VATICAN CITY, DEC. 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Church isn’t stepping over a line when it defends life and promotes human dignity, says Benedict XVI.
«To promote the dignity of the person and elevate it in an integral way for the benefit of all,» the Pope explained, is in fact a «mission proper to it.»
The Holy Father said this today upon receiving the letters of credence of Juan Pablo Cafiero, the new ambassador of Argentina to the Holy See.
In his address, the Pontiff noted many positive contributions made by the Catholic Church in the South American country: «Faith in Christ has stimulated numerous charitable and welfare initiatives in Argentina, both in the dioceses as well as through religious institutes and lay associations.
«Solicitude and ecclesial activity, centered particularly in the spiritual and moral field, has also radiated with peculiar intensity in the realms of health, culture, education and labor and care for the needy.»
«With its words,» Benedict XVI continued, «the Catholic community seeks only to give testimony of charity and to project on consciences the light of the Gospel, so that man will find a fullness of life that will be reflected in fitting individual conduct and in responsible and harmonious coexistence, in reciprocal understanding and forgiveness.»
He added that he considered it of particular importance «to avoid those attitudes that deteriorate fraternity and mutual understanding, giving vigor, instead, to what favors the sense of civic responsibility in view of the good of the whole society.»
«The Church,» continued the Holy Father, «without pretending to become a political subject, aspires, with the independence of its moral authority, to cooperate loyally and openly with all those responsible for the temporal order in the noble design of achieving a civilization of justice, peace, reconciliation, solidarity, and of those other norms that can never be abolished or left at the mercy of partisan consensus, as they are engraved in the human heart and respond to truth.»
«The presence of God both in the conscience of every man as well as in the public domain is a firm support for respect of the fundamental rights of the person and the construction of a society cemented on them,» the Pontiff affirmed.
Benedict XVI called for efforts to «strengthen dialogue and collaboration between the Argentine authorities and the nation’s episcopate for the sake of the common good of the whole population.»
Some 92% of all Argentines are Catholic.
