The Catholic Church is the guardian of hope, whose members are called to speak clearly against all evil and in defence of human life, Pope Leo XIV said yesterday. Source: OSV News.
The Church, as “the pilgrim people of God on earth,” he said during his general audience in St Peter’s Square yesterday, “reads and interprets the dynamics of history through the Gospel, denouncing evil in all its forms and proclaiming, in word and deed, the salvation that Christ wishes to bring about for all humanity and his kingdom of justice, love and peace.”
“As the guardian of a hope that enlightens the path,” he added, the Church is “invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development, and to take a position in favour of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit.”
The Pope’s remarks were part of his continuing series of reflections on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, specifically, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.
Yesterday’s catechesis was dedicated to the Church’s eschatological dimension, that is, the transcendent, transtemporal and transhistorical nature of the kingdom of God.
“This is an essential dimension which, however, we often overlook or downplay, because we are too focused on what is immediately visible and on the more concrete dynamics of the life of the Christian community,” the Pope said.
“The Church is God’s people journeying through history, which has the kingdom of God as the purpose of all her action,” he said. “We are therefore called to consider the community and cosmic dimension of salvation in Christ and to turn our eyes to this final horizon, to measure and evaluate everything from this perspective.”
The Catholic Church lives in human history at the service of the coming of the kingdom of God in the world, he said. “She proclaims the words of this promise to all and always.”
That means the Church is not proclaiming herself, he said. “On the contrary, everything within her must point to salvation in Christ.”
FULL STORY
The Church must speak clearly, decisively against all evil, pope says (By Carol Glatz, OSV News)
RELATED COVERAGE
Pope Leo XIV: Church serves coming of God’s kingdom in history (By Veronica Giacometti, EWTN News)
