Pope Calls for Justice Beyond Selfishness this Lent

(04 Feb 10 - RV) Mankind can not implement its own justice, it must emerge from the illusion of self sufficiency and enter into the "greatest" justice which is that of love, the justice of the Cross. This is the theme at the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for Lent.

The message was presented Thursday by Cardinal Josef Cordes, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unam, and Professor Hans-Gert Poettering, MEP President Emeritus of the European Parliament.

The four part message takes as its title the words of St. Paul: “The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ” and focuses on the very definition of justice.

First, the Pope discusses, the classical meaning of "justice", which according to the well-known expression of the third century Roman jurist Ulpian, “dare cuique suum” means "giving to each his own." But "what man needs most – notes the Pope - can not be guaranteed by law". Material goods are certainly required – writes the Pope reiterating his condemnation of indifference to world hunger - but the justice of distribution does not give the human being the totality of what he needs. “Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God”.

Secondly, the Pope indicates the "permanent temptation of man" – like that of the Pharisees – in "identifying the source of evil in exterior causes ": He warns against the “ingenuous and short-sighted” tendency of many modern ideologies, which believe in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove these exterior causes. Injustice, he says “is the fruit of evil; its origin lies in the human heart". It is selfishness, the result of original sin.
 
In the third part, the Pope, explains how man can overcome his selfishness. He recalls the definition of Justice in the Old Testament, the wisdom of Israel in giving to the poor, the stranger, the orphan and the widow. “God is attentive to the cry of the poor and in return asks to be listened to: He asks for justice towards the poor”. “In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice”.

Pope Benedict concludes, with the meaning of the Christian proclamation of Justice. “Thanks to Christ’s action, we may enter into the “greatest” justice, which is that of love (cf. Rm 13, 8-10), the justice that recognises itself in every case more a debtor than a creditor”.

“Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love”.

On Thursday, the Former President of the European Parliament, Hans Gert-Poettering, said politics has to adopt the Lenten Message of the Holy Father:

“We need again a European spirit of solidarity. And, more than ever, we need a European spirit of solidarity with all peoples and cultures of this one world. Those are the two most important social-ethical tasks that the European Union faces. This is not only about the provision of material means, although this is so important. In the first place, however, this is about a spiritual renewal that the European Union has to bring about”.


Recalling that 2010 is the "European year for combating poverty and social exclusion" he said the Pope’s message offers the ideal framework for a stronger and effective dedication of the European Union to do more for the poorest of the planet.

“In many cases, we have forgotten the connection between religious justification and political ideas....Policy that acts out of the Christian understanding of the human being should never decrease ambition”.

He concluded “The Holy Father has pointed us towards two essential conclusions of the Christian understanding of justice: To give up self-sufficiency and to accept our mission with humbleness”.

The great penitential season of Lent begins on February 17^th Ash Wednesday.