Luke 9, 46-48 + CSDC and CV
CV 35b.
It was timely when Paul VI in Populorum
Progressio insisted that the economic system itself would benefit from the
wide-ranging practice of justice, inasmuch as the first to gain from the
development of poor countries would be rich ones [90].
According to the Pope, it was not just a matter of correcting dysfunctions
through assistance. The poor are not to be considered a “burden”[91], but a resource, even from the purely economic point
of view. It is nevertheless erroneous to hold that the market economy has an
inbuilt need for a quota of poverty and underdevelopment in order to function
at its best. It is in the interests of the market to promote emancipation, but
in order to do so effectively, it cannot rely only on itself, because it is not
able to produce by itself something that lies outside its competence. It must
draw its moral energies from other subjects that are capable of generating
them.
Notes: [90] Cf. no. 49: loc. cit., 281. [91]
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus
Annus, 28: loc. cit., 827-828.
Freedom is not contrary to man's dependence as a creature
on God
CSDC 136. Freedom is not contrary to man's dependence as a creature on God[257]. Revelation teaches that the power to decide good and evil
does not belong to man but to God alone (cf. Gen 2:16-17). “Man is
certainly free, inasmuch as he can understand and accept God's commands. And he
possesses an extremely far-reaching freedom, since he can eat ‘of every tree of
the garden'. But his freedom is not unlimited: it must halt before the ‘tree of
the knowledge of good and evil', for it is called to accept the moral law given
by God. In fact, human freedom finds its authentic and complete fulfillment
precisely in the acceptance of that law”[258].
Notes: [257] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church,
1706.[258] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 35: AAS
85 (1993), 1161-1162.
(Lk 9, 46-48) Whoever receives this child in my name
receives me
46 An argument arose among the disciples
about which of them was the greatest. 47 Jesus realized the intention of their
hearts and took a child and placed it by his side 48 and said to them,
"Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives
me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is
the one who is the greatest."
CSDC 244. The Church's social doctrine constantly points
out the need to respect the dignity of children. “In the family, which is a community of
persons, special attention must be devoted to the children by developing a
profound esteem for their personal dignity, and a great respect and generous
concern for their rights. This is true for every child, but it becomes all the
more urgent the smaller the child is and the more it is in need of everything,
when it is sick, suffering or handicapped”[554]. The rights of children must
be legally protected within juridical systems. In the first place, it is
necessary that the social value of childhood be publicly recognized in all
countries: “No country on earth, no political system can think of its own
future otherwise than through the image of these new generations that will
receive from their parents the manifold heritage of values, duties and
aspirations of the nation to which they belong and of the whole human
family”[555]. The first right of the child is to “be born in a real
family”[556], a right that has not always been respected and that today is
subject to new violations because of developments in genetic technology.
Notes: [554] John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation
Familiaris Consortio, 26: AAS 74 (1982), 111-112. [555] John Paul
II, Address to the General Assembly of
the United Nations (2 October 1979), 21: AAS 71 (1979), 1159; cf.
John Paul II, Message to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations on the occasion of the World Summit for
Children (22 September 1990): AAS 83 (1991), 358-361. [556] John
Paul II, Address to the Committee of
European Journalists for the Rights of the Child (13 January 1979): L'Osservatore
Romano, English edition, 22 January 1979, p. 5.
[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)]
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