Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Your Confederation does not simply work on behalf of the Church, is truly a part of the Church, intimately engaged in the exchange of gifts that takes place on so many levels of ecclesial life.”: Pope Benedict XVI said in his address to participants at the 18th general assembly of Caritas Internationalis, received in audience in the morning of Friday 8 June in the Vatican.
Speaking of the Confederation's special mission the Pope said: “You are called, by means of the charitable activity that you undertake, to assist in the Church’s mission to spread throughout the world the love of God that has been "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit… In the work of charitable organisations like yours, we see the fruits of Christ’s love… Charity has to be understood in the light of God who is caritas: God who loved the world so much that he gave his only Son (cf. Jn 3:16). In this way we come to see that love finds its greatest fulfilment in the gift of self. This is what Caritas Internationalis seeks to accomplish in the world. The heart of Caritas is the sacrificial love of Christ, and every form of individual and organised charity in the Church must always find its point of reference in him, the source of charity.”
Pope Benedict XVI then underlined two practical implications: “The first is that every act of charity should be inspired by a personal experience of faith, leading to the discovery that God is Love. The Caritas worker is called to bear witness to that love before the world.… Only when charitable activity takes the form of Christ-like self-giving does it become a gesture truly worthy of the human person created in God’s image and likeness. Lived charity fosters growth in holiness, after the example of the many servants of the poor whom the Church has raised to the dignity of the altars.”
The second implication "follows closely from the first. God’s love is offered to everyone, hence the Church’s charity is also universal in scope, and so it has to include a commitment to social justice. Yet changing unjust structures is not of itself sufficient to guarantee the happiness of the human person. Moreover, as I affirmed recently to the Bishops gathered in Aparecida, Brazil, the task of politics "is not the immediate competence of the Church”.
Confident that the work of Caritas Internationalis is inspired by these principles, and recalling that “ throughout the world there are countless men and women whose hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for the service you render them”, the Holy Father encouraged those present to persevere in the special mission “ to spread the love of Christ, who came so that all may have life in abundance”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 11/6/2007 - righe 31, parole 450)
