The Confraternities of Catholic Clergy United Kingdom | Australia | United States
Rome Conference
Lecture Theatre, Casa Tra Noi
Via Monte del Gallo, 113
00165 Roma
16 January 2025
Goodness and the Mission of the Priest
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
To speak of goodness and the mission of the priest is to speak of God, of His Being which is All Truth, All Beauty, and All Goodness, and of His life with us in virtue of the Mystery of the Redemptive Incarnation, by which we participate in His Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. It is, therefore, to speak of God the Son Incarnate, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and, in particular, to speak of His Pastoral Charity. Christ as the Head and Shepherd of the Church, God the Father’s flock in every time and place, pours forth the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, into the souls of the members of the Church, members of His Mystical Body,[1] living branches inserted into Him the Vine.[2] It is not to speak of an idea, an ideology, or a movement, but to speak of the reality of life in Christ in the Church.
The priest is consecrated to be the pastoral charity of Christ for His flock, above all in the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at every time and in every place. Through Ordination to the Holy Priesthood, the soul of the priest receives an indelible mark which gives him the grace to act in the person of Christ as Head and Shepherd of His flock until Christ returns in glory at the end of time to bring to consummation His saving work.
Regarding the spiritual life of the priest, Saint Pope John Paul II, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the formation of priests in our time, declared:
The internal principle, the force which animates and guides the spiritual life of the priest inasmuch as he is configured to Christ the Head and Shepherd, is pastoral charity, as a participation in Jesus Christ’s own pastoral charity, a gift freely bestowed by the Holy Spirit and likewise a task and a call which demand a free and committed response on the part of the priest.[3]
The identity of the priest, which also defines his mission, is the pastoral charity of Christ the Head and Shepherd of the flock. The heart of the priest, therefore, is conformed to the Heart of Christ the High Priest, most especially when the priest offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the form of all other aspects of the priestly life and ministry. Saint John Mary Vianney, the Curé of Ars described the objective reality of the priestly vocation as “… the love of the Heart of Jesus.”[4]
Essential to our mission as priests is to reflect the supreme goodness of God the Son Incarnate, Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest. To deepen the appreciation of our participation in the goodness of God the Son Incarnate, I wish to reflect with you on the demand – inherent in the priestly vocation, in priestly ordination, and in the priestly mission – to be a sure moral guide for the faithful in our pastoral care. The Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests tells us:
As pastor of the community, the priest exists and lives for it; he prays, studies, works and sacrifices himself for the community. He is disposed to give his life for it, loving it as Christ does, pouring out upon it all his love and consideration, lavishing it with all his strength and unlimited time in order to render it, in the image of the Church, Spouse of Christ, always more beautiful and worthy of the benevolence of God and the love of the Holy Spirit.
This spousal dimension of the priest as pastor will help him guide his community in service to each and every one of its members, enlightening their consciences with the light of revealed truth, wisely guarding the evangelical authenticity of the Christian life, correcting errors, forgiving, curing the sick, consoling the afflicted, and promoting fraternity.[5]
The ministry of pastoral charity necessarily requires care for the life of the community entrusted to us. This care is expressed daily in many and often hidden ways: the counsel given to spouses who are experiencing difficulties in their married life, the comforting of parishioners who are suffering a serious illness or have lost a family member in death, the formation of children and young people, and a host of other pastoral activities by which the priest concretely pours out his life for the well-being of the flock.
The guidance and direction of the community also require attention to the particular challenges of the time and place of the community. I speak of community in the widest sense, because the guidance and direction of the priest, while they are directed towards the parishioners, are also expected by persons of good will who are not yet members of the Church. The Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests further specifies the identity of the priest as guide of the community: “In order to be a good guide of his People, the priest must also be attentive to the signs of the times: those larger and deeper ones which concern the universal Church and its sojourn in the history of man, and those which more closely affect the specific situation of a particular community.”[6] As the Directory goes on to point out, this guidance requires “the constant and correct study of theological and pastoral problems, and the exercise of a knowledgeable reflection on the social, cultural and scientific data presented to our epoch.”[7]
In any case, the carrying out of the responsibility is delicate and there is a strong temptation to avoid addressing issues which we know have clear moral implications for our people. We struggle, for instance, to know how to address most effectively the grave evils of procured abortion and euthanasia, gender reassignment, and the denial of the free exercise of religion in our nations and in the world.
