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S UPPLEMENT
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1964
The Renewal - Dedicated
of throwing overboard every restraint and incon
venience from the conduct of life finds the disci
pline of Christian ascetism burdensome and futile.
Sometimes even the apostolic desire of ap
proaching the secular milieu or of making oneself
acceptable to modern mentality, especially that of
youth, leads up to a rejection of the forms prop
er to Christian life and even of its very dignity,
which must give meaning and strength to this
eagerness for approach and educative influence.
Is it not perhaps true that often the young clergy
of indeed even some zealous Religious moved by
the good intention of penetrating the masses or
particular groups, tend to get mixed up with them
instead of remaining apart, thus sacrificing the
true efficacy of their apostolate to some scrrt of
useless imitation?
It is not conformity to the spirit of the world,
not immunity from the discipline of reasonable
asceticism, not indifference to the laxity of mod
ern behavior, not emancipation from the au
thority of prudent and lawful superiors, not apathy
with regard to the contradictory forms of modern
thought, that can give vigor to the Church, or
make her fit to receive the influence of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit, or render her following of
Christ more genuine, or give her the anxious
yearning of fraternal charity and the ability to
communicate her message. These things come
from her aptitude to live according to divine grace,
her faithfulness to the Gospel of the Lord, her
hierarchical and communal unity. The Christian is
not soft and cowardly, he Is strong and faithful.
We realize how long this letter would be if we
were to indicate even the main lines of the modern
program of the Christian life, and we do not intend
to enter into such an undertaking now. You, more
over, know what the moralneedsof our time are,
and you will not cease to call the faithful to an un
derstanding of the dignity, purity and austerity of
the Christian life, nor will you fail to denounce,
as best you can, and even publicly, the moral
dangers and vices from which our age is suffer
ing.
We all remember the solemn exhortations which
Holy Scripture addresses to us: '*! know of all thy
doings, all thy toil and endurance; how little pat
ience thou hast with wickedness” (Apoc. 2:2)
and all of us will strive to be watchful and diligent
pastors. The council is to give to us, too, new
and salutary instructions, and all of us must cer
tainly prepare ourselves now to hear them and
carry them out.
But we do not wish to forego commenting brief
ly on two points, which we consider to concern
principal needs and duties and which can provide
matter for reflection on the general lines of the
renewal of ecclesiastical life.
We refer first of all to the spirit of poverty. We
consider that it was so proclaimed in the holy
Gospel, that it is so much a part of the plan of our
destination to the Kingdom of God. It is so much in
danger because of the great store the modem
mind sets by possessions, that it is so necessary
to helpus to understand so many of our weaknesses
and failures in the past and to show us what our
way of life should be and what is the best way to
announce the religion of Christ to souls. And,
finally, it is so difficult to practice it as we ought,
that we presume to mention it explicitly in this our
message. We do this, not because we have the in
tention of issuing special canonical regulations on
the subject, but rather to ask of you, venerable
brethren, the comfort of your agreement, your
counsel and your example.
We look to you as the authoritative voice which
interprets the better impulses by which the Spirit
of Christ manifests itself in the Church, to tell us
how pastors and people ought to adapt their lan
guage and conduct to poverty today. As the Apostle
admonishes us, "Yours is to be the same mind
which Christ Jesus showed” (Phil. 2:5). We look
to you to say how we should, together, propose for
the life of the Church those directives which must
base our confidence more upon the help of God and
the goods of the spirit than upon temporal means.
These must remind us, and teach the world, that
spiritual goods take precedence over economic
goods, and that we should limit and subordinate the
possession and use of the latter insofar as they are
useful for the right exercise of our apostolic
mission.
The brevity of this allusion to the nobility and
necessity of the spirit of poverty which characte
rizes the Gospel of Christ, does not exempt us
from our duty of remarking that this spirit does
not prevent us from understanding making lawful
use of economic reality’. This has assumed an
enormous and far-reaching importance in the de
velopment of modern civilization, particularly in
its consequences for society. We consider, indeed,
that the inner freedom which is derived from the
spirit of evangelical poverty makes us more sen
sitive to, and more capable of understanding the hu
man aspects of economic questions, by applying to
wealth and to the progress it can effect the just
and often severe standard of judgment that they
require, by giving to indigence our most solici
tous and generous attention, and finally, by ex
pressing the wish that economic goods be not the
source of conflicts, of selfishness and of pride
among men, but that they be used in justice and
equity for the common good and, accordingly, dis
tributed with greater foresight.
