Monday, May 16, 2011

HUMANIST CULTURAL SYNTHESIS OPEN TO TRANSCENDANCE

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAY 2011 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI received the participants in the World Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" on the 50th anniversary of Blessed John XXIII's Encyclical "Mater at magistra".

  In his discourse, the Pope stressed that "truth, love, justice, indicated by Mater et magistra, along with the principal of the universal destination of goods, as fundamental criteria for overcoming social and cultural imbalances, remain the pillars for interpreting and resolving the imbalances caused by today's globalisation. In the face of such imbalances there is a need to re-establish a 'whole reason' able to give rise to a rebirth of thought and ethics. ... It is necessary to develop 'humanistic cultural syntheses' open to transcendence through a 'new evangelisation'".

  "The various examples of imbalance worldwide, characteristic of this age, feed other ills such as disparity, differences in wealth, inequality, which create problems in terms of justice and the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, especially in relation to the world's poorest".

  The Pope remarked that "no less worrying are the phenomena linked to the financial system which, after the most acute phase of the recent crisis, has returned to the frenzied issue of credit contracts which frequently give rise to limitless speculation... similarly, the increase in price of primary energy resources... have negative consequences on the environment as well as on humans".

  "The current social question", he added, "is without doubt that of world social justice... the equitable distribution of material and non-material resources, and the globalisation of substantial, social and participatory democracy". This justice, he continued, "cannot be achieved solely on the basis of mere social consensus, without recognising that this, in order to be long-lasting, must be rooted in universal human good".

  Referring to the media for the diffusion of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the Pope remarked that the Church is important "also in the activities of its cultural associations, its programs of religious instruction and social catechesis in the parishes, in the mass media and the work of announcement and testimony on the part of lay persons, who must be spiritually, professionally and ethically prepared".

  The Holy Father concluded by recalling that "there exist important institutions at the service of the new evangelisation, such as voluntary associations, Christian or Christian-inspired non-governmental organisations, the Commission "Justice and Peace", the offices for social and work problems and the Centres and Institutes for Social Doctrine".
AC/                                    VIS 20110516 (420)

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