Monday, June 24, 2013
519. In what way do Christians participate in political and social life?
(Comp 519) The lay faithful take part directly in political and social life by
animating temporal realities with a Christian spirit and collaborating with all
as authentic witnesses of the Gospel and agents of peace and justice.
“In brief”
(CCC 940) "The characteristic of the lay state being a
life led in the midst of the world and of secular affairs, lay people are
called by God to make of their apostolate, through the vigor of their Christian
spirit, a leaven in the world" (AA 2 § 2).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2442) It is not the role of the Pastors of the Church
to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social
life. This task is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow
citizens. Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always
have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the
Gospel and the teaching of the Church. It is the role of the laity "to
animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that
they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice" (SRS 47 § 6; cf. 42).
Reflection
(CCC 899) The initiative of lay Christians is necessary
especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for
permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of
Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of
the Church: Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the
Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in
particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to
the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the
faithful on earth under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the
bishops in communion with him. They are the Church (Pius XII, Discourse,
February 20, 1946: AAS 38 (1946) 149; quoted by John Paul II, CL 9).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment