Is there hope for Pope Ratz? Encyclical, separation of church/state ROLES

[UTUSN]

While these articles focus on his distancing himself from "socialism" and "Marxism", he seems to be taking a step back from POLITICAL activism (choice?).


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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17947880%255E7583,00.html

.... The second part of the encyclical focuses on what Christian charity means and how it relates to and participates in the function of the state. He admits the church's leadership in the 19th century was slow to tackle exploitation of the poor and the working class. ....

In Benedict's view, church and state have separate but interconnected roles. Catholicism cannot replace the state. "The church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible." But this does not mean Christians should retreat into individualist faith, as several Australian politicians have suggested recently.

The church's role is to inform ethics, enlighten consciences and use reason to promote the constant purification of the state, "since it can never be completely free of the danger of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazzling effect of power and special interests". Governments that have been in office for several terms should take note.

Deus Caritas Est tells us that Benedict XVI is going to be a low-key Pope concerned with the essence of Catholicism rather than an actor on the world stage, like his predecessor.

This will be a modest and more traditional papacy. Just what Catholicism needs, really.



http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5442431

.... ...while the pope's reflections on the erotic grabbed most headlines, his final section—about love as a social value—was perhaps more significant.

What the pontiff makes clear is that he is still waging an ideological war (begun some 20 years ago, when he was a cardinal and doctrinal watchdog) against any theology that equates the kingdom of heaven with specific political ideas, such as socialism. “Christian charitable activity must be independent of all parties and ideologies,” the pope insists—before rejecting the Marxist idea that charity reinforces an unjust world. These days, his target is not only Marxism but the involvement of Catholic charities in government-funded welfare projects, to the point where the church and worldly politics almost blur. Religious charities and governments may co-operate, but their roles are different, he says.

Does that make the pope a “compassionate conservative”, in the mould of George Bush? “No, it's the compassionate conservatives who are borrowing ideas from him,” insists Father Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute, an American Catholic think-tank.

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[UTUSN]

1. Last supper for kick ---uh, last kick for supper n/t