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WASHINGTON (January 25, 2006) — Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that the first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI is "evidence of both his great scholarship and his profound spiritual insight."
Bishop Skylstad called the encyclical, released today and titled "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love"), "a profound meditation on the meaning of Christian love and the place of charity in the life of the Church."
He singled out the encyclical's affirmation that "the Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word" (# 22), noting that this affirmation follows "a reflection in depth on the meaning of love as it appears in Sacred Scripture."
Bishop Skylstad also drew attention to the Holy Father's discussion of the relationship between justice and charity and between faith and politics. He points out that Pope Benedict cautions that the Church should not take on the political task of building a just society, leaving this to the state and its institutions. But he notes that the Holy Father adds that "the Church is duty-bound to offer, through the purification of reason and through ethical formation, her own specific contribution towards understanding the requirements of justice and achieving them politically" (#28a).
He also notes that Pope Benedict says that the Church's charitable activity "must be independent of parties and ideologies" and that it "cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism" (#31).
Bishop Skylstad concluded his statement by commending the encyclical "to all the Catholic people and indeed to all men and women of good will."
The complete statement appears below.
Statement, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, January 25, 2006
The first encyclical letter of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, "Deus Caritas Est," is a profound meditation on the meaning of Christian love and the place of charity in the life of the Church.
Addressing himself not only to the bishops but also to "priests and deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful," our Holy Father has written an encyclical which provides spiritual nourishment for every member of the Church.
I would single out in particular the Holy Father's affirmation that "the Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word" (# 22). This affirmation puts this service at the very center of the Church's life, and it follows a reflection in depth on the meaning of love as it appears in Sacred Scripture.
Following this fundamental affirmation, the Holy Father also discusses the relationship between charity and justice. He reviews the social teaching of the Church which developed in response to the vast changes in society brought about by industrialization and the division between capital and labor beginning in the 19th century. He points out that "the just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics." At the same time, faith and politics – each independent in its own sphere -- meet on the question, "what is justice?" because "faith liberates reason from its blind spots" and thus helps politics to achieve a just society.
Catholic social doctrine – based on reason and natural law -- has "no intention of giving the Church power over the State" or imposing "on those who do not share the faith ways of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith." Its goal is "to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just."
Pope Benedict cautions that the Church should not take on the political task of building a just society, leaving this to the state and its institutions. But he adds that "the Church is duty-bound to offer, through the purification of reason and through ethical formation, her own specific contribution towards understanding the requirements of justice and achieving them politically."
Thus, while not replacing the state in the task of bringing about a just society, at the same time, the Church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice." The Church is deeply concerned with "the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good" (# 28a).
The Holy Father also affirms that the state cannot be so justly ordered as to "eliminate the need for a service of love." The Church is always called to practise "charity as an organized activity of believers" and "the charity of each individual Christian" will always be necessary "because in addition to justice man needs, and will always need, love" (#29).
The Holy Father states that the Church's charitable activity "must be independent of parties and ideologies." Also it "cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism," but it must also not "leave God and Christ aside" (#31).
In his conclusion, the Holy Father invokes the example of great saints of charity, above all Mary the Mother of the Lord who "engaged in a service of charity to her cousin Elizabeth" (#41).
This first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI is evidence of both his great scholarship and his profound spiritual insight. I commend it to all the Catholic people and indeed to all men and women of good will.