JPII: Church's Social Work Is Not Political, Gospel Message Must Accompany Aid

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[Polycarp]

Church's Social Work Is Not Political, John Paul II Says

Gospel Message Must Accompany Aid, He Tells Brazilian Bishops

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 21, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The social work carried out by the Church, especially among the poor, cannot be reduced to simple material or political work, says John Paul II.

When the Pope met Saturday with a group of bishops visiting from northeast Brazil, he reminded them that a bishop's first mission is to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, without which the work of the Church would be meaningless.

"As vicars and legates of Christ, you are called above all to offer a clear and vigorous proclamation of the Gospel," the Holy Father said.

He urged the Brazilian prelates not to have "reservations about associating the word of Christ to charitable activities by a misunderstood sense of respect for others' convictions."

"It is not an act of charity to leave brothers in darkness about truth," John Paul II stressed. "It is not an act of charity to feed the poor or visit the suffering by taking human resources to them but not communicating to them the Word that saves."

The Holy Father described the serious difficulties endured in northeast Brazil -- lack of employment, housing and health care; educational problems, social differences, and the presence of aggressive sects -- but he urged that pastoral action not be reduced "to the temporal and earthly dimension."

"It is not possible, for example, to think, of the challenges of the Church in Brazil by limiting oneself to some important but circumstantial questions, related to social policy, the concentration of land, the question of the environment, and others," he continued.

"To claim for the Church a participatory model of a political character, where decisions are voted on at the 'base,' limited to the poor and outcasts of society, but abstracted from the presence of all the segments of the People of God, would impair the original redemptive meaning proclaimed by Christ," the Pope warned.

On the contrary, "the fundamental mission of the bishop is evangelization, a task that he must carry out not only individually, but as Church," John Paul II stressed.

This mission is summarized in the triple mandate to "teach, sanctify and govern," he added.

The Holy Father acknowledged that the bishops of northeast Brazil must carry out the task of teaching in a cultural environment characterized by a high level of illiteracy, divorce, child violence, malnutrition, and superficiality promoted by some media.

In this ambience, the duty of the bishop is "to invite members of the particular Churches entrusted to him to accept in all its fullness the teaching of the Church in regard to questions of faith and morals," even if it means going against the current of the prevailing mentality, the Pope said.

In particular, this work must be done with young people -- a majority in Brazil's population -- promoting "the formation of a moral conscience, which must be respected as the 'sanctuary' of man alone with God, whose voice resounds in the intimacy of the heart," he added.

At the same time, John Paul II said, "remind your faithful that conscience is an exacting tribunal, whose judgment must always be conformed with the moral norms revealed by God and proposed with authority by the Church."

In this educational work, there must be a "return to the sacrament of reconciliation, unfortunately quite abandoned today, even in Catholic areas of your country," the Pontiff added.

In regard to "sanctification," the second mission of the bishop, John Paul II urged the prelates to highlight the two fundamental sacraments of Christian life: baptism and the Eucharist.

He said the living of the Eucharist, "source and center of the whole of Christian life," has two critical challenges in Brazil: on the one hand, the lack of priests and their unequal distribution, and on the other, the worrying drop in Sunday Mass attendance.

"It is evident that this situation suggests a provisional solution in order not to leave the community abandoned, with the risk of progressive spiritual impoverishment," the Pope emphasized.

"However, the incomplete sacramental character of these liturgical functions, carried out by persons who are not ordained, should induce the whole parish community to pray with greater fervor so that the Lord will send workers for his harvests," he said.

Lastly, the Pope focused on the bishop's mission to "govern." Above all, he must care for the priests, "especially when there is a delay in the fruits of pastoral work, with the possible temptation to discouragement and sadness."

"Many pastors do not have the feeling of working in an evangelical vineyard, but rather in an arid steppe," the Holy Father said. Yet, "the risen Lord walks with you and makes your efforts fruitful."

[malakhi]

Ex-Catholic runs interference for another ex-Catholic. We know the game plan.

If you have an issue with me, please confront me with it directly.

It is unrelenting contempt for the Catholic Church, and it stinketh.

As opposed to the contempt that some on your side express for those who don't agree with you?

BTW, please provide the evidence you have for my supposed contempt for the Catholic church.

[Wrigley]

Vade retro, satanas

Is this rebuke stronger in Latin?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Why don't you post the whole list of your extra-Biblical rules?

