"That Every Child Coming Into the World Be Welcomed by the Warmth of a Family"
- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Dec. 26 before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The Gospel according to Luke recounts that when the shepherds of Bethlehem had received the Angel's announcement of the Messiah's birth "they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger" (2:16). The first eyewitnesses of Jesus' birth therefore beheld a family scene: a mother, a father and a newborn son. For this reason the Liturgy has us celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on the First Sunday after Christmas. This year it occurred the very day after Christmas, and, taking precedence over the Feast of St Stephen, invites us to contemplate this "icon" in which the little Jesus appears at the centre of his parents' affection and care.
In the poor grotto of Bethlehem -- the Fathers of the Church wrote -- shines a very bright light, a reflection of the profound mystery which envelopes that Child, which Mary and Joseph cherish in their hearts and which can be seen in their expression, in their actions, and especially in their silence. Indeed, they preserve in their inmost depths the words of the Angel's Annunciation to Mary: "the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Lk 1:35).
Yet every child's birth brings something of this mystery with it! Parents who receive a child as a gift know this well and often speak of it in this way. We have all heard people say to a father and a mother: "this child is a gift, a miracle!". Indeed, human beings do not experience procreation merely as a reproductive act but perceive its richness and intuit that every human creature who is born on earth is the "sign" par excellence of the Creator and Father who is in Heaven.
How important it is, therefore, that every child coming into the world be welcomed by the warmth of a family! External comforts do not matter: Jesus was born in a stable and had a manger as his first cradle, but the love of Mary and of Joseph made him feel the tenderness and beauty of being loved. Children need this: the love of their father and mother. It is this that gives them security and, as they grow, enables them to discover the meaning of life. The Holy Family of Nazareth went through many trials, such as the "massacre of the innocents" -- as recounted in the Gospel according to Matthew -- which obliged Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt (cf. 2:13-23). Yet, trusting in divine Providence, they found their stability and guaranteed Jesus a serene childhood and a sound upbringing.
Dear friends, the Holy Family is of course unique and unrepeatable, but at the same time it is a "model of life" for every family because Jesus, true man, chose to be born into a human family and thereby blessed and consecrated it. Let us therefore entrust all families to Our Lady and to St Joseph, so that they do not lose heart in the face of trials and difficulties but always cultivate conjugal love and devote themselves with trust to the service of life and education.
Showing posts with label Culture of Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture of Life. Show all posts
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Pope's Words at Prayer Vigil for Unborn Life
"Respect, Protect, Love and Serve Life, Every Human Life"
- Here is a Vatican translation of the address that Benedict XVI gave Saturday evening in St. Peter's Basilica at the celebration of first vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. This year the celebration was preceded by a prayer vigil for unborn life and by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this evening celebration the Lord gives us the grace and joy of opening the new Liturgical Year, starting with its first season: Advent, the period that commemorates the coming of God among us. Every beginning brings a special grace, because it is blessed by the Lord.
In this Advent Season we shall be granted once again to experience the closeness of the One who created the world, who guides history and who cared for us to the point of deigning to become a man.
This great and fascinating mystery of the God-with-us, indeed, of the God who becomes one of us, is what we shall celebrate in the coming weeks journeying towards holy Christmas. During the Season of Advent we shall feel the Church which takes us by the hand and - in the image of Mary Most Holy, expresses her motherhood, enabling us to experience the joyful expectation of the coming of the Lord, who embraces us all in his love that saves and consoles.
While our hearts look forward to the annual celebration of Christ's Birth, the Church's Liturgy directs our gaze to the final goal: our encounter with the Lord who will come in the splendour of glory. For this reason in every Eucharist we "announce his death, proclaim his Resurrection until he comes again", we watch in prayer. The Liturgy does not cease to encourage and support us, putting on our lips, in the days of Advent, the cry with which the whole of Sacred Scripture ends, on the last page of the Revelation to St John: "Come, Lord Jesus" (22:20).
Dear brothers and sisters, our gathering this evening for the beginning of the journey through Advent is enriched by another important reason: together with the whole Church we wish to celebrate a solemn prayer vigil for unborn life. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have accepted this invitation and to those who are specifically dedicated to welcoming and safeguarding human life in its various situations of frailty, especially when it is newly conceived and in its early stages. Precisely, the beginning of the Liturgical Year helps us live anew the expectation of God who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, God who makes himself little, who becomes a child; it speaks to us of the coming of a God who is close, who chose to experience human life from the very beginning in order to save it totally, in its fullness. And so the mystery of Lord's Incarnation and the beginning of human life are closely and harmoniously connected and in tune with each other in the one saving plan of God, the Lord of the life of each and everyone.
The Incarnation reveals to us, with intense light and in a surprising way, that every human life has a very lofty and incomparable dignity.
In comparison with all the other living beings that populate the earth man has an unmistakable originality. He is presented as the one unique being, endowed with intelligence and free will, as well as consisting of material reality. He lives simultaneously and inseparably in both the spiritual and the corporal dimension. This is also suggested in the text of the First Letter to the Thessalonians that has just been proclaimed: "May the God of peace himself", St Paul writes, "sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:23).
We are therefore spirit, soul and body. We are part of this world, tied to the possibilities and limitations of our material condition, while at the same time we are open to an infinite horizon, able to converse with God and to welcome him within us. We are active in earthly realities and through them we are able to perceive God's presence and to reach out to him, Truth, Goodness and absolute Beauty. We savour fragments of life and happiness and yearn for complete fulfilment.
God loves us deeply, totally and without making distinctions. He calls us to friendship with him, he makes us part of a reality beyond every imagination and every thought and word: his divine life itself. With feeling and gratitude, let us be aware of the value of every human person's incomparable dignity and of our great responsibility to all. "Christ, the final Adam", the Second Vatican Council states, "by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear… by his Incarnation, the Son of God has in a certain way united himself with each man". (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
Believing in Jesus Christ also means seeing man in a new way, with trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and right reason testify that the human being is capable of understanding and of wanting, conscious of himself and free, unrepeatable and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly realities, and who demands to be recognized as a value in himself and deserves always to be accepted with respect and love. He is entitled not to be treated as an object to be possessed or a thing to be manipulated at will, and not to be exploited as a means for the benefit of others and their interests.
The human person is a good in himself and his integral development must always be sought. Love for all, moreover, if it is sincere, tends spontaneously to become preferential attention to the weakest and poorest. This explains the Church's concern for the unborn, the frailest, those most threatened by the selfishness of adults and the clouding of consciences. The Church continually reasserts what the Second Vatican Council declared against abortion and against every violation of unborn life: "from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care" (ibid., n. 51). Cultural trends exist that seek to anaesthetize consciences with spurious arguments.
With regard to the embryo in the mother's womb, science itself highlights its autonomy, its capacity for interaction with the mother, the coordination of biological processes, the continuity of development, the growing complexity of the organism. It is not an accumulation of biological material but rather of a new living being, dynamic and marvelously ordered, a new individual of the human species. This is what Jesus was in Mary's womb; this is what we all were in our mother's womb. We may say with Tertullian, an ancient Christian writer: "the one who will be a man is one already" (Apologeticum IX, 8), there is no reason not to consider him a person from conception. Unfortunately, even after birth, the lives of children continue to be exposed to neglect, hunger, poverty, disease, abuse, violence and exploitation. The many violations of their rights sorrowfully wound the conscience of every person of good will.
In the face of the sad view of injustices committed against human life, before and after birth, I make my own Pope John Paul II's passionate appeal to the responsibility of each and every individual: "respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!" (Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 5). I urge politicians, leaders of the economy and of social communications to do everything in their power to promote a culture ever respectful of human life, to obtain favourable conditions and support networks for the acceptance and development of life.
Let us entrust our prayers and our commitment to unborn life to the Virgin Mary, who welcomed the Son of God made man with her faith, with her maternal womb, with her attentive care, with her nurturing support, vibrant with love. Let us do so in the Liturgy - which is the place where we live the truth and where truth lives with us - adoring the divine Eucharist in which we contemplate Christ's Body, that Body which took flesh from Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit, and was born of her in Bethlehem for our salvation. Ave, verum Corpus, natum de Maria Virgine!
- Here is a Vatican translation of the address that Benedict XVI gave Saturday evening in St. Peter's Basilica at the celebration of first vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. This year the celebration was preceded by a prayer vigil for unborn life and by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With this evening celebration the Lord gives us the grace and joy of opening the new Liturgical Year, starting with its first season: Advent, the period that commemorates the coming of God among us. Every beginning brings a special grace, because it is blessed by the Lord.
In this Advent Season we shall be granted once again to experience the closeness of the One who created the world, who guides history and who cared for us to the point of deigning to become a man.
This great and fascinating mystery of the God-with-us, indeed, of the God who becomes one of us, is what we shall celebrate in the coming weeks journeying towards holy Christmas. During the Season of Advent we shall feel the Church which takes us by the hand and - in the image of Mary Most Holy, expresses her motherhood, enabling us to experience the joyful expectation of the coming of the Lord, who embraces us all in his love that saves and consoles.
While our hearts look forward to the annual celebration of Christ's Birth, the Church's Liturgy directs our gaze to the final goal: our encounter with the Lord who will come in the splendour of glory. For this reason in every Eucharist we "announce his death, proclaim his Resurrection until he comes again", we watch in prayer. The Liturgy does not cease to encourage and support us, putting on our lips, in the days of Advent, the cry with which the whole of Sacred Scripture ends, on the last page of the Revelation to St John: "Come, Lord Jesus" (22:20).
Dear brothers and sisters, our gathering this evening for the beginning of the journey through Advent is enriched by another important reason: together with the whole Church we wish to celebrate a solemn prayer vigil for unborn life. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have accepted this invitation and to those who are specifically dedicated to welcoming and safeguarding human life in its various situations of frailty, especially when it is newly conceived and in its early stages. Precisely, the beginning of the Liturgical Year helps us live anew the expectation of God who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, God who makes himself little, who becomes a child; it speaks to us of the coming of a God who is close, who chose to experience human life from the very beginning in order to save it totally, in its fullness. And so the mystery of Lord's Incarnation and the beginning of human life are closely and harmoniously connected and in tune with each other in the one saving plan of God, the Lord of the life of each and everyone.
The Incarnation reveals to us, with intense light and in a surprising way, that every human life has a very lofty and incomparable dignity.
In comparison with all the other living beings that populate the earth man has an unmistakable originality. He is presented as the one unique being, endowed with intelligence and free will, as well as consisting of material reality. He lives simultaneously and inseparably in both the spiritual and the corporal dimension. This is also suggested in the text of the First Letter to the Thessalonians that has just been proclaimed: "May the God of peace himself", St Paul writes, "sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:23).
We are therefore spirit, soul and body. We are part of this world, tied to the possibilities and limitations of our material condition, while at the same time we are open to an infinite horizon, able to converse with God and to welcome him within us. We are active in earthly realities and through them we are able to perceive God's presence and to reach out to him, Truth, Goodness and absolute Beauty. We savour fragments of life and happiness and yearn for complete fulfilment.
God loves us deeply, totally and without making distinctions. He calls us to friendship with him, he makes us part of a reality beyond every imagination and every thought and word: his divine life itself. With feeling and gratitude, let us be aware of the value of every human person's incomparable dignity and of our great responsibility to all. "Christ, the final Adam", the Second Vatican Council states, "by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and his love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear… by his Incarnation, the Son of God has in a certain way united himself with each man". (Gaudium et Spes, n. 22).
Believing in Jesus Christ also means seeing man in a new way, with trust and hope. Moreover, experience itself and right reason testify that the human being is capable of understanding and of wanting, conscious of himself and free, unrepeatable and irreplaceable, the summit of all earthly realities, and who demands to be recognized as a value in himself and deserves always to be accepted with respect and love. He is entitled not to be treated as an object to be possessed or a thing to be manipulated at will, and not to be exploited as a means for the benefit of others and their interests.
The human person is a good in himself and his integral development must always be sought. Love for all, moreover, if it is sincere, tends spontaneously to become preferential attention to the weakest and poorest. This explains the Church's concern for the unborn, the frailest, those most threatened by the selfishness of adults and the clouding of consciences. The Church continually reasserts what the Second Vatican Council declared against abortion and against every violation of unborn life: "from the moment of its conception life must be guarded with the greatest care" (ibid., n. 51). Cultural trends exist that seek to anaesthetize consciences with spurious arguments.
With regard to the embryo in the mother's womb, science itself highlights its autonomy, its capacity for interaction with the mother, the coordination of biological processes, the continuity of development, the growing complexity of the organism. It is not an accumulation of biological material but rather of a new living being, dynamic and marvelously ordered, a new individual of the human species. This is what Jesus was in Mary's womb; this is what we all were in our mother's womb. We may say with Tertullian, an ancient Christian writer: "the one who will be a man is one already" (Apologeticum IX, 8), there is no reason not to consider him a person from conception. Unfortunately, even after birth, the lives of children continue to be exposed to neglect, hunger, poverty, disease, abuse, violence and exploitation. The many violations of their rights sorrowfully wound the conscience of every person of good will.
In the face of the sad view of injustices committed against human life, before and after birth, I make my own Pope John Paul II's passionate appeal to the responsibility of each and every individual: "respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!" (Encyclical Evangelium vitae, n. 5). I urge politicians, leaders of the economy and of social communications to do everything in their power to promote a culture ever respectful of human life, to obtain favourable conditions and support networks for the acceptance and development of life.
Let us entrust our prayers and our commitment to unborn life to the Virgin Mary, who welcomed the Son of God made man with her faith, with her maternal womb, with her attentive care, with her nurturing support, vibrant with love. Let us do so in the Liturgy - which is the place where we live the truth and where truth lives with us - adoring the divine Eucharist in which we contemplate Christ's Body, that Body which took flesh from Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit, and was born of her in Bethlehem for our salvation. Ave, verum Corpus, natum de Maria Virgine!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
On the 3rd Encyclical
"A Better Future for Everyone Is Possible"
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in Paul VI Hall. He reflected on his third encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," which was released Tuesday.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
My new encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," which was officially presented yesterday, was fundamentally inspired in a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, in which the apostle speaks of acting according to truth in charity: "Rather," we have just heard, "living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ" (4:15).
Charity in truth is, therefore, the principal propelling force for the true development of each person and all of humanity. Because of this, the whole of the Church's social doctrine revolves around the principle "caritas in veritate." Only with charity, enlightened by reason and faith, is it possible to achieve objectives of development with a human and humanizing value. Charity in the truth "is the principle around which the Church's social doctrine turns, a principle that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action" (No. 6).
In the introduction, the encyclical immediately refers to two fundamental criteria: justice and the common good. Justice is an integral part of this love "in deed and truth" (1 John 3:18), to which the Apostle John exhorts us (cf. No. 6). And "to love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society. &h ellip; The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them." Therefore, there are two operative criteria: justice and the common good. In this second element, charity acquires a social dimension. Every Christian, the encyclical says, is called to this charity and, it adds, "This is the institutional path … of charity" (cf. No. 7).
Like other documents of the magisterium, this encyclical also takes up again and goes deeper into the analysis and reflection of the Church on social issues of vital interest to humanity in our times. In a special way, it is linked to what Paul VI wrote now more than 40 years ago in "Populorum Progressio," the cornerstone of the Church's social teaching, in which the great Pontiff outlined certain decisive and ever relevant ideas for the integral development of man and of the modern world. The world situation, as the chronicle of recent mon ths amply demonstrates, continues presenting not a few problems and the "scandal" of outrageous inequalities, which remain despite commitments made in the past. On one hand, signs of grave social and economic inequalities are evident; on the other hand, peoples from all over are calling for reform that will overcome the discrepancy of development among peoples, and this cannot wait.
