Cardinal Sarah - Again Reminding Us That Everything the Church Does Is Done to proclaim the Gospel

In May I put up some posts about the Caritas International gathering in Rome & the strong message from the Vatican that what they were doing was not simply social work, but a part of the Church's evangelical mission. Part of that message was given in an address by Cardinal Robert Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which oversees the Church’s charitable institutions. This week he wrote an article for L’Osservatore Romano marking the 40th anniversary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. & once again he repeated the same message.

In the article he said that the Catholic Church's charitable efforts must be integrally connected to the proclamation of the Gospel. “Proclaiming the Gospel, which is not proselytism, is an integral part of charitable activity. The witness to charity finds its measure in Christ. The search for justice does not fulfill the task of charity.”

The Cardinal said that when Pope Paul VI instituted Cor Unum on 15 July 1971, he already saw the need to affirm this evangelical witness as a response to “some of the misunderstandings that undermined the proper understanding of charity within the Church and that would unfortunately be confirmed in time.”

He went on to explain that Cor Unum was founded in a “moment of doubt, when the nature of Christian witness in the world was being questioned.” At that trying time, he says, the Church risked a rift that could have “conceal[ed] the evangelical witness and missionary zeal for a limitless exaltation of earthly realities.”

Blessed John Paul, at his 1st meeting with Cor Unum in November 1978 said “We must also take care to set advancement carefully in the context of evangelization, which is the fullness of human advancement, since it proclaims and offers man’s full salvation.”

He said that Papa Benedetto feels the same way as well. He said that the Pope understands “that the absence of God is the most dramatic problem that torments and weakens modern culture.”

In short, what we are seeing is another of the multi-pronged attack on relativism by Papa Benedetto that began even before he was elected Pope. You can be sure that this message isn't welcome by many of those in the agencies like Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Development + Peace & other organizations that have been involved in the recent scandals where it has come out these organizations have funded groups that promote abortion among other things.

It is going to take time to clean up the mess. But is strikes me that Cardinal Sarah is definitely the right man to head up that task. He made it clear that Cor Unum’s activities are concerned with “conveying this inspiration to evangelize towards all of the Church’s pastoral works of charity.” & as head of it he is doing what he can to ensure that mission is carried out.

Source:Catholic charity must be tied to proclamation of Gospel: Cardinal