Posted on 02/28/2011 5:35:55 AM PST by verdugo
The Vatican ambassador said that Social Justice is About Relationships, Not Socialism
Peter Cardinal Turkson, President of the Vaticans Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has a message for Catholics in America, particularly those involved in social justice ministry, that could put a damper on the political machinations of the Shadow Party.The message? Social justice is about relationships, not socialism.
He went on to say
It would be useful if we just observed our sense of justice as our ability to fulfill the demands of the relationships in which we stand.One of the key principles of Catholic social thought is known as the principle of subsidiarity. This tenet holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom. It conflicts with the passion for centralization and bureaucracy characteristic of the Welfare StateThis is in contrast to socialism, he explained, which is an ideology in which private property and private interests are totally placed in the service of government policies. What the Pope proposes in Caritas in Veritate, said Cardinal Turkson, is achieving the common good without sacrificing personal, private interests, aspirations and desires.
Cardinal Turkson said the Council was also surprised that the Popes concept of the gift, was perceived in some circles as encouraging government welfare handouts. In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict described the concept of gift as a way to understand Gods love for men and women in his gift of life and his gift of Jesus.
You may remember that Pope John Paul II worked closely with President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to bring down communism in the Soviet Union and Marxist governments in Latin America. With the worldwide Left now in such kinship with Islam, and with no modern-day Reagan or Thatcher in sight, Pope Benedict XVI certainly has his work cut out for him. If they recognize that America has become polarized, perhaps Americas Catholic bishops will bite the bullet and commit themselves to following in the footsteps of the just-beatified Pope John Paul II to morally undermine the Left as he morally undermined the Soviet Union.
That's a very profound observation. It's not hard to call for "justice" or "peace" on a cosmic scale, but it is hard to treat everyone in your Real Life with the love Christ showed.
If I can stick my oar in, when I was a kid, boys were encouraged to be altar boys for several reasons: one was to get them off the mean streets of NYC! It gave boys a certain stature in the community. Let’s face it, girls don’t cause as much trouble when left to their own devices - boys - a far different story.
One of the key principles of Catholic social thought is known as the principle of subsidiarity. This tenet holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom. It conflicts with the passion for centralization and bureaucracy characteristic of the Welfare State.
This I am in 100% agreement with. I know a number of conservative priests who have this same exact view. Here in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, however, the term social justice has been turned into another term for socialism. I would dare say another example of Marxian corruption of the langauge. It’s also good to see Cardinal Turkson throw a wrench in this linguistic corruption. I take his comment about relationships one step further, where the foundation is the relationship with Jesus Christ.
Fred: This I am in 100% agreement with. I know a number of conservative priests who have this same exact view....Its also good to see Cardinal Turkson throw a wrench in this linguistic corruption. I take his comment about relationships one step further, where the foundation is the relationship with Jesus Christ.
Yes -- and I see his statements as a call to duty, a call to arms for all us Catholics. We obey the Church, and if a bishop does not follow orthodoxy, we need to shout him out, write letters to his superiors, all the way up to the pope.
I've had enough of bad priests (2% or 10%) maligning the good priests I know and maligning the Church.
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