The phenomenon of globalization can, in this sense, be a real opportunity, but for this, it is important to undertake a profound moral and cultural renewal and responsible discernment of the decisions that must be made for the common good. A better future for everyone is possible, if it is founded on the discovery of fundamental ethical values. A new economic plan is needed that will reshape development in a global way, basing itself on the fundamental ethics of responsibility before God and before man as a creature of God.
The encyclical certainly doesn't look to give technical solutions to the great social problems of the world today -- this is not the role of the Church's magisterium (cf. No. 9). It recalls, however, the great principles that show themselves to be indispensable for building human development in the coming years. Among these: In the first place, attention to the life of the person, considered as the center of all true progress; respect for the right to religious liberty, always closely linked to the development of the person; rejection of a Promethean vision of the human being, which considers him the absolute author of his own destiny. An unlimited trust in the power of technology in the end shows itself to be illusory.
Upright people are needed as much in politics as in the economy, people who are sincerely attentive to the common good. In particular, looking at world emergencies, it is urgent to call the attention of public opinion to the drama of hunger and food security, which affects a considerable porti on of humanity. A drama of such proportions piques our consciences: It must be decisively confronted, eliminating the structural causes that bring it about and promoting agricultural development in the poorest countries.
I am sure that this path of solidarity toward the development of the poorest countries will certainly help to elaborate a solution to the current global crisis. Undoubtedly, the role and political power of the state should be attentively re-evaluated, in an age in which limitations to its sovereignty exist as a result of the new economic-commercial and international financial situation.
And on the other hand, the participation of citizens in national and international politics should not be lacking, thanks as well to a renewed commitment from the associations of workers called to establish new synergies at the local and international level. The means of social communication also have a primary role in this field, to advance dialogue among cult ures and distinct traditions.
In wanting to make a plan for development that is not tainted by the malfunctions and distortions amply present today, serious reflection on the very meaning of the economy and its goals is required from everyone. The ecological state of the planet demands it; the cultural and moral crisis of man that is apparent in every corner of the globe requires it. The economy needs ethics for its correct functioning; it needs to recover the important contribution of the principle of gratuitousness and the "logic of gift" in the economy of the market, in which the norm cannot be personal gain.
But this is only possible thanks to a commitment from everyone, economists and politicians, producers and consumers, and presupposes formation of the conscience that gives strength to moral criteria in the elaboration of political and economic projects. Rightly so, many places pay recourse to the fact that rights presuppose corresponding dut ies, without which rights run the risk of becoming arbitrary.
It is said more and more that it is necessary for all of humanity to have a different style of life, in which the duties of everyone toward the environment are united with those of the person considered in himself and in relation with others. Humanity is one family and fruitful dialogue between faith and reason cannot but enrich it, making the work of charity more effective in society, moreover establishing the appropriate framework to stimulate collaboration between believers and non-believers, in the shared perspective of working for justice and peace in the world.
As guidelines for this fraternal interaction, in the encyclical I indicate the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, which are interconnected. I have indicated, finally, faced with such vast and deep problems in the world of today, the need for a world political Authority regulated by law, which abides by the principles of subsid iarity and solidarity already mentioned and which is firmly oriented toward the fulfillment of the common good, in respect of the great moral and religious traditions of humanity.
The Gospel reminds us that man does not live on bread alone: not just with material goods can he satisfy the deep thirst of his heart. The horizons of man are undoubtedly higher and broader. Because of this, every development program should have present, together with the material, the spiritual growth of the human person, who is gifted with soul and body.
This is integral development, to which the Church's social doctrine constantly refers -- development that has its guiding criteria in the propelling strength of "charity in truth." Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray so that this encyclical too can help humanity to feel that it is one family committed in bringing about a world of justice and peace. Let us pray that believers who work in economics and politics realize h ow important is the coherence of their Gospel testimony in the service they offer society.
In particular, I invite you to pray for the leaders of states and governments of the G-8 who are meeting during these days in L'Aquila. That from this important world summit might come decisions and useful guidelines for the true progress of all peoples, especially of the poorest. Let us entrust these intentions to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church and of humanity.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in Paul VI Hall. He reflected on his third encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," which was released Tuesday.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
My new encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," which was officially presented yesterday, was fundamentally inspired in a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, in which the apostle speaks of acting according to truth in charity: "Rather," we have just heard, "living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ" (4:15).
Charity in truth is, therefore, the principal propelling force for the true development of each person and all of humanity. Because of this, the whole of the Church's social doctrine revolves around the principle "caritas in veritate." Only with charity, enlightened by reason and faith, is it possible to achieve objectives of development with a human and humanizing value. Charity in the truth "is the principle around which the Church's social doctrine turns, a principle that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action" (No. 6).
In the introduction, the encyclical immediately refers to two fundamental criteria: justice and the common good. Justice is an integral part of this love "in deed and truth" (1 John 3:18), to which the Apostle John exhorts us (cf. No. 6). And "to love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society. &h ellip; The more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them." Therefore, there are two operative criteria: justice and the common good. In this second element, charity acquires a social dimension. Every Christian, the encyclical says, is called to this charity and, it adds, "This is the institutional path … of charity" (cf. No. 7).
Like other documents of the magisterium, this encyclical also takes up again and goes deeper into the analysis and reflection of the Church on social issues of vital interest to humanity in our times. In a special way, it is linked to what Paul VI wrote now more than 40 years ago in "Populorum Progressio," the cornerstone of the Church's social teaching, in which the great Pontiff outlined certain decisive and ever relevant ideas for the integral development of man and of the modern world. The world situation, as the chronicle of recent mon ths amply demonstrates, continues presenting not a few problems and the "scandal" of outrageous inequalities, which remain despite commitments made in the past. On one hand, signs of grave social and economic inequalities are evident; on the other hand, peoples from all over are calling for reform that will overcome the discrepancy of development among peoples, and this cannot wait.
The phenomenon of globalization can, in this sense, be a real opportunity, but for this, it is important to undertake a profound moral and cultural renewal and responsible discernment of the decisions that must be made for the common good. A better future for everyone is possible, if it is founded on the discovery of fundamental ethical values. A new economic plan is needed that will reshape development in a global way, basing itself on the fundamental ethics of responsibility before God and before man as a creature of God.
The encyclical certainly doesn't look to give technical solutions to the great social problems of the world today -- this is not the role of the Church's magisterium (cf. No. 9). It recalls, however, the great principles that show themselves to be indispensable for building human development in the coming years. Among these: In the first place, attention to the life of the person, considered as the center of all true progress; respect for the right to religious liberty, always closely linked to the development of the person; rejection of a Promethean vision of the human being, which considers him the absolute author of his own destiny. An unlimited trust in the power of technology in the end shows itself to be illusory.
Upright people are needed as much in politics as in the economy, people who are sincerely attentive to the common good. In particular, looking at world emergencies, it is urgent to call the attention of public opinion to the drama of hunger and food security, which affects a considerable porti on of humanity. A drama of such proportions piques our consciences: It must be decisively confronted, eliminating the structural causes that bring it about and promoting agricultural development in the poorest countries.
I am sure that this path of solidarity toward the development of the poorest countries will certainly help to elaborate a solution to the current global crisis. Undoubtedly, the role and political power of the state should be attentively re-evaluated, in an age in which limitations to its sovereignty exist as a result of the new economic-commercial and international financial situation.
And on the other hand, the participation of citizens in national and international politics should not be lacking, thanks as well to a renewed commitment from the associations of workers called to establish new synergies at the local and international level. The means of social communication also have a primary role in this field, to advance dialogue among cult ures and distinct traditions.
In wanting to make a plan for development that is not tainted by the malfunctions and distortions amply present today, serious reflection on the very meaning of the economy and its goals is required from everyone. The ecological state of the planet demands it; the cultural and moral crisis of man that is apparent in every corner of the globe requires it. The economy needs ethics for its correct functioning; it needs to recover the important contribution of the principle of gratuitousness and the "logic of gift" in the economy of the market, in which the norm cannot be personal gain.
But this is only possible thanks to a commitment from everyone, economists and politicians, producers and consumers, and presupposes formation of the conscience that gives strength to moral criteria in the elaboration of political and economic projects. Rightly so, many places pay recourse to the fact that rights presuppose corresponding dut ies, without which rights run the risk of becoming arbitrary.
It is said more and more that it is necessary for all of humanity to have a different style of life, in which the duties of everyone toward the environment are united with those of the person considered in himself and in relation with others. Humanity is one family and fruitful dialogue between faith and reason cannot but enrich it, making the work of charity more effective in society, moreover establishing the appropriate framework to stimulate collaboration between believers and non-believers, in the shared perspective of working for justice and peace in the world.
As guidelines for this fraternal interaction, in the encyclical I indicate the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, which are interconnected. I have indicated, finally, faced with such vast and deep problems in the world of today, the need for a world political Authority regulated by law, which abides by the principles of subsid iarity and solidarity already mentioned and which is firmly oriented toward the fulfillment of the common good, in respect of the great moral and religious traditions of humanity.
The Gospel reminds us that man does not live on bread alone: not just with material goods can he satisfy the deep thirst of his heart. The horizons of man are undoubtedly higher and broader. Because of this, every development program should have present, together with the material, the spiritual growth of the human person, who is gifted with soul and body.
This is integral development, to which the Church's social doctrine constantly refers -- development that has its guiding criteria in the propelling strength of "charity in truth." Dear brothers and sisters, let us pray so that this encyclical too can help humanity to feel that it is one family committed in bringing about a world of justice and peace. Let us pray that believers who work in economics and politics realize h ow important is the coherence of their Gospel testimony in the service they offer society.
In particular, I invite you to pray for the leaders of states and governments of the G-8 who are meeting during these days in L'Aquila. That from this important world summit might come decisions and useful guidelines for the true progress of all peoples, especially of the poorest. Let us entrust these intentions to the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church and of humanity.
Vatican Summary of "Caritas in Veritate"
"Charity Is at the Heart of the Church"
Here is the synthesis the Vatican press office compiled of Benedict XVI's third encyclical titled "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth), which was published today. The synthesis highlights the main themes of the encyclical.
* * *
"Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness" is "the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity": thus begins "Caritas in Veritate," the Encyclical addressed to the Catholic world and "to all people of good will".
In the Introduction, the Pope reminds us that "charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine". On the other hand, given "the risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living", it is linked with truth. And cautions us: "A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance" (§ 1-4).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation" (§ 5). Benedict XVI dwells upon two "criteria that govern moral action" that come from the "charity in truth" principle: Justice and the common good. Every Christian is called to love through an "institutional path" which has an incidence on the life of the pólis, of life in society (§ 6-7). The Church, he insists, "does not have technical solutions to offer"; however, she has "a mission of truth to accomplish" for "a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation" (§ 8-9).
The first chapter of the document is about Paul VI's Message of Populorum Progressio. "Without the perspective of eternal life -- the Pope warns us -- human progress in this world is denied breathing-space". Without God, development becomes negative, "dehumanized" (§ 10-12).
Paul VI, one can read, stressed on "the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice" (§ 13) In "Humanae Vitae", Paul VI "shows the strong ties between life ethics and social ethics" (§ 14-15). He explains the concept of vocation in "Populorum Progressio". "Development is vocation" because "it derives from a transcendent call". He goes on to underline that it is thus "integral", that is, it has to "promote the good of every man and of the whole man". "Faith -- he adds -- does not rely on privilege or positions of power", "but only on Christ" (§ 16-18). Paul VI shows that "the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order". They are above all in the will, thought and even more "in the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples". "As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers". We must therefore mobilise ourselves, so that economics evolves "towards fully human outcomes" (§ 19-20).
In the second chapter, the Pope deals with Human development in our time. Profit as the exclusive goal "without the common good as its ultimate end, risks destroying wealth and creating poverty". He goes on to mention some distortions of development: financial dealing that is "largely speculative", migration of peoples "often provoked" and then insufficiently attended to, and "the unregulated exploitation of the earth's resources". Before such interconnected problems, the Pope calls for "a new humanistic synthesis". The crisis "obliges us to re-plan our journey" (§ 21).
Development today, says the Pope, "has many overlapping layers". "The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase", with new forms of poverty emerging. Corruption, he fears, is present in countries rich and poor; too often, multinational enterprises do not respect the rights of the workers. Besides, "international aids has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions" both of donors and of beneficiaries. At the same time, says the Pope, "there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge on the part of rich countries, through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual prope rty, especially in the field of health care" (§ 22).
Since the end of the "blocs", John Paul II had been asking for a global "re-examination of development", but this "has been achieved only in part". There is today "a re-evaluation" of the roles of the "State's public authorities", and one can foresee an increase in the "political participation in civil society, nationally and internationally". The Pope then turns his attention to the search, by rich countries, for areas in which to outsource production at low cost. "These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems", with "grave danger for the rights of workers". To this, one has to add that "the cuts in social spending, often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks". In any case, one can observe that "governments , for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom of labour unions". Those who rule are reminded that "the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity" (§ 23-25).
On a cultural level, the possibility of interaction opens new perspectives of dialogue, but with a double danger. First, there can be a cultural eclecticism in which all cultures are viewed as "substantially equivalent". The opposite danger is that of "cultural levelling", "the indiscriminate acceptance of types of conduct and life-styles" (§ 26). The Pope then turns his attention to the scandal that hunger represents. What is missing is a "network of economic institutions" capable of confronting this emergency. One must hope for "new possibilities" in the techniques of agriculture and land reform in developing countries (§ 27).
Benedict XVI then underlines that the re spect for life "cannot in any way be detached" from the development of peoples. Various parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control which "go as far as to impose abortion". In economically developed countries, there is "an anti-birth mentality, frequent attempts (being) made to export this mentality to other States as if it were a form of cultural progress". In addition, there is "reason to suspect that development aid is sometimes linked" to "specific healthcare policies which de facto involve the imposition" of birth control. The "laws permitting euthanasia" are another matter for concern. "When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good" (§ 28).
There is another aspect connected to development: the right to religious freedom. Violence "puts the brakes on authentic development", and this "applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism".
At the same time, promotion of atheism in many countries "obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources" (§ 29). For development needs the interaction of the various levels of knowledge, put in harmony through charity (§ 30-31). One must hope that the economic choices continue "to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment" for everyone. Benedict XVI warns us against "short-term -- sometimes very short-term -- economy, which leads to "lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers" in order to "increase the country's international competitiveness". For this, he exhorts us to correct some dysfunctions of the development models as is required today by the "earth's state of ecological health". He concludes with globalization: "Without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions". Therefore, we have to deal with "a new and creative challenge" (§ 32-33).
Fraternity, economic Development and civil society is the theme of the 3rd chapter of the Encyclical, opening with a praise of the experience of giving, often unrecognised "because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life". The conviction that economics are free from the "influences of a moral character" "has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way". Development, "if it is to be authentically human", must "make room for the principle of gratuitousness" (§ 34). This is particularly relevant regarding the market.
"Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfil its proper economic function". The market "cannot rely only on itself", it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource". The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak". Commercial logic needs to be "directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility". The market is not negative by nature. Therefore, what is to be challenged is man, his "moral conscience and responsibility". The present crisis shows that the "traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated". At the same time, the Pope reminds us that economics do not eliminate the role of the State, and requires "just laws". Calling to mind Centesimus Annus, he points to the "necessity of a system with three subjects: the ma rket, the State and civil society", and calls for ways to "civilizing the economy". We need "economic forms based on solidarity". The market and politics need "individuals who are open to reciprocal gift" (§ 35-39).
In the 4th chapter, the Encyclical deals with the Development of people, rights and duties, the environment. One can notice the "claims to a ‘right to excess'" in the affluent societies, while food and water are lacking in certain underdeveloped regions. "Individual rights when detached from a framework of duties can run wild". Rights and duties are in connexion to an ethical context. If, on the other hand, their basis is only "to be found in the deliberations of an assembly of citizens", they are liable to be "changed at any time". Governments and international bodies must not forget "the objectivity and ‘inviolability' of rights" (§ 43). On this matter , one can dwell upon the "problems associated with population growth". It is a "mistake" to "consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment". The Pope reaffirms that sexuality cannot be "reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment". One cannot regulate sexuality through "strategies of mandatory birth control". He then goes on to underline that "morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource". "States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family" (§ 44).
"The economy, he adds, needs ethics in order to function correctly -- not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centred". The same centrality of the human person must be the guiding principle "in development programmes" of international cooperation, in which the beneficiaries should always be involved. "Intern ational organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic machinery", "often excessively costly". The Pope notices that too often "the poor serve to perpetuate expensive bureaucracies". Hence his call for a "complete transparency" concerning funds received (§ 45-47).
The last paragraphs of the chapter are devoted to the environment. For the believer, nature is a gift of God, to be used in a responsible way. In this context, our attention is brought to consider the energy problem. The fact that some States and power groups "hoard non-renewable energy resources" constitutes "a grave obstacle to development in poor countries". Therefore, the international community should "find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources". "The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption", while at the same time "encourage research into alternative forms of energy".
Basically, "what is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new life-styles". A style which, up to now in most parts of the world, "is prone to hedonism and consumerism". The decisive issue, therefore, is "the overall moral tenor of society". The Pope goes on to caution: "If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death", "the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology", including that of environmental ecology (§ 48-52).
The cooperation of the human family is at the heart of the 5th chapter, in which Benedict XVI shows that "the development of peoples depend above all on a recognition that the human race is a single family". On the other hand, one can read that the Christian religion can contribute to development "only if God has a place in the public realm". By "denying the right to profess one's religion in public", politics "takes on a domineering and aggressive character". The Pope warns: "Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue" between reason and religious faith. A breach that "comes only at an enormous price to human development" (§ 53-56).
The Pope then examines the principle of subsidiarity, which offers a help to the human person "via the autonomy of intermediate bodies". Subsidiarity "is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state" and is well-suited to direct globalization towards its authentic human development. International aids "can sometimes lock people into a state of dependence", hence all subjects of the civil society, and not only the rulers, should be involved. "Too often, aid has served to create only fringe markets for the products&qu ot; of these countries (§ 57-58). The Pope exhorts the economically developed nations to "allocate larger portions" of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations undertaken. He then advocates a greater access to education and more towards "the complete formation of the person", for relativism makes everyone poorer. An example is given by the perverse phenomenon of sex tourism. "It is sad to note that this activity takes place with the support of local governments, with silence from those in the tourists' countries of origin, and with the complicity of many of the tour operators" (§ 59-61).
The Pope then deals with the phenomenon of migration, with "epoch-making" proportions. "No country can be expected to address today's problems of migration by itself". Every migrant is "a human person" who "possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by e veryone and in every circumstance". The Pope asks that the foreign workers be not considered as a merchandise and shows the "direct link between poverty and unemployment". He pleads for a decent employment for all, and invites the authorities other than those in politics to focus their attention to the workers of countries where the social rights are violated (§ 62-64).
Finance, "after its misuse which has wreaked such havoc on the real economy, needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards development". "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity". In addition, the Pope calls for a "regulation of the financial sector" to safeguard weaker parties (§ 65-66).
The last paragraph of the chapter deals with the "strongly felt need" for a "reform of the UN" and of the "economic institutions and international finance".
There is a n "urgent need of a true world political authority", which seeks to "observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity". An authority vested with "effective power". The Pope concludes with a call to establish "a greater degree of international ordering" for the management of globalization (§ 67).
The 6th and final chapter is centred on the development of peoples and technology. The Pope cautions us against the "Promethean presumption" which would have us believe that "humanity can recreate itself through the wonders of technology". Technology cannot have an "absolute freedom". "The process of globalization could replace ideologies with technology" (§ 68-72). Connected with technological development are the "means of social communications", called to promote "the dignity of persons and peoples" (§ 73).
A particularly crucial battleground in "today's cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics". The Pope goes on to add: "Reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence". The social question has become an "anthropological question". Research on the foetus, on cloning, "are being promoted by today's culture", believing it has "mastered every mystery". The Pope expresses his fear of a "systematic eugenic programming of births" (§ 74-75). He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth". And he concludes, by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
In his conclusion, the Pope underlines that development "needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer"; it needs &quo t;love and forgiveness, self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace" (§ 78-79).
Here is the synthesis the Vatican press office compiled of Benedict XVI's third encyclical titled "Caritas in Veritate" (Charity in Truth), which was published today. The synthesis highlights the main themes of the encyclical.
* * *
"Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness" is "the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity": thus begins "Caritas in Veritate," the Encyclical addressed to the Catholic world and "to all people of good will".
In the Introduction, the Pope reminds us that "charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine". On the other hand, given "the risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living", it is linked with truth. And cautions us: "A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance" (§ 1-4).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, "the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation" (§ 5). Benedict XVI dwells upon two "criteria that govern moral action" that come from the "charity in truth" principle: Justice and the common good. Every Christian is called to love through an "institutional path" which has an incidence on the life of the pólis, of life in society (§ 6-7). The Church, he insists, "does not have technical solutions to offer"; however, she has "a mission of truth to accomplish" for "a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation" (§ 8-9).
The first chapter of the document is about Paul VI's Message of Populorum Progressio. "Without the perspective of eternal life -- the Pope warns us -- human progress in this world is denied breathing-space". Without God, development becomes negative, "dehumanized" (§ 10-12).
Paul VI, one can read, stressed on "the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice" (§ 13) In "Humanae Vitae", Paul VI "shows the strong ties between life ethics and social ethics" (§ 14-15). He explains the concept of vocation in "Populorum Progressio". "Development is vocation" because "it derives from a transcendent call". He goes on to underline that it is thus "integral", that is, it has to "promote the good of every man and of the whole man". "Faith -- he adds -- does not rely on privilege or positions of power", "but only on Christ" (§ 16-18). Paul VI shows that "the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order". They are above all in the will, thought and even more "in the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples". "As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers". We must therefore mobilise ourselves, so that economics evolves "towards fully human outcomes" (§ 19-20).
In the second chapter, the Pope deals with Human development in our time. Profit as the exclusive goal "without the common good as its ultimate end, risks destroying wealth and creating poverty". He goes on to mention some distortions of development: financial dealing that is "largely speculative", migration of peoples "often provoked" and then insufficiently attended to, and "the unregulated exploitation of the earth's resources". Before such interconnected problems, the Pope calls for "a new humanistic synthesis". The crisis "obliges us to re-plan our journey" (§ 21).
Development today, says the Pope, "has many overlapping layers". "The world's wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase", with new forms of poverty emerging. Corruption, he fears, is present in countries rich and poor; too often, multinational enterprises do not respect the rights of the workers. Besides, "international aids has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions" both of donors and of beneficiaries. At the same time, says the Pope, "there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge on the part of rich countries, through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual prope rty, especially in the field of health care" (§ 22).
Since the end of the "blocs", John Paul II had been asking for a global "re-examination of development", but this "has been achieved only in part". There is today "a re-evaluation" of the roles of the "State's public authorities", and one can foresee an increase in the "political participation in civil society, nationally and internationally". The Pope then turns his attention to the search, by rich countries, for areas in which to outsource production at low cost. "These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems", with "grave danger for the rights of workers". To this, one has to add that "the cuts in social spending, often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks". In any case, one can observe that "governments , for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom of labour unions". Those who rule are reminded that "the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity" (§ 23-25).
On a cultural level, the possibility of interaction opens new perspectives of dialogue, but with a double danger. First, there can be a cultural eclecticism in which all cultures are viewed as "substantially equivalent". The opposite danger is that of "cultural levelling", "the indiscriminate acceptance of types of conduct and life-styles" (§ 26). The Pope then turns his attention to the scandal that hunger represents. What is missing is a "network of economic institutions" capable of confronting this emergency. One must hope for "new possibilities" in the techniques of agriculture and land reform in developing countries (§ 27).
Benedict XVI then underlines that the re spect for life "cannot in any way be detached" from the development of peoples. Various parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control which "go as far as to impose abortion". In economically developed countries, there is "an anti-birth mentality, frequent attempts (being) made to export this mentality to other States as if it were a form of cultural progress". In addition, there is "reason to suspect that development aid is sometimes linked" to "specific healthcare policies which de facto involve the imposition" of birth control. The "laws permitting euthanasia" are another matter for concern. "When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good" (§ 28).
There is another aspect connected to development: the right to religious freedom. Violence "puts the brakes on authentic development", and this "applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism".
At the same time, promotion of atheism in many countries "obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources" (§ 29). For development needs the interaction of the various levels of knowledge, put in harmony through charity (§ 30-31). One must hope that the economic choices continue "to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment" for everyone. Benedict XVI warns us against "short-term -- sometimes very short-term -- economy, which leads to "lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers" in order to "increase the country's international competitiveness". For this, he exhorts us to correct some dysfunctions of the development models as is required today by the "earth's state of ecological health". He concludes with globalization: "Without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions". Therefore, we have to deal with "a new and creative challenge" (§ 32-33).
Fraternity, economic Development and civil society is the theme of the 3rd chapter of the Encyclical, opening with a praise of the experience of giving, often unrecognised "because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life". The conviction that economics are free from the "influences of a moral character" "has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way". Development, "if it is to be authentically human", must "make room for the principle of gratuitousness" (§ 34). This is particularly relevant regarding the market.
"Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfil its proper economic function". The market "cannot rely only on itself", it "must draw its moral energies from other subjects" and must not consider the poor as a "burden, but a resource". The market must not become "the place where the strong subdue the weak". Commercial logic needs to be "directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility". The market is not negative by nature. Therefore, what is to be challenged is man, his "moral conscience and responsibility". The present crisis shows that the "traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated". At the same time, the Pope reminds us that economics do not eliminate the role of the State, and requires "just laws". Calling to mind Centesimus Annus, he points to the "necessity of a system with three subjects: the ma rket, the State and civil society", and calls for ways to "civilizing the economy". We need "economic forms based on solidarity". The market and politics need "individuals who are open to reciprocal gift" (§ 35-39).
In the 4th chapter, the Encyclical deals with the Development of people, rights and duties, the environment. One can notice the "claims to a ‘right to excess'" in the affluent societies, while food and water are lacking in certain underdeveloped regions. "Individual rights when detached from a framework of duties can run wild". Rights and duties are in connexion to an ethical context. If, on the other hand, their basis is only "to be found in the deliberations of an assembly of citizens", they are liable to be "changed at any time". Governments and international bodies must not forget "the objectivity and ‘inviolability' of rights" (§ 43). On this matter , one can dwell upon the "problems associated with population growth". It is a "mistake" to "consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment". The Pope reaffirms that sexuality cannot be "reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment". One cannot regulate sexuality through "strategies of mandatory birth control". He then goes on to underline that "morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource". "States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family" (§ 44).
"The economy, he adds, needs ethics in order to function correctly -- not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centred". The same centrality of the human person must be the guiding principle "in development programmes" of international cooperation, in which the beneficiaries should always be involved. "Intern ational organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic machinery", "often excessively costly". The Pope notices that too often "the poor serve to perpetuate expensive bureaucracies". Hence his call for a "complete transparency" concerning funds received (§ 45-47).
The last paragraphs of the chapter are devoted to the environment. For the believer, nature is a gift of God, to be used in a responsible way. In this context, our attention is brought to consider the energy problem. The fact that some States and power groups "hoard non-renewable energy resources" constitutes "a grave obstacle to development in poor countries". Therefore, the international community should "find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources". "The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption", while at the same time "encourage research into alternative forms of energy".
Basically, "what is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new life-styles". A style which, up to now in most parts of the world, "is prone to hedonism and consumerism". The decisive issue, therefore, is "the overall moral tenor of society". The Pope goes on to caution: "If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death", "the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology", including that of environmental ecology (§ 48-52).
The cooperation of the human family is at the heart of the 5th chapter, in which Benedict XVI shows that "the development of peoples depend above all on a recognition that the human race is a single family". On the other hand, one can read that the Christian religion can contribute to development "only if God has a place in the public realm". By "denying the right to profess one's religion in public", politics "takes on a domineering and aggressive character". The Pope warns: "Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue" between reason and religious faith. A breach that "comes only at an enormous price to human development" (§ 53-56).
The Pope then examines the principle of subsidiarity, which offers a help to the human person "via the autonomy of intermediate bodies". Subsidiarity "is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state" and is well-suited to direct globalization towards its authentic human development. International aids "can sometimes lock people into a state of dependence", hence all subjects of the civil society, and not only the rulers, should be involved. "Too often, aid has served to create only fringe markets for the products&qu ot; of these countries (§ 57-58). The Pope exhorts the economically developed nations to "allocate larger portions" of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations undertaken. He then advocates a greater access to education and more towards "the complete formation of the person", for relativism makes everyone poorer. An example is given by the perverse phenomenon of sex tourism. "It is sad to note that this activity takes place with the support of local governments, with silence from those in the tourists' countries of origin, and with the complicity of many of the tour operators" (§ 59-61).
The Pope then deals with the phenomenon of migration, with "epoch-making" proportions. "No country can be expected to address today's problems of migration by itself". Every migrant is "a human person" who "possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by e veryone and in every circumstance". The Pope asks that the foreign workers be not considered as a merchandise and shows the "direct link between poverty and unemployment". He pleads for a decent employment for all, and invites the authorities other than those in politics to focus their attention to the workers of countries where the social rights are violated (§ 62-64).
Finance, "after its misuse which has wreaked such havoc on the real economy, needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards development". "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity". In addition, the Pope calls for a "regulation of the financial sector" to safeguard weaker parties (§ 65-66).
The last paragraph of the chapter deals with the "strongly felt need" for a "reform of the UN" and of the "economic institutions and international finance".
There is a n "urgent need of a true world political authority", which seeks to "observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity". An authority vested with "effective power". The Pope concludes with a call to establish "a greater degree of international ordering" for the management of globalization (§ 67).
The 6th and final chapter is centred on the development of peoples and technology. The Pope cautions us against the "Promethean presumption" which would have us believe that "humanity can recreate itself through the wonders of technology". Technology cannot have an "absolute freedom". "The process of globalization could replace ideologies with technology" (§ 68-72). Connected with technological development are the "means of social communications", called to promote "the dignity of persons and peoples" (§ 73).
A particularly crucial battleground in "today's cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics". The Pope goes on to add: "Reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence". The social question has become an "anthropological question". Research on the foetus, on cloning, "are being promoted by today's culture", believing it has "mastered every mystery". The Pope expresses his fear of a "systematic eugenic programming of births" (§ 74-75). He adds: "Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth". And he concludes, by exhorting us to have a "new heart" in order to rise "above a materialistic vision of human events" (§ 76-77).
In his conclusion, the Pope underlines that development "needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer"; it needs &quo t;love and forgiveness, self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace" (§ 78-79).
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Vatican Address at Congress on Women
"There Will Be No New Feminism Without God"
Here is a translation of the address Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave at the conclusion of the 1st International Conference on Woman and Human Rights.
The March 20-21 conference focused on the theme of "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights."
* * *
1. It is for me to say a conclusive word at the end of this 1st International Conference on "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights," which witnessed a broad and passionate intervention in the debate on the different subjects proposed in the program. For all this we want to thank the Lord who has helped us and guided us, illuminating with his Spirit all that was good and significant which was carried out in our meeting. I wish to express my profound gratitude to professor Olimpia Tarzia, president of the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family, and to Mrs. Karen M. Hurley, president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, for having associated their organizations to this International Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. To work together, with respect for our reciprocal competencies and functions, has been a very effective and farsighted way to address the problems of our time. My gratitude and yours is also directed to the speakers who introduced masterfully the different working sessions. Allow me to thank monsignor Crepaldi, who does beautiful work behind the scenes, the members of the Pontifical Council and above all doctor Flaminia Giovanelli, who has spent time and energy, with much love and tireless generosity for the success of the Conference. My heartfelt thanks to the interpreters who, with their usual professionalism, have enable us to understand, to talk and to listen to one another.
2. We express our particular gratitude to the Holy Father Benedict XVI, who has made us feel his paternity and proximity sending us a message of confidence and hope, rich with the suggestive proposal of a Christianity of yes: yes to God, Father of the whole of humanity and Creator of man and woman in his image and likeness; of a Christianity of yes to life, to all life and to the life of all, always, above all to that life that is threatened by extreme poverty, denied and disfigured by violence and war, rejected with abortion and euthanasia, arbitrarily manipulated by new technologies, misunderstood by old and new slaveries; of a Christianity of yes to the family founded on marriage for love, unitive and fecund, between man and woman, whose sexual difference is the reflection of a God who is creative charity in the perfect relationship of love between the Father, the Son in the Holy Spirit; a Christianity of yes to women and their genius capable of embellishing the difficult path of humanity in the historical and cultural perspective of that humanism that Paul VI described it prophetically in "Populorum Progressio," when he affirmed that it should be integral, solidary and open to God; of a Christianity of yes to confidence because, with realism and wisdom, it is able to evangelize the hope of the men and women of our time who are in extreme need, without turning to desperate and paralyzing positions that, in the end, imply a sinful lack of faith in God, who is always and forever He who with provident love governs the destinies of history; a Christianity of yes to life, to the human person, to solidarity and to the future. Our conference ends with this joyful and promising desire: that Christian women will choose to be, with all their being, the interpreters and leaders of this Christianity of yes. It seems to me that this is the path that must be undertaken to give consistency and form to this new feminism, which was also requested in the message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
3. The challenges we have before us to carry out this new feminism have been manifested in the works of our conference. They are challenges born and developed within the climate of modernity and post-modernity, characterized in their essence by the projects and experiences, collective and generalized, common to the so-called feminine emancipation, today a global sign and indelible mark of our time, though with very different manifestations in the different continental realities. Feminine emancipation has been and is an historical event, marked by ambivalent and contrasting meanings, on which must be exercised a constant, patient, intelligent and wise Christian discernment, to extract the good, combat the evil, and guide the uncertain: a Christian discernment inspired and guided by an integral and solidaristic humanism, firmly directed to advancing the civilization of love.
It is not part of the literary genre to repeat everything that has been said and debated over these two days. Nevertheless, I cannot exempt myself from recalling hastily some realms in which this discernment is being required, today in a particular way because of the urgent character that some challenges present.
a) The first realm refers to the relationship between nature and culture, because it is on this relationship that the fundamental question is at stake: what is the human person, sexual difference, identity of marriage and the family, etc. To deny nature, namely, to deny that the human person is first of all a project willed and carried out by God the Creator, which it is not good to subvert arbitrarily, is the central point that must be very clear. When nature is denied, the human person is no longer a project, but becomes inexorably a product either of culture or of technology. In this perspective, there would be no genuine emancipation, but an inexorable dehumanization. The new feminism cannot ignore this challenge. A feminism must be promoted inspired by a concept of the person understood as project of God -- a project to accept, respect and realize with responsible liberty -- and reject a feminism inspired in a concept of the person understood as product of the diverse and changing present cultural landscape, often expression of greater skillfully manipulated changes. The Christian faith has the power to inspire a consistent vision of the world and Christian women must be open to dialogue with the other many visions that compete to win the minds and hearts of our contemporaries. Pluralism is fully admissible and also obligatory, when it is an expression of the good and of the multiplicity of itineraries that can be undertaken to carry it out, or also when it expresses the complexity of the questions on which a definitive vision cannot be given. However, when principles of the natural moral law or the very dignity of any human being are at stake, there can be no compromise. There are non-negotiable questions that do not allow for abolition and democracy cannot be a commitment with a downward tendency, because in this case the common good would be transformed in the lesser common evil.
b) The second realm that calls for our careful discernment has to do with the differences of context, above all of a cultural character, which influence the projects of promotion of woman. Despite the global world, the problems are and continue to be local, and hence require differentiated and realistic approaches. However, if a strategic line must be proposed for a new feminism, nourished by the liberating force of the Gospel, I would say that it is necessary to free oneself courageously from all the cultural baggage -- that which is typical of underdevelopment and over-development -- which mortifies the integral dignity of woman and her fundamental rights as person, impeding her genuine development and contribution to development. The baggage that must be denounced, such as structures of sin -- is still plentiful, too plentiful and it denies God's project. The key path to free ourselves from it is to invest abundantly in women, through education and formation. Many cultural and socio-economic obstacles can be overcome with formation. If the human capital is not cultivated, the social capital also diminishes and the economic capital does not function. When a person is poor in formation, society is also impoverished and the economic mechanism does not function either. Evidently, this discourse is true for all the continents, developed and developing, because when we speak of formation we must consider that, in order to be authentic, it must be made up of an integral and solidary humanism. As the present economic/financial crisis demonstrates, in the center of the same is manifested a dangerous deficit of moral and religious values and, hence, of an integral formation. The answer cannot just be technical/financial, but in the first place ethical, cultural and religious. To be rich does not coincide with being integrally developed. The economy does not exist on one hand and ethics or religion on the other. Justice does not exist on one hand, and love and charity on the other. Production does not exist on one hand and distribution on the other. Efficiency does not exist on one hand and solidarity on the other. The natural law does not exist on one hand and the new law on the other. To think of things this way means to accept that the world can function without God. If God's salvation does not affect all planes, in the end it is expelled from them all. This does not mean that the latter must invade them, but that its light guarantees their own autonomy and liberty, placing them in the truth.
c) The third realm I wish to touch upon, and on which a profound discernment is necessary, is that of the economic inequalities that, in a scandalous way, characterize our world, still marked by tragic phenomena such as hunger, pandemic illnesses and widespread poverty. It is true that in these areas, much progress has been made, but it is also true that there is still much to be done. Without a doubt, extreme poverty today appears in the suffering faces of women and children, an unacceptable scandal. If a new feminism is to be proposed, it cannot but have as an objective a more just and solidary world. Unfortunately, on this front, at all national and international levels, an infinity of words are wasted full of good intentions, but not going beyond this, as demonstrated by the uncertain policies of public aid to development, recently reconfirmed also in the International Conference of Doha on the financing of development. The Holy Father Benedict XVI, who will soon give us his first social encyclical, has forcefully recalled -- in his Message for this year's World Day of Peace -- the need, which cannot be postponed, to combat poverty in order to build peace. I am increasingly convinced that the battle against many poverties of the world is won if it begins from below, with exemplary initiatives, such as micro-finance and micro-credit, in which many women of the world are playing leading roles.
4. There will be no new feminism without God, above all if God is not discovered as Love. Monks -- the Pope said in Paris -- in seeking God also found the key to human relations, as no positive structure of the world can prevail where souls become savage. On this is based the right of citizenship -- to take up again the words of "Centesimus Annus" (No. 5) of John Paul II -- of the Christian faith in society, the right of God not to be left on the bench or put to one side. God's creation is according to truth, because God is Logos, but it is also according to charity, because God is love. Hence, in man's own nature one reads both the light of a design of authenticity on him and also a design of love. In fact, our nature is made up at the same time of intelligence and heart. Relations with others are not based only on concepts, but also and above all on acts of mutual love. Society needs rules that conform to human nature, but it also needs fraternal relations, of genuine fraternal love. The old feminism was based on egocentric individualism and, often, egoistic. The new feminism must be interlaced with love for life, the family and others; a feminism governed by charity, the queen of virtues. Thank you!
Here is a translation of the address Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, gave at the conclusion of the 1st International Conference on Woman and Human Rights.
The March 20-21 conference focused on the theme of "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights."
* * *
1. It is for me to say a conclusive word at the end of this 1st International Conference on "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights," which witnessed a broad and passionate intervention in the debate on the different subjects proposed in the program. For all this we want to thank the Lord who has helped us and guided us, illuminating with his Spirit all that was good and significant which was carried out in our meeting. I wish to express my profound gratitude to professor Olimpia Tarzia, president of the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family, and to Mrs. Karen M. Hurley, president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, for having associated their organizations to this International Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. To work together, with respect for our reciprocal competencies and functions, has been a very effective and farsighted way to address the problems of our time. My gratitude and yours is also directed to the speakers who introduced masterfully the different working sessions. Allow me to thank monsignor Crepaldi, who does beautiful work behind the scenes, the members of the Pontifical Council and above all doctor Flaminia Giovanelli, who has spent time and energy, with much love and tireless generosity for the success of the Conference. My heartfelt thanks to the interpreters who, with their usual professionalism, have enable us to understand, to talk and to listen to one another.
2. We express our particular gratitude to the Holy Father Benedict XVI, who has made us feel his paternity and proximity sending us a message of confidence and hope, rich with the suggestive proposal of a Christianity of yes: yes to God, Father of the whole of humanity and Creator of man and woman in his image and likeness; of a Christianity of yes to life, to all life and to the life of all, always, above all to that life that is threatened by extreme poverty, denied and disfigured by violence and war, rejected with abortion and euthanasia, arbitrarily manipulated by new technologies, misunderstood by old and new slaveries; of a Christianity of yes to the family founded on marriage for love, unitive and fecund, between man and woman, whose sexual difference is the reflection of a God who is creative charity in the perfect relationship of love between the Father, the Son in the Holy Spirit; a Christianity of yes to women and their genius capable of embellishing the difficult path of humanity in the historical and cultural perspective of that humanism that Paul VI described it prophetically in "Populorum Progressio," when he affirmed that it should be integral, solidary and open to God; of a Christianity of yes to confidence because, with realism and wisdom, it is able to evangelize the hope of the men and women of our time who are in extreme need, without turning to desperate and paralyzing positions that, in the end, imply a sinful lack of faith in God, who is always and forever He who with provident love governs the destinies of history; a Christianity of yes to life, to the human person, to solidarity and to the future. Our conference ends with this joyful and promising desire: that Christian women will choose to be, with all their being, the interpreters and leaders of this Christianity of yes. It seems to me that this is the path that must be undertaken to give consistency and form to this new feminism, which was also requested in the message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
3. The challenges we have before us to carry out this new feminism have been manifested in the works of our conference. They are challenges born and developed within the climate of modernity and post-modernity, characterized in their essence by the projects and experiences, collective and generalized, common to the so-called feminine emancipation, today a global sign and indelible mark of our time, though with very different manifestations in the different continental realities. Feminine emancipation has been and is an historical event, marked by ambivalent and contrasting meanings, on which must be exercised a constant, patient, intelligent and wise Christian discernment, to extract the good, combat the evil, and guide the uncertain: a Christian discernment inspired and guided by an integral and solidaristic humanism, firmly directed to advancing the civilization of love.
It is not part of the literary genre to repeat everything that has been said and debated over these two days. Nevertheless, I cannot exempt myself from recalling hastily some realms in which this discernment is being required, today in a particular way because of the urgent character that some challenges present.
a) The first realm refers to the relationship between nature and culture, because it is on this relationship that the fundamental question is at stake: what is the human person, sexual difference, identity of marriage and the family, etc. To deny nature, namely, to deny that the human person is first of all a project willed and carried out by God the Creator, which it is not good to subvert arbitrarily, is the central point that must be very clear. When nature is denied, the human person is no longer a project, but becomes inexorably a product either of culture or of technology. In this perspective, there would be no genuine emancipation, but an inexorable dehumanization. The new feminism cannot ignore this challenge. A feminism must be promoted inspired by a concept of the person understood as project of God -- a project to accept, respect and realize with responsible liberty -- and reject a feminism inspired in a concept of the person understood as product of the diverse and changing present cultural landscape, often expression of greater skillfully manipulated changes. The Christian faith has the power to inspire a consistent vision of the world and Christian women must be open to dialogue with the other many visions that compete to win the minds and hearts of our contemporaries. Pluralism is fully admissible and also obligatory, when it is an expression of the good and of the multiplicity of itineraries that can be undertaken to carry it out, or also when it expresses the complexity of the questions on which a definitive vision cannot be given. However, when principles of the natural moral law or the very dignity of any human being are at stake, there can be no compromise. There are non-negotiable questions that do not allow for abolition and democracy cannot be a commitment with a downward tendency, because in this case the common good would be transformed in the lesser common evil.
b) The second realm that calls for our careful discernment has to do with the differences of context, above all of a cultural character, which influence the projects of promotion of woman. Despite the global world, the problems are and continue to be local, and hence require differentiated and realistic approaches. However, if a strategic line must be proposed for a new feminism, nourished by the liberating force of the Gospel, I would say that it is necessary to free oneself courageously from all the cultural baggage -- that which is typical of underdevelopment and over-development -- which mortifies the integral dignity of woman and her fundamental rights as person, impeding her genuine development and contribution to development. The baggage that must be denounced, such as structures of sin -- is still plentiful, too plentiful and it denies God's project. The key path to free ourselves from it is to invest abundantly in women, through education and formation. Many cultural and socio-economic obstacles can be overcome with formation. If the human capital is not cultivated, the social capital also diminishes and the economic capital does not function. When a person is poor in formation, society is also impoverished and the economic mechanism does not function either. Evidently, this discourse is true for all the continents, developed and developing, because when we speak of formation we must consider that, in order to be authentic, it must be made up of an integral and solidary humanism. As the present economic/financial crisis demonstrates, in the center of the same is manifested a dangerous deficit of moral and religious values and, hence, of an integral formation. The answer cannot just be technical/financial, but in the first place ethical, cultural and religious. To be rich does not coincide with being integrally developed. The economy does not exist on one hand and ethics or religion on the other. Justice does not exist on one hand, and love and charity on the other. Production does not exist on one hand and distribution on the other. Efficiency does not exist on one hand and solidarity on the other. The natural law does not exist on one hand and the new law on the other. To think of things this way means to accept that the world can function without God. If God's salvation does not affect all planes, in the end it is expelled from them all. This does not mean that the latter must invade them, but that its light guarantees their own autonomy and liberty, placing them in the truth.
c) The third realm I wish to touch upon, and on which a profound discernment is necessary, is that of the economic inequalities that, in a scandalous way, characterize our world, still marked by tragic phenomena such as hunger, pandemic illnesses and widespread poverty. It is true that in these areas, much progress has been made, but it is also true that there is still much to be done. Without a doubt, extreme poverty today appears in the suffering faces of women and children, an unacceptable scandal. If a new feminism is to be proposed, it cannot but have as an objective a more just and solidary world. Unfortunately, on this front, at all national and international levels, an infinity of words are wasted full of good intentions, but not going beyond this, as demonstrated by the uncertain policies of public aid to development, recently reconfirmed also in the International Conference of Doha on the financing of development. The Holy Father Benedict XVI, who will soon give us his first social encyclical, has forcefully recalled -- in his Message for this year's World Day of Peace -- the need, which cannot be postponed, to combat poverty in order to build peace. I am increasingly convinced that the battle against many poverties of the world is won if it begins from below, with exemplary initiatives, such as micro-finance and micro-credit, in which many women of the world are playing leading roles.
4. There will be no new feminism without God, above all if God is not discovered as Love. Monks -- the Pope said in Paris -- in seeking God also found the key to human relations, as no positive structure of the world can prevail where souls become savage. On this is based the right of citizenship -- to take up again the words of "Centesimus Annus" (No. 5) of John Paul II -- of the Christian faith in society, the right of God not to be left on the bench or put to one side. God's creation is according to truth, because God is Logos, but it is also according to charity, because God is love. Hence, in man's own nature one reads both the light of a design of authenticity on him and also a design of love. In fact, our nature is made up at the same time of intelligence and heart. Relations with others are not based only on concepts, but also and above all on acts of mutual love. Society needs rules that conform to human nature, but it also needs fraternal relations, of genuine fraternal love. The old feminism was based on egocentric individualism and, often, egoistic. The new feminism must be interlaced with love for life, the family and others; a feminism governed by charity, the queen of virtues. Thank you!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Cameroon Bishops' Statement on AIDS
"The Holy Father Has Put Man at the Center of His Concern"
.- Here is a translation of the statement of the episcopal conference of Cameroon on the negative media response to Benedict XVI comments on the role of condoms in the fight against AIDS.
* * *
After the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon, a certain press echoed the supposed unease created by the Holy Father's statements on the use of condoms and on HIV/AIDS. This press continues to label the Pope's position on the use of condoms as irresponsible, and leads one to understand that his statements on this subject had a negative effect and affected his visit to Cameroon negatively.
Conscious of the consequences that such misinformation could cause, the national bishops' conference of Cameroon, through the voice of its president, Archbishop Simon-Victor Tonyé Bakot, specifies the following:
When the Pope was on the plane that would bring him to Cameroon, he granted a press interview on board the plane itself. This interview was limited to six questions, of which the fifth was the controversy posed by the journalist of France 2, Philippe Visseyrias:
"Holiness, among the many evils that afflict Africa, in particular is the spread of AIDS. The position of the Catholic Church on the way to fight against it is often considered unrealistic and ineffective. Will you address this subject during your trip?"
Here is the Holy Father's complete answer:
"I would say the contrary. I think that the most efficient reality, the most present at the front of the struggle against AIDS, is precisely the Catholic Church, with her movements, with her various organizations. I am thinking of the Sant'Egidio Community that does so much, visibly and also invisibly, for the struggle against AIDS, of the Camilliani, of all the sisters who are at the disposition of the sick.
"I would say that this problem of AIDS can't be overcome only with publicity slogans. If there is not the soul, if the Africans are not helped, the scourge can't be resolved with the distribution of condoms: on the contrary, there is a risk of increasing the problem. The solution can only be found in a double commitment: first, a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual and human renewal that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another; and second, a true friendship, also and above all for those who suffer, the willingness -- even with sacrifice and self-denial -- to be with the suffering. And these are the factors that help and that lead to visible progress.
"Because of this, I would say that this, our double effort to renew man interiorly, to give spiritual and human strength for correct behavior with regard to one's body and that of another, and this capacity to suffer with those who suffer, to remain present in situations of trial. It seems to me that this is the correct answer, and the Church does this and thus offers a very great and important contribution. We thank all those who do this."
The bishops of Cameroon are astonished by what the journalists retained from this very complete statement of the Pope, focused only on opposition to condoms, concealing the whole action of the Church in the fight against AIDS and the care of the sick. They are astonished above all that the press attempts to make people believe that there is unease in Cameroonian opinion on the Holy Father's visit, as a consequence of his statements.
The Cameroonian episcopate underlines very strongly that Cameroonians welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with joy and enthusiasm, thus confirming their legendary hospitality. But by this, it does not deny the reality of AIDS, or its devastating effect on families in Cameroon.
The Holy Father has put man at the center of his concern and has reminded us of the teachings of Christ and of the Church. The Catholic Church's commitment to persons living with the AIDS virus, the support of infected and affected persons, are priorities for the Catholic Church. The support of persons and families as well as the teaching of the Church allow each one to appreciate himself in his dignity as adoptive child of God. This dignity obliges one to look at others and at the world in another way. Instead of seeking his own interest, the Church proposes to man everlasting values.
The Catholic Church everywhere is committed daily in the fight against AIDS. In this connection, she has created structures adapted for the reception, control and treatment of HIV infected persons. This assistance is at the same time moral, psychological, nutritional, medical and spiritual. Herein lies the Holy Father's first message on AIDS.
Together with this multifaceted and constant action, the Church, as moral force, has the imperative duty to remind Christians that all disordered sexual practice outside of marriage is dangerous and favors the spread of AIDS. This is why she preaches abstinence for single people and fidelity within the couple. It is her duty. She cannot subtract herself from it. Herein lies the Holy Father's second message.
Consequently, the bishops of Cameroon lament that the Western media have clearly forgotten other essential aspects of the Holy Father's African message on poverty, reconciliation, justice and peace. This is very serious, knowing the number of dead that other sickness cause in Africa, and on which there is no true publicity; knowing the number of dead that fratricidal fights cause in Africa due to injustice and poverty.
With the Pope, the bishops of Cameroon remind all Christians and all Cameroonians:
1) That sexual relations have as their first end the procreation desired by God himself at the beginning of creation. Marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal framework willed by God for this procreation.
2) That the Catholic Church does not reject AIDS patients and in no way encourages the spread of the sickness as certain media lead one to believe. She is and will always be active in the multifaceted fight against the sickness.
The bishops of Cameroon
.- Here is a translation of the statement of the episcopal conference of Cameroon on the negative media response to Benedict XVI comments on the role of condoms in the fight against AIDS.
* * *
After the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon, a certain press echoed the supposed unease created by the Holy Father's statements on the use of condoms and on HIV/AIDS. This press continues to label the Pope's position on the use of condoms as irresponsible, and leads one to understand that his statements on this subject had a negative effect and affected his visit to Cameroon negatively.
Conscious of the consequences that such misinformation could cause, the national bishops' conference of Cameroon, through the voice of its president, Archbishop Simon-Victor Tonyé Bakot, specifies the following:
When the Pope was on the plane that would bring him to Cameroon, he granted a press interview on board the plane itself. This interview was limited to six questions, of which the fifth was the controversy posed by the journalist of France 2, Philippe Visseyrias:
"Holiness, among the many evils that afflict Africa, in particular is the spread of AIDS. The position of the Catholic Church on the way to fight against it is often considered unrealistic and ineffective. Will you address this subject during your trip?"
Here is the Holy Father's complete answer:
"I would say the contrary. I think that the most efficient reality, the most present at the front of the struggle against AIDS, is precisely the Catholic Church, with her movements, with her various organizations. I am thinking of the Sant'Egidio Community that does so much, visibly and also invisibly, for the struggle against AIDS, of the Camilliani, of all the sisters who are at the disposition of the sick.
"I would say that this problem of AIDS can't be overcome only with publicity slogans. If there is not the soul, if the Africans are not helped, the scourge can't be resolved with the distribution of condoms: on the contrary, there is a risk of increasing the problem. The solution can only be found in a double commitment: first, a humanization of sexuality, that is, a spiritual and human renewal that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another; and second, a true friendship, also and above all for those who suffer, the willingness -- even with sacrifice and self-denial -- to be with the suffering. And these are the factors that help and that lead to visible progress.
"Because of this, I would say that this, our double effort to renew man interiorly, to give spiritual and human strength for correct behavior with regard to one's body and that of another, and this capacity to suffer with those who suffer, to remain present in situations of trial. It seems to me that this is the correct answer, and the Church does this and thus offers a very great and important contribution. We thank all those who do this."
The bishops of Cameroon are astonished by what the journalists retained from this very complete statement of the Pope, focused only on opposition to condoms, concealing the whole action of the Church in the fight against AIDS and the care of the sick. They are astonished above all that the press attempts to make people believe that there is unease in Cameroonian opinion on the Holy Father's visit, as a consequence of his statements.
The Cameroonian episcopate underlines very strongly that Cameroonians welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with joy and enthusiasm, thus confirming their legendary hospitality. But by this, it does not deny the reality of AIDS, or its devastating effect on families in Cameroon.
The Holy Father has put man at the center of his concern and has reminded us of the teachings of Christ and of the Church. The Catholic Church's commitment to persons living with the AIDS virus, the support of infected and affected persons, are priorities for the Catholic Church. The support of persons and families as well as the teaching of the Church allow each one to appreciate himself in his dignity as adoptive child of God. This dignity obliges one to look at others and at the world in another way. Instead of seeking his own interest, the Church proposes to man everlasting values.
The Catholic Church everywhere is committed daily in the fight against AIDS. In this connection, she has created structures adapted for the reception, control and treatment of HIV infected persons. This assistance is at the same time moral, psychological, nutritional, medical and spiritual. Herein lies the Holy Father's first message on AIDS.
Together with this multifaceted and constant action, the Church, as moral force, has the imperative duty to remind Christians that all disordered sexual practice outside of marriage is dangerous and favors the spread of AIDS. This is why she preaches abstinence for single people and fidelity within the couple. It is her duty. She cannot subtract herself from it. Herein lies the Holy Father's second message.
Consequently, the bishops of Cameroon lament that the Western media have clearly forgotten other essential aspects of the Holy Father's African message on poverty, reconciliation, justice and peace. This is very serious, knowing the number of dead that other sickness cause in Africa, and on which there is no true publicity; knowing the number of dead that fratricidal fights cause in Africa due to injustice and poverty.
With the Pope, the bishops of Cameroon remind all Christians and all Cameroonians:
1) That sexual relations have as their first end the procreation desired by God himself at the beginning of creation. Marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal framework willed by God for this procreation.
2) That the Catholic Church does not reject AIDS patients and in no way encourages the spread of the sickness as certain media lead one to believe. She is and will always be active in the multifaceted fight against the sickness.
The bishops of Cameroon
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Stem Cells for Dummies
Explained by Senior Fellow at Culture of Life Foundation
By E. Christian Brugger
- Given the new Presidential order allowing federal funds for research using human embryonic stem cells, it might be helpful for readers to become more familiar with the terminology used in any discussion of controversies surrounding embryonic stem cell research.
What is a Stem Cell?
A stem cell, whether of the adult or embryonic type, is an undifferentiated cell (i.e., a cell that has not yet specialized into a particular cell type, e.g., liver cell, pancreatic cell, or cardiac cell) with two unique capacities: the first, for rapid and prolonged self-multiplication into daughter cells identical with itself; and the second, for development and differentiation into specific types of cells such as liver and cardiac cells.
What is a Stem Cell’s Potency?
A stem cell’s “potency” refers to its capacity for differentiation, that is, for developing into particular kinds of human cells, e.g. liver, kidney, blood, etc. Different types of stem cells have different scopes to their potency: e.g., totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent or unipotent. A totipotent cell is capable of differentiating into every tissue in the human body, including extra-embryonic support tissues necessary for human gestation (e.g., placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic sac); a single-celled embryo, also called a zygote, possesses the capacity of totipotency; also, the individual cells of an embryo’s body, called blastomeres, in the first few days of the embryo’s life are totipotent; if a blastomere splits off from the embryo’s body, it has the capacity for complete human development, which is how we get identical twins. A pluripotent cell is capable of differentiating into almost all the tissues of the human body, but not the extra-embryonic support tissues; embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. Stem cells can also be multipotent (capable of differentiating into the cells of a cell group type, e.g., blood cells) and unipotent (unable to differentiate into any other cell type than itself).
What are the Differences between Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells?
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are undifferentiated, self-renewing, pluripotent cells. They are harvested from the bodies of embryos at approximately day five of human development. At day five the embryo’s body takes the shape of a hollow sphere (the embryo at this time is called a “blastocyst”). The blastocyst has an outer cell layer and an inner cell mass (picture a basketball with a small group of marbles clumped together on the inside). The cells of the inner cell mass will eventually differentiate into the varied tissues of the person’s body; and the outer cell layer will develop into the placenta and other support tissues. But it is important to understand that at this point, both the outer cell layer and inner cell mass constitute the embryo’s body. The inner cell mass can be understood to be the embryo’s internal organs. These cells are what we call embryonic stem cells and have the capacity of pluripotency; they are coveted by ESC researchers precisely because of their pluripotency. Just as harvesting all the internal organs of an adult would kill the adult, harvesting the stem cells of an embryo kills the embryo.
Adult stem cells (ASCs) also have the capacities of self-proliferation and differentiation, but are not derived from the bodies of embryos. They are ‘adult’ not because they’re found only in adults, but because the tissue in which they’re found is differentiated tissue (as opposed to the undifferentiated tissue of an embryo’s body). Thus ASCs can be found in newborn tissue. In fact, some of the most clinically valuable ASCs are found in umbilical cord blood. Although some ASCs have been found with the capacity of pluripotency, most are only capable of differentiating into the tissue type or related group type of the tissue in which they’re found.
Ethical controversy surrounding stem cell research
Every reasonable person agrees that the clinical end being sought in stem cell research is praiseworthy -- namely, finding clinical solutions for remediating serious illnesses. Controversy surrounds the means by which that end is pursued. The familiar ethical question raised by ESC research is this: Is it justifiable to kill human embryos in order to explore potentially healing remedies for other persons? Those who judge human embryos to be human beings, albeit at an early stage of development, think it’s wrong. Those who believe embryos are “pre-human” entities, developmental precursors to whole human beings, think it sometimes can be justified.[1]
ASC research avoids this ethical problem by avoiding research on embryos altogether. The ethical questions surrounding ASC research then are similar to those involved with all research on human subjects: Do the benefits promised by the research outweigh the burdens imposed by it for the human subjects of the research? Is fully informed consent being secured? Is truthfulness in reporting of data being maintained? Are unwarranted promises of benefit being eschewed? And so on. If the answer to these is yes, then one may proceed with confidence that the research is legitimate. In fact, the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic bishops have consistently supported research on stem cells that does not exploit or destroy human embryos[2]. This support is reaffirmed in the new Vatican document on bioethical questions, Dignitas Personae[3].
Don’t current findings demonstrate that ESC research is clinically unnecessary?
This is a very important question and should be asked often of scientists and public officials. Let me elaborate it: since ASCs have already proven remarkably effective in treating serious diseases, including formerly untreatable diseases[4], and since ESC research, despite billions of dollars spent, has produced nothing but failures on the clinical front, and even human tragedies[5], and since the desire to develop clinically useful patient-specific pluripotent stem cells is being rapidly and efficiently fulfilled by the new and remarkable Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs)[6], why aren’t embryonic stem cells obsolete in the minds of scientists? Why does the scientific community insist on greater liberties for embryo-destructive experimentation when both moral reasoning and cutting edge science point in another direction? Why this lust for the embryo?[7]
I don’t have a satisfactory answer to this. Some researchers obviously believe that embryonic stem cells, despite current evidence, promise benefits that ASCs and iPSCs do not. I’m also told that many of the best researchers are turning away from ESCs because of the mounting problems they pose, and turning towards research with iPSCs. If this is the case, then the questions posed above need to be put frankly to our politicians, because some still seem to think that the future of stem cell research lies with ESCs.
In the shadow of President Obama’s executive order overturning the Bush stem cell policy, the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated on the House floor that the U.S. House will take up a bill in early April to overturn the 1996 Dickey-Wicker Amendment prohibiting federal funding from research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos [8]. With all we now know, why is Congress bent on spending taxpayer money for embryo destructive experimentation? Isn’t that scientifically retrogressive and economically wasteful, not to mention morally unjust to the embryos killed as a result of the decision and to taxpayers who object to public funds being used for such research when alternatives are available?
