Prelates: praise Pope's Encyclical saying it tackles today's Issues
(July 08,2009): With the release of Pope Benedict XVI's latest encyclical on Tuesday,
prelates from England, Scotland and the United States commented on its relevance
and importance for modern society. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster,
England, said that "Catholics in England and Wales will warmly welcome this encyclical
letter, 'Caritas in Veritate,' as a powerful and thorough application of the vision
of Christian faith to the complex problems of human development. He expressed the
hope that it will be widely read, noting that it deserves and rewards careful study.
This encyclical, he said, "stands firmly in the line of Catholic social teaching and
most especially in the tradition of Christian humanism, expressed so clearly by Pope
Paul VI in 'Populorum Progressio " This was also affirmed by Bishop Peter Moran,
president of the Scottish bishops' conference Justice and Peace Commission. He noted
that the Pope "addresses the principles and the challenges of genuinely human development
in a rapidly changing world." The prelate emphasized a message of the encyclical that
"development without values is sterile," and that "works of justice, peace and development
are in fact part and parcel of offering love in truth of bringing the Gospel message
to the world.” Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. bishops' conference,
noted how Pope Benedict brings the Gospel principles to modern society through his
encyclical. The cardinal said that the encyclical gives "sound reflections on the
vocation of human development, as well as on the moral principles on which a global
economy must be based."