COOPERATORES VERITATIS
THE POPE IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES: CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR CHRISTIANS TO
ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD
Vatican City, 20
December 2012 (VIS) - The "Financial Times" daily newspaper has today published
an article by Benedict XVI entitled "A time for Christians to engage with
the world". According to an introductory note from the Holy See Press
Office, "The Pope's article for the Financial Times originates from a
request from the editorial office of the Financial Times itself which, taking
as a cue the recent publication of the Pope's book on Jesus' infancy, asked for
his comments on the occasion of Christmas. Despite the unusual nature of the
request, the Holy Father accepted willingly.
"It is perhaps appropriate to
recall the Pope's willingness to respond to other unusual requests in the past,
such as the interview given for the BBC, again at Christmas a few months after
his visit to the United Kingdom, or the television interview for the programme
'A sua immagine' produced by the RAI, the Italian state broadcasting company,
to mark the occasion of Good Friday. These too have been opportunities to speak
about Jesus Christ and to bring his message to a wide forum at salient moments
during the Christian liturgical year".
Below is the full text of the Pope's
article:
A time for Christians to engage with
the world
"'Render unto Caesar what belongs
to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,' was the response of Jesus when asked
about paying taxes. His questioners, of course, were laying a trap for him.
They wanted to force Him to take sides in the highly-charged political debate
about Roman rule in the land of Israel. Yet there was more at stake here: if
Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah, then surely He would oppose the
Roman overlords. So the question was calculated to expose Him either as a
threat to the regime, or a fraud.
"Jesus’ answer deftly moves the
argument to a higher plane, gently cautioning against both the politicisation
of religion and the deification of temporal power, along with the relentless
pursuit of wealth. His audience needed to be reminded that the Messiah was not
Caesar, and Caesar was not God. The kingdom that Jesus came to establish was of
an altogether higher order. As He told Pontius Pilate, 'My kingship is not of
this world.'
"The Christmas stories in the New
Testament are intended to convey a similar message. Jesus was born during a “census
of the whole world” taken by Caesar Augustus, the Emperor renowned for bringing
the Pax Romana to all the lands under Roman rule. Yet this infant, born in an
obscure and far-flung corner of the Empire, was to offer the world a far
greater peace, truly universal in scope and transcending all limitations of
space and time.
"Jesus is presented to us as King
David’s heir, but the liberation He brought to His people was not about holding
hostile armies at bay; it was about conquering sin and death forever.
"The birth of Christ challenges us
to reassess our priorities, our values, our very way of life. While Christmas
is undoubtedly a time of great joy, it is also an occasion for deep reflection,
even an examination of conscience. At the end of a year that has meant economic
hardship for many, what can we learn from the humility, the poverty, the
simplicity of the crib scene?
"Christmas can be the time in
which we learn to read the Gospel, to get to know Jesus not only as the Child
in the manger, but as the one in Whom we recognize God made Man.
"It is in the Gospel that
Christians find inspiration for their daily lives and their involvement in
worldly affairs – be it in the Houses of Parliament or the Stock Exchange.
Christians shouldn’t shun the world; they should engage with it. But their
involvement in politics and economics should transcend every form of ideology.
"Christians fight poverty out of a
recognition of the supreme dignity of every human being, created in God’s image
and destined for eternal life. Christians work for more equitable sharing of
the earth’s resources out of a belief that, as stewards of God’s creation, we
have a duty to care for the weakest and most vulnerable. Christians oppose
greed and exploitation out of a conviction that generosity and selfless love,
as taught and lived by Jesus of Nazareth, are the way that leads to fullness of
life. Christian belief in the transcendent destiny of every human being gives
urgency to the task of promoting peace and justice for all.
"Because these goals are shared by
so many, much fruitful cooperation is possible between Christians and others.
Yet Christians render to Caesar only what belongs to Caesar, not what belongs
to God. Christians have at times throughout history been unable to comply with demands
made by Caesar. From the Emperor cult of ancient Rome to the totalitarian
regimes of the last century, Caesar has tried to take the place of God. When
Christians refuse to bow down before the false gods proposed today, it is not
because of an antiquated world-view. Rather, it is because they are free from
the constraints of ideology and inspired by such a noble vision of human
destiny that they cannot collude with anything that undermines it.
"In Italy, many crib scenes
feature the ruins of ancient Roman buildings in the background. This shows that
the birth of the child Jesus marks the end of the old order, the pagan world,
in which Caesar’s claims went virtually unchallenged. Now there is a new king,
who relies not on the force of arms, but on the power of love. He brings hope
to all those who, like himself, live on the margins of society. He brings hope
to all who are vulnerable to the changing fortunes of a precarious world. From
the manger, Christ calls us to live as citizens of his heavenly kingdom, a
kingdom that all people of good will can help to build here on earth".
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