In the United States, for example, the struggle for the advancement of the respect for the inviolable dignity of human life has been intense for decades. Our government follows openly and aggressively a totally secularist philosophy with its inherent anti-life, anti-family, and anti-religion agenda. For example, government officials refuse to talk about the destruction of the innocent and defenseless human life of the unborn and of those burdened by advanced years, grave illness, or special needs, describing it as the promotion of health. The truth is expressed by the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, who calls the attacks against human life like abortion and euthanasia by their proper name, namely, murder.[8]
Even though the language of Christian faith may be used in public discourse and the name of God may be invoked, programs and policies are proposed and legislated, which totally fail to respect God and His Law written upon the human heart.[9] What is especially saddening is that numerous government officials present themselves as practicing Catholics, while engaging in public speech and political action which are gravely injurious to good morals.[10] Catholics in public office, who obstinately persist in advocating and providing for the most egregious violations of the natural moral law, are the cause of the gravest scandal; they confuse and lead into error their fellow Catholics and non-Catholics alike regarding the most fundamental truths of the moral law.
The culture in Western Europe, for example, has become pervasively secularized. A culture which is totally Christian in its roots and owes its entire development to the Christian faith now does not want in any way to be associated with the name of Christ. It is a culture which is dying, but there are many faithful Christians living in Western Europe who have not given up hope and who work to transform the society. They look for signs of hope that the battle against secularization, against practical atheism, can be won for the sake of life, of the family, and the spread of the true faith.
With all the difficulties which we face in the world, the world has never needed more the Church to be strong in defending the Christian roots of our culture. Many of our countrymen are not ashamed to invoke the name of God and of His only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Many defend the right to observe the dictates of a rightly-formed Christian conscience against those, even in government, who want to force Christians to violate the dictates of conscience regarding the most fundamental moral truths, that is, the inviolable dignity of innocent and defenseless human life, and the integrity of marriage as the faithful, enduring and life-giving union of one man and one woman. But the forces which would lead us down the path of cultural death through the denial of the Christian roots of our culture are strong, and we must be steadfast in encouraging all who are engaged in the battle for life and for a culture of life.
In the education we provide in families and in schools, in our Sunday homilies and in our catechetical instruction, we must have as our goal the formation of consciences according to the truth revealed by God in nature and in Sacred Catholic Tradition. In a special way, we must dedicate ourselves to the formation of the faithful, especially of children and young people, in purity of body and spirit, the first expression of which is respect for life and the integrity of the family. With regard to abortion, for example, we must assist troubled mothers directly and also engage in the work of educating our children and young people to know the truth that “the institution of matrimony itself and conjugal love are ordained for the procreation and education of children, and find in them their ultimate crown.”[11] It, therefore, also demands that we teach our children and young people the virtue of purity, which prepares a man and a woman to give themselves totally to each other and to their offspring in marriage. Sadly, our culture has robbed from the work of education the teaching of the very first lessons of life, the lessons without which nothing else which the culture teaches us makes any sense.
The tireless promotion of the culture of life, in accord with the truth inscribed upon the heart of every man and announced in the Gospel, in fact, responds to the deepest longing of every man and of society itself. Right reason itself teaches us the Golden Rule which Our Lord Jesus Christ enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount. God the Father inscribes upon every human heart the truth declared by Our Lord: “So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”[12]
Sadly, secular culture is becoming more and more a culture of death, an anti-culture, but we, as Catholics, created in the image of God and redeemed by the Most Previous Blood of Christ, know that the culture can be transformed by our cooperation with God’s grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself began the description of His vocation and mission as the Good Shepherd with the words: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”[13] Our Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, continues the mission through His Church, through us who are the living members of His Mystical Body.
The first presupposition of our tireless struggle to advance the respect for the inviolable dignity of innocent human life, for the integrity of marriage and the family, and for the freedom to worship God “in spirit and truth”[14] is the truth that the struggle against total secularization, which is, by definition, opposed to human life, to the family, and to the practice of religion is full of hope. It is, by no means, futile, that is, it is not ultimately destined to failure. The fundamental presupposition is the victory of life, which Our Lord Jesus Christ, has already won.
