Carl A. Anderson's Monthly Report

Carl A. Anderson’s Monthly Report
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Sunday, November 15, 2009

Christian Conscience and the Future of Politics

Anderson is the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus: Columbia, Nov. /09

Pope Benedict is calling us to continue what French philosopher Jacques Maritain called the “evangelization of the secular conscience” by applying “faith respectively but decisively in the public arena, in the expectation that social norms and policies be informed by the desire to live by the truth that set every man and woman free” (cf.Caritas in Veritate, 9).

Pope Benedict XVