Lk 21, 5-9 + CSDC and CV

Luke 21, 5-9 + CSDC and CV 

CV 56a  The Christian religion and other religions can offer their contribution to development only if God has a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions. The Church's social doctrine came into being in order to claim “citizenship status” for the Christian religion [135]. Denying the right to profess one's religion in public and the right to bring the truths of faith to bear upon public life has negative consequences for true development. The exclusion of religion from the public square — and, at the other extreme, religious fundamentalism — hinders an encounter between persons and their collaboration for the progress of humanity.

Notes: [135] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: loc. cit., 798-800; Benedict XVI, Address to the Participants in the Fourth National Congress of the Church in Italy, Verona, 19 October 2006.

   Work is a fundamental right and a good for mankind 

CDS 287. Work is a fundamental right and a good for mankind,[619] a useful good, worthy of man because it is an appropriate way for him to give expression to and enhance his human dignity.    The Church teaches the value of work not only because it is always something that belongs to the person but also because of its nature as something necessary.[620] Work is needed to form and maintain a family,[621] to have a right to property,[622] to contribute to the common good of the human family.[623] In considering the moral implications that the question of work has for social life, the Church cannot fail to indicate unemployment as a “real social disaster”,[624] above all with regard to the younger generations.

Notes: [619] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 26: AAS 58 (1966), 1046-1047; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 9, 18: AAS 73 (1981), 598-600, 622-625; John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (25 April 1997), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 14 May 1997, p. 5; John Paul II, Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 8: AAS 91 (1999), 382-383. [620] Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 128.[621] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 10: AAS 73 (1981), 600-602. [622] Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum: Acta Leonis XIII, 11 (1892), 103; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 14: AAS 73 (1981), 612-616; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 31: AAS 83 (1991), 831-832. [623] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 16: AAS 73 (1981), 618-620. [624] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 18: AAS 73 (1981), 623.

(Luke 21,5-9) The Church, sharing in mankind's joys and hopes, in its anxieties and sadness

[5] While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, [6] "All that you see here - the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down." [7] Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" [8] He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! [9] When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."

CDS 60 The Church, sharing in mankind's joys and hopes, in its anxieties and sadness, stands with every man and woman of every place and time, to bring them the good news of the Kingdom of God, which in Jesus Christ has come and continues to be present among them[73]. In the midst of mankind and in the world she is the sacrament of God's love and, therefore, of the most splendid hope, which inspires and sustains every authentic undertaking for and commitment to human liberation and advancement. The Church is present among mankind as God's tent of meeting, “God's dwelling place among men” (cf. Rev 21:3), so that man is not alone, lost or frightened in his task of making the world more human; thus men and women find support in the redeeming love of Christ. As minister of salvation, the Church is not in the abstract nor in a merely spiritual dimension, but in the context of the history and of the world in which man lives[74]. Here mankind is met by God's love and by the vocation to cooperate in the divine plan.

Notes: [73] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1: AAS 58 (1966), 1025-1026. [74] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 40: AAS 58 (1966), 1057-1059; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 53-54: AAS 83 (1991), 859-860; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1: AAS 80 (1988), 513-514.

[Initials and Abbreviations.- CSDC: Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church; -  SDC: Social Doctrine of the Church; - CV: Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth)]