Does the Vatican spend too much time worrying about world politics?

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DreadVandal

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The more I meditate on the New Testament, the more I realize that Jesus, St. Paul, and the other apostles basically held that the world will do, within God’s providence, what it does. Our responsiblity is not to bring about world peace, social justice, or the universal distributition of coca cola and Bill cosby smiles to the world. In light of the fact that Jesus came to commission the Church to save souls from the eternal torment of the fires of hell, do you think that the Vatican spends too much time on world politics and not enough time on the following?:

1.) The seriously grave evil committed by Catholics who rebel against constant Church teaching (e.g. abortion and contraception)
2.) The necessity of a sound understand of the nature of sacred doctrine, grace, and what Christ went through to secure our salvation.

I really wish the Church would someday just say, “we know that there will never be world peace as the world imagines it, so we preach the peace of Christ that comes through repentance.”

I know the Catechism says this, but often, I wonder where the public preaching of this is to be found. Any ideas?
 
You coud try reading the page devoted to Peace on the Vatican website vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/peace/prayer-peace_index.html

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/img/pace.jpg
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  **«Peace   on earth, ...
**

Or this years message on Peace by the Holy Father tcrnews2.com/BenedictPeace06.html

** Converted to the Truth of Peace **
  1. The theme chosen for this year’s reflection – “In truth, peace’ – expresses the conviction that wherever and whenever men and women are enlightened by the splendor of truth, they naturally set out on the path of peace. The pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes,” promulgated forty years ago at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, stated that mankind will not succeed in “building a truly more human world for everyone, everywhere on earth, unless all people are renewed in spirit and converted to the truth of peace.” But what do those words, “the truth of peace,” really mean? To respond adequately to this question, we must realize that peace cannot be reduced to the simple absence of armed conflict, but needs to be understood as “the fruit of an order which has been planted in human society by its divine founder,” an order ''which must be brought about by humanity in its thirst for ever more perfect justice.” As the result of an order planned and willed by the love of God, peace has an intrinsic and invincible truth of its own, and corresponds “to an irrepressible yearning and hope dwelling within us.”
** Injustices and Inequalities **
  1. Seen in this way, peace appears as a heavenly gift and a divine grace which demands at every level the exercise of the highest responsibility: that of conforming human history – in truth, justice, freedom and love – to the divine order. Whenever there is a loss of fidelity to the transcendent order, and a loss of respect for that “grammar” of dialogue which is the universal moral law written on human hearts, whenever the integral development of the person and the protection of his fundamental rights are hindered or denied, whenever countless people are forced to endure intolerable injustices and inequalities, how can we hope that the good of peace will be realized? The essential elements which make up the truth of that good are missing. Saint Augustine described peace as “tranquillitas ordinis,” the tranquility of order. By this, he meant a situation which ultimately enables the truth about man to be fully respected and realized.
 
I agree. I have been thinking about this a little lately. It seems like the Church is focusing on the wrong things right now. If you focus on peace on earth you are bound to take some focus off the peace in heaven. People become short sighted. Christ preached that you will only have His peace.
 
Well the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes does say-

vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html
  1. The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds…
Therefore, the council focuses its attention on the world of men, the whole human family along with the sum of those realities in the midst of which it lives; that world which is the theater of man’s history, and the heir of his energies, his tragedies and his triumphs; that world which the Christian sees as created and sustained by its Maker’s love, fallen indeed into the bondage of sin, yet emancipated now by Christ, Who was crucified and rose again to break the strangle hold of personified evil, so that the world might be fashioned anew according to God’s design and reach its fulfillment…
  1. To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which men ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics.
 
St. Gregory the Great development of the idea of the ecclesiastical and secular having distinct spheres of influence but operating in harmony with each other to redeem mankind is one of the great achievements of western civilization. I’m not Catholic but I certainly do not want the church to withdraw in the slightest from political discourse. Had the church not acted, had not John Paul II said “Be not afraid”, I am convinced 400 million people would still live under secular tyranny. If the church withdraws, the materialists and relativists win. We all have an obligation to see that does not occur.
 
I recently watched a show about Pope John Paul II. He was very involved in politics his whole life and I think that it is part of the Pope’s mission in a way. It seemed right when I watched the show. He gave hope to so many that needed hope. He did effect change due to his many visits to countries that needed this hope.
 
I don´t think so. We have to change the world, spiritually, the most important, but also in politics.
 
Back in the 1940’s I had a Dominican Sister who taught us that if you wanted to spread the Gospel and convert peoples of the world one had to first bring them a mediocum of peace and security. Huingry people threatened by war do not have time to be concerned with things of the spirit. When one is hungry and sleeping in a bombed out house one is concerned with survival not salvation.

It is easy to blame the loss of Christianity in Europe on the French Revolution, Socialism, and Modernism but I think it is more attributable to several decades of war both WW I and WW II. Whole nations basically pulled up by the roots, peoples displaced, homeless and hungary facing death at its worst everyday. John Paul II was more than wise in seeking peace and justice so that Faith might prosper.
 
Matthew 11:16-24
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, 17 ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” 20 Then he began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chora’zin! woe to you, Beth-sa’ida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Caper’na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
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If the Church didn’t speak out on social issues or lent it’s weight to pressing issues in the world, the hue and cry would be “Why doesn’t the Church do something about (fill in the blank)”?

They do speak out, and then they get criticized for spending too much time worrying about it. Sounds like a no win situation — unless you decide not to be cowed by the voices of world opinion and take the Church where the Holy Spirit leads.
 
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DreadVandal:
The more I meditate on the New Testament, the more I realize that Jesus, St. Paul, and the other apostles basically held that the world will do, within God’s providence, what it does. Our responsiblity is not to bring about world peace, social justice, or the universal distributition of coca cola and Bill cosby smiles to the world. In light of the fact that Jesus came to commission the Church to save souls from the eternal torment of the fires of hell, do you think that the Vatican spends too much time on world politics and not enough time on the following?:

1.) The seriously grave evil committed by Catholics who rebel against constant Church teaching (e.g. abortion and contraception)
2.) The necessity of a sound understand of the nature of sacred doctrine, grace, and what Christ went through to secure our salvation.

I really wish the Church would someday just say, “we know that there will never be world peace as the world imagines it, so we preach the peace of Christ that comes through repentance.”

I know the Catechism says this, but often, I wonder where the public preaching of this is to be found. Any ideas?
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I don’t know of any individual, organization, denomination, or entity that has more forcefully or eloquently preached that the peace of Christ, and consequently peace in the world comes through repentance, than the Catholic Church. It seems that you are coming at this through an economy of scarcity, or at the least that time must be conserved to focus on just the important(?) things.
The Church deals with political issues because it deals with our human lives here on earth as well as providing a path through the sacraments to heaven. Jesus was hugely concerned with our lives here and now (ref: the Sermon on the Mount)…and …in a like manner, the Church as the Body of Christ must engage in dialogue with political entities that effect the welfare of Her children. Whether the Church is is successful in all of its efforts in its political dialogues is secondary. It IS called to be faithful to be Christ to others (and that includes governments) and to encourage and rebuke in the name of Christ. Thank God for JP II’s efforts in this area. The results are that millions are now free to hear the Good Word, and to have the ability to follow Him more freely.
God’s Peace to you!
 
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DreadVandal:
do you think that the Vatican spends too much time on world politics and not enough time on the following?:

1.) The seriously grave evil committed by Catholics who rebel against constant Church teaching (e.g. abortion and contraception)
2.) The necessity of a sound understand of the nature of sacred doctrine, grace, and what Christ went through to secure our salvation.

I know the Catechism says this, but often, I wonder where the public preaching of this is to be found. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Those are the priests’ and, specifically, the bishop’s jobs.
The Vatican issues teachings (Catechism, Redemtionis Sacramentum, Considerations regarding…etc.) And it the bishop’s job to instruct the priests and the priests job to instruct the Catholics. The local community is to be taught thru the bishop(press releases, public appearances, open meetings and discussions, public veneration, public processions, etc) And it’s the congregations job to invite and teach the community.

Problem is, many bishops aren’t teaching the priests the true teachings of the church and many of the priests aren’t teaching us.
We maybe should be (reading and) recommending the Catechism as a starter!

The vatican’s job is to convert the rest of the world from the “big picture” view.

God help them.

Blessings,
Angel
 
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