Postscript:
Some might be wondering what distinguishes the “Bush stem cell policy” (Aug. 2001) from the restrictions imposed by the Dickey-Wicker amendment (1996). Dickey-Wicker was passed before ESC research was launched in 1998 by the first successful isolation of ESCs by James A. Thomson’s lab at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It simply restricted funding on research that created or destroyed human embryos. After 1998, pressure was exerted on the Clinton administration to free up funds for this new ‘promising’ type of research. But Dickey-Wicker stood in the way. Thus, to sidestep the restrictions Clinton, as he was leaving office (2000), approved federal guidelines permitting the NIH to fund research on stem cells derived from ‘spare’ embryos slated for destruction at fertility clinics. Do you see the slight of hand? By the time stem cells are derived, the killing is over. If private funds paid for the killing, then the federal government would fund the subsequent research. Clinton’s lawyers argued that his guidelines conformed to Dickey-Wicker, and legalistically construed, they did. At once, the NIH began accepting grant proposals from scientists bent on embryo destructive research. Aware of the loophole, newly elected President George W. Bush passed an executive order permitting federal funds for ESC research only on certain pre-approved stem cell lines created by that date. Since stem cells can self-proliferate indefinitely, these sixty lines, he thought, would provide subject matter for years of viable research. But under the new policy, funding would be prohibited from all stem cell lines derived after August 2001. NIH grant proposals thereafter were carefully reviewed to ensure that federal funds would not be used to facilitate harm to human embryos. Obama’s recent presidential order overturned the Bush restrictions. Dickey-Wicker however still stands. But for how long?
Notes:
[1] I critiqued several of the most prominent theoretical arguments against the personhood of human embryos in my June 2008 CLF Brief entitled “Arguments for and Against the Personhood of the Embryo”, so I do not intend to engage that question here.
[2] See Pontifical Academy for Life, Declaration on the Production and the Scientific and Therapeutic Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (August 25, 2000); Catholic Online, “American Bishops Reaffirm Church Support for Adult Stem-Cell Research,” www.catholic.org, June 26, 2006, www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=20275.
[3] See Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Dignitas Personae (On Certain Bioethical Questions) (2008), nos. 24, 31, 32.
[4] For an enlightening updated summary of clinical successes using ASCs prepared by the Family Research Council, see
http://www.frc.org/insight/adult-stem-cell-success-stories-2008-update-july-december
[5] Recall the recent tragic story of the 9 year old Israeli boy, who received embryonic stem cell injections in Russia for a lethal brain disease, and contracted as a result tumors on his brain and spinal cord; see CBS News report, “Study: Stem Cell Injections Caused Tumors: Israeli Researchers Say Fetal Stem Cells Led To Benign Tumors For Boy With Rare Genetic Disease,” Feb. 17, 2009; available at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/17/health/main4808339.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_4808339
[6] Induced pluripotent stem cells are differentiated cells such as a skin cell that are “reprogrammed” back to a state of pluripotency. They were first reported in research with human cells in November 2007. I describe their advent and initial promise in my CLF Brief from January 2008, “A Moral Tsunami”. Since then dozens of studies have been carried out (and published) perfecting the initiate technique. For example, researchers at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., recently converted skin cells from patients with Parkinson’s disease into the type of neuron destroyed by the disease. Although the technique needs perfecting, it promises to provide a therapy one day that replaces the damaged neural tissue of Parkinson’s sufferers with healthy tissue derived from the patient’s own body, and therefore with no risk of immune rejection. See the NY Times on line report, “Converting Cells Shows Promise for Parkinson’s”, March 6, 2009, available at www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/health/06parkinsons.html
[7] See Bernadine Healy’s piece in US News and World Report on line, “Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete” March 04, 2009, available at http://health.usnews.com/blogs/heart-to-heart/2009/3/4/why-embryonic-stem-cells-are-obsolete.html
[8] The exchange between Hoyer and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 2009 can be read in the Congressional Record, House, page H3376, March 12, 2009.
* * *
E. Christian Brugger is a Senior Fellow of Ethics at the Culture of Life Foundation and is an associate professor of moral theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He received his D.Phil. from Oxford in 2000.
[Article published with permission of the Culture of Life Foundation (http://culture-of-life.org)]
By E. Christian Brugger
- Given the new Presidential order allowing federal funds for research using human embryonic stem cells, it might be helpful for readers to become more familiar with the terminology used in any discussion of controversies surrounding embryonic stem cell research.
What is a Stem Cell?
A stem cell, whether of the adult or embryonic type, is an undifferentiated cell (i.e., a cell that has not yet specialized into a particular cell type, e.g., liver cell, pancreatic cell, or cardiac cell) with two unique capacities: the first, for rapid and prolonged self-multiplication into daughter cells identical with itself; and the second, for development and differentiation into specific types of cells such as liver and cardiac cells.
What is a Stem Cell’s Potency?
A stem cell’s “potency” refers to its capacity for differentiation, that is, for developing into particular kinds of human cells, e.g. liver, kidney, blood, etc. Different types of stem cells have different scopes to their potency: e.g., totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent or unipotent. A totipotent cell is capable of differentiating into every tissue in the human body, including extra-embryonic support tissues necessary for human gestation (e.g., placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic sac); a single-celled embryo, also called a zygote, possesses the capacity of totipotency; also, the individual cells of an embryo’s body, called blastomeres, in the first few days of the embryo’s life are totipotent; if a blastomere splits off from the embryo’s body, it has the capacity for complete human development, which is how we get identical twins. A pluripotent cell is capable of differentiating into almost all the tissues of the human body, but not the extra-embryonic support tissues; embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. Stem cells can also be multipotent (capable of differentiating into the cells of a cell group type, e.g., blood cells) and unipotent (unable to differentiate into any other cell type than itself).
What are the Differences between Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells?
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are undifferentiated, self-renewing, pluripotent cells. They are harvested from the bodies of embryos at approximately day five of human development. At day five the embryo’s body takes the shape of a hollow sphere (the embryo at this time is called a “blastocyst”). The blastocyst has an outer cell layer and an inner cell mass (picture a basketball with a small group of marbles clumped together on the inside). The cells of the inner cell mass will eventually differentiate into the varied tissues of the person’s body; and the outer cell layer will develop into the placenta and other support tissues. But it is important to understand that at this point, both the outer cell layer and inner cell mass constitute the embryo’s body. The inner cell mass can be understood to be the embryo’s internal organs. These cells are what we call embryonic stem cells and have the capacity of pluripotency; they are coveted by ESC researchers precisely because of their pluripotency. Just as harvesting all the internal organs of an adult would kill the adult, harvesting the stem cells of an embryo kills the embryo.
Adult stem cells (ASCs) also have the capacities of self-proliferation and differentiation, but are not derived from the bodies of embryos. They are ‘adult’ not because they’re found only in adults, but because the tissue in which they’re found is differentiated tissue (as opposed to the undifferentiated tissue of an embryo’s body). Thus ASCs can be found in newborn tissue. In fact, some of the most clinically valuable ASCs are found in umbilical cord blood. Although some ASCs have been found with the capacity of pluripotency, most are only capable of differentiating into the tissue type or related group type of the tissue in which they’re found.
Ethical controversy surrounding stem cell research
Every reasonable person agrees that the clinical end being sought in stem cell research is praiseworthy -- namely, finding clinical solutions for remediating serious illnesses. Controversy surrounds the means by which that end is pursued. The familiar ethical question raised by ESC research is this: Is it justifiable to kill human embryos in order to explore potentially healing remedies for other persons? Those who judge human embryos to be human beings, albeit at an early stage of development, think it’s wrong. Those who believe embryos are “pre-human” entities, developmental precursors to whole human beings, think it sometimes can be justified.[1]
ASC research avoids this ethical problem by avoiding research on embryos altogether. The ethical questions surrounding ASC research then are similar to those involved with all research on human subjects: Do the benefits promised by the research outweigh the burdens imposed by it for the human subjects of the research? Is fully informed consent being secured? Is truthfulness in reporting of data being maintained? Are unwarranted promises of benefit being eschewed? And so on. If the answer to these is yes, then one may proceed with confidence that the research is legitimate. In fact, the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic bishops have consistently supported research on stem cells that does not exploit or destroy human embryos[2]. This support is reaffirmed in the new Vatican document on bioethical questions, Dignitas Personae[3].
Don’t current findings demonstrate that ESC research is clinically unnecessary?
This is a very important question and should be asked often of scientists and public officials. Let me elaborate it: since ASCs have already proven remarkably effective in treating serious diseases, including formerly untreatable diseases[4], and since ESC research, despite billions of dollars spent, has produced nothing but failures on the clinical front, and even human tragedies[5], and since the desire to develop clinically useful patient-specific pluripotent stem cells is being rapidly and efficiently fulfilled by the new and remarkable Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs)[6], why aren’t embryonic stem cells obsolete in the minds of scientists? Why does the scientific community insist on greater liberties for embryo-destructive experimentation when both moral reasoning and cutting edge science point in another direction? Why this lust for the embryo?[7]
I don’t have a satisfactory answer to this. Some researchers obviously believe that embryonic stem cells, despite current evidence, promise benefits that ASCs and iPSCs do not. I’m also told that many of the best researchers are turning away from ESCs because of the mounting problems they pose, and turning towards research with iPSCs. If this is the case, then the questions posed above need to be put frankly to our politicians, because some still seem to think that the future of stem cell research lies with ESCs.
In the shadow of President Obama’s executive order overturning the Bush stem cell policy, the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated on the House floor that the U.S. House will take up a bill in early April to overturn the 1996 Dickey-Wicker Amendment prohibiting federal funding from research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos [8]. With all we now know, why is Congress bent on spending taxpayer money for embryo destructive experimentation? Isn’t that scientifically retrogressive and economically wasteful, not to mention morally unjust to the embryos killed as a result of the decision and to taxpayers who object to public funds being used for such research when alternatives are available?
Postscript:
Some might be wondering what distinguishes the “Bush stem cell policy” (Aug. 2001) from the restrictions imposed by the Dickey-Wicker amendment (1996). Dickey-Wicker was passed before ESC research was launched in 1998 by the first successful isolation of ESCs by James A. Thomson’s lab at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. It simply restricted funding on research that created or destroyed human embryos. After 1998, pressure was exerted on the Clinton administration to free up funds for this new ‘promising’ type of research. But Dickey-Wicker stood in the way. Thus, to sidestep the restrictions Clinton, as he was leaving office (2000), approved federal guidelines permitting the NIH to fund research on stem cells derived from ‘spare’ embryos slated for destruction at fertility clinics. Do you see the slight of hand? By the time stem cells are derived, the killing is over. If private funds paid for the killing, then the federal government would fund the subsequent research. Clinton’s lawyers argued that his guidelines conformed to Dickey-Wicker, and legalistically construed, they did. At once, the NIH began accepting grant proposals from scientists bent on embryo destructive research. Aware of the loophole, newly elected President George W. Bush passed an executive order permitting federal funds for ESC research only on certain pre-approved stem cell lines created by that date. Since stem cells can self-proliferate indefinitely, these sixty lines, he thought, would provide subject matter for years of viable research. But under the new policy, funding would be prohibited from all stem cell lines derived after August 2001. NIH grant proposals thereafter were carefully reviewed to ensure that federal funds would not be used to facilitate harm to human embryos. Obama’s recent presidential order overturned the Bush restrictions. Dickey-Wicker however still stands. But for how long?
Notes:
[1] I critiqued several of the most prominent theoretical arguments against the personhood of human embryos in my June 2008 CLF Brief entitled “Arguments for and Against the Personhood of the Embryo”, so I do not intend to engage that question here.
[2] See Pontifical Academy for Life, Declaration on the Production and the Scientific and Therapeutic Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (August 25, 2000); Catholic Online, “American Bishops Reaffirm Church Support for Adult Stem-Cell Research,” www.catholic.org, June 26, 2006, www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=20275.
[3] See Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Dignitas Personae (On Certain Bioethical Questions) (2008), nos. 24, 31, 32.
[4] For an enlightening updated summary of clinical successes using ASCs prepared by the Family Research Council, see
http://www.frc.org/insight/adult-stem-cell-success-stories-2008-update-july-december
[5] Recall the recent tragic story of the 9 year old Israeli boy, who received embryonic stem cell injections in Russia for a lethal brain disease, and contracted as a result tumors on his brain and spinal cord; see CBS News report, “Study: Stem Cell Injections Caused Tumors: Israeli Researchers Say Fetal Stem Cells Led To Benign Tumors For Boy With Rare Genetic Disease,” Feb. 17, 2009; available at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/17/health/main4808339.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_4808339
[6] Induced pluripotent stem cells are differentiated cells such as a skin cell that are “reprogrammed” back to a state of pluripotency. They were first reported in research with human cells in November 2007. I describe their advent and initial promise in my CLF Brief from January 2008, “A Moral Tsunami”. Since then dozens of studies have been carried out (and published) perfecting the initiate technique. For example, researchers at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., recently converted skin cells from patients with Parkinson’s disease into the type of neuron destroyed by the disease. Although the technique needs perfecting, it promises to provide a therapy one day that replaces the damaged neural tissue of Parkinson’s sufferers with healthy tissue derived from the patient’s own body, and therefore with no risk of immune rejection. See the NY Times on line report, “Converting Cells Shows Promise for Parkinson’s”, March 6, 2009, available at www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/health/06parkinsons.html
[7] See Bernadine Healy’s piece in US News and World Report on line, “Why Embryonic Stem Cells Are Obsolete” March 04, 2009, available at http://health.usnews.com/blogs/heart-to-heart/2009/3/4/why-embryonic-stem-cells-are-obsolete.html
[8] The exchange between Hoyer and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 2009 can be read in the Congressional Record, House, page H3376, March 12, 2009.
* * *
E. Christian Brugger is a Senior Fellow of Ethics at the Culture of Life Foundation and is an associate professor of moral theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He received his D.Phil. from Oxford in 2000.
[Article published with permission of the Culture of Life Foundation (http://culture-of-life.org)]
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Papal Message to Conference on Women
"Gifted By the Creator With a Unique Capacity for the Other"
Here is the message Benedict XVI sent to participants in an international congress on the theme "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights," which took place Friday and Saturday in the Vatican.
* * *
To my Venerable Brother
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino
I am pleased to extend cordial greetings to you and to all those taking part in the International Conference on the theme "Life, Family and Development: the Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights." This event, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, with the cooperation of the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family, the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations and other associations, is an exemplary response to my predecessor Pope John Paul II's call for a "new feminism" with the power to transform culture, imbuing it with a decisive respect for life (cf. "Evangelium Vitae," 98-99).
Every day we learn of further ways in which life is compromised, particularly in its most vulnerable stages. While justice demands that these be decried as a violation of human rights, they must also evoke a positive and proactive response. The recognition and appreciation of God's plan for women in the transmission of life and the nurturing of children is a constructive step in this direction. Beyond this, and given the distinctive influence of women in society, they must be encouraged to embrace the opportunity to uphold the dignity of life through their involvement in education and their participation in political and civic life. Indeed, because they have been gifted by the Creator with a unique "capacity for the other," women have a crucial part to play in the promotion of human rights, for without their voice the social fabric of society would be weakened (cf. Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 13). As you reflect on the role of women in the promotion of human rights, I invite you to keep in mind a task to which I have drawn attention on several occasions: namely, to correct any misconception that Christianity is simply a collection of commandments and prohibitions. The Gospel is a message of joy which encourages men and women to delight in spousal love; far from stifling it, Christian faith and ethics make it healthy, strong and truly free. This is the exact meaning of the Ten Commandments: they are not a series of "noes" but a great "yes" to love and to life (cf. Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006).
It is my sincere hope that your discussions over these next two days will translate into concrete initiatives that safeguard the indispensable role of the family in the integral development of the human person and of society as a whole. The genius of women to mobilize and organize endows them with the skills and motivation to develop ever-expanding networks for sharing experiences and generating new ideas. The accomplishments of WWALF and the UMOFC/WUCWO are an outstanding example of this, and I encourage their members to persevere in their generous service to society. May the sphere of your influence continue to grow at regional, national and international levels for the advancement of human rights based on the strong foundation of marriage and family.
