14:6.28. The Council gave particular attention to the Jewish religion, recalling the great spiritual heritage common to Christians and Jews. We all know well that the areas of misery and hunger on our globe could have been made fertile in a short time, if the gigantic investments for armaments at the service of war and destruction had been changed into investments for food at the service of life. 2:10; Jn. He is afraid that what he produces-not all of it, of course, or even most of it, but part of it and precisely that part that contains a special share of his genius and initiative-can radically turn against himself; he is afraid that it can become the means and instrument for an unimaginable self-destruction, compared with which all the cataclysms and catastrophes of history known to us seem to fade away. Rom. Vatican Council I: First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ Pastor Aeternus: 1. c., pp. Antipope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis (# 10), March 4, 1979: “IN REALITY, THE NAME FOR THAT DEEP AMAZEMENT AT MAN’S WORTH AND DIGNITY IS THE GOSPEL, THAT IS TO SAY: THE GOOD NEWS. The Church therefore sees its fundamental task in enabling that union to be brought about and renewed continually. Nobody has been brought into it by God himself as Mary has. It is a very important truth today, when we are faced with new problems of bioethics, questions connected with the beginning and end of life. Cf. This attitude seems to fit the special needs of our times. Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Normae Pastorales circa Absolutionem Sacramentalem Generali Modo Impertiendam: AAS 64 (1972) 510-514; Pope Paul VI: Address to a Group of Bishops from the United States of America on their "ad limina" Visit, April 20, 1978: AAS 70 (1978) 328-332; Pope John Paul II: Address to a Group of Canadian Bishops on their "ad limina" Visit, November 17, 1978: AAS 71 (1979) 32-36.180. What is in question is the advancement of persons, not just the multiplying of things that people can use. Mt. In men and among men is there a growth of social love, of respect for the rights of others-for every man, nation and people-or on the contrary is there an increase of various degrees of selfishness, exaggerated nationalism instead of authentic love of country, and also the propensity to dominate others beyond the limits of one's legitimate rights and merits and the propensity to exploit the whole of material progress and that in the technology of production for the exclusive purpose of dominating others or of favouring this or that imperialism? 1:43.184. 18:37.84. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 1: AAS 57 (1965) 5.10. Ibid., 38: 1. c., p. 1056.91. These words become charged with even stronger warning, when we think that, instead of bread and cultural aid, the new States and nations awakening to independent life are being offered, sometimes in abundance, modern weapons and means of destruction placed at the service of armed conflicts and wars that are not so much a requirement for defending their just rights and their sovereignty but rather a form of chauvinism, imperialism, and neocolonialism of one kind or another. As great of a thinker as he was, John Paul’s perspective on freedom included more than his scholarly studies. Rom. His is a love that does not draw back before anything that justice requires in him. Vatican Council II: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 24: AAS 58 ( 1966) 1045.94. Thus the principle of human rights is of profound concern to the area of social justice and is the measure by which it can be tested in the life of political bodies. The same line was followed in the work of the last ordinary session of the Synod of the Bishops, held about a year before the death of Pope Paul VI and dedicated, as is known, to catechesis. 2:7.9. Vatican Council II: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 37: AAS 58 (1966) 1054-1055; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 48: AAS 57 (1965) 53-54.54. Can it be said that the Church is not alone in making this appeal? They fit in with the dialectical nature of human knowledge and even more with the fundamental need for solicitude by man for man, for his humanity, and for the future of people on earth. 13:52.16. Most important, it reflects on, exposes, and gives prophetic voice to, the path of the Church, and above all, redemption for all. These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world. 1:24.131. Therefore it is required, when the Church professes and teaches the faith, that she should adhere strictly to divine truth143, and should translate it into living attitudes of "obedience in harmony with reason"144. This is why all phases of present-day progress must be followed attentively. 1:17; Heb. We must therefore seek unity without being discouraged at the difficulties that can appear or accumulate along that road; otherwise we would be unfaithful to the word of Christ, we would fail to accomplish his testament. It lays a blueprint for his pontificate in its exploration of contemporary human problems and especially their proposed solutions found in a deeper understanding of the human person. If therefore our time, the time of our generation, the time that is approaching the end of the second millennium of the Christian era, shows itself a time of great progress, it is also seen as a time of threat in many forms for man. Vatican Council II: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 91: AAS 58 (1966) 1113.90. The Church's mission and human freedom. If human rights are violated in time of peace, this is particularly painful and from the point of view of progress it represents an incomprehensible manifestation of activity directed against man, which can in no way be reconciled with any programme that