THE CHRISTIAN IDEAL CANNOT BE REDUCED TO DREAMS OR IDEOLOGY

VATICAN CITY, AUG 21, 2000 (VIS) - The Pope sent a message to Bishop Mariano de Nicolo of Rimini, Italy, for the occasion of the 21st Meeting for Friendship among Peoples. The meeting is an annual event in the city, this year it runs from August 20 to 26 and is considering the theme: "2000 years, an ideal without end."

In his message, dated August 2, John Paul II affirms that "in everyday language, 'ideal' is often understood in contrast to 'real,' as something towards which we aspire but only at a mental level, in the realm of 'ideas,' without, at times, a concrete foundation in reality. Quite the contrary, in Christianity the ideal is an infinitely large objective, intensely beautiful and true, supremely just."

The Holy Father writes that we are called to offer our contribution to the Church, that is: "to show the men and women of our time the rationality of faith, the humanism of charity, the constructive energy of hope. In order for this to be possible the Christian ideal must not be reduced to a dream, an ideology or a utopia rather, for believers, it must become ever more an announcement, a testimony and a truth."

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