicians,
teachers at various levels and with different specializations? As members of
the People of God, they all have their own part to play in Christ's prophetic
mission and service of divine truth, among other ways by an honest attitude
towards truth, whatever field it may belong to, while educating others in truth
and teaching them to mature in love and justice. Thus, a sense of responsibility for truth is one of
the fundamental points of encounter between the Church and each man and also
one of the fundamental demands determining man's vocation in the community of
the Church.
The present-day Church, guided by a sense of responsibility for truth, must
persevere in fidelity to her own nature, which involves the prophetic mission
that comes from Christ himself: "As the Father has sent me, even so l send
you . . . Receive the Holy Spirit."[153]
78. In the mystery of the Redemption, that
is to say in Jesus Christ's saving work, the Church not only shares in the
Gospel of her Master through fidelity to the word and service of truth, but she
also shares, through a submission filled with hope and love, in the power of
his redeeming action expressed and enshrined by him in a sacramental form,
especially in the Eucharist.[154] The Eucharist is the center and summit of the whole of
sacramental life,
through which each Christian receives the saving power of the Redemption,
beginning with the mystery of Baptism, in which we are buried into the death of
Christ, in order to become sharers in his Resurrection,[155] as the Apostle
teaches. In the light of this teaching, we see still more clearly the reason
why the entire
sacramental life of the Church and of each Christian reaches its summit and
fullness in the Eucharist.
For by Christ's
will there is in this Sacrament a continual renewing of the mystery of the
Sacrifice of himself that Christ offered to the Father on the altar of the
Cross, a Sacrifice that the Father accepted, giving, in return for this total
self-giving by his Son, who "became obedient unto death,"[156] his
own paternal gift, that is to say the grant of new immortal life in the
resurrection, since the Father is the first source and the giver of life from
the beginning.
That new life, which involves the bodily glorification of the crucified Christ,
became an efficacious sign of the new gift granted to humanity, the gift that
is the Holy Spirit, through whom the divine life that the Father has in himself
and gives to his Son[157] is communicated to all men who are united with
Christ.
79. The Eucharist is the most perfect
Sacrament of this union.
By celebrating and also partaking of the Eucharist we unite ourselves with
Christ on earth and in heaven who intercedes for us with the Father [158] but we always do so through the redeeming act of his
Sacrifice, through which he has redeemed us, so that we have been "bought
with a price."
[159] The "price" of our redemption is likewise a further proof of
the value that God himself sets on man and of our dignity in Christ. For by
becoming "children of God,"[160] adopted sons,[161] we also become in
his likeness "a kingdom and priests" and obtain "a royal
priesthood,"[162] that is to say we share in that unique and irreversible
restoration of man and the world to the Father that was carried out once for
all by him, who is both the eternal Son[163] and also true Man. The Eucharist is the Sacrament in which our
new being is most completely expressed and in which Christ himself unceasingly
and in an ever new manner "bears witness" in the Holy Spirit to our
spirit[164] that each of us, as a sharer in the mystery of the Redemption, has
access to the fruits of the filial reconciliation with God[165] that he himself
actuated and continually actuates among us by means of the Church's ministry.
80. It is an essential truth, not only of doctrine but also of life,
that the Eucharist builds the Church,[166] building it as the authentic
community of the People of God,
as the assembly of the faithful, bearing the same mark of unity that was shared
by the Apostles and the first disciples of the Lord. The Eucharist builds ever
anew this community and unity, ever building and regenerating it on the basis
of the Sacrifice of Christ, since it commemorates his death on the Cross,[167]
the price by which he redeemed us. Accordingly, in the Eucharist we touch in a
way the very mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord, as is attested by the
very words used at its institution, the words that, because of that institution,
have become the words with which those called to this ministry in the Church
unceasingly celebrate the Eucharist.
81. The Church lives by the Eucharist, by the fullness of this
Sacrament, the stupendous content and meaning of which have often been expressed
in the Church's Magisterium from the most distant times down to our own days.
[168] However, we can say with certainty that, although this teaching is
sustained by the acuteness of theologians, by men of deep faith and prayer, and
by ascetics and mystics, in complete fidelity to the Eucharistic mystery, it
still reaches no more than the threshold, since it is incapable of grasping and
translating into words what the Eucharist is in all its fullness, what is
expressed by it and what is actuated by it. Indeed, the Eucharist is the
ineffable Sacrament!
The essential commitment and, above all, the visible grace and source of
supernatural strength for the Church as the People of God is to persevere and
advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to develop
spiritually in the climate of the Eucharist. With all the greater reason, then,
it is not permissible for us, in thought, life or action, to take away from
this truly most holy Sacrament its full magnitude and its essential meaning. It is at one and
the same time a Sacrifice-Sacrament, a Communion-Sacrament, and a
Presence-Sacrament. And,
although it is true that the Eucharist always was and must continue to be the
most profound revelation of the human brotherhood of Christ's disciples and
confessors, it cannot be treated merely as an "occasion" for
manifesting this brotherhood. When
celebrating the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, the full magnitude
of the divine mystery must be respected, as must the full meaning of this
sacramental sign in which Christ is really present and is received, the soul is
filled with grace and the pledge of future glory is given. [169] This is the source of the duty to
carry out rigorously the liturgical rules and everything that is a manifestation
of community worship offered to God himself, all the more so because in this
sacramental sign he entrusts himself to us with limitless trust, as if not
taking into consideration our human weakness, our unworthiness, the force of
habit, routine, or even the possibility of insult. Every member of the Church, especially Bishops
and Priests, must be vigilant in seeing that this Sacrament of love shall be at
the center of the life of the People of God, so that through all the
manifestations of worship due to it Christ shall be given back "love for
love" and truly become "the life of our souls." [170] Nor can we, on the other hand, ever
forget the following words of
82. This call by the Apostle indicates at
least indirectly the close link between the Eucharist and Penance. Indeed, if the first word of Christ's teaching, the first
phrase of the Gospel Good News, was "Repent, and believe in the gospel" (metanoeite),[172] the Sacrament of the Passion, Cross and
Resurrection seems to strengthen and consolidate in an altogether special way
this call in our souls. The Eucharist and Penance thus become in a sense two
closely connected dimensions of authentic life in accordance with the spirit of
the Gospel, of
truly Christian life. The Christ who calls to the Eucharistic banquet is always
the same Christ who exhorts us to penance and repeats his
"Repent."[173] Without this constant ever renewed endeavor for
conversion, partaking of the Eucharist would lack its full redeeming
effectiveness and there would be a loss or at least a weakening of the special
readiness to offer God the spiritual sacrifice[174] in which our sharing in the
priesthood of Christ is expressed in an essential and universal manner. In Christ, priesthood is linked with his
Sacrifice, his self-giving to the Father; and, precisely because it is without
limit, that self-giving gives rise in us human beings subject to numerous
limitations to the need to turn to God in an ever more mature way and with a
constant, ever more profound, conversion.
83. In the last years much has been done to
highlight in the Church's practice--in conformity with the most ancient
tradition of the Church-- the community aspect of penance and especially of the
sacrament of Penance. We cannot however forget that conversion is a
particularly profound inward act in which the individual cannot be replaced by
others and cannot make the community be a substitute for him. Although the
participation by the fraternal community of the faithful in the penitential
celebration is a great help for the act of personal conversion, nevertheless,
in the final analysis, it is necessary that in this act there should be a
pronouncement by the individual himself with the whole depth of his conscience
and with the whole of his sense of guilt and of trust in God, placing himself
like the Psalmist before God to confess: "Against you . . . have I
sinned."[175] In
faithfully observing the centuries-old practice of the Sacrament of
Penance--the practice of individual confession with a personal act of sorrow
and the intention to amend and make satisfaction--the Church is therefore
defending the human soul's individual right: man's right to a more personal
encounter with the crucified forgiving Christ, with Christ saying, through the
minister of the sacrament of Reconciliation: "Your sins are
forgiven"; [176] "Go, and do not sin again." [177] As is evident, this is also a right
on Christ's part with regard to every human being redeemed by him: his right to
meet each one of us in that key moment in the soul's life constituted by the
moment of conversion and forgiveness. By guarding the sacrament of Penance, the
Church expressly affirms her faith in the mystery of the Redemption as a living
and life-giving reality that fits in with man's inward truth, with human guilt
and also with the desires of the human conscience. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." [178] The sacrament of Penance is the means to satisfy man with the
righteousness that comes from the Redeemer himself.
84. In the Church, gathering particularly
today in a special way around the Eucharist and desiring that the authentic
Eucharistic community should become a sign of the gradually maturing unity of
all Christians, there must be a lively-felt need for penance, both in its
sacramental aspect, [179] and in what concerns penance as a virtue. This second
aspect was expressed by Paul VI in the Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini.
[180] One of the Church's tasks is to put into practice the teaching
Paenitemini contains; this subject must be investigated more deeply by us in
common reflection, and many more decisions must be made about it in a spirit of
pastoral collegiality and with respect for the different traditions in this
regard and the different circumstances of the lives of the people of today.
Nevertheless, it is certain that the Church of the new Advent, the Church that
is continually preparing for the new coming of the Lord, must be the Church of
the Eucharist and of Penance. Only when viewed in this spiritual aspect of her
life and activity is she seen to be the Church of the divine mission, the
Church in statu missionis, as the Second
85. In building up from the very
foundations the picture of the Church as the People of God--by showing the
threefold mission of Christ himself, through participation in which we become
truly God's People--the Second Vatican Council highlighted, among other
characteristics of the Christian vocation, the one that can be described as
"kingly." To present all the riches of the Council's teaching we
would here have to make reference to numerous chapters and paragraphs of the
Constitution "Lumen Gentium" and of many other documents by the
Council. However, one
element seems to stand out in the midst of all these riches: the sharing in
Christ's kingly mission, that is to say the fact of rediscovering in oneself
and others the special dignity of our vocation that can be described as
"kingship." This dignity is expressed in readiness to serve, in
keeping with the example of Christ, who "came not to be served but to
serve." [181] If, in the light of this attitude of
Christ's, "being a king" is truly possible only by "being a
servant," then "being a servant" also demands so much spiritual
maturity that it must really be described as "being a king." In order to be able to serve others
worthily and effectively we must be able to master ourselves, possess the
virtues that make this mastery possible. Our sharing in Christ's kingly
mission--his "kingly function" (munus)--is closely linked with every
sphere of both Christian and human morality.
86. In presenting the complete picture of
the People of God and recalling the place among that people held not only by
priests but also by the laity, not only by the representatives of the Hierarchy
but also by those of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, the Second Vatican
Council did not deduce this picture merely from a sociological premise. The
Church as a human society can of course be examined and described according to
the categories used by the sciences with regard to any human society. But these
categories are not enough. For the whole of the community of the People of God
and for each member of it what is in question is not just a specific
"social membership"; rather, for each and every one what is essential
is a particular "vocation." Indeed, the Church as the People of God is also--according to the
teaching of Saint Paul mentioned above, of which Pius XII reminded us in
wonderful terms--"Christ's Mystical Body." [182] Membership in that body has for its source a particular call,
united with the saving action of grace. Therefore, if we wish to keep in mind
this community of the People of God, which is so vast and so extremely
differentiated, we must see first and foremost Christ saying in a way to each
member of the community: "Follow me." [183] It is the community of the disciples, each of whom in a
different way--at times very consciously and consistently, at other times not
very consciously and very inconsistently--is following Christ. This shows also
the deeply "personal" aspect and dimension of this society, which, in
spite of all the deficiencies of its community life--in the human meaning of
this word--is a community precisely because all its members form it together
with Christ himself, at least because they bear in their souls the indelible
mark of a Christian.
87. The Second
88. Fidelity to one's vocation, that is to
say preserving readiness for "kingly service," has particular
significance for these many forms of building, especially with regard to the
more exigent tasks, which have more influence on the life of our neighbor and
of the whole of society. Married people must be distinguished for fidelity to
their vocation, as is demanded by the indissoluble nature of the sacramental
institution of marriage. Priests
must be distinguished for a similar fidelity to their vocation, in view of the
indelible character that the sacrament of Orders stamps on their souls. In
receiving this sacrament, we in the Latin Church knowingly and freely commit
ourselves to live in celibacy, and each one of us must therefore do all he can,
with God's grace, to be thankful for this gift and faithful to the bond that he
has accepted for ever.
He must do so as married people must, for they must endeavor with all their
strength to persevere in their matrimonial union, building up the family
community through this witness of love and educating new generations of men and
women, capable in their turn of dedicating the whole of their lives to their
vocation, that is to say to the "kingly service" of which Jesus
Christ has offered us the example and the most beautiful model. His Church,
made up of all of us, is "for men" in the sense that, by basing
ourselves on Christ's example [186] and collaborating with the grace that he
has gained for us, we are able to attain to "being kings," that is to
say we are able to produce a mature humanity in each one of us. Mature humanity
means full use of the gift of freedom received from the Creator when he called
to existence the man made "in his image, after his likeness." This
gift finds its full realization in the unreserved giving of the whole of one's
human person, in a spirit of the love of a spouse, to Christ and, with Christ,
to all those to whom he sends men and women totally consecrated to him in
accordance with the evangelical counsels. This is the ideal of the religious
life, which has been undertaken by the Orders and Congregations both ancient
and recent, and by the Secular Institutes .
