Encyclical Goes to the Essence, Says Cardinal

Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino

Function: President of Justice and Peace, Roman Curia

Title: Cardinal Deacon of St. Francis of Paola ai Monti

Birthdate: Nov 23, 1932	Country: Italy

Elevated: Oct 21, 2003	More information: www.catholic-hierarchy.org

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Encyclical Goes to the Essence, Says Cardinal
Feb 01, 2006
Cardinal Renato Martino says that Benedict XVI's first encyclical is a programmatic document which offers the world the essence of the Christian message.

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- "By reminding that God is charity, the Holy Father invites all to go to the heart of the Christian faith," the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace affirmed on Wednesday when presenting the new encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" (God Is Love) in the Vatican press office.

"At the origin of the Christian being there is no ethical decision or a great idea, but, rather, the encounter with an event, a Person that gives life a new horizon, and with it decisive direction," commented the cardinal.

On the "task of the Church for the construction of a just social order," Cardinal Martino emphasized the encyclical's intent "to awaken spiritual and moral forces."

Responding to a question on the criticism of Marxism in section No. 27 of the encyclical, Cardinal Martino explained that "Marxism condemned the Church's actions in favor of the poor because the dream was one of a just society in which everyone could have what belongs to him."

Marxism "was a system in which all personal autonomy was in function of the master state, a dream that has revealed itself to be an unrealizable program which has now faded away," he observed.

On the contrary, the cardinal said, "I have traveled all over the world and have seen how many volunteers and men and women missionaries have dedicated their lives to witnessing to charity and love, in response to a call, and that call is the Lord's."

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