VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI receives the President of Italy on official visit: “Church and State, although quite distinct, are both called, according to their respective mission and proper aims and means, to serve man, receiver and agent of the salvific mission of the Church and citizen of the state”

Vatican City (Fides Service) - “Church and State, although quite distinct, are both called according to their respective mission and proper aims and means, to serve man who is both receiver and agent of the salvific mission of the Church and a citizen of the state. It is in man that these two societies meet and collaborate to promote his integral good”. This was one of the reflections in Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the President of Italy Mr Giorgio Napolitano, who made an official visit to the Pontiff on Monday 20 November. The Pope also mentioned “the special bond of faith and history between Italy and the Successor of Saint Peter whose See, not without Divine arrangement, is situated in your country”.
The custom of reciprocal visits between the Successor of Peter and the President of Italy, and this occasion offer an opportunity “for reflection on the profound reasons for meetings between Church and state representatives”, the Pope said recalling the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes which affirms: “The Church and the political community in their own fields are autonomous and independent from each other. Yet both, under different titles, are devoted to the personal and social vocation of the same men and women” (n. 76). Pope Benedict XVI then said that civil community’s concern for the good of citizens “cannot be restricted to only certain dimension of the person”, since “man presents himself to the state also with his religious dimension”, and he continued: “Religious freedom is therefore a right not only of the individual but also of families, religious groups and the Church herself and the exercise of this right has an impact on many ambits and situations in which the believer lives and works”.
“The freedom demanded by the Church and individual Christians, in no way undermines the interests of the state or other social groups, nor does it aim for authoritarian supremacy over the latter, rather it is the condition … to be able to carry out the valuable service which the Church offers Italy and every country in which she is present. This service to society, which consists mainly in ‘supplying positive and convincing answers to the aspiration and questions of the people ’ offering them for their life, the light of the faith, the power of hope and the warmth of charity, is expressed also with regard to the civil and political ambit”.
The Holy Father than recalled the specific contribution made by Catholic laity in commitment to tackling present day challenges, “war and terrorism, hunger and thirst, extreme poverty of so many people, certain terrible epidemics, but also protection of human life at every stage from conception to natural death, the promotion of the family, based on marriage and primarily responsible for education”. Pope Benedict XVI concluded “may the nation of Italy advance on the path of authentic progress and offer its valuable contribution to the international community, promoting those human and Christian values which are the substance of its history, culture, and ideal, juridical and artistic patrimony, which remain the foundation of the existence and commitment of its citizens”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 21/11/2006 - Righe 38, parole 561)