Whatever concerns these economic goods—
goods inferior to those that are spiritual and eter
nal, but necessary in this present life—find in the
man who has studied the Gospel the capacity'need
ed to form a wise scale of values and to coope
rate in projects beneficial to mankind. Science,
technolog)’ and, particularly, labor become the ob
ject of our keenest Interest. The bread which they
produce becomes sacred for table and for altar.
The social teachings of the Church leave no
doubt on this subject, and we are pleased to take
this opportunity’ of reaffirming our close ad
herence to such salutary teachings.
The other point we should like to mention is that
of the spirit of charity. But is not this subject al
ready in the forefront of your minds? Is not chari
ty the focal point of the religious economy of the
Old Testament and the New? Is it not to charity
that the progress of spiritual experience in the
Church leads? May it not be that charity is the
ever more illuminating and joyful discovery that
theology, on the one hand, and piety, on the other,
are making in the never-ending meditation on the
scriptural and sacramental treasures of which
the Church is heir, guardian, mistress and dis
penser?
We consider, with our predecessors, with the
bright company of saints which our age has given
to the Church on earth and in heaven, and with the
devout instinct of the faithful, that charity should
assume today its rightful position, that is, the
first and the highest, in the scale of religious and
moral values. Not only should this be in theoreti
cal estimation, but also by being put into practice
in the Christian life. Let this be so of the charity
towards God, which His charity poured out upon us,
and true also of the charity which in return we
should display towards our neighbors, that is to
say, the human race. Charity explains all things.
Charity inspires all things. Charity makes all
things possible. Charity renews all things. Chari
ty “sustains, believes, hopes, endures to the last”
(I Cor. 13:7). Who is there among us who does
not know these things? And, if we know them, is
not this, perhaps, the hour of charity?
This vision of humble and profound Christian
perfection leads our thoughts to Mary most holy,
for she reflects this revision most perfectly
and wonderfully in herself; she lived it on earth
and now in heaven she rejoices in its glory and
beatitude. Devotion to Mary is happily flourishing
in the Church today; and we, on this occasion,
gladly turn our thoughts to her to admire in the
Blessed Virgin, mother of Christ (and therefore,
the mother of God and the mother of us) the model
of Christian perfection, the mirror of true vir
tues, the pride of true humanity.
We regard devotion to Mary as a source of Gos
pel teaching. InourpilgrimagetotheHoly Land we
wished to learn the lesson of real Christianity
from her, the most blessed, lovable, humble and
immaculate creature, whose privilege it was to
give to the Word of God hum an flesh in its pristine
and innocent beauty. To her now we turn our im
ploring gaze as to a loving mistress of life, while
we discuss with you, venerable brethren, the
spirital and moral regeneration of the life of
Holy Church.
Ill
THE DIALOGUE
There is a third attitude which the Catholic
Catholic Church should adopt at this period in
the history of the world, an attitude characterized
by study of the contacts which the Church ought to
maintain with humanity. If the Church acquires
an ever-growing awareness of itself, and if the
Church tries to model itself on the ideal which
Christ proposes to it, the result is that the Church
becomes radically different from the human en
vironment in which it, of course, lives or which
it approaches.
The Gospel makes us recognize such a distinc
tion when it speaks to us of "the world”, i.e., of
humanity opposed both to the light of faith and to
the gift of grace, of humanity which exalts itself
in a naive optimism which believes that its own
energies suffice to give man complete, lasting,
and beneficent self-expression. Originally, of hu
manity which plunges itself into a crude form of
pessimism which declares its own vices, weak
nesses and moral ailments to be fatal, incurable,
and perhaps even desirable as manifestations of
freedom and of authenticity.
The Gospel, which recognizes, denounces, pities
and cures human misfortunes with penetrating and
sometimes with heart-rending sincerity, does not
yield to any illusions about the natural goodness of
man (as if he were sufficient unto himself and as
if he needed nothing else than to be left free to
express himself according to his whims), nor to
any despairing resignation to the incurable cor
ruption of human nature.
The Gospel is light, it is newness, it is energy,
it is rebirth, it is salvation. Hence, it both creates
and defines a type ofnewlife, about which the New'
Testament teaches us a continuous and remark
able lesson which is expressed in the warning of
St. Paul: "You must not fall in with the manners
of this world; there must be an Inward change, a
remaking of your minds, so that you can satisfy
yourselves what is God’s will, the good thing, the
desirable thing, the perfect thing” (Rom. 12, 2).
