Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: February 29, 2008
URL: http://www.zenit.org/article-21932?l=english
Urges Pastors to Be Concerned With Formation
[Note from the Hindu Vivek Kendra: Is there
any more proof required that Christian 'charity' (at least the Roman Catholic
variety) is nothing more than a commercial transaction? The Pope has said:
"We must not forget that works of charity are an important area in which
to meet people who do not yet know Christ, or who know him only partially."
He further goes on to say that "the ultimate aim of their mission is
not that of being social service operatives, but of announcing the Gospel
of charity."
So, charity need not be offered to those who
know Christ well. And charity is not a goal by itself, but a tool to be used
to make people know Christ well - in other words to convert a non-Christian
to Christianity.]
Workers in Catholic charitable organizations
must reflect evangelical love, not mere philanthropy, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope affirmed this today when he received
in audience participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council
Cor Unum, who are meeting to reflect on the theme: "Human and Spiritual
Qualities of People Who Work in Catholic Charity Institutions."
The Pontifical Council Cor Unum coordinates
and promotes the world's Catholic institutions of assistance and volunteering.
The Holy Father told them, "Charitable
activity occupies a central position in the Church's evangelizing mission.
We must not forget that works of charity are an important area in which to
meet people who do not yet know Christ, or who know him only partially. It
is right, then, that pastors and those responsible for pastoral charity work
[...] should concern themselves with the human, professional and theological-spiritual
formation" of people who operate in this field.
"Those who work in the many forms of
charitable activity of the Church cannot, then, content themselves just with
offering technical services or resolving practical problems and difficulties,"
he continued. "The assistance they provide must never be reduced to mere
philanthropy but must be a tangible expression of evangelical love."
Charity workers, the Pontiff explained, must
be, "above all, witnesses of evangelical love." They achieve this
"if the ultimate aim of their mission is not that of being social service
operatives, but of announcing the Gospel of charity."
"Following Christ's footsteps,"
he added, "they are called to be witnesses of the value of life in all
its expressions, especially defending the life of the weak and the sick, following
the example of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who loved and looked after
the dying, because life is not measured in terms of efficiency, but has value
always and for everyone."
Ecclesial charity workers, Benedict XVI added,
are also "called to be witnesses of love, of the fact that we fully become
men and women when we live for others, that no one must die and live for themselves
alone." And, he concluded, charity workers "must be witnesses of
God, who is fullness of love and invites us to love."