Christ animates the Church in time with the grace of His victory over sin and death, accomplished on Calvary, until the victory reaches its consummation, at His Final Coming, in the Heavenly Jerusalem, when He inaugurates “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”[15] The Christian voice, the voice of Christ, which reaches us through the Apostolic ministry, remains always strong in the world. The voice of men and women of good will, who recognize and obey the law of God written upon their hearts, remains strong. For this reason we, as sure moral guides, must cooperate more efficaciously with the grace of Christ for the transformation of the world, and help the faithful and all men, for whose salvation we have been consecrated, to bear faithful testimony to the immutable truths of the moral law.
Living in a totally secularized culture, we must open our eyes to see that many recognize the human bankruptcy of our culture and are looking with hope to the Church for the inspiration and strength to claim anew the God-fearing and Christian foundations of every truly human society.
The second fundamental presupposition of our struggle to advance the culture of life, of the family, and of religion is the essential relationship of the respect for human life and the respect for the integrity of marriage and the family. The attack on the innocent and defenseless life of the unborn has its origin in an erroneous view of human sexuality, which attempts to eliminate, by mechanical or chemical means, the essentially procreative nature of the conjugal act. The error maintains that the artificially altered conjugal act retains its integrity. The claim is that the act remains unitive or loving, even though the procreative nature of the act has been radically violated. In fact, it is not unitive, for one or both of the partners withholds an essential part of the gift of self, which is the essence of the conjugal union. The so-called “contraceptive mentality” is essentially anti-life. Many forms of so-called contraception are, in fact, abortifacient, that is, they destroy, at its beginning, a life which has already been conceived.
The manipulation of the conjugal act, as Pope Saint Paul VI prophetically observed, has led to many forms of violence against marriage and family life.[16] Through the spread of the contraceptive mentality, especially among the young, human sexuality is no longer seen as the gift of God, which draws a man and a woman together, in a bond of lifelong and faithful love crowned by the gift of new human life, but, rather, as a tool for personal gratification. Once sexual union is no longer seen to be, by its very nature, procreative, human sexuality is abused in ways that are profoundly harmful and indeed destructive of individuals and of society itself. One has only to think of the devastation which is daily wrought in our world by the multi-million dollar industry of pornography.
It is instructive to note that Pope Benedict XVI, in his Encyclical Letter on the Church’s social doctrine, Caritas in Veritate, makes special reference to Pope Saint Paul VI’s Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae, underscoring its importance “for delineating the fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes.”[17] Pope Benedict XVI makes clear that the teaching in Humanae Vitae was not a matter of “purely individual morality,” declaring: “Humanae vitaeindicates the strong links between life ethics and social ethics, ushering in a new area of magisterial teaching that has gradually been articulated in a series of documents, most recently John Paul II’s Encyclical Evangelium vitae.”[18] Pope Benedict XVI reminds us of the essential part which a right understanding of our sexuality has in true human development.
In treating the whole question of procreation, he underscores the critical nature of the right understanding of human sexuality, marriage and the family. He declares:
The Church, in her concern for man’s authentic development, urges him to have full respect for human values in the exercise of his sexuality. It cannot be reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment, nor can sex education be reduced to technical instruction aimed solely at protecting the interested parties from possible disease or the “risk” of procreation. This would be to impoverish and disregard the deeper meaning of sexuality, a meaning which needs to be acknowledged and responsibly appropriated not only by individuals but also by the community.[19]
The respect for the integrity of the conjugal act is essential to the advancement of the culture of life. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, it is necessary “once more to hold up to future generations the beauty of marriage and the family, and the fact that these institutions correspond to the deepest needs and dignity of the person.”[20]
The relationship of the Magisterium to our eternal salvation lies at the very foundation of our life in Christ. In a world which prizes, above all else, individualism and self-determination, the Christian is easily tempted to view the Magisterium in relationship to his individualism and self-pursuit. In other words, he is tempted to relativize the authority of the Magisterium. The phenomenon today is popularly known as “cafeteria Catholicism.”
Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2010 Christmas Address to the College of Cardinals, the Roman Curia and the Governorate of Vatican City State, spoke clearly and strongly about the profoundly disordered moral state in which our world finds itself, today. He spoke about the grave evils of our time, for example, the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy, the marketing of child pornography, sexual tourism, and the deadly abuse of drugs.
Regarding the grave evils which beset the world, in our day, Pope Benedict XVI declared that they are all signs of “the tyranny of mammon which perverts mankind”[21] and that they result from “a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines man’s freedom and ultimately destroys it.”[22] They are manifestations, to be sure, of a way of living, to use the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, “as if God did not exist.”[23]
Reflecting on the grave evils which are destroying us as individuals and as a society, and which have generated a culture marked predominantly by violence and death, the Holy Father reminded us that, if we, with the help of God’s grace, are to overcome the grave evils of our time, “we must turn our attention to their ideological foundations.”[24] He then identified directly and unequivocally the ideology which fosters these evils: a perversion of ethos, of the moral norm, which has even entered into the thinking of some theologians in the Church.
Referring to one of the more shocking manifestations of the ideology, namely, the so-called moral position that the sexual abuse of children by adults is actually good for the children and for the adults, he declared:
It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a “better than” and a “worse than”. Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist.[25]
Pope Benedict XVI describes a moral relativism, called proportionalism or consequentialism in contemporary moral theology, which has generated profound confusion and outright error regarding the most fundamental truths of the moral law.[26] It has led to a situation in which morality itself indeed “ceases to exist.” If, therefore, the irreplaceable moral order, which is the way of our freedom and happiness, is to be restored, we must address with clarity and steadfastness the error of moral relativism, proportionalism and consequentialism, which permeates our culture and has also entered, as the Holy Father reminds us, into the Church. Our priestly mission as sound moral guides demands that we alert the faithful in our care and help them in following the way of goodness of life.
To confront the ideology, Pope Benedict XVI urged us to study anew the teaching of his predecessor, Pope Saint John Paul II, in his Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, “Regarding Certain Fundamental Questions of the Church’s Moral Teaching.” In Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “indicated with prophetic force, in the great rational tradition of Christian ethos, the essential and permanent foundations of moral action.”[27] Reminding us of the need to form our consciences, in accord with the moral teaching of the Church, our Holy Father also reminded us of “our responsibility to make these criteria [these moral foundations] audible and intelligible once more for people today as paths of true humanity, in the context of our paramount concern for mankind.”[28]
Later, in the same Christmas Address, His Holiness recalled his “encounter with the world of culture in Westminster Hall,” during his pastoral visit to the United Kingdom in September of 2010, during which he reflected “on the proper place of religious belief within the political process.”[29] Taking inspiration from the example of Saint Thomas More, he addressed directly “the ethical foundations of civil discourse.”[30] As a service to culture, in general, he set forth the Catholic understanding of the matter with these words:
The centr1al question at issue, then, is this: where is the ethical foundation for political choices to be found? The Catholic tradition maintains that the objective norms governing right action are accessible to reason, prescinding from the content of revelation. According to this understanding, the role of religion in political debate is not so much to supply these norms, as if they could not be known by non-believers – still less to propose concrete political solutions, which would lie altogether outside the competence of religion – but rather to help purify and shed light upon the application of reason to the discovery of objective moral principles.[31]
Pope Benedict XVI noted that the role of religion in public discourse “is not always welcomed,” for various reasons which can also include “distorted forms of religion, such as sectarianism and fundamentalism.”[32]
He observed, however, that such distortions do not justify the exclusion of religion from public discourse, for “reason too can fall prey to distortions, as when it is manipulated by ideology, or applied in a partial way that fails to take full account of the dignity of the human person.”[33] What remains necessary and true is the right relationship of faith and reason. The Holy Father concludes: “This is why I would suggest that the world of reason and the world of faith – the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief – need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilization.”[34]
Religion, he continued, “is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation.”[35]In the light of the irreplaceable role of religion in public life, the Holy Father expressed his “concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance.”[36]
He then gives a telling description of some of the more troubling manifestations of the effort to alienate religion from the public forum. His words which I now quote shed light on the absurdity and indeed moral perversity of a public order which fails to respect the proper role of religion:
There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue – paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination – that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience. These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square.[37]
Pope Benedict concluded with an invitation to safeguard and foster the right relationship of faith and reason, which is essential to the pursuit of the common good, of the good of society.
