Can a Christian talk of The Social Doctrine of the Church without mentioning Christ?

[IanM]

Pope Francis sent a video message to participants of the Festival of Social Doctrine of the Church taking place in the northern Italian city of Verona currently. The text of the message provided by the Vatican is to be found in the link below below.
Here are some quotes from the transcript:

“let that human heat reach us that enlivens the existence of those we meet”

“in which presence becomes a gift that makes the beauty of brotherhood shine out.”

yet there is not one mention of Christ Our Lord in the transcript. Am I missing something here?

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/11/21/191121h.html

 

[Beryllos]

Am I missing something here?

Well, since you asked, you may have missed the context. I wasn’t there, but perhaps other speakers thoroughly laid out the connection between Christ and the Social Doctrine of the Church.

The message is quite short and focuses on the personal human dimension, in contradistinction to the social dimension. It’s a fine little speech that fits well with Pope Francis’ view of the importance of personal encounter.

I agree with you, it would have been better if he explicitly mentioned that we follow the example of Jesus, who loved, encountered, healed, and saved people personally and individually, and still does today.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Yes you can, in fact I never discuss abortion or euthanasia from the standpoint of religion, because I don’t need to.

However, at some point it is appropriate to “bring Jesus” into the discussion, and that’s a matter of prudential judgement.

Or perhaps you have a soup kitchen with a religious name and a crucifix on the wall and you make it clear you serve all people.

 

[Crocus]

Christ gave us the Church, and promised the Holy Spirit to guide, so I would think, Jesus is a given, being in charge and all. :woman_shrugging:t2: