By Catholic News Service
CARPINETO ROMANO, Italy – Every Pope and pastor of the Catholic Church is called to give his flock a concrete message, not abstract truths, that can help people put their faith into action, Pope Benedict XVI said.
The Pope spoke during a brief 5 September visit to Carpineto Romano, the birthplace of Pope Leo XIII. As part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Pope Leo’s birth, the Pope celebrated Mass in the town about 35 miles southeast of Rome.
Pope Leo, like many pastors, sought to address the burning questions and problems of his day in a way that was faithful to Catholic tradition and teachings, Pope Benedict said in his homily.
Pope Leo’s 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (on capital and labour), marked the start of modern Catholic social teaching; the document emphasised workers’ rights and the responsibility of employers to promote the common good.
During Pope Leo’s pontificate from 1878 to 1903, poverty and slavery existed hand in hand with a nascent industrial revolution while political movements were often strongly anticlerical, the Pope said.
Yet, Pope Leo approached social justice issues in a way that was “positive and effective, with dialogue and mediation,” said Pope Benedict. Pope Leo showed Catholics how they could constructively participate in society by being firm in their Christian principles, yet also “capable of openness,” he added.
“Every pastor is called to give the people of God not abstract truths, but ‘knowledge,’ that is, a message that joins faith and life, truth and concrete reality,” Pope Benedict said.
The Gospel message of love and charity has “revolutionary power,” the Pope said.
Christianity, with its concept of brotherhood and everyone being a child of God, overcomes all social and economic castes while it promotes social change and development through individual renewal, he said.
“Charity – Christ’s love – renews humanity and the world,” he said.
The Pope returned to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo for the midday recitation of the Angelus.
Addressing pilgrims gathered for the prayer in the courtyard of the papal residence, he said he hoped Pope Leo’s social teachings would “continue to inspire the efforts of the faithful to build a just society rooted in the teachings of Christ.”