In the 2010 Christmas Address, he concluded his reference to his speech in Westminster Hall with these urgent words:
This fundamental [moral] consensus derived from the Christian heritage is at risk wherever its place, the place of moral reasoning, is taken by the purely instrumental rationality of which I spoke earlier. In reality, this makes reason blind to what is essential. To resist this eclipse of reason and to preserve its capacity for seeing the essential, for seeing God and man, for seeing what is good and what is true, is the common interest that must unite all people of good will. The very future of the world is at stake.[38]
There can be no question of the urgency with which Pope Benedict XVI called the faithful and all persons of good will to reverse the decline of western Christian culture by engaging public discourse with the fundamental truths of the moral law, as taught to us by reason and our Catholic faith. As priests, we have an irreplaceable service to offer to the faithful in our care and to all persons of good will: to announce and to illustrate the fundamental truths of the moral law.
In his Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the same concern precisely in terms of human development, indicating the harm done to society, in general, when religion is excluded from public discourse. He described the deleterious societal effect of two extremes, the exclusion of religion and religious fundamentalism, in these words:
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. Public life is sapped of its motivation and politics takes on a domineering and aggressive character. Human rights risk being ignored either because they are robbed of their transcendent foundation or because personal freedom is not acknowledged. Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue and effective cooperation between reason and religious faith. Reason always stands in need of being purified by faith: this also holds true for political reason, which must not consider itself omnipotent. For its part, religion always needs to be purified by reason in order to show its authentically human face. Any breach in this dialogue comes only at an enormous price to human development.[39]
To the degree that we restore respect for the essential relationship between faith and reason, to that degree we are filled with hope for the future of a culture which, otherwise, can only be in decline.
Making pilgrimage to the ancient shrine of Saint James the Greater at Compostela in Spain, in November of 2010, Pope Benedict XVI urged Europeans to recognize the great gift of God’s love in the world, in Jesus Christ, and to follow Him in holiness of life. His words to the faithful of Europe, who have grown so forgetful of God and even hostile to His Law, apply also to other dechristianized nations. His words are further illuminated by the context of his pilgrimage, for the very purpose of a pilgrimage is to open our eyes to the great mystery of God’s love in our lives, that is, to open our eyes to see the extraordinary nature of ordinary living. Let us listen to the words of Pope Benedict XVI:
God is the origin of our being and the foundation and apex of our freedom, not its opponent. How can mortal man build a firm foundation and how can the sinner be reconciled with himself? How can it be that there is public silence with regard to the first and essential reality of human life? How can what is most decisive in life be confined to the purely private sphere or banished to the shadows? We cannot live in darkness, without seeing the light of the sun. How is it then that God, who is the light of every mind, the power of every will and the magnet of every heart, be denied the right to propose the light that dissipates all darkness? This is why we need to hear God once again under the skies of Europe; may this holy word not be spoken in vain, and may it not be put at the service of purposes other than its own. It needs to be spoken in a holy way. And we must hear it in this way in ordinary life, in the silence of work, in brotherly love and in the difficulties that the years bring on.[40]
The words of our Holy Father make clear the inherent dynamism of the life of the Holy Spirit within us, leading us to give witness to the mystery of God’s love in our lives and so to convert our own lives more fully to Christ and to transform our world. The Holy Spirit never ceases to inspire us as priests to guide the souls in our care to the daily conversion of their lives to Christ.
The service of the Bishop and of his principal collaborators, the priests, as true teachers of the faith and sure moral guides is critical and indeed irreplaceable in the lives of individuals and in the life of society. The entire content of our faith, what Saint Paul calls the deposit of faith, is found in Sacred Scripture and Tradition.[41] The faith, in its integrity, has been entrusted to the Church by Christ through the ministry of the Apostles. The deposit of faith is the teaching of the Apostles and the living of that teaching in the life of prayer and the sacramental life, and the witness of the teaching in the moral life. The foundation is the sound doctrine which finds its highest expression in the Sacraments, above all the Holy Eucharist, and which is witnessed in the holiness of life of the believer.[42]
Let us, obedient to the Magisterium, engage with new enthusiasm and new energy in the struggle to advance the culture of truth and love in our nations. The struggle is fierce, and the contrary forces are many and clever. But the victory has already been won, and the Victor never fails to accompany us in the struggle, for he is faithful to His promise to us: “[A]nd behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”[43]
Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE
[1] Cf. Rom 12, 5; 1 Cor 10, 16; 12, 12. 27; Eph 4, 12; and Col 1, 24.
