Word: benedicts
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...world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant." POPE BENEDICT XVI, making charity and love a priority for the Catholic Church in his first encyclical since his election last April
...title of the first comprehensive theological teaching of Benedict's papacy suggests, there is little grist for those looking for controversy or doctrinal bombshells. Yes, the Pope confronts modern sexuality, declaring that "'sex' has become a commodity," and even takes a parting slap at Marxism in his defense of a Christian vision of good works. But the message is ultimately a clear and simple call for Christian love and charity. Popes typically use their first encyclicals, the most authoritative form of Church writing, to set the tone for their reign rather than to spark debate or overhaul Catholic teachings. With...
...Citing the First Letter of John as the source for the work's title, Benedict lays out his simple vision of Christian faith. "'We have come to believe in God's love': in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction...
...Benedict thus connects his initial reflections on love to the second part of the document, which focuses on charity. Here he has a message not just for individual believers, but for the Church as a whole. "As a community, the Church must practice love," he concludes. In practical terms, Benedict uses the document to reaffirm that the Church must not "replace the State," which must be responsible for caring for the needy and creating a just society. "The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible," he writes...
...Despite Benedict's references to modern sexual mores, the encyclical does not single out the issues of birth control, homosexuality, divorce or married priests. At Wednesday's presentation of the encyclical, veteran Vatican correspondent Marco Tosatti asked Archbishop William Levada whether a reference to the Eucharist was a sign that Benedict was reconsidering Church policy that denies communion to divorced and remarried Catholics. Levada, who has Ratzinger's old job as the Vatican's top doctrinal official, politely told Tosatti he was reaching. "I hadn't even considered it before your question," he said. Though he has already said that...