89. Nowadays it is sometimes held, though
wrongly, that freedom is an end in itself, that each human being is free when
he makes use of freedom as he wishes, and that this must be our aim in the
lives of individuals and societies. In reality, freedom is a great gift only when we know how to use it
consciously for everything that is our true good. Christ teaches us that the
best use of freedom is charity, which takes concrete form in self-giving and in
service. For this "freedom Christ has set us free" [187] and ever continues to set us free. The Church draws from this source the
unceasing inspiration, the call and the drive for her mission and her service
among all mankind. The full truth about human freedom is indelibly inscribed on
the mystery of the Redemption. The
Church truly serves mankind when she guards this truth with untiring attention, fervent love and mature commitment and
when in the whole of her own community she transmits it and gives it concrete
form in human life through each Christian's fidelity to his vocation. This
confirms what we have already referred to, namely that man is and always
becomes the "way" for the Church's daily life.
90. When therefore at the beginning of the
new pontificate I turn my thoughts and my heart to the Redeemer of Man, I
thereby wish to enter and penetrate into the deepest rhythm of the Church's
life. Indeed, if
the Church lives her life, she does so because she draws it from Christ, and he
always wishes but one thing, namely that we should have life and have it
abundantly.
[188] This fullness of
life in him is at the same time for man. Therefore the Church, uniting herself
with all the riches of the mystery of the Redemption, becomes the Church of
living people, living because given life from within by the working of
"the Spirit of truth"[189] and visited by the love that the Holy
Spirit has poured into our hearts. [190] The aim of any service in the Church, whether the
service is apostolic, pastoral, priestly or episcopal, is to keep up this
dynamic link between the mystery of the Redemption and every man.
91. If we are aware of this task, then we
seem to understand better what it means to say that the Church is a mother[191]
and also what it means to say that the Church always, and particularly at our
time, has need of a Mother. We owe a debt of special gratitude to the Fathers
of the Second Vatican Council, who expressed this truth in the Constitution
"Lumen Gentium" with the rich Mariological doctrine contained in
it.[192] Since Paul VI, inspired by that teaching, proclaimed the Mother of
Christ "Mother of the Church,"[193] and that title has become known
far and wide, may it be permitted to his unworthy Successor to turn to Mary as
Mother of the Church at the close of these reflections which it was opportune
to make at the beginning of his papal service. Mary is Mother of the Church because, on account of the Eternal
Father's ineffable choice [194]
and due to the
Spirit of Love's special action, [195] she
gave human life to the Son of God, "for whom and by whom all things
exist" [196] and from whom the whole of the People of God
receives the grace and dignity of election. Her Son explicitly extended his
Mother's maternity in a way that could easily be understood by every soul and
every heart by designating, when he was raised on the Cross, his beloved
disciple as her son. [197] The Holy Spirit inspired her to remain in the
Upper Room, after our Lord's Ascension, recollected in prayer and expectation,
together with the Apostles, until the day of Pentecost, when the Church was to
be born in visible form, coming forth from darkness. [198] Later, all the generations of disciples, of those who confess and love Christ, like the Apostle John,
spiritually took this Mother to their own homes, [199]
and she was thus included in the history of salvation and in the Church's
mission from the very beginning, that is from the moment of the Annunciation.
Accordingly, we who form today's generation of disciples of Christ all
wish to unite ourselves with her in a special way. We do so with all our
attachment to our ancient tradition and also with full respect and love for the
members of all the Christian Communities.
92. We do so at the urging of the deep need
of faith, hope and charity. For if we feel a special need, in this difficult
and responsible phase of the history of the Church and of mankind, to turn to
Christ, who is Lord of the Church and Lord of man's history on account of the mystery
of the Redemption, we believe that nobody else can bring us as Mary can into
the divine and human dimension of this mystery. Nobody has been brought into it
by God himself as Mary has. It is in this that the exceptional character of the
grace of the divine Motherhood consists. Not only is the dignity of this
Motherhood unique and unrepeatable in the history of the human race, but Mary's
participation, due to this Maternity, in God's plan for man's salvation through
the mystery of the Redemption is also unique in profundity and range of action.