This distinction between the life of the Christian
and the life of the worldling also derives from the
reality and from the consequent recognition of the
sanctification produced in us by our sharing in the
Paschal mystery and, above all, in holy Baptism,
which, as was said above, is and ought to be con
sidered a true rebirth. Again St. Paul reminds us
of this truth: ”We who were taken up into Christ
by Baptism have been taken up, all of us, into
his death. In our Baptism, we have been buried
with him, died like him, that is, just as Christ
was raised up by his Father’s power from the
dead, we too might live and move in a new kind of
existence” (Rom. 6, 3-4),
It will not be amist if the Christian of today
keeps always in view his original and wondrous
form of life which should not only sustain him with
the happiness that results from his dignity but also
protect him from an environment which threatens
him with the contagion of human wretchedness and
with the seduction of human glory.
See how St. Paul himself formed the Christians
of the primitive Church: “You must not consent to
be yokefellows with unbelievers. What has inno
cence to do with lawlessness? What is there in
common between light and darkness? How can a
believer throw in his lot with an infidel?” (2 Cor.
6, 14-15). Christian education will always have to
remind the student today of his privileged position
and of his resultant duty to live in the world but not
in the way of the world, according to the above-
mentioned prayer of Jesus for His Disciples: "I
am not asking that thou shouldst take them out of
the world, but that thou shouldst keep them clear
of what is evil. They do not belong to the world,
as I, too, do not belong to the world” (Jn. 17,
*5-16). And the Church adopts this prayer as its
own.
But this distinction is not a separation. Neither
is it indifference or fear or contempt. When the
Church distinguishes itself from human nature, it
does not oppose itself to human nature, but rather
unites itself to it. Just as the doctor who, realiz
ing the danger inherent in a contagious disease,
not only tries to protect himself and others from
such Infection, but also dedicates himself to cur
ing those who have been stricken, so too the
Church does not make an exclusive privilege of
the mercy which the divine goodness has shown it,
nor does it distort its own good fortune into a
reason for disinterest in those who have not shar
ed it. Rather in its own salvation it finds an argu
ment for interest in and for love for anyone who is
either close to it and can at least be approached
through universal effort to share its blessings.
If, as we said before, the Church has a true
realization of what the Lord wishes it to be, then
within the Church there arises a unique sense of
fullness and a need for outpouring, together with
the clear awareness of a mission which trans
cends the Church, of a message to be spread. It
is the duty of evangelization. It is the missionary
mandate. It is the apostolic commission.
An attitude of preservation of the Faith is insuf
ficient. Certainly we must preserve and also de
fend the treasure of truth and of grace which has
come to us by way of inheritance from the Chris
tian tradition. "Keep safe what has been entrusted
to thee”, warns St. Paul (I Tim. 6, 20). But neith
er the preservation nor the defense of the Faith
exhausts the duty of the Church in regard to the
gifts which it possesses.
The duty consonant with the patrimony received
from Christ is that of spreading, offering, an
nouncing it to others. Well do we know that “Go
ing, therefore, make disciples of all nations”
(Mt. 28, 19) is the last command of Christ to His
Apostles. By the very term “apostles” these men
define their inescapable mission. To this intenal
drive of charity which tends to become the eternal
gift of charity we will give the name of dialogue,
which has in diese days come into common usage.
The Church should enter into dialogue with the
world in which it exists and labors. The Church
has something to say; the Church has a message to
deliver; the Church has a communication to offer.
It is no secret that this Important facet of the
contemporary life of the Church will be specially
and fully studied by the ecumenical council, and we
have no desire to undertake the concrete exami
nation of the themes involved in such study, in
order to leave to Fathers of the council full free
dom in discussing them. We w ish only to invite you
venerable brethren, to preface such study with
certain considerations in order that we see more
clearly the motives which impel the Church tow ard
To Perfection
the dialogue, the methods to be followed, and the
goals to be achieved. We wish to give, not full
treatment to topics, but proper dispositions to
hearts.
Nor can we do otherwise in our conviction that
the dialogue ought to characterize our apostolic
office, heirs as we are of such a pastoral approach
and method as has been handed down to us by our
predecessors of the past century, beginning with
the great, wise LeoXIIL Almost as a personifica
tion of the Gospel character of the wise scribe,
who, like the father of a family, “knows how to
bring both new and old things out of his treasure-
house” (Mt. 13, 52), in a stately manner he as
sumed his function as teacher of the world by mak
ing the object of his richest instruction the prob
lems of our time considered in the light of the word
of Christ. ,
Thus, also , did his successors, as you well
know. Did not our predecessors, especially Pope
Pius XI and Pope Pius XII, leave us a magnifi
cently rich patrimony of teaching which was con
ceived in the loving and enlightened attempt to join
divine to human wisdom, not considered in the ab
stract, but rather expressed in the concrete lan
guage of modern man? And what is this apostolic
endeavor if not a dialogue? And did not John XXIII,
our immediate predecessor of venerable memory,
place an even sharper emphasis on its teaching in
the sense of approaching as close as possible to
the experience and the understanding of the con
temporary world? And was not the council it
self assigned—and Justly so—a pastoral function
which would be completely focused on the injection
of the Christian message into the stream of the
thought, of the speech, of the culture, of the cus
toms, of the strivings of man as he lives today and
acts in this life? Even before converting the world,
nay, in order to convert it, we must meet the world
and talk to it.
Concerning our lowly self, although we are re
luctant to speak of it and would prefer not to at
tract to it the attention of others, we cannot pass
over in silence, in this deliberate communication
to the episcopal hierarchy and to the Christian
people our resolution to persevere, so far as our
weak energies will permit and, above all, so far as
the grace of God will grant us the necessary
means, in the same direction and in the same effort
to approach the world in which Providence has des
tined us to live, with all due reverence to be ob
served in this approach, and with all due solicitude
and love, in order that we may understand it and
offer it the gifts of truth and of grace of which
Christ has made us custodians in order that we
may communicate to the world our wonderful des
tiny of redemption and of hope. Deeply engraved
on our heart are those words of Christ which we
would humbly but resolutely make our own: “When
God sent his Son into the world, it was not to reject
the world, but so that the world might find salva
tion through him” (Jn. 3, 17).
See, then, venerable brethren, the transcendent
origin of the dialogue. It is found in the very plan of
God. Religion, of its very nature, is a relationship
between God and man. Prayer expresses such a
relationship in dialogue. Revelation, i.e., the
supernatural relationship which God Himself, on
His own initiative, has established with the human
race, can be represented as a dialogue in which
the Word of God is expressed in the Incarnation
and therefore in the Gospel.
The fatherly and holy conversation between God
and man, interrupted by original sin, has been
marvelously resumed in the course of history. The
history of salvation narrates exactly this long and
changing dialogue which begins with God and brings
to man a many-splendored conversation. It is in
this conversation of Christ among men (cf. Bar.
3, 38) that God allows us to understand something
of Himself, the mystery of His life, unique in its
essence, trinitarian in its Persons; and He tells us
finally how He wishes to be known; He is Love;
and how He wishes to be honored and served by us:
love is the supreme commandment. The dialogue
thus takes on full meaning and offers grounds for
confidence. The child is invited to it; the mystic
finds a full outlet in it.
We need to keep ever present this ineffable, yet
real relationship of the dialogue, which God the
Father, through Christ in the Holy Spirit, has of
fered to us and established with us, if we are to
understand the relationship which we, i.e., the
Church, should strive to establish and to foster
with the human race.
The dialogue of salvation was opened spontane
ously on the initiative of God: "He (God) loved us
first” (I Jn. 4,- l0); it will be up to us to take the
initiative in extending to men this same dialogue,
without waiting to be summoned to it.
The dialogue of salvation began with charity,
with the divine goodness: “God so loved the world
as to give His only-begotten Son” (Jn. 3, 16);
nothing but fervent and unselfish love should moti
vate our dialogue.
The dialogue of salvation was not proportioned
to the merits of those toward whom it was direct
ed, nor to the results which it would achieve or
fail to achieve: “Those who are healthy need no
physician” (Lk. 5, 3l); so also our own dialogue
ought to be without limits or ulterior motives.
The dialogue of salvation did notphysically force
anyone to accept it; it was a tremendous appeal of
love which, although lacing a vast responsibility
on those toward whom it was directed (cf. Mt.
11, 21), nevertheless left them free to respond to
it or to reject it. Even the number of miracles
(cf. Mt. 12, 38 ff.) were adapted to the spiritual
needs and dispositions of the recipients, in order
that their free consent to the divine revelation
might be facilitated, without, however, their losing
the merit involved in such a consent. So, too, al
though our own mission is the announcement of the
truth which is both Indisputable and necessaryfor
salvation, that mission will not be Introduced in the
armor of external force, but simply through the
legitimate means of human education, of interior
persuasion, of ordinary conversation, and it will
offer its gift of salvation with full respect for
personal and civic freedom.
The dialogue of salvation was made accessible to
all; it was destined for all without distinction (cf.
Col. 3, 11); in like manner our own dialogue should
be potentially universal, i.e, all-embracing and
capable of including all, excepting only one who
would either absolutely reject it or insincerely
pretend to accept it.
