GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY, LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

VATICAN CITY, OCT 20, 1999 (VIS) - "The theological virtue of charity, love of neighbor," was the subject of John Paul II's catechesis during the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square.

The Holy Father pointed out "the great novelty of Christianity: you cannot love God if you do not love your neighbors, creating with them an intimate and lasting communion of love."

"Love for neighbor is meant to be an imitation and continuation of the merciful goodness of the heavenly Father, who provides for the needs of everyone without distinction. In any case, (this love) remains linked to the love for God; in fact, the two commandments of love represent the synthesis and the pinnacle of the Law of the Prophets."

St. Paul, the Holy Father continued, teaches us that divine charity, "the soul of all virtuous acts," is "the fruit, par excellence," of the Holy Spirit. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, the hymn to charity "celebrates this primacy of charity over all other gifts, even over faith and hope. ... Love for neighbor has a Christological connotation, because it must adapt to the gift that Christ made of His own life."

John Paul II concluded by affirming: "Only those who allow themselves to be involved with their neighbors and by their needs, clearly show their love for Jesus. To be closed or indifferent to the 'other' means to be closed to the Holy Spirit, to forget Christ and to negate the universal love of the Father."

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