There are none.

I thought you believed only the Bible and only followed what was in the Bible.

I do.

BigMack

[malakhi]

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And further:

You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18)

[Polycarp]

More of the usual Polycarping.

Of course, though us Catholics do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, RnMomof7 and her ilk spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to "convert" us.

You have turned your back on the Gospel to convert to Judaism, yet RnMomof7 is your bud.

Strange.

But not really. The ties that bind former Catholics in their disdain for Catholicism are stronger than the ties that bind RnMomof7 to Christ.

[Polycarp]

A little too defensive there, Angelo. She was talking about Big Mack running interference for RnMomof7, I think she confused born baptist Big Mack with former Catholic Becky, an honest mistake.

Why don't those two each get their own screen name?

[drstevej]

Vade retro, satanas

The same phrase after Vatican II's improvements (and translation into English) becomes...

Would you please step aside, my seperated angel???

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

We have our own screen names, I'm Becky, he is BigMack. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to keep it straight.

Becky

[RnMomof7]

Your righteosness is as a filthy rag CG a Kotex..you do not like it but Gods word says it.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

05708 `ed {ayd}
from an unused root meaning to set a period [compare 05710, 05749];
TWOT - 1564a; n f
AV - filthy 1; 1
1) menstruation
1a) filthy rag, stained garment (fig. of best deeds of guilty people).

    Rom 2:1   Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
     Rom 2:2   But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
     Rom 2:3   And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God
    Rom 3:10   As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
     Rom 3:11   There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
     Rom 3:12   They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
     Rom 3:13   Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips:   
  Rom 3:14   Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness:
     Rom 3:15   Their feet [are] swift to shed blood:   
  Rom 3:16   Destruction and misery [are] in their ways:
     Rom 3:17   And the way of peace have they not known:   
  Rom 3:18   There is no fear of God before their eyes.   
  Rom 3:19   Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
     Rom 3:20   Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.
     Rom 3:21   But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
     Rom 3:22   Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

     Rom 3:23   For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

I know you hate that scripture..but it is the word of God..

Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

[RnMomof7]

LOL

[Irisshlass]

Mother Teresa did not reject the Catholic Church teaching in her words..I believe when the church issued those anathemas was against those who claim antagonistic ideas to the Church...

And other sheep I have that are not of this fold" (John 10:16).

[RnMomof7]

Jesus said A dog returns to it vomit!

[malakhi]

Of course, though us Catholics do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, RnMomof7 and her ilk spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to "convert" us.

And Jews have a personal and Covenantal relationship with , but Christians of all varieties spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to "convert" us. And the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are trying to convert everybody too. You think your beliefs are right, and that everybody else should come into the fullness of truth.

You have turned your back on the Gospel to convert to Judaism, yet RnMomof7 is your bud.

Mom and I go a long way back. We have been at loggerheads before. Mom and Mack have also strongly disagreed on matters of predestination and free will. Doesn't mean we can't occasionally agree on something, or that we can't be civil towards one another. She thinks I'm going to hell if I don't repent and accept Jesus. I tell her that she is predestined to convert to Judaism. ;o)

The ties that bind former Catholics in their disdain for Catholicism are stronger than the ties that bind RnMomof7 to Christ.

I suppose you find it helpful to believe this. I don't, in fact, disdain Catholicism. I certainly disagree with it, but I have no problem with Catholics doing what they do, provided they reciprocate. I have a great deal of respect for many of the Catholic freepers.

[malakhi]

Why don't those two each get their own screen name?

I don't know. Why don't you ask ventana?

[RnMomof7]

You are dead wrong, and mostly dead at that.


Prove me wrong..

[RnMomof7]

You are right she is not cannonized ..Rome has her on the fast track because she is so popular..

I think if God has judged hes a saint of His that is all she needs

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I believe when the church issued those anathemas was against those who claim antagonistic ideas to the Church...

At last....a resonable answer. Thank you.

Becky

[Siobhan]

'You already are what you is', as they say in parts of the Southland.

[RnMomof7]

The Church doesn't curse her. That is your sick fantasy. You haven't the faculties or the authority to even consider the meaning of the Magisterium or any Conciliar document. Your game is demonic, and your logic diabolical. Vade retro, satanas.

Cursing me in latin is of no effect..

So then you think that the Council of Trent was wrong? It was not infallible in its curses?

[Siobhan]

I didn't curse you in Latin.