[2] Cf. Jn 15, 1-5.
[3] “Principium interius, virtus scilicet qua presbyteri vita spiritualis animetur et quasi manuducatur, quatenus is configuratur Christo Capiti et Pastori, ponendum est in caritate pastorali, id est in particpatione ipsius caritatis pastoralis Christi Iesu; quae et gratuitum Spiritus Sancti donum erit, et simul munus et liberum responsale presbyteri responsum.” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Adhortatio Apostolica Postsynodalis Pastores Dabo Vobis, “De sacerdotum formatione in aetatis nostrae rerum condicione,” 25 Martii 1992, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 84 (1992) 691-692, n. 23. [PDV]. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, “On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day,” 25 March 1992 (Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992), pp. 57-58, n. 23. [PDVEng].
[4] “…l’amour du Cœur de Jésus.” A. Monnin, Esprit du Curé d’Ars, Saint J.-B.-M. Vianney dans ses Catéchismes, ses Homélies et sa Conversation (Paris: Pierre Téqui, 2007), p. 90. English translation by author.
[5] «Pastor communitatis, sacerdos pro ea exsistit et vivit, precatur, studet, laborat et se vovet; pro ea paratus est ad vitam fundendam, illam amans cum Christo, totum amorem suum suamque aestimationem conferens in eam, enixe nec circumscripto tempore operam dans ut eam reddat, ad imaginem Ecclesiae Sponsae Christi, pulchriorem usque et oblectamento Patris et amore Spiritus Sancti dignam.
Haec ratio sponsalis vitae presbyteri, qua pastoris, efficiet ut is communitatem regat, alacriter omnibus serviens et unicuique membro eius, eorum conscientias illustrans lumine veritatis revelatae, cum auctoritate custodiens evangelicam vitae christianae authenticitatem, errores corrigens, ignoscens, vulnera sanans, moerores consolans, fraternitatem provehens». Congregatio pro Clericis, Directorium pro Presbyterorum Ministerio et Vita (Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994), pp. 62-63, n. 61 [DPMV]. English translation: Congregation for the Clergy, Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests (Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994), pp. 66-67, no. 61. [DPMVEng].
[6] “Ut Populi sui bonus sit rector, Presbyter ad signa quoque temporum cognoscenda erit attentus: cum ampliora et altiora, ad Ecclesiam universalem et ad eius iter in hominum historia pertinentia, tum viciniora certae definitaeque singularum communitatum condicioni.” DPMV, p. 55, n. 56. English translation: DPMVEng, p. 59, no. 56.
[7] “… constantem postulat et rectam informationem in studio quaestionum theologicarum et pastoralium, exercitium sapientis meditationis de argumentis socialibus, culturalibus et scientificis, quae aetatem nostrum notant.” DPMV, p. 55, n. 56. English translation: DPMV, p. 59, no. 56.
[8] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Litterae Encyclicae Evangelium vitae, 25 martii 1995, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 87 (1995) 401-522.
[9] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Adhortatio Apostolica Post-Synodalis Christifideles Laici, “De Vocatione et missione Laicorum in Ecclesia et in mundo,” 30 Decembris 1988, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 81 (1989) 454-457, n. 34.
[10] Cf. can. 1369.
[11] “Indole autem sua naturali, ipsum institutum matrimonii amorque coniugalis ad procreationem et educationem prolis ordinantur iisque veluti suo fastigio coronantur.” Sacrosanctum Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum II, Constitutio Pastoralis Gaudium et Spes, “De Ecclesia in Mundo Huius Temporis,” 7 Decembris 1965, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 58 (1966) 1068, n. 48. English translation: Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, “On the Church in the Modern World,” 7 December 1965, in The Documents of Vatican II, Vatican Translation (Strathfield, NSW (Australia): St Pauls Publications, 2009), p. 160, no. 48.
