John 7, 25-32 + CSDC and CV

John 7, 25-32 + CSDC and CV

CV 77b In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something “over and above”, which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised. The development of individuals and peoples is likewise located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the “beyond” that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth.  

Universal principles which are prior to and superior to the internal law of States

CSDC 437. Universal respect of the principles underlying “a legal structure in conformity with the moral order” [896] is a necessary condition for the stability of international life. The quest for such stability has led to the gradual elaboration of a “right of nations” [897] (“ius gentium”), which can be considered as “the ancestor of international law”.[898] Juridical and theological reflection, firmly based on natural law, has formulated “universal principles which are prior to and superior to the internal law of States”,[899] such as the unity of the human race, the equal dignity of every people, the rejection of war as a means for resolving disputes, the obligation to cooperate for attaining the common good and the need to be faithful to agreements undertaken (pacta sunt servanda). This last principle should be especially emphasized in order to avoid “temptation to appeal to the law of force rather than to the force of law”.[900]

    

Notes: [896] John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 277. [897] Cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Summi Pontificatus: AAS 31 (1939), 438-439; Pius XII, Christmas Radio Message (24 December 1941): AAS 34 (1942), 16-17; John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris: AAS 55 (1963), 290, 292. [898] John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps (12 January 1991), 8: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 14 January 1991, p. 3. [899] John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 5: AAS 96 (2004), 116. [900] John Paul II, Message for the 2004 World Day of Peace, 5: AAS 96 (2004), 117; cf. also John Paul II, Message to the Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University (21 March 2002), 6: L'Osservatore Romano, 22 March 2002, p. 6.

(Jn 7, 25-32) Many of the crowd began to believe in him  

[25] So some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, "Is he not the one they are trying to kill? [26] And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Messiah? [27] But we know where he is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from." [28] So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, "You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. [29] I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me." [30] So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. [31] But many of the crowd began to believe in him, and said, "When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man has done?" [32] The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring about him to this effect, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.    

CSDC 107. Men and women, in the concrete circumstances of history, represent the heart and soul of Catholic social thought[202]. The whole of the Church's social doctrine, in fact, develops from the principle that affirms the inviolable dignity of the human person[203]. In her manifold expressions of this knowledge, the Church has striven above all to defend human dignity in the face of every attempt to redimension or distort its image; moreover she has often denounced the many violations of human dignity. History attests that it is from the fabric of social relationships that there arise some of the best possibilities for ennobling the human person, but it is also there that lie in wait the most loathsome rejections of human dignity.

Notes: [202] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 11: AAS 83 (1991), 807. [203] Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra: AAS 53 (1961), 453, 459.

[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)]