Pope Benedict writes article for the Financial Times
(Vatican Radio) Below is an English language article written by Pope Benedict XVI
in Thursday's Financial Times newspaper. The article originates from a request from
the editorial office of the newspaper asking for the Pope's comments to mark the occasion
of Christmas and following the recent publication of the Holy Father's book on Jesus'
infancy (The Infancy Narratives) .
A time for Christians to engage with
the world “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs
to God,” was the response of Jesus when asked about paying taxes. His questioners,
of course, were laying a trap for him. They wanted to force him to take sides in the
highly-charged political debate about Roman rule in the land of Israel. Yet there
was more at stake here: if Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah, then surely
he would oppose the Roman overlords. So the question was calculated to expose him
either as a threat to the regime, or a fraud. Jesus’ answer deftly moves the
argument to a higher plane, gently cautioning against both the politicization of religion
and the deification of temporal power, along with the relentless pursuit of wealth.
His audience needed to be reminded that the Messiah was not Caesar, and Caesar was
not God. The kingdom that Jesus came to establish was of an altogether higher order.
As he told Pontius Pilate, “My kingship is not of this world.” The Christmas stories
in the New Testament are intended to convey a similar message. Jesus was born during
a “census of the whole world” taken by Caesar Augustus, the Emperor renowned for bringing
the Pax Romana to all the lands under Roman rule. Yet this infant, born in an obscure
and far-flung corner of the Empire, was to offer the world a far greater peace, truly
universal in scope and transcending all limitations of space and time. Jesus is
presented to us as King David’s heir, but the liberation he brought to his people
was not about holding hostile armies at bay; it was about conquering sin and death
forever. The birth of Christ challenges us to reassess our priorities, our values,
our very way of life. While Christmas is undoubtedly a time of great joy, it is also
an occasion for deep reflection, even an examination of conscience. At the end of
a year that has meant economic hardship for many, what can we learn from the humility,
the poverty, the simplicity of the crib scene? Christmas can be the time in which
we learn to read the Gospel, to get to know Jesus not only as the Child in the manger,
but as the one in whom we recognize God made Man. It is in the Gospel that Christians
find inspiration for their daily lives and their involvement in worldly affairs –
be it in the Houses of Parliament or the Stock Exchange. Christians shouldn’t shun
the world; they should engage with it. But their involvement in politics and economics
should transcend every form of ideology. Christians fight poverty out of a recognition
of the supreme dignity of every human being, created in God’s image and destined for
eternal life. Christians work for more equitable sharing of the earth’s resources
out of a belief that, as stewards of God’s creation, we have a duty to care for the
weakest and most vulnerable. Christians oppose greed and exploitation out of a conviction
that generosity and selfless love, as taught and lived by Jesus of Nazareth, are the
way that leads to fullness of life. Christian belief in the transcendent destiny of
every human being gives urgency to the task of promoting peace and justice for all. Because
these goals are shared by so many, much fruitful cooperation is possible between Christians
and others. Yet Christians render to Caesar only what belongs to Caesar, not what
belongs to God. Christians have at times throughout history been unable to comply
with demands made by Caesar. From the Emperor cult of ancient Rome to the totalitarian
regimes of the last century, Caesar has tried to take the place of God. When Christians
refuse to bow down before the false gods proposed today, it is not because of an antiquated
world-view. Rather, it is because they are free from the constraints of ideology and
inspired by such a noble vision of human destiny that they cannot collude with anything
that undermines it. In Italy, many crib scenes feature the ruins of ancient Roman
buildings in the background. This shows that the birth of the child Jesus marks the
end of the old order, the pagan world, in which Caesar’s claims went virtually unchallenged.
Now there is a new king, who relies not on the force of arms, but on the power of
love. He brings hope to all those who, like himself, live on the margins of society.
He brings hope to all who are vulnerable to the changing fortunes of a precarious
world. From the manger, Christ calls us to live as citizens of his heavenly kingdom,
a kingdom that all people of good will can help to build here on earth.