I once more extend best wishes for the success of this conference and my prayers for the continuing mission of the participating organizations. Invoking the intercession of Mary, "the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 570), I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Here is the message Benedict XVI sent to participants in an international congress on the theme "Life, Family, Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights," which took place Friday and Saturday in the Vatican.
* * *
To my Venerable Brother
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino
I am pleased to extend cordial greetings to you and to all those taking part in the International Conference on the theme "Life, Family and Development: the Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights." This event, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, with the cooperation of the World Women's Alliance for Life and Family, the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations and other associations, is an exemplary response to my predecessor Pope John Paul II's call for a "new feminism" with the power to transform culture, imbuing it with a decisive respect for life (cf. "Evangelium Vitae," 98-99).
Every day we learn of further ways in which life is compromised, particularly in its most vulnerable stages. While justice demands that these be decried as a violation of human rights, they must also evoke a positive and proactive response. The recognition and appreciation of God's plan for women in the transmission of life and the nurturing of children is a constructive step in this direction. Beyond this, and given the distinctive influence of women in society, they must be encouraged to embrace the opportunity to uphold the dignity of life through their involvement in education and their participation in political and civic life. Indeed, because they have been gifted by the Creator with a unique "capacity for the other," women have a crucial part to play in the promotion of human rights, for without their voice the social fabric of society would be weakened (cf. Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 13). As you reflect on the role of women in the promotion of human rights, I invite you to keep in mind a task to which I have drawn attention on several occasions: namely, to correct any misconception that Christianity is simply a collection of commandments and prohibitions. The Gospel is a message of joy which encourages men and women to delight in spousal love; far from stifling it, Christian faith and ethics make it healthy, strong and truly free. This is the exact meaning of the Ten Commandments: they are not a series of "noes" but a great "yes" to love and to life (cf. Address to the Participants at the Ecclesial Convention of the Diocese of Rome, 5 June 2006).
It is my sincere hope that your discussions over these next two days will translate into concrete initiatives that safeguard the indispensable role of the family in the integral development of the human person and of society as a whole. The genius of women to mobilize and organize endows them with the skills and motivation to develop ever-expanding networks for sharing experiences and generating new ideas. The accomplishments of WWALF and the UMOFC/WUCWO are an outstanding example of this, and I encourage their members to persevere in their generous service to society. May the sphere of your influence continue to grow at regional, national and international levels for the advancement of human rights based on the strong foundation of marriage and family.
I once more extend best wishes for the success of this conference and my prayers for the continuing mission of the participating organizations. Invoking the intercession of Mary, "the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 570), I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Monday, February 23, 2009
Papal Address to Academy for Life Conference
"Confidence in Science Cannot Forget the Primacy of Ethics"
Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered Saturday to participants in a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life on the theme "New Frontiers of Genetics and the Danger of Eugenics." The conference coincided with the Pontifical Academy for Life's 15th general assembly.
* * *
Lord Cardinals,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Illustrious Academicians,
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am especially pleased to receive you on the occasion of the 15th ordinary assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life. In 1994 my venerable predecessor, Pope John Paul II, instituted this body under the presidency of a scientist, Professor Jerôme Lejeune, understanding with foresight the delicate work that it would have to undertake over the course of years. I thank the president, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, for the words with which he wished to introduce this meeting, confirming the Academy's great dedication to the promotion and defense of human life.
From the time that the laws of heredity were discovered in the middle of the 19th century by the Augustinian abbot Gregor Mendel, who has been considered the founder of genetics, this science has truly taken giant steps in understanding the language at the basis of biological information, which determines the development of a living being. It is for this reason that modern genetics occupies a place of special prominence in the biological disciplines, which have contributed to the prodigious development of the knowledge of the invisible architecture of the human body and the cellular and molecular processes that preside over its multiple activities. Today science has arrived at revealing the recondite mechanisms of human physiology as well as the processes that are linked to the appearance of certain defects that are inheritable from parents along with processes that make some persons more susceptible to contract an illness. This knowledge, the fruit of the genius and toil of countless scholars, make it possible to more easily arrive at not only a more effective and early diagnosis of genetic maladies, but also to create therapies to alleviate the contraction of illnesses and, in some cases, to restore, in the end, the hope of regaining health. Moreover, from the time that the whole sequence of the human genome became available, the differences between one person and another and between different human populations have also become the object of genetic investigations, which allowed a glimpse of the possibility of new conquests.
Today the area of research still remains open and every day new horizons, in a large part unexplored, are disclosed. The work of researchers in such enigmatic and precious areas requires a special support; the cooperation between different sciences is a support that can never be lacking if results are to be arrived at that are effective and productive of authentic progress for the whole of humanity. This complementarity makes it possible to avoid the danger of a genetic reductionism that would identify the person exclusively with his genetic information and his interaction with his environment. It is again necessary to emphasize that man is greater than all of that which makes up his body; in fact, he carries with him the power of thought, which is always drawn to the truth about himself and the world. The words of Blaise Pascal, who was a great thinker as well as a gifted scientist, return: "Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapor, a drop of water is enough to kill him. But even if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he is able to know that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe, however, knows nothing of this" ("Pensées," 347).
Every human being, then, is much more than a singular combination of genetic information that is transmitted to him by his parents. The generation of man can never be reduced to the mere reproduction of a new individual of the human species, as is the case with all other animals. Every appearance of a person in the world is always a new creation. The words Psalm 139 recall this with deep wisdom: "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb ... My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret" (13, 15). If we want to enter into the mystery of human life, then it is necessary that no science isolate itself, pretending to have the last word. Rather, the common vocation to arrive at the truth -- according to the different methodologies and contents proper to each science -- must be shared.
Your conference, in any case, does not only analyze the great challenges that genetics is held to face; but it also extends to the dangers of eugenics, which is certainly not a new practice and which in the past has been the cause of real forms of discrimination and violence. The disapproval of eugenics used with violence by a regime, as the fruit of the hatred of a race or group, is so rooted in consciences that it found a formal expression in the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Despite this, there are appearing in our days troubling manifestations of this hateful practice, which present themselves with different traits. Certainly ideological and racist eugenics, which in the past humiliated man and provoked untold suffering, are not again being proposed. But a new mentality is insinuating itself that tends to justify a different consideration of life and personal dignity based on individual desire and individual rights. There is thus a tendency to privilege the capacities for work, efficiency, perfection and physical beauty to the detriment of other dimensions of existence that are not held to be valuable.
In this way the respect that is due to every human being -- even in the presence of a defect in his development or a genetic illness that could manifest itself in the course of his life -- is weakened, and those children whose life is judged unworthy of being lived are punished from the moment of conception.
It is necessary to reemphasize that every discrimination exercised by any power in regard to persons, peoples or ethnic groups on the basis of differences that stem from real or presumed genetic factors is an act of violence against all of humanity. What must be forcefully reemphasized is the equal dignity of every human being according to the fact itself of having life. Biological, psychological or cultural development or state of health can never become an element of discrimination. It is necessary, on the contrary, to consolidate a culture of hospitality and love that concretely testifies to solidarity with those who suffer, razing the barriers that society often erects, discriminating against those who are disabled and affected by pathologies, or worse - selecting and rejecting in the name of an abstract ideal of health and physical perfection. If man is reduced to an object of experimental manipulation from the first stage of development, that would mean that biotechnologies would surrender to the will of the stronger. Confidence in science cannot forget the primacy of ethics when human life is at stake.
I hope that your research in this sector, dear friends, will continue with due scientific care and the attention that ethical principles require in matters that are so important and decisive for the fitting development of personal existence. This is the wish with which I would like to conclude this meeting. As I invoke copious heavenly light upon your work, I affectionately impart to all of you a special apostolic blessing.
Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered Saturday to participants in a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life on the theme "New Frontiers of Genetics and the Danger of Eugenics." The conference coincided with the Pontifical Academy for Life's 15th general assembly.
* * *
Lord Cardinals,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Illustrious Academicians,
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am especially pleased to receive you on the occasion of the 15th ordinary assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life. In 1994 my venerable predecessor, Pope John Paul II, instituted this body under the presidency of a scientist, Professor Jerôme Lejeune, understanding with foresight the delicate work that it would have to undertake over the course of years. I thank the president, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, for the words with which he wished to introduce this meeting, confirming the Academy's great dedication to the promotion and defense of human life.
From the time that the laws of heredity were discovered in the middle of the 19th century by the Augustinian abbot Gregor Mendel, who has been considered the founder of genetics, this science has truly taken giant steps in understanding the language at the basis of biological information, which determines the development of a living being. It is for this reason that modern genetics occupies a place of special prominence in the biological disciplines, which have contributed to the prodigious development of the knowledge of the invisible architecture of the human body and the cellular and molecular processes that preside over its multiple activities. Today science has arrived at revealing the recondite mechanisms of human physiology as well as the processes that are linked to the appearance of certain defects that are inheritable from parents along with processes that make some persons more susceptible to contract an illness. This knowledge, the fruit of the genius and toil of countless scholars, make it possible to more easily arrive at not only a more effective and early diagnosis of genetic maladies, but also to create therapies to alleviate the contraction of illnesses and, in some cases, to restore, in the end, the hope of regaining health. Moreover, from the time that the whole sequence of the human genome became available, the differences between one person and another and between different human populations have also become the object of genetic investigations, which allowed a glimpse of the possibility of new conquests.
Today the area of research still remains open and every day new horizons, in a large part unexplored, are disclosed. The work of researchers in such enigmatic and precious areas requires a special support; the cooperation between different sciences is a support that can never be lacking if results are to be arrived at that are effective and productive of authentic progress for the whole of humanity. This complementarity makes it possible to avoid the danger of a genetic reductionism that would identify the person exclusively with his genetic information and his interaction with his environment. It is again necessary to emphasize that man is greater than all of that which makes up his body; in fact, he carries with him the power of thought, which is always drawn to the truth about himself and the world. The words of Blaise Pascal, who was a great thinker as well as a gifted scientist, return: "Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapor, a drop of water is enough to kill him. But even if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he is able to know that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe, however, knows nothing of this" ("Pensées," 347).
Every human being, then, is much more than a singular combination of genetic information that is transmitted to him by his parents. The generation of man can never be reduced to the mere reproduction of a new individual of the human species, as is the case with all other animals. Every appearance of a person in the world is always a new creation. The words Psalm 139 recall this with deep wisdom: "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb ... My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret" (13, 15). If we want to enter into the mystery of human life, then it is necessary that no science isolate itself, pretending to have the last word. Rather, the common vocation to arrive at the truth -- according to the different methodologies and contents proper to each science -- must be shared.
Your conference, in any case, does not only analyze the great challenges that genetics is held to face; but it also extends to the dangers of eugenics, which is certainly not a new practice and which in the past has been the cause of real forms of discrimination and violence. The disapproval of eugenics used with violence by a regime, as the fruit of the hatred of a race or group, is so rooted in consciences that it found a formal expression in the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Despite this, there are appearing in our days troubling manifestations of this hateful practice, which present themselves with different traits. Certainly ideological and racist eugenics, which in the past humiliated man and provoked untold suffering, are not again being proposed. But a new mentality is insinuating itself that tends to justify a different consideration of life and personal dignity based on individual desire and individual rights. There is thus a tendency to privilege the capacities for work, efficiency, perfection and physical beauty to the detriment of other dimensions of existence that are not held to be valuable.
In this way the respect that is due to every human being -- even in the presence of a defect in his development or a genetic illness that could manifest itself in the course of his life -- is weakened, and those children whose life is judged unworthy of being lived are punished from the moment of conception.
It is necessary to reemphasize that every discrimination exercised by any power in regard to persons, peoples or ethnic groups on the basis of differences that stem from real or presumed genetic factors is an act of violence against all of humanity. What must be forcefully reemphasized is the equal dignity of every human being according to the fact itself of having life. Biological, psychological or cultural development or state of health can never become an element of discrimination. It is necessary, on the contrary, to consolidate a culture of hospitality and love that concretely testifies to solidarity with those who suffer, razing the barriers that society often erects, discriminating against those who are disabled and affected by pathologies, or worse - selecting and rejecting in the name of an abstract ideal of health and physical perfection. If man is reduced to an object of experimental manipulation from the first stage of development, that would mean that biotechnologies would surrender to the will of the stronger. Confidence in science cannot forget the primacy of ethics when human life is at stake.
I hope that your research in this sector, dear friends, will continue with due scientific care and the attention that ethical principles require in matters that are so important and decisive for the fitting development of personal existence. This is the wish with which I would like to conclude this meeting. As I invoke copious heavenly light upon your work, I affectionately impart to all of you a special apostolic blessing.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Benedict to Agricultural Development Fund
"Theirs Is a Work Which Carries With It a Dignity All Its Own"
Here is the text of the address Benedict XVI gave today to the members of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development on the occasion of celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of its establishment.
I thought it would be interesting to post this recent address to the agricultural development fund. I just finished reading Wendell Berry's Life is a Miracle, a critique of comtemporay culture with a special emphasis on reductive science, and its underlying presuppositions of unlimited progress and discovery, and how these are driven by corporations seeking purely economic gains. Well, a lot more needs to be said. I encourage all to read this great book.
Wendell Berry Site
http://brtom.typepad.com/wberry/
* * *
Mr President of the Governing Council,
Governors, Permanent Representatives of the Member States,
Officials of the IFAD,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to meet all of you at the conclusion of the celebrations marking the Thirtieth Anniversary of the establishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. I thank the outgoing President, Mr Lennart Båge, for his kind words and I offer congratulations and good wishes to Mr Kanayo Nwanze on his election to this high office. I thank all of you for coming here today and I assure you of my prayers for the important work that you do to promote rural development. Your work is particularly crucial at the present time in view of the damaging effect on food security of the current instability in the prices of agricultural products. This requires new and far-sighted strategies for the fight against rural poverty and the promotion of rural development. As you know, the Holy See fully shares your commitment to overcome poverty and hunger, and to come to the aid of the world's poorest peoples. I pray that IFAD's anniversary celebration will provide you with an incentive to pursue these worthy goals with renewed energy and determination in the years ahead.
Since its earliest days, the International Fund has achieved an exemplary form of cooperation and coresponsibility between nations at different stages of development. When wealthy countries and developing nations come together to make joint decisions and to determine specific criteria for each country's budgetary contribution to the Fund, it can truly be said that the various Member States come together as equals, expressing their solidarity with one another and their shared commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger. In an increasingly interdependent world, joint decision-making processes of this kind are essential if international affairs are to be conducted with equity and foresight.
Equally commendable is the emphasis placed by IFAD on promoting employment opportunities within rural communities, with a view to enabling them, in the long term, to become independent of outside aid. Assistance given to local producers serves to build up the economy and contributes to the overall development of the nation concerned. In this sense the "rural credit" projects, designed to assist smallholder farmers and agricultural workers with no land of their own, can boost the wider economy and provide greater food security for all. These projects also help indigenous communities to flourish on their own soil, and to live in harmony with their traditional culture, instead of being forced to uproot themselves in order to seek employment in overcrowded cities, teeming with social problems, where they often have to endure squalid living conditions.
This approach has the particular merit of restoring the agricultural sector to its rightful place within the economy and the social fabric of developing nations. Here a valuable contribution can be made by Non-Governmental Organizations, some of which have close links with the Catholic Church and are committed to the application of her social teaching. The principle of subsidiarity requires that each group within society be free to make its proper contribution to the good of the whole. All too often, agricultural workers in developing nations are denied that opportunity, when their labour is greedily exploited, and their produce is diverted to distant markets, with little or no resulting benefit for the local community itself.
Almost fifty years ago, my predecessor Blessed Pope John XXIII had this to say about the task of tilling the soil: "Those who live on the land can hardly fail to appreciate the nobility of the work they are called upon to do. They are living in close harmony with Nature - the majestic temple of Creation ... Theirs is a work which carries with it a dignity all its own" (Mater et Magistra, 130-131). All human labour is a participation in the creative providence of Almighty God, but agricultural labour is so in a pre-eminent way. A truly humane society will always know how to appreciate and reward appropriately the contribution made by the agricultural sector. If properly supported and equipped, it has the potential to lift a nation out of poverty and to lay the foundations for increasing prosperity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as we give thanks for the achievements of the past thirty years, there is a need for renewed determination to act in harmony and solidarity with all the different elements of the human family in order to ensure equitable access to the earth's resources now and in the future. The motivation to do this comes from love: love for the poor, love that cannot tolerate injustice or deprivation, love that refuses to rest until poverty and hunger are banished from our midst. The goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, as well as promoting food security and rural development, far from being over-ambitious or unrealistic, become, in this context, imperatives binding upon the whole international community. It is my fervent prayer that the activities of such organizations as yours will continue to make a significant contribution to the attainment of these goals. In thanking you and encouraging you to persevere in the good work that you do, I commend you to the constant care of our loving Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is therein. May God bless all of you!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Here is the text of the address Benedict XVI gave today to the members of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development on the occasion of celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of its establishment.
I thought it would be interesting to post this recent address to the agricultural development fund. I just finished reading Wendell Berry's Life is a Miracle, a critique of comtemporay culture with a special emphasis on reductive science, and its underlying presuppositions of unlimited progress and discovery, and how these are driven by corporations seeking purely economic gains. Well, a lot more needs to be said. I encourage all to read this great book.
Wendell Berry Site
http://brtom.typepad.com/wberry/
* * *
Mr President of the Governing Council,
Governors, Permanent Representatives of the Member States,
Officials of the IFAD,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to meet all of you at the conclusion of the celebrations marking the Thirtieth Anniversary of the establishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. I thank the outgoing President, Mr Lennart Båge, for his kind words and I offer congratulations and good wishes to Mr Kanayo Nwanze on his election to this high office. I thank all of you for coming here today and I assure you of my prayers for the important work that you do to promote rural development. Your work is particularly crucial at the present time in view of the damaging effect on food security of the current instability in the prices of agricultural products. This requires new and far-sighted strategies for the fight against rural poverty and the promotion of rural development. As you know, the Holy See fully shares your commitment to overcome poverty and hunger, and to come to the aid of the world's poorest peoples. I pray that IFAD's anniversary celebration will provide you with an incentive to pursue these worthy goals with renewed energy and determination in the years ahead.
Since its earliest days, the International Fund has achieved an exemplary form of cooperation and coresponsibility between nations at different stages of development. When wealthy countries and developing nations come together to make joint decisions and to determine specific criteria for each country's budgetary contribution to the Fund, it can truly be said that the various Member States come together as equals, expressing their solidarity with one another and their shared commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger. In an increasingly interdependent world, joint decision-making processes of this kind are essential if international affairs are to be conducted with equity and foresight.
Equally commendable is the emphasis placed by IFAD on promoting employment opportunities within rural communities, with a view to enabling them, in the long term, to become independent of outside aid. Assistance given to local producers serves to build up the economy and contributes to the overall development of the nation concerned. In this sense the "rural credit" projects, designed to assist smallholder farmers and agricultural workers with no land of their own, can boost the wider economy and provide greater food security for all. These projects also help indigenous communities to flourish on their own soil, and to live in harmony with their traditional culture, instead of being forced to uproot themselves in order to seek employment in overcrowded cities, teeming with social problems, where they often have to endure squalid living conditions.
This approach has the particular merit of restoring the agricultural sector to its rightful place within the economy and the social fabric of developing nations. Here a valuable contribution can be made by Non-Governmental Organizations, some of which have close links with the Catholic Church and are committed to the application of her social teaching. The principle of subsidiarity requires that each group within society be free to make its proper contribution to the good of the whole. All too often, agricultural workers in developing nations are denied that opportunity, when their labour is greedily exploited, and their produce is diverted to distant markets, with little or no resulting benefit for the local community itself.
Almost fifty years ago, my predecessor Blessed Pope John XXIII had this to say about the task of tilling the soil: "Those who live on the land can hardly fail to appreciate the nobility of the work they are called upon to do. They are living in close harmony with Nature - the majestic temple of Creation ... Theirs is a work which carries with it a dignity all its own" (Mater et Magistra, 130-131). All human labour is a participation in the creative providence of Almighty God, but agricultural labour is so in a pre-eminent way. A truly humane society will always know how to appreciate and reward appropriately the contribution made by the agricultural sector. If properly supported and equipped, it has the potential to lift a nation out of poverty and to lay the foundations for increasing prosperity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as we give thanks for the achievements of the past thirty years, there is a need for renewed determination to act in harmony and solidarity with all the different elements of the human family in order to ensure equitable access to the earth's resources now and in the future. The motivation to do this comes from love: love for the poor, love that cannot tolerate injustice or deprivation, love that refuses to rest until poverty and hunger are banished from our midst. The goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, as well as promoting food security and rural development, far from being over-ambitious or unrealistic, become, in this context, imperatives binding upon the whole international community. It is my fervent prayer that the activities of such organizations as yours will continue to make a significant contribution to the attainment of these goals. In thanking you and encouraging you to persevere in the good work that you do, I commend you to the constant care of our loving Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is therein. May God bless all of you!
© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Monday, February 9, 2009
On Sickness and God's Healing Love
"We Are Made for Life"
In light of Eluana's passing this evening from starvation, I thought it would be right to paste this recent Sunday Angelus Message from Pope Benedict, given last Sunday, February 8th 2009.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today the Gospel (cf. Mark 1:29-39) -- in direct continuation with last Sunday -- presents us with Jesus, who after having preached on the Sabbath in the synagogue of Capernaum, cured many ill people, beginning with Simon's mother-in-law. Entering his house, he found her in bed with a fever and immediately, taking her by the hand, he healed her and had her get up. After sunset, he healed a multitude of people afflicted with all sorts of ills.
The experience of the healing of the sick occupies a good portion of the public mission of Christ and it invites us once again to reflect on the meaning and value of illness in every situation in which the human being can find himself. This opportunity comes also because of the World Day of the Sick, which we will celebrate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, liturgical memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes.
Despite the fact that illness is part of human existence, we never manage to get used to it, not only because sometimes it comes to be burdensome and grave, but essentially because we are made for life, for complete life. Precisely our "internal instinct" makes us think of God as plenitude of life, and even more, as eternal and perfect Life. When we are tested by sickness and our prayers seem in vain, doubt wells up in us and, filled with anguish, we ask ourselves: What is God's will?
It is precisely to this question that we find an answer in the Gospel. For example, in the passage of today we read: "He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him" (Mark 1:34). In another passage from St. Matthew, it says: "He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people" (Matthew 4:23).
Jesus does not leave room for doubt: God -- whose face he himself has revealed -- is the God of life, who frees us from all evil. The signs of this, his power of love are the healings that he carries out: He thus shows that the Kingdom of God is near, restoring men and women to their full integrity in spirit and body. I refer to these healings as signs: They guide toward the message of Christ, they guide us toward God and make us understand that man's truest and deepest illness is the absence of God, who is the fount of truth and love. And only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life, because a life without love and without truth would not be a true life. The Kingdom of God is precisely the presence of truth and love, and thus it is healing in the depths of our being.
Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus is prolonged in the mission of the Church. Through the sacraments, it is Christ who communicates his life to the multitude of brothers and sisters, as he cures and comforts innumerable sick people through so many activities of health care service that Christian communities promote with fraternal charity, thereby showing the face of God, his love. It is true: How many Christians all over the world -- priests, religious and laypeople -- have given and continue giving their hands, eyes and hearts to Christ, true physician of bodies and souls!
Let us pray for all the ill, especially for those who are most grave, and who can in no way take care of themselves, but depend entirely on the care of others; may every one of them be able to experience, in the solicitude of those who are near to them, the power of the love of God and the richness of his grace that saves us. Mary, health of the sick, pray for us.
[After praying the Angelus, he said:]
In these weeks, strong political tensions are taking place in Madagascar, which have also provoked popular disturbances. Because of this, the bishops of the island have convoked for today a day of prayer for national reconciliation and social justice. Intensely concerned by the particularly critical moment that the country is going through, I invite you to unite yourselves to the Catholics of Madagascar to entrust to the Lord those who have died in the manifestations and to invoke from him, through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, the return of harmony of thought, social tranquility and civil co-existence.
As I said just a moment ago, next Feb. 11, memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes, the World Day of the Sick is celebrated. In the afternoon, I will meet with the sick and other pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica, after the holy Mass that the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, Cardinal Lozano Barragán, will preside over. From now, I assure my special blessing to all the sick, the health care workers and the volunteers of every part of the world.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted the people in several languages. In English, he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today including those from the Saint Patrick's Evangelization school in London. Today's Gospel reminds us of the duty to bring Christ's Good News to all the world. May your time in Rome be filled with joy and deepen your resolve to draw others to our Lord and his love. God bless you all!
In light of Eluana's passing this evening from starvation, I thought it would be right to paste this recent Sunday Angelus Message from Pope Benedict, given last Sunday, February 8th 2009.
- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today the Gospel (cf. Mark 1:29-39) -- in direct continuation with last Sunday -- presents us with Jesus, who after having preached on the Sabbath in the synagogue of Capernaum, cured many ill people, beginning with Simon's mother-in-law. Entering his house, he found her in bed with a fever and immediately, taking her by the hand, he healed her and had her get up. After sunset, he healed a multitude of people afflicted with all sorts of ills.
The experience of the healing of the sick occupies a good portion of the public mission of Christ and it invites us once again to reflect on the meaning and value of illness in every situation in which the human being can find himself. This opportunity comes also because of the World Day of the Sick, which we will celebrate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, liturgical memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes.
Despite the fact that illness is part of human existence, we never manage to get used to it, not only because sometimes it comes to be burdensome and grave, but essentially because we are made for life, for complete life. Precisely our "internal instinct" makes us think of God as plenitude of life, and even more, as eternal and perfect Life. When we are tested by sickness and our prayers seem in vain, doubt wells up in us and, filled with anguish, we ask ourselves: What is God's will?
It is precisely to this question that we find an answer in the Gospel. For example, in the passage of today we read: "He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him" (Mark 1:34). In another passage from St. Matthew, it says: "He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people" (Matthew 4:23).
Jesus does not leave room for doubt: God -- whose face he himself has revealed -- is the God of life, who frees us from all evil. The signs of this, his power of love are the healings that he carries out: He thus shows that the Kingdom of God is near, restoring men and women to their full integrity in spirit and body. I refer to these healings as signs: They guide toward the message of Christ, they guide us toward God and make us understand that man's truest and deepest illness is the absence of God, who is the fount of truth and love. And only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life, because a life without love and without truth would not be a true life. The Kingdom of God is precisely the presence of truth and love, and thus it is healing in the depths of our being.
Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus is prolonged in the mission of the Church. Through the sacraments, it is Christ who communicates his life to the multitude of brothers and sisters, as he cures and comforts innumerable sick people through so many activities of health care service that Christian communities promote with fraternal charity, thereby showing the face of God, his love. It is true: How many Christians all over the world -- priests, religious and laypeople -- have given and continue giving their hands, eyes and hearts to Christ, true physician of bodies and souls!
Let us pray for all the ill, especially for those who are most grave, and who can in no way take care of themselves, but depend entirely on the care of others; may every one of them be able to experience, in the solicitude of those who are near to them, the power of the love of God and the richness of his grace that saves us. Mary, health of the sick, pray for us.
[After praying the Angelus, he said:]
In these weeks, strong political tensions are taking place in Madagascar, which have also provoked popular disturbances. Because of this, the bishops of the island have convoked for today a day of prayer for national reconciliation and social justice. Intensely concerned by the particularly critical moment that the country is going through, I invite you to unite yourselves to the Catholics of Madagascar to entrust to the Lord those who have died in the manifestations and to invoke from him, through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, the return of harmony of thought, social tranquility and civil co-existence.
As I said just a moment ago, next Feb. 11, memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes, the World Day of the Sick is celebrated. In the afternoon, I will meet with the sick and other pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica, after the holy Mass that the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, Cardinal Lozano Barragán, will preside over. From now, I assure my special blessing to all the sick, the health care workers and the volunteers of every part of the world.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted the people in several languages. In English, he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors here today including those from the Saint Patrick's Evangelization school in London. Today's Gospel reminds us of the duty to bring Christ's Good News to all the world. May your time in Rome be filled with joy and deepen your resolve to draw others to our Lord and his love. God bless you all!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Website devoted to the building of a Culture of Life
The Love and Life Site is being sponsored by:
The Knights of Columbus
The John Paul II Institutes
The Sisters of Life
United with Pope Benedict XVI and the Church, we are uniquely committed to the dignity of every human person. It will be our JOY to host you in Sydney.
Sisters of Life
Founded by John Cardinal O’Connor in 1991, the Sisters of Life are a Religious Community of women, consecrated for the Protection and Enhancement of the Sacredness of all human life.
http://www.sistersoflife.org/
Knights of Columbus College Council Program
Founded in 1882, as a fraternal benefit society, the Order is still true to its founding principles of charity, unity and fraternity. We are active on 150 University campuses.
http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/members/knights/college/index.html
John Paul II Institutes
The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family is a graduate school of theology founded by the Holy Father to help the people of God understand more fully the person, marriage and the family in the light of divine revelation.
http://www.johnpaulii.edu/
Monday, August 11, 2008
Rimini Meeting
The 29th edition of the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples titled Either Protagonists or nobodies seeks to reflect on the concept of the person. The word protagonist, a positive nuacne of the concept of person, is much used in our society. This is why we must bear clearly in mind the historical context in which live.
If we were to ask ourselves who is the protagonist today, for the conventional wisdom we would have to answer that it is someone whose main purpose in life is success. Without it we find ourselves deprived of a precise identity, or rather of that possibility of gaining recognition which in some sense seems to give us the illusion of really being “where it’s at.” In other words it is a kind of levelling down which compels us to follow the dictates of the prevailing fashion in all and for all. Then, without social recognition, today people will think you’re no one. But what type of person is it who pursues at any cost whatever will distinguish him from others? It is the star, meaning the person who sets himself up as God. In the attempt to be free, a person of this kind wants to possess reality in absolute independence. Yet he then finds himself a slave to circumstances, things and obviously success. Having severed his ties with reality, he becomes a captive to success, remaining in a human condition of passivity which compels him to express himself in a sad and empty formalism. But a man who counts on his own strength alone is doomed sooner or later to fail. The inevitable result of this process is skepticism and cynicism.
What is stronger than success, less ephemeral than success? Fr. Luigi Giussani told us: "Being protagonists does not mean having the brilliance or the spirituality of some, but having a face of one’s own, unique and unrepeatable in all of history and eternity." The true protagonist is the man with filled with wonder who makes the moving discovery, which always springs from a precise encounter with reality, that he has a face which is unique and unrepeatable. A free man: free because, almost by a sort of paradox, he is aware he is tied to the origin of life itself, to that mysterious design from which he intuits that every thing depends. A religious man: capable of comparing himself with the whole of reality and while admitting the category of possibility, being open to a possible revelation. An irreducible man: one who cannot content himself with any ideological, biological or historicist reduction. A man who knows why he loves: embracing the people and circumstances of life, both happy and sorrowful, he seeks to judge everything in a continuous quest for the ultimate meaning for which reality was created.
Through encounters, debates, acts of witness, exhibitions and performances, we will document the dimension of this type of man, who is the sole and possible revolution in our age.
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