Pope: a clash of cultures on the issue of life
On one side those who think that human life is "in the hands of God", on the other those who hold it to be in the hands of man. The hedonistic culture of today's society exalts life as long as it gives pleasure, but tends to denigrate it when less pleasurable or marked by illness.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) A clash of cultures is manifest in the division between who believes that human life, in the end, is at the mercy of man's "autonomy" and who recognizes that "it is in the hands of God" motive of the Church's essential mission: to proclaim "the God of life". This was the heart of Pope Benedict's message today, twice underlined : firstly during his visit this morning to the parish of St Anna and again in his midday Angelus address, delivered to a crowd of over 40 thousand.
The Pope's speeches reflected today's celebration of Day for Life in Italy, for which numerous delegations from catholic pro life movements were present in St Peter's square, lead by the president of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, Card. Camillo Ruini.
In his proclamation of the right to life, which entails respect for human life in each of it's phases, Pope Benedict made reference to two encyclicals: Evangelium vitae, by John Paul II, defined "a milestone in Church ministry" and his own Deus caritas est, underlining "the importance of charity in supporting and promoting human life. On this issue he added it is fundamental to promote just behaviour towards each other, before taking practical initiatives: the culture of life is in fact based on our care for one another privy of exclusion or discrimination. Each human life, such as it is he underlined deserves and demands that it be protected and promoted. we know only too well, he said, that this truth is often put at risk by today's widespread hedonism, our pursuit of a so-called society of well being. when this happens human life is exalted as long as it facinates us and gives us pleasure, but when it is shadowed by illness or when it is no longer attractive, then it is no longer respected. if we are motivated by a profound love for others then it is possible to effectively promote and protect the beauty of life, from the unborn, to the ill and imarginalized above all life in its final stages".
Earlier this morning during a visit to the "Vatican parish church, otherwise known as the parish of St. Anna , which also lends it's name to one of the entrances into the small state, the Pope had spoken about the Day for Life, from the point of view that Christ's mission was to "completely and radically heal humanity. A message of this beauty he added cannot be kept hidden, it must be proclaimed. In this context the exclamation of the Apostle Paul in the second reading is echoed: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! (1 Cor 9,16)". "This dear brothers and sisters he added is the vocation and mission of the : to proclaim to the world that God is love and that He loves life and He vanquished, through Christ ,death and sin, freeing man from the slavery of physical, mental and spiritual evil".
Referring to the message issued to mark the Day for Life, Benedict XVI underlined that " in their message the Italian bishops wished to draw attention to the need to prioritize "respect for life", which is "chief among human values" : man is not the owner of life, he is only the custodian. This truth which constitutes a primary point of natural law and which is illuminated by biblical revelation, today manifests itself as a "point of contradiction" in the light of the ruling mentality. We notice that while there is a in general an ample convergence on the value of life, when the "availability" of life is under discussion the two mentalities are irreconcilably opposed. Simplified : one maintains that human life is in the hands of man, the other in the hands of God. Modern culture has legitimately emphasized man's autonomy and earthly reality, in this way developing a perspective dear to the heart of Christianity, that of the Incarnation of God. But, as Vatican II clearly stated if this leads to the opinion that "all things created do not depend on God and that man can adapt them with out reference to the creator", then, the origins for profound instability are laid
Because "the creature without the creator vanishes " (Gaudium et spes, 36)". (FP)
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