[12] Mt 7, 12.
[13] Jn 10, 10.
[14] Jn 4, 24.
[15] 2 Pt 3,13; Cf. Rev 21, 1.
[16] Cf. Paulus PP. VI, Litterae Encyclicae Humanae Vitae, “De propagatione humanae prolis recte ordinanda,” 25 Iulii 1968, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 60 (1968) 492-494, n. 17.
[17] “… ut progressionis prorsus humana significatio describatur, quam Ecclesia proponit.” Benedictus PP. XVI, Litterae Encyclicae Caritas in Veritate, “De humana integra progressione in caritate veritateque,” 29 June 2009, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 101 (2009) 651, n. 15. [CV]. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate, “On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth,” 29 June 2009 (Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2009), p. 20, no. 15. [CVEng].
[18] “… de re morali solummodo singulorum…. Litterae encyclicae «Humanae vitae» solida vincula designant, quae inter vitae ethicam et ethicam socialem intercedunt, magistrale quoddam insinuantes argumentum, quod gradatim variis in documentis auctum est, novissime in Ioannis Paul II Litteris encyclicis Evangelium vitae.” CV 651, n. 15. English translation: CVEng, p. 21, no. 15.
[19] “Ecclesia, cui cordi est verus hominis progressus, monet eum ad plenam valorum observantiam, in sexualitate quoque exercenda: quae ad meram rem hedonisticam ludicramque redigi non potest, sicut educatio sexualis in technicam institutionem coartari non potest, si tantum cura habeatur eos quorum interest arcendi a quodam contagio vel a generandi «periculo». Hoc modo pauperior fieret et altus sexualitatis sensus extenuaretur, qui econtra agnosci et accipi debet cum responsalitate tam singularum personarum quam communitatis.” CV 680, n. 44. English translation: CVEng, pp. 73-74, no. 44.
[20] “novis generationibus adhuc proponendi pulchritudinem familiae et matrimonii, congruentiam huiusmodi institutionum cum altioribus postulatis cordis dignitatisque personae.” CV, 681, n. 44. English translation: CVEng, p. 75, no. 44.
[21] “… espressione della dittatura di mammona che perverte uomo.” Benedictus PP. XVI, “Allocutiones: Omina Nativitatis novique Anni Curiae Romanae significantur.” 20 Decembris 2010,” Acta Apostolicae Sedis 103 (2011) 36. [Omina]. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Benedict XVI’s Christmas greeting to the College of Cardinals, the Roman Curia and the Governorate: Resolved in faith and in doing good,” L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 22-29 December 2010, p. 13. [OminaEng].
[22] “… un fatale fraintendimento della libertà, in cui proprio la libertà dell’uomo viene minata et alla fine annullata del tutto.” Omina, p. 36. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[23] “… « etsi Deus non daretur ».” Ioannes Paulus PP. II, “Adhortatio Apostolica Post-Synodalis de vocatione et missione Laicorum in Ecclesia et in mundo, Christifideles laici,” 30 Decembris 1988, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 81 (1989) 454, n. 34. English translation: Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici on the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, 30 December 1988 (Vatican City State: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1988), p. 95, no. 34.
[24] “… dobbiamo gettare uno sguardo sui loro fondamenti ideologici.” Omina 36. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[25] “Si asseriva – persino nell’ambito della teologia cattolica – che non esisterebbero né il male in sé, né il bene in sé. Esisterebbe soltanto un « meglio di » e « un peggio di ». Niente sarebbe in se stesso bene o male. Tutto dipenderebbe dalle circostanze e dal fine inteso. A seconda degli scopi e delle circostanze, tutto potrebbe essere bene o anche male. La morale viene sostituita da un calcolo delle conseguenze e con ciò cessa di esistere.” Omina 36-37. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[26] Cf. Ioannes Paulus PP. II, “Litterae Encyclicae de quibusdam quaestionibus fundamentalibus doctrinae moralis Ecclesiae, Veritatis splendor,” 6 Augusti 1993, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 85 (1993) 1193-1194, n. 75.