93. We can say that the mystery of the Redemption took shape
beneath the heart of the Virgin of
94. The Father's eternal love, which has been manifested in the
history of mankind through the Son whom the Father gave, "that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life," [200] comes close to each of us through this Mother and thus takes on
tokens that are of more easy understanding and access by each person. Consequently, Mary must be on all the ways
for the Church's daily life. Through her maternal presence the Church acquires
certainty that she is truly living the life of her Master and Lord and that she
is living the mystery of the Redemption in all its life-giving profundity and
fullness. Likewise the Church, which has struck root in many varied fields of
the life of the whole of present-day humanity, also acquires the certainty and,
one could say, the experience of being close to man, to each person, of being
each person's Church, the Church of the People of God.
95. Faced with these tasks that appear
along the ways for the Church, those ways that Pope Paul VI clearly indicated
in the first Encyclical of his pontificate, and aware of the absolute necessity
of all these ways and also of the difficulties thronging them, we feel all the more our need for a profound
link with Christ. We hear within us, as a resounding echo, the words that he
spoke: "Apart from me you can do nothing." [201] We feel not only the need but even a
categorical imperative for great, intense and growing prayer by all the Church.
Only prayer can prevent all these great succeeding tasks and difficulties from
becoming a source of crisis and make them instead the occasion and, as it were,
the foundation for ever more mature achievements on the People of God's march
towards the Promised Land in this stage of history approaching the end of the
second millennium. Accordingly, as I end this meditation with a warm and humble
call to prayer,
I wish the Church to devote herself to his prayer, together with Mary the
Mother of Jesus, [202] as the Apostles and disciples of the Lord did
in the Upper Room in Jerusalem after his Ascension. [203] Above
all, I implore Mary, the heavenly Mother of the Church, to be so good as to
devote herself to this prayer of humanity's new Advent, together with us who
make up the Church, that is to say the Mystical Body of her Only Son. I hope
that through this prayer we shall be able to receive the Holy Spirit coming
upon us [204] and thus become Christ's witnesses "to
the end of the earth," [205] like those who went forth from the Upper Room
in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
With
the Apostolic Blessing
Given
at Rome, at Saint Peter's, on the fourth of March, the First Sunday of Lent, in
the year 1979, the first year of my Pontificate.
Pope John Paul II
ENDNOTES http://www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2REDEM.HTM
1. Jn 1:14.
2. Jn 3:16.
3. Heb 1:1-2.
4. Exsultet at the Easter Vigil.
5. Jn 16:7.
6. Jn 15:26-27.
7. Jn 16:13.
8. Cf. Rev 2:7.
9.
10. Eph 3:8.
11. Jn 14:24.
12. Pope Paul VI: Encyclical Letter
"Ecclesiam Suam": AAS 56 (1964) 650 ff.
13. Mt 11:29.
14. Mention must be made here of the
salient documents of the pontificate of Paul VI, some of which were spoken of
by himself in his address during Mass on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles
Peter and Paul in 1978: Encyclical "Ecclesiam suam": AAS 56 (1964)
609-659; Apostolic Letter "Investigabiles divitias Christi": AAS 57
(1965) 298-301; "Mysterium Fidei": AAS 57 (1965), 753-54; Encyclical
"Sacerdotalis caelibatus": AAS 59 (1967) 657-697; Solemn Profession
of Faith: AAS 60 (1968) 433445; Encyclical "Humanae vitae": AAS 60
(1968) 481-503; Apostolic Exhortation Q"uinque iam anni": AAS 63
(1971) 97-106; Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelica testificatio": AAS
63 (1971) 497-535; Apostolic Exhortation "Paterna cum benevolentia":
AAS 67 (1975) 5-23; Apostolic Exhortation "Gaudete in Domino": AAS 67
(1975) 289-322; Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii nuntiandi": AAS 68
(1976) 5-76.
15. Mt 13:52.
16. I Tim 2:4.
17. Pope Paul VI: Apostolic Exhortation
"Evangelli nuntiandi" AAS 68 (1976) 5-76.
18. Jn 17:21, cf.
19. I Cor
20. Cf. Vatican Council 1: Dogmatic
Constitution "Dei Filius, Cap. 111 De fide, can. 6:" Conciliorum
Oecumenicorum Decreta," Ed. Istituto per le Scienze Religiose, Bologna
1973, p. 811.
