The Vatican Website is a treasure trove of truth. Check it out on a regular basis. This past week, the Pope made several important statements. One can click on the main page, under the section, Latest, and get links to all the things this amazing Bishop of Rome has said recently. One can hardly keep up with him and he is brilliant. That the Holy Spirit has given us this man at this time is key.
There is a not so long an address to the International Theological Commission at its annual session from Friday, December 7th for you to read. I only want to highlight one part, which is a answer to a common comment in today's secular world.
Many atheists and agnostics blame the great world religions for violence. These lazy historians and arm-chair critics say things like, "Religions just cause wars", or "We would be better off with religions as these cause violence."
I see this comment on blogs and hear it among young people who do not want to commit to a faith.
Youth look at Christianity and Islam, for example, and blame violence on religious differences.
However, the Holy Father rightly shows all of us, the entire world, that only the pursuit of objective truth can bring peace.
This should be obvious. If everyone has their own interpretation of truth, which is called the heresy of relativism, or the heresy of individualism, then there is no consensus for truth. And, only in the Church is that consensus possible.
We have the Holy Spirit and the Teaching Magisterium of the Church to guide us. Do not pass up opportunities to meditate on the words of the Pope, who is God's gift to the Church.
We need to be able to encourage the seeking of objectivity. As I have written here many times in the perfection series, only those who can be objective can be saints.
If we persist in judgements based on our own criteria, we cannot approach God, Who is Truth.
Sin causes war, selfishness and ideologies which are godless cause war. True religion can only bring peace to the soul and, therefore, to the world.
When the Pope refers to agape in this section, he can bring us back to his work on love, which I wrote about on this blog. Follow the tags at the bottom. We must understand the principle of agape in order to restore harmony to the world.
I mistrust those who merely pray for world peace without knowing what God means by peace of the soul and mind and heart. Peace only comes with love and personal conversion.
Nothing else.
Here is a section of the Pope's address on this link-http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121207_cti_it.html
The bold highlights are my emphases.
Today, however, it is particularly important to clarify the criteria that distinguish the sensus fidelium authentic from its counterfeits. In fact, it is not some kind of public opinion of the Church, and it is unthinkable to mention being able to challenge the teachings of the Magisterium, as the sensus fideium not grow in the authentically believer except to the extent in which he participates fully in the life of the Church, and this requires an adherence responsible to her Magisterium, the deposit of faith.
Today, this same supernatural sense of the faith of believers leads to react with force even against the notion that religions, especially the monotheistic religions are inherently bearers of violence, mainly because of the claim that they advance the existence of a universal truth. Some believe that only the "polytheism of values" to guarantee tolerance and civil peace and be in the spirit of a pluralistic democratic society. In this direction, your study on "the Triune God, unity of men.Christianity and monotheism "is alive actuality. On the one hand, it is essential to remember that the faith in one God, Creator of heaven and earth, meets the needs of rational metaphysical reflection, which is not weakened but strengthened and deepened by the revelation of the mystery of the Triune God. On the other hand, it should be noted that the shape of the final revelation of the mystery of God takes the life and death of Jesus Christ, which meets the Cross as "a lamb led to the slaughter" ( Is 53:7). The Lord came a radical rejection of all forms of hatred and violence in favor of the absolute primacy of ' agape . If, therefore, in history there have been or are forms of violence made in the name of God, these are not to be attributed to monotheism, but historical causes, mainly the result of human errors. Rather it is the forgetfulness of God to immerse human societies in a form of relativism, which inevitably generates violence. When you deny the opportunity for everyone to refer to an objective truth, the dialogue is rendered impossible and violence, whether declared or hidden, becomes the rule of human relationships. Without openness to the transcendent, which allows you to find answers to questions about the meaning of life and the way of life in a moral manner, without opening this man becomes unable to act in accordance with justice and work for peace.
If the failure of the relationship between people and God brings with it a deep imbalance in the relationship between men themselves, reconciliation with God, made by the Cross of Christ "our peace" ( Eph 2:14) is the fundamental source unit and fraternity. In this perspective, it also places your reflection on the third theme, that of the Social Doctrine of the Church throughout the Doctrine of the Faith. It confirms that the social doctrine is not an addition extrinsic, but without neglecting the contribution of a social philosophy, draws its principles underlying the very sources of the faith. This doctrine seeks to make effective, in the great diversity of social situations, the new commandment that the Lord Jesus has left us: "As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" ( Jn13:34).
We pray to the Immaculate Virgin, model of the listener and meditates on the Word of God, obtain for you the grace to serve joyfully always the understanding of faith for the benefit of the whole Church. Renewing the expression of my profound gratitude for your service to the Church, I assure you of my constant closeness in prayer and cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.