26 “… indicò con forza profetica nella grande tradizione razionale dell’ethos Cristiano le basi essenziali e permanenti dell’agire morale.” Omina 37. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[28] “… nostra responsabilità rendere nuovamente udibili e comprensibili tra gli uomini questi criteri come vie della vera umanità, nel contesto della preoccupazione per l’uomo, nella quale siamo immersi.” Omina 37. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[29] Benedictus PP. XVI, “Allocutiones: V, Iter Apostolicum Summi Pontificis in Regnum Unitum: Londinii in Aula Vestmonasteriensi colloquium Benedicti XVI cum primoribus Societatis Civilis; cum doctis vivis culturae, scientiis et oprum conduction deditis; cum Corpore Legatorum et Religiosis Auctoritatibus,”17 Septembris 2010, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 102 (2010) 635. [Westminster].
[30] Westminster 636.
[31] Westminster 636-637.
[32] Westminster 637.
[34] Westminster 637.
[35] Westminster 637.
[36] Westminster 637.
[37] Westminster 637.
[38] “Questo consenso [morale] di fondo proveniente dal patrimonio cristiano è in pericolo là dove al suo posto, al posto della ragione morale, subentra la mera razionalità finalistica di cui ho parlato poco fa. Questo è in realtà un accecamento della ragione per ciò che è essenziale. Combattere contro questo accecamento della ragione e conservarle la capacità di vedere l’essenziale, di vedere Dio e l’uomo, ciò che è buono e ciò che è vero, è l’interesse comune che deve unire tutti gli uomini di buona volontà. È in gioco il futuro dell mondo.” Omina 39. English translation: OminaEng, p. 13.
[39] “Tum exclusio religionis ex ambitu publico, tum quoque fundamentalismus religiosus, consortionem inter personas impediunt earumque consociatam operam ad humanitatem provehendam. Vita publica rationum cumulo extenuatur et res politica pugnacem vultum adhibet. Iura humana in periculo versantur ne observentur, quia suo transcendenti fundamento orbantur vel humana non agnoscitur libertas. In laicismo et fundamentalismo facultas amittitur frugiferi colloquii atque efficacis cooperationis inter rationem et religiosam fidem. Ratio semper fide est purificanda, quod etiam de politica ratione est dicendum, quae non debet putare se omnipotentem esse. Religio quoque semper ratione est purificanda ut suum authenticum humanum vultum demonsstret. Huius dialogi abruptio per quam onerosum erga humanitatis progressionem secum fert pretium.” CV 692, n. 56. English translation: CVEng, pp. 94-95, no. 56.
[40] “Dios es el origen de nuestro ser y cimiento y cúspide de nuestra libertad: no su oponente. ¿Cómo el hombre mortal se va a fundar a sí mismo y cómo el hombre pecador se va a reconciliar a sí mismo? ¿Cómo es posible que se haya hecho silencio público sobre la realidad primera y esencial de la vida humana? ¿Cómo lo más determinante de ella puede ser recluido en la mera intimidad o remitido a la penumbra? Los hombres no podemos vivir a oscuras, sin ver la luz del sol. Y, entonces, ¿cómo es posible que se la niegue a Dios, sol de las inteligencias, fuerza de las voluntades e imán de nuestros corazones, el derecho de proponer esa luz que disipa toda tiniebla? Por eso, es necesario que Dios vuelva a resonar gozosamente bajo los cielos de Europa: que esa palabra santa no se pronuncie jamás en vano: que no se pervierta haciéndola servir a fines que lo son impropios. Es menester que se profiera santamente. Es necesario que la percibamos así en la vida de cada día, en el silencio del trabajo, en el amor fraterno y en las dificultades que los años traen consigo.” Benedictus PP. XVI, “Homiliae: II, Iter Apostolicum Summi Pontificis in urbem Compostellam – In eucharistica celebratione sacro Compostellano anno recurrente,” Acta Apostolicae Sedis 102 (2010) 881-882. English translation: Pope Benedict XVI, “Compostelian Jubilee Year Mass at Santiago de Compostela: God resounds anew under the skies of Europe,” L’Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English, 10 November 2010, pp. 5 and 8.
[41] Cf. 1 Tm 6, 20; and 2 Tm 1, 12-14.
[42] Cf. CCC, no. 84.
[43] Mt 28, 20.
Leave a Reply