21. Is 9:6.+
22. Jn 21:15.
23. Lk 22:32.
24. Jn 6: 68; cf. Acts 4:8-12.
25. Cf. Eph 1:10, 22; 4:15; Col 1:18.
26. I Cor 8:6; cf. Col 1:17.
27. Jn 14:6.
28. Jn 11:25.
29. Cf. Jn 14:9.
30. Cf. Jn 16:7.
31. Cf. Jn 16:7, 13.
32. Col 2:3.
33. Cf. Rom 12:5; I Cor 6:15; 10:17; 12:12,
Eph 1:23; 2:16; 4:4; Col 1:24; 3:15.
34. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 1: AAS 57 (1965) 5.
35. Mt 16:16.
36. Cf. Litany of the Sacred Heart.
37. I Cor 2:2.
38. Cf. Gen I Passim.
39. Cf. Gen 1:26-30.
40. Rom
41. Jn 3:16.
42. Cf. Rom 5:12-21.
43. Rom
44. Rom 8:19.
45. Rom 8:22.
46. Rom 8:19.
47. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 22:
AAS 58 (1966) 1042-1043.
48. Rom 5:11; Col 1:20.
49. Ps 8:6.
50. Cf. Gen 1:26.
51. Cf. Gen 3:6-13.
52. Cf. Eucharistic Prayer IV.
53. Cf. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church on the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 37:
AAS 58 (1966) 1054-1055; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ""Lumen
Gentium," 48: AAS 57 (1965) 53-54.
54. Cf. Rom 8:29-30; Eph 1:8.
55. Cf. Jn 16:13.
56. Cf. I Thess 5:24.
57. 2 Cor 5:21; cf. Gal 3:13.
58. I Jn 4:8, 16..
59. Cf. Rom 8:20.
60. Cf. Lk 15:11-32.
61. Rom 8: 19.
62. Cf. Rom 8:18.
63. Cf. Saint Thomas, Summa Theol., 111, q.
46, a. 1, ad 3.
64. Gal 3:28.
65. Exsultet at the Easter Vigil.
66. Cf. Jn 3:16.
67. Cf. Saint Justin, I Apologia, 46, 1-4;
II Apologia, 7 (8), 1-42; 10, 1-3; 13, 3-4: Florilegium Patristicum, 11, Bonn
1911, pp. 81, 125, 129, 133; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 1, 19, 91 and 94:
Sources Chretiennes, 30, pp. 117-118; 119-120; Vatican Council II: Decree on
the Church's Missionary Activity Ad Gentes, 11: AAS 58 (1966) 960; Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church ""Lumen Gentium," 17: AAS 57 (1965)
21.
68. Cf. Vatican Council II: Declaration on
the Church's Relations with Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 3-4: AAS 58
(1966) 741-743.
69. Col 1:26.
70. Mt. 11:12.
71. Lk 16:8.
72. Eph 3:8.
73. Cf. Vatican Council II: Declaration
"Nostra Aetate," 1-2: AAS 58 (1966) 740-741.
74. Acts 17:22-31.
75. Jn 2:25.
76. Jn 3:8.
77. Cf. AAS 58 (1966) 929-946
78. Cf. Jn 14:26.
79. Pope Paul VI: Apostolic Exhortation
"Evangelii nuntiandi," 6: AAS 68 (1976) 9.
80 Jn 7:16.
81. Cf. AAS 58 (1966) 936-938.
82. Jn 8:32.
83. Jn 18:37.
84. Cf. Jn 4:23.
85. Jn 4:23-24.
86. Cf. Pope Paul VI: Encyclical
"Ecclesiam suam" (1964) 609-659.
87. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 58 (1966)
1042.
88. Cf. Jn 14:1 ff.
89. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 58 (1966)
1113.
90. Ibid., 38:1. c., p. 1056.
91. Ibid., 76:1. c., p. 1099.
92. Cf. Gen 1:26.
93. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 24:
AAS 58 (1966) 1045.
94. Gen 1:28.
95. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 10:
AAS 58 (1966) 1032.
96. Ibid., 10:1. c., p. 1033.
97. Ibid., 38: 1. c., p. 1056; Pope Paul
VI: Encyclical "Populorum Progressio", 21: AAS 59 (1967) 267-268.
98. Cf. Gen 1:28.
99. Cf. Gen 1-2.
100. Gen 1:28; cf. Vatican Council II:
Decree on the Social Communications Media "Inter Mirifica," 6: AAS 56
(1964) 147; Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
"Gaudium et Spes," 74, 78: AAS 58 (1966) 1095-1096, 1101-1102.
101. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 10, 36: AAS 57 (1965)
14-15, 41-42.