The dialogue of salvation normally experienced
a gradual development, successive advances, hum
ble beginnings before complete success (cf. Mt.
13, 31). Ours, -too will take cognizance of the
slowness of psychological and historical matura
tion and of the need to wait for the hour when God
may make our dialogue effective. Not for this
reason will our dialogue postpone till tomorrow
what it can accomplish today; it ought to be eager
for the opportune moment; it ought to sense the
preciousness of time (cf. Eph, 4, 16). Today, i.e.
every day, our dialogue should begin again; we,
rather than those toward whom it is directed,
should take the initiative.
As is clear, the relationships between the
Church and the world can assume many mutually
different aspects. Theoretically speaking, the
Church could set its mind on reducing such rela
tionships to a minimum, endeavoring to isolate It
self from dealings with secular society; just as
it could set itself the task of pointing out the evils
that can be found in secular society, condemning
them and declaring crusades against them, so also
it could approach so close to secular society as to
strive to exert a preponderant influence on it or
even to exercise a theocratic power over it, and
so on.
But it seems to us that the relationship of the
Church to the world, without precluding other
legitimate forms of expression, can be represent
ed better in a dialogue, not of course, a dialogue
in a univocal sense, but rather a dialogue adapted
to the nature of the interlocutor and to factual
circumstances (the dialogue with a child differs
from that with an adult; that with a believer from
that with an unbeliever). This has been suggested
by the custom, which has by now become wide
spread, of conceiving the relationships between the
sacred and the secular in terms of the transform
ing dynamism of modern society, in terms of the
pluralism of its manifestations, likewise in terms
of the maturity of man, be he religious or not, en
abled through secular education to think, to speak
and to act through the dignity of dialogue.
This type of relationship indicates a proposal
of courteous esteem, of understanding and of good
ness on the part of the one who inaugurates the
dialogue; it excludes the a priori condemnation,
the offensive and time-worn polemic and empti
ness of useless conversation. If this approach does
not aim at effecting the immediate conversion of
the interlocutor, inasmuch as it respects both
his dignity and his freedom, nevertheless it does
aim at helping him, and tries to dispose him for
a fuller sharing of sentiments and convictions.
Hence, the dialogue supposes that we possess a
state of mind which we intend to communicate to
others and to foster in all our neighbors: It is a
state of mind of one who feels within himself the
burden of the apostolic mandate, of one who rea
lizes that he can no longer separate his own sal
vation from the endeavor to save others, of one
who strives constantly to put the message of which
he is custodian into the mainstream of humandis-
course.
The dialogue is, then, a method of accomplish
ing the apostolic mission. It is an example of the
art of spiritual communication. Its characteris
tics are the following:
1) Clearness above all; the dialogue supposes
and demands comprehensibility. It is an outpour
ing of thought; it is an invitation to the exercise
of the highest powers which man possesses. This
very claim would be enough to classify the dia
logue among the best manifestations of human ac
tivity and culture. This fundamental requirement is
enough to enlist our apostolic care to review every
angle of our language to guarantee that it be un
derstandable, acceptable, and well-chosen.
2) . A second characteristic of the dialogue is its
meekness, the virtue which Christ sets before us
to be learned from Him: “Learn of Me, because
I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt. H, 29).
The dialogue is not proud, it is not bitter, it is
not bitter, it is not offensive. Its authority is in
trinsic to the truth It explains, to the charity it
communicates, to the example It proposes; it is not
a command, it is not an imposition. It is peace
ful; it avoids violent methods; it is patient; it is
generous.
3) Trust, not only in the power of one’s words,
but also in an attitude of welcoming the trust of
the interlocutor. Trust promotes confidence snd
friendship. It binds hearts in mutual adherence
to the good which excludes all self-seeking.
4) Finally, pedagogical prudence, which esteems
highly tne psychological and moral circumstances
of the listener (cf. Mt. 7, 6), whether he be a
child, uneducated, unprepared, diffident, hostile.
Prudence strives to learn the sensitivities of the
hearer and requires that we adapt ourselves and
the manner of our presentation in a reasonable
way lest we be displeasing and incomprehensible
to him.
In the dialogue, conducted in this manner, the
union of truth and charity, of understanding and
love is achieved.
In the dialogue one discovers how different
are the ways which lead to the light of Faith,
and how it is possible to make them converge
on the same goal. Even if these*ways are diver
gent, they can become complementary by forcing
our reasoning process out of the worn paths
and by obliging it to deepen its research, to
find fresh expressions.
The dialectic of this exercise of thought and of
patience will make us discover elements of
truth also in the opinions of others, it will