"Not To Make Christianity Seem Mere Morality," but Rather the Gift of Self - (to be continued)

Benedict XVI:

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 7, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that there can be no contradiction between defense of life and defense of values such as peace, justice and nonviolence. The Pope was referring to a debate that has been taking place for decades in sectors of the Catholic Church and of society, when he addressed the bishops of Switzerland on Nov. 9. The Holy See subsequently issued a translation of his remarks in German. The Holy Father began by saying that "what people find more difficult is the morality that the Church proclaims." "I have pondered on this -- I have been pondering on it for a long time -- and I see ever more clearly that in our age morality is, as it were, split in two," the Pontiff said. "Modern society not merely lacks morals but has 'discovered' and demands another dimension of morality, which in the Church's proclamation in recent decades, and even earlier perhaps, has not been sufficiently presented. "This dimension includes the great topics of peace, nonviolence, justice for all, concern for the poor and respect for creation. They have become an ethical whole which, precisely as a political force, has great power and for many constitutes the substitution or succession of religion." Conferring dignity Benedict XVI continued: "Instead of religion, seen as metaphysical and as something from above -- perhaps also as something individualistic -- the great moral themes come into play as the essential which then confers dignity on man and engages him. … "This morality exists and it also fascinates young people, who work for peace, for nonviolence, for justice, for the poor, for creation.

"And [they] are truly great moral themes that also belong, moreover, to the tradition of the Church." "The other part of morality, often received controversially by politics, concerns life," the Pope observed. "One aspect of it is the commitment to life from conception to death, that is, its defense against abortion, against euthanasia, against the manipulation and man's self-authorization in order to dispose of life. "People often seek to justify these interventions with the seemingly great purpose of thereby serving the future generations, and it even appears moral to take human life into one's hands and manipulate it. "However, on the other hand, the knowledge also exists that human life is a gift that demands our respect and love from the very first to its very last moments, also for the suffering, the disabled and the weak. "The morality of marriage and the family also fit into this context," Benedict XVI said. "Marriage is becoming, so to speak, ever more marginalized, so that marriage is no longer defined as a bond between a man and a woman but a bond between persons. "The awareness that sexuality, eros and marriage as a union between a man and a woman go together - 'and they become one flesh' -- this knowledge is growing weaker and weaker; every type of bond seems entirely normal -- they represent a sort of overall morality of nondiscrimination and a form of freedom due to man."There are of course many explanations for the problem of the sharp decline in the birthrate, but certainly a decisive role is also played in this by the fact that people want to enjoy life, that they have little confidence in the future and that they feel the family is no longer viable as a lasting community in which future generations may grow up." -morality. Therefore, Benedict XVI explained to the Swiss bishops, "our proclamation clashes with an awareness, as it were, contrary to\nsociety and with a sort of anti-morality based on a conception of freedom seen as the faculty to choose autonomously\nwith no pre-defined guidelines, as nondiscrimination, hence, as the approval\nof every type of possibility."

"And [they] are truly great moral themes that also belong, moreover, to the tradition of the Church." "The other part of morality, often received controversially by politics, concerns life," the Pope observed. "One aspect of it is the commitment to life from conception to death, that is, its defense against abortion, against euthanasia, against the manipulation and man's self-authorization in order to dispose of life. "People often seek to justify these interventions with the seemingly great purpose of thereby serving the future generations, and it even appears moral to take human life into one's hands and manipulate it." However, on the other hand, the knowledge also exists that human life is a gift that demands our respect and love from the very first to its very last moments, also for the suffering, the disabled and the weak. "The morality of marriage and the family also fit into this context," Benedict XVI said. "Marriage is becoming, so to speak, ever more marginalized, so that marriage is no longer defined as a bond between a man and a woman but a bond between persons. "The awareness that sexuality, eros and marriage as a union between a man and a woman go together -- 'and they become one flesh' -- this knowledge is growing weaker and weaker; every type of bond seems entirely normal -- they represent a sort of overall morality of nondiscrimination and a form of freedom due to man. "There are of course many explanations for the problem of the sharp decline in the birthrate, but certainly a decisive role is also played in this by the fact that people want to enjoy life, that they have little confidence in the future and that they feel the family is no longer viable as a lasting community in which future generations may grow up."

Therefore, Benedict XVI explained to the Swiss bishops, "our proclamation clashes with an awareness, as it were, contrary to society and with a sort of anti-morality based on a conception of freedom seen as the faculty to choose autonomously with no pre-defined guidelines, as nondiscrimination, hence, as the approval of every type of possibility."

"Thus, it autonomously establishes itself as ethically correct, but the other awareness has not disappeared," the Pope contended. "It exists, and I believe we must commit ourselves to reconnecting these two parts of morality and to making it clear that they must be inseparably united. "Only if human life from conception until death is respected, is the ethic of peace possible and credible; only then may nonviolence be expressed in every direction, only then can we truly accept creation and only then can we achieve true justice." This is the great task" the Church has before it, the Holy Father said, "not to make Christianity seem merely morality, but rather a gift in which we are given the love that sustains us and provides us with the strength we need to be able to 'lose our own life."