102. Cf. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 35:
AAS 58 (1966) 1053; Pope Paul VI: Address to Diplomatic Corps, 7 January 1965:
AAS 57 (1965) 232; Encyclical "Populorum Progressio", 14: AAS 59
(1967) 264.
103. Cf. Pope Pius XII: Radio Message on
the Fiftieth Anniversary of Leo XIII's Encyclical "Rerum Novarum," 1
June 1941: AAS 33 (1941) 195-205, Christmas Radio Message 24 December 1941: AAS
34 (1942) 10-21; Christmas Radio Message, 24 December 1942: AAS 35 (1943) 9-24;
Christmas Radio Message, 24 December 1943: AAS 36 (1944) 11-24; Christmas Radio
Message, 24 December 1944: AAS 37 (1945) 10-23; Address to the Cardinals, 24
December 1945: AAS 38 (1946) 15-25; Address to the Cardinals, 24 December 1946:
AAS 39 (1947) 7-17; Christmas Radio Message, 24 December 1947: AAS 40 (1948)
8-16; Pope John XXIII: Encyclical "Mater et Magistra": AAS 53 (1961)
401-464; Encyclical "Pacem in Terris": AAS 55 (1963) 257-304 Pope
Paul VI: Encyclical "Ecclesiam Suam": AAS 56 (1964) 609-659; Address
to the General Assembly of the United Nations, 4 October 1965: AAS 57 (1965)
877-885; Encyclical "Populorum Progressio": AAS 59 (1967) 257-299;
Address to the Campesinos of Colombia, 23 August 1968: AAS 60 (1968) 619-623;
Speech to the General Assembly of the Latin-American Episcopate, 24 August
1968: AAS 60 (1968) 639-649; Speech to the Conference of FAO, 16 November 1970:
AAS 62 (1970) 830-838; Apostolic Letter Octogesima adveniens: AAS 63 (1971)
401-441; Address to the Cardinals, 23 June 1972: AAS 64 (1972) 496-505; Pope
Paul VI: Address to the Third General Conference of the Latin-American
Episcopate, 28 January 1979: AAS 71 (1979) 187 ff.; Address to the Indians at
Cuilipan, 29 January 1979:1. c., pp. 207 ff.; Address to the Guadalajara
Workers, 30 January 1979:1. c., pp. 221 ff.; Address to the Monterrey Workers,
31 January 1979: 1. c., pp. 240-242; Vatican Council II: Declaration on
Religious Freedom "Dignitatis humanae": AAS 58 (1966) 929-941;
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes:
AAS 58 (1966) 1025-1115; Documenta Synodi Episcoporum: De iustitia in mundo:
AAS 63 (1971) 923-941.
104. Cf. Pope John XXIII: Encyclical
"Mater et Magistra": AAS 53 (1961) 418 ff.; Encyclical "Pacem in
Terris": AAS 55 (1963) 289 ff.; Pope Paul VI, Encyclical "Populorum
Progressio": AAS 59 (1967) 257-299.
105. Cf. Lk 16:19-31.
106. Cf. Pope John Paul II: Homily at
107. Cf. Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Letter
"Octogesima Adveniens", 42: AAS 63 (1971) 431.
108. Cf. Mt 25:31-46.
109. Mt 25:42, 43.
110. 2 Tim 4:2.
111. Pope Pius XI: Encyclical
"Quadragesimo anno": AAS 23 (1931) 213; Encyclical "Non abbiamo
bisogno": AAS 23 (1931) 285-312; Encyclical "Divini
Redemptoris": AAS 29 (1937) 65-106: Encyclical Mit brennender Sorge: AAS
29 (1937) 145-147; Pope Pius XII: Encyclical "Summi Pontificatus":
AAS 31 (1939) 413-435.
112. Cf. 2 Cor 3:6.
113. Cf. Vatican Council II: Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes", 31:
AAS 58 (1966) 1050.
114. Cf. AAS 58 (1966) 929-946.
115.
116. Cf. I Cor 6:15; 11:3; 12:12-13; Eph.
1:22-23; 2:15-16; 4:4-6; 5:30; Col 1:18; 3:15; Rom 12:4-5, Gal 3:28.
117. 2 Pet 1:4.
118. Cf. Eph 2:10; Jn 1:14, 16.
119. Jn 1:12.
120. Cf. Jn 4:14.
12 1 . Gal 4:4.
122. Jn 11:25-26.
123. Preface of Christian Death, 1.
124. Jn 6:63.
125. Confessio, 1, 1: CSEL 33, p. 1.
126. Mt 12:30.
127. Cf. Jn 1:12.
128. Gal 4:5
129. Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15.
130. Cf. Rom
131. Cf. Is 11:2-3; Acts
132. Cf. Gal 5:22-23.
133. Sequence for Pentecost.
134. Cf. Vatican Council II. Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 16: AAS 57 (1965) 20.
135. Ibid., 1:1. c., p. 5.
136. Cf. Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6.
137. Cf. Rom
138. Cf. Rom
139. Mt 20:28.
140.
141. Jn 14:24.
142. Jn 1:18.
143. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum," 5, 10, 21: AAS 58
(1966) 819,822,827-828.
144. Cf. Vatican Council I: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Catholic Faith "Dei Filius," Chap. 3:
"Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, Deaeta," Ed. Istituto per le Scienze
Religiose,
145. Cf. Vatican Council I: First Dogmatic
Constitution on the
146. Cf. Mt 28-19.
147. Cf. Vatican Council I: First Dogmatic
Constitution on the
148. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the church "Lumen Gentium," 18-27: AAS 57 (1965)
21-33.
149. Cf. Ibid., 12, 35; 1. c., pp. 16-17,
4041.
150. Cf. St. Augustine: Sermo 7-9: PL 38,
257-258.
151. Cf. Vatican Council II: Pastoral Constitution
on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes," 44, 57, 59, 62:
AAS 58 (1966) 1064 f., 1077 ff.; 1079 f., 1082 ff., Decree on Priestly Training
"Optatam Totius," 15: AAS 58 (1966) 722.
152. Jn 14:24.
153. Jn 20:21-22.
154. Cf. Vatican Council II: Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy "Sacrosanctum Concilium," 10: AAS 56 (1964)
102.
155. Cf. Rom 6:3-5.
156. Phil 2:8.
157. Cf. Jn 5:26; I Jn 5:11.
158. Heb 9:24; I Jn 2:1.
159. I Cor
160. Jn 1:12.
161. Cf. Rom
162. Reu
163. Cf. Jn
164. Cf. I Jn 5:5-11.
165. Cf. Rom
166. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church "Lumen Gentium," II: AAS 57 (1965) 15-16; Pope Paul VI,
Talk on
167. Cf. Vatican Council II: Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy "Sacrosanctum Concilium," 47: AAS 56 (1964)
113.
168. Cf. Pope Paul VI: Encyclical
"Mysterium Fidei": AAS 57 (1965) 553-574.
169. Cf. Vatican Council" II:
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy "Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47: AAS 56
(1964) 113.
170. Cf. Jn 6:51, 57; 14:6; Gal 2:20.
171. I C.or 11:28.
172. Mk 1:15.
173. Ibid.
174. Cf. I Pet 2:5.
175. Ps 50(51):6.
176. Mk 2:5.
177. Jn 8:11.
178. Mt 5:6.
179. Cf. Sacred Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith: "Normae Pastorales cira Absolutionem Sacramentalem
Generali Modo Impertiendam": AAS 64 (1972) 510-514; Pope Paul VI: Address
to a Group of Bishops from the United States of America on their "ad
limina" Visit, 20 April 1978: AAS 70 (1978) 328-332; Pope John Paul II:
Address to a Group of Canadian Bishops on their "ad limina" Visit, 17
November 1978: AAS 71 (1979) 32-36.
180. Cf. AAS 58 (1966) 177-198.
181. Mt 20:28.
182. Pope Pius XII: Encyclical Mystici
Corporis: AAS 35 (1943) 193-248.
183. Jn 1:43.
184. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 1: AAS 57 (1965) 5.
185. I Cor 7:7; cf. 12:7, 27; Rom 12:6; Eph
4:7.
186. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 36: AAS 57 (1965) 41-42.
187. Gal 5:1; cf.
188. Cf. Jn 10:10.
189. Jn 16:13.
190. Cf. Rom 5:5.
191. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 63-64: AAS 57 (1965) 64.
192. Cf. Chapter VIII, 52-69: AAS 57 (1965)
58-67.
193. Pope Paul VI: Closing Address at the
Third Session of the Second
194. Cf. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium," 56: AAS 57 (1965) 60.
195. Ibid.
196. Heb 2:10.
197. Cf. Jn 19:26.
198. Cf. Acts 1:14; 2.
199. Cf. Jn 19:27.
200. Jn 3:16.
201. Jn 15:5.
202. Cf. Acts 1:14.
203. Cf. Acts 1:13.
204. Cf. Acts 1:8.
205. Ibid.
COMMENTARIES:
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