Posted on 10/26/2004 8:19:42 AM PDT by Salvation
Code: ZE04102507
Date: 2004-10-25
Compendium of Church's Social Doctrine Published
Written by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 25, 2004 (Zenit.org).- For the first time, the Holy See has published a Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
"We do not put forth hypotheses or say anything that has not been said before by the popes," said Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which wrote the work. He presented the volume to the press today.
The compendium, currently available only in Italian and English, is 525 pages long. It includes 190 pages of indexes of references or analyses.
The Doctrine of the Church on Public Life is explained in 583 numbers, which will be helpful for consultations.
"The compendium is not a catechism, as the word catechism gives the idea of something more defined, fixed," Cardinal Martino said during the meeting with journalists in the Vatican press office.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace explained that the dicastery "is responsible for the way in which the volume is presented, but all the content has been said before by the popes."
The idea of the compendium was proposed by John Paul II himself in the 1999 apostolic exhortation "Ecclesia in America," in which he said: "It would be very useful to have a compendium of approved synthesis of Catholic social doctrine … which would show the connection between it and the New Evangelization."
Cardinal Martino explained that the work began five years ago under Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. His illness and death caused unavoidable delay in the writing, the cardinal said.
Various Vatican organizations collaborated in the preparation of the compendium. During the press conference, Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace -- whom Cardinal Martino described as the "soul of the compendium" -- revealed that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith revised the text twice.
The volume begins with a letter of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, in which he explains that its pages will be very useful in today's context in which humanity "seeks greater justice in dealing with the vast phenomenon of globalization."
The compendium begins with an introduction on "An Integral and Solidary Humanism," followed by 12 chapters and a conclusion which advocates "a civilization of love."
Among the most important chapters is the one dedicated to "The Family, the Vital Cell of Society," and others centered on "Human Work," "Economic Life," "The Political Community," "The International Community," "Safeguarding the Environment" and "The Promotion of Peace."
Asked by journalists Cardinal Martino explained that the presentation of the document in this period of the U.S. electoral campaign is purely by chance, as the date was chosen to be able to present it to the participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which began today in Rome.
For the time being, the compendium is published by the Vatican Publishing House. The Holy See will study, with the episcopal conferences, proposals to publish it in other languages and with other publishers.
Seeking your input.
(Looked for this yesterday when I heard it reported on FoxNews Channel, but just found it today.) It doesn't appear to have been posted.
**"The compendium is not a catechism, as the word catechism gives the idea of something more defined, fixed," Cardinal Martino said during the meeting with journalists in the Vatican press office.**
Whew! Glad about that!
Well this is a great understatement.
That is if he was the one doing the writing. :O)
Has anyone seen a URL where the document is posted?
Maybe these 3 links will be of help to you.
I went to the Catholic views website on politics.
We cannot forget that we must help the poor.
"Prayer and Reflection Resources*
The challenge of inviting Catholics to exercise “faithful citizenship” requires more than instruction and formation in the Church’s social teaching. Our tradition of worship, centered in the Eucharist, also calls Catholics to put their faith into action in the political arena. The connection between liturgy and life is learned through participation in worship experiences that enlighten our spirits and move our hearts to action. An important section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, in fact, “The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren.” (#1397)"
I think we must remind our President that social security helps the poor elderly, Greed is a sin, and on the news they were talking about how the stock market has gone up and will flourish with Bush in office, thats fine we need a strong economy, but we must not allow greed to become part of our country. It is good that our Country remain strong fiscally and each one of us prosper but let us not forget the poor and elderly as well as standing for the rights of the unborn.
My family and I have been Catholics for generations and I remember all of Catholic teachings because I went to Catholic schools. Let us remember what the pope teaches us about "just wars" and not killing sons and daughters as well as not killing the unborn.
The Pope is still the Head of the Catholic Church and gives us mandates to live by. So it is the Popes mandates first and the Presidents mandates second.
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