describes itself as "humanistic". The Council document mentioned above states clearly enough what that curtailment or violation of religious freedom is. Cf. 1:14, 16.119. Acts 17:22-31.75. Jn. 2 Cor. Redemptor Hominis 10 is where Antipope John Paul II originally defined the Gospel and Christianity as the deep amazement at man. Here we touch indirectly on the mystery of the divine "economy" which linked salvation and grace with the Cross. Admittedly it is not easy to compare one age or one century with another under this aspect, since that depends also on changing historical standards. The Church lives by the Eucharist, by the fullness of this Sacrament, the stupendous content and meaning of which have often been expressed in the Church's Magisterium from the most distant times down to our own days168. The redemption of the world-this tremendous mystery of love in which creation is renewed-53 is, at its deepest root, the fullness of justice in a human Heart-the Heart of the First-born Son-in order that it may become justice in the hearts of many human beings, predestined from eternity in the Firstborn Son to be children of God54 and called to grace, called to love. Cf. It is not a matter here merely of giving an abstract answer to the question: Who is man? It is in a way the fulfilment of the "destiny" that God has prepared for him from eternity. Think of your brothers and sisters who are suffering hunger and misery! Given at Rome, at Saint Peter's, on the fourth of March, the First Sunday of Lent, in the year 1979, the first year of my Pontificate. The subject of development and progress is on everybody's lips and appears in the columns of all the newspapers and other publications in all the languages of the modern world. Cf. Therefore "for our sake (God) made him (the Son) to be sin who knew no sin"57. 811-816; Vatican Council II: Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 25: AAS 57 (1965) pp. Accordingly, in the Eucharist we touch in a way the very mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord, as is attested by the very words used at its institution, the words that, because of that institution, have become the words with which those called to this ministry in the Church un ceasingly celebrate the Eucharist. 16:19-31.106. Rom. He was a young man of 19 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939. In referring today to this document that gave the programme of Paul VI's pontificate, I keep thanking God that this great Predecessor of mine, who was also truly my father, knew how to display ad extra, externally, the true countenance of the Church, in spite of the various internal weaknesses that affected her in the postconciliar period. 811-816.148. While it is right that, in accordance with the example of her Master, who is "humble in heart"13, the Church also should have humility as her foundation, that she should have a critical sense with regard to all that goes to make up her human character and activity, and that she should always be very demanding on herself, nevertheless criticism too should have its just limits. Seeking to see man as it were with "the eyes of Christ himself", the Church becomes more and more aware that she is the guardian of a great treasure, which she may not waste but must continually increase. Full Encyclical Letter, "Redemptor Hominis", "The requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world." 6:68; cf. That means that she must be aware of his possibilities, which keep returning to their proper bearings and thus revealing themselves. In spite of all appearances, the Church is now more united in the fellowship of service and in the awareness of apostolate. Nevertheless, without applying these comparisons, one still cannot fail to see that this century has so far been one in which people have provided many injustices and sufferings for themselves. Vatican Council II: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 5, 10, 21: AAS 58 ( 1966) 819, 822, 827-828.144. 3:8.11. This pattern, which is familiar to all, and the contrast referred to, in the documents giving their teaching, by the Popes of this century, most recently by John XXIII and by Paul VI,104 represent, as it were, the gigantic development of the parable in the Bible of the rich banqueter and the poor man Lazarus105. Most important, it reflects on, exposes, and gives prophetic voice to, the path of the Church, and above all, redemption for all. And in her turn the Church, in spite of all the weaknesses that are part of her human history, does not cease to follow him who said: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. 8:32.83. Priests and religious must be faithful to this principle. To present all the riches of the Council's teaching we would here have to make reference to numerous chapters and paragraphs of the Constitution Lumen Gentium and of many other documents by the Council. Although the participation by the fraternal community of the faithful in the penitential celebration is a great help for the act of personal conversion, nevertheless, in the final analysis, it is necessary that in this act there should be a pronouncement by the individual himself with the whole depth of his conscience and with the whole of his sense of guilt and of trust in God, placing himself like the Psalmist before God to confess: "Against you... have I sinned"175. John XXIII and Paul VI are a stage to which I wish to refer directly as a threshold from which I intend to continue, in a certain sense together with John Paul I, into the future, letting myself be guided by unlimited trust in and obedience to the Spirit that Christ promised and sent to his Church. 8:15.130. Cf. This dignity is expressed in readiness to serve, in keeping with the example of Christ, who "came not to be served but to serve"181. Confessio, I, 1: CSEL 33, p. 1.126. 11. Suffice it to mention Saint Paul and, for instance, his address in the Areopagus at Athens74. Mention must be made here of the salient documents of the pontificate of Paul VI, some of which were spoken of by himself in his address during Mass on the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in 1978: Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam: AAS 56 (1964) 609-659; Apostolic Letter Investigabiles Divitias Christi: AAS 57 (1965) 298-301; Encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus: AAS 59 (1967) 657-697; Solemn Profession of Faith: AAS 60 (1968) 433-445; Encyclical Humanae Vitae: AAS 60 (1968) 481-503; Apostolic Exhortation Quinque Iam Anni: AAS 63 (1971) 97-106; Apostolic Exhortation Evangelica Testificatio: AAS 63 (1971) 497-535; Apostolic Exhortation Paterna cum Benevolentia: AAS 67 (1975) 5-23; Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete in Domino: AAS 67 (1975) 289-322; Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi: AAS 68 (1976) 5-76.15. In the course of so many centuries, of so many generations, from the time of the Apostles on, is it not often Jesus Christ himself that has made an appearance at the side of people judged for the sake of the truth? -John Hittinger in On Redemptor Hominis Pope Saint John Paul II was one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century. Therefore the Church, uniting herself with all the riches of the mystery of the Redemption, becomes the Church of living people, living because given life from within by the working of "the Spirit of truth"189 and visited by the love that the Holy Spirit has poured into our hearts190. 1:22-23; 2:15-16; 4:4-6; 5:30; Col. 1:18; 3:15; Rom. 2:10.197. 3:16.67. In order to be able to serve others worthily and effectively we must be able to master ourselves, possess the virtues that make this mastery possible. It is obvious that this new stage in the Church's life demands of us a faith that is particularly aware, profound and responsible. ; Address to the Guadalajara Workers, January 30, 1979: 1. c., pp. 8:19-22; Vatican Council II: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 2, 13: AAS 58 (1966) 1026, 1034-1035.41. The pope sets the ground for his encyclical by highlighting important aspects of redemption and connecting this to vocation. Furthermore such criticism does not express an attitude of service but rather a wish to direct the opinion of others in accordance with one's own, which is at times spread abroad in too thoughtless a manner. Pope Paul VI: Closing Address at the Third Session of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, November 21, 1964: AAS 56 (1964) 1015.194. Cf. In Jesus Christ, who was crucified and laid in the tomb and then rose again, "our hope of resurrection dawned... the bright promise of immortality"123, on the way to which man, through the death of the body, shares with the whole of visible creation the necessity to which matter is subject. Cf. In the light of this teaching, we see still more clearly the reason why the entire sacramental life of the Church and of each Christian reaches its summit and fullness in the Eucharist. It is in this that the mystery of the Mother consists. The Ecumenical Council gave a fundamental impulse to forming the Church's self-awareness by so adequately and competently presenting to us a view of the terrestrial globe as a map of various religions. IV. In this way much of the human family has become, it seems, more aware, in all humanity's various spheres of existence, of how really necessary the Church of Christ, her mission and her service are to humanity. The Church wishes to serve this single end: that each person may be able to find Christ, in order that Christ may walk with each person the path of life, with the power of the truth about man and the world that is contained in the mystery of the Incarnation and the Redemption and with the power of the love that is radiated by that truth. Ibid., 1: 1. c., p. 5.136. by the. In this context is man, as man, developing and progressing or is he regressing and being degraded in his humanity? Indeed there is already a real perceptible danger that, while man's dominion over the world of things is making enormous advances, he should lose the essential threads of his dominion and in various ways let his humanity be subjected to the world and become himself something subject to manipulation in many ways-even if the manipulation is often not perceptible directly-through the whole of the organization of community life, through the production system and through pressure from the means of social communication. Ibid., 76: 1. c., p. 1099.92. Jn. The Church's fundamental function in every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God, to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking place in Christ Jesus. What shall we say at this point with regard to the specialists in the various disciplines, those who represent the natural sciences and letters, doctors, jurists, artists and technicians, teachers at various levels and with different specializations? In this case we are undoubtedly confronted with a radical injustice with regard to what is particularly deep within man, what is authentically human. Cf. Obviously these instincts exist and are operative, but no truly human economy will be possible unless they are taken up, directed and dominated by the deepest powers in man, which decide the true culture of peoples. In him has been revealed in a new and more wonderful way the fundamental truth concerning creation to which the Book of Genesis gives witness when it repeats several times: "God saw that it was good"38. : first Dogmatic Constitution on the Church draws from this source the unceasing inspiration, the call the... 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