At an international conference organized by Cor Unum the Pope speaks about charity in the life of the Church
Charity is the “beating heart” in the life
of the Church and the “compass” which orients our steps. Pope Francis spoke on
Friday morning, 26 February, to the participants in an international conference
organized by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum on the 10th
anniversary of the publication of Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est.
The following is the English text of the Holy Father’s address which was
delivered in Italian.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I welcome you on the occasion of the
International Conference on the theme: “Love will never end (1 Cor 13:8):
Prospects ten years on from the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est”, organized
by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and I thank Monsignor Dal Toso for the
words of greetings addressed to me on behalf of all of you.
The first Encyclical of Pope Benedict xvi
concerns a theme that allows us to retrace the entire history of the Church,
which is also a history of charity. It
is a story of the love received from God, to be carried to the world: this
charity received and given is the fulcrum of the history of the Church and of
the history of each one of us. The act
of charity is not, in fact, simply almsgiving to ease one’s conscience. It includes a “loving attentiveness towards
the other” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 199), which considers the other as
“one with himself” (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, ii-ii, q. 27, art.
2), and desires to share friendship with God.
Charity, therefore, is at the centre of the life of the Church and, in
the words of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, is truly the heart of the Church. Both for individual members of the faithful
and for the Christian community as a whole, the words of Jesus hold true: that
charity is the first and greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength…. You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk
12:30-31).
The present Jubilee Year is also an
opportunity to return to this beating heart of our life and our witness, to the
centre of the proclamation of faith: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16). God does not
simply have the desire or capacity to love; God is love: charity is his
essence, it is his nature. He is unique,
but not solitary; he cannot be alone, he cannot be closed in on himself because
he is communion, he is charity; and charity by its nature is communicated and
shared. In this way, God associates man
to his life of love, and even if man turns away from him, God does not remain
distant but goes out to meet him. This
going out to meet us, culminating in the Incarnation of his Son, is his
mercy. It is his way of expressing
himself to us sinners, his face that looks at us and cares for us. The Encyclical reads: “Jesus’ programme is ‘a
heart which sees’. This heart sees where
love is needed and acts accordingly” (n. 31).
Charity and mercy are in this way closely related, because they are
God’s way of being and acting: his identity and his name.
The first aspect which the Encyclical
recalls for us is the face of God: who is the God we can encounter in Christ?
How faithful and unsurpassable is his love?
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends” (Jn 15:13). All our expressions of love, of solidarity, of sharing are
but a reflection of that love which is God.
He, without ever tiring, pours out his love on us, and we are called to
become witnesses to this love in the world.
Therefore, we should look to divine charity as to the compass which
orients our lives, before embarking on any activity: there we find direction;
from charity we learn how to see our brothers and sisters and the world. Ubi amor, ibi oculus, say the
Medievals: where there is love, there is the ability to see. Only by “remaining in his love” (cf. Jn
15:1-17) will we know how to understand and love those around us.
The Encyclical — and this is the second aspect
I wish to emphasize — reminds us that this charity needs to be reflected more
and more in the life of the Church. How
I wish that everyone in the Church, every institution, every activity would
show that God loves man! The mission
that our charitable organizations carry out is important, because they provide
so many poor people with a more dignified and human life, which is needed more
than ever. But this mission is of utmost
importance because, not with words, but with concrete love it can make every
person feel loved by the Father, loved as his son or daughter and destined for
eternal life with him. I would like to
thank all those who daily are committing themselves to this mission which
challenges every Christian. In this
Jubilee Year, my intention has been to emphasize that we can all experience the
grace of the Jubilee by putting into practice the spiritual and corporal works
of mercy: to live the works of mercy means to conjugate the verb “to love”
according to Jesus. In this way then,
all of us together can contribute concretely to the great mission of the
Church: to communicate the love of God which is meant to be spread.
Dear brothers and sisters, the message of
the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est remains timely, indicating the ever
relevant prospect for the Church’s journey.
The more we live in this spirit, the more authentic we all are as
Christians.
Thank you again for your commitment and for
what you will be able to achieve in this mission of charity. May the Blessed Mother always assist you, and
my blessing be with you. Please do not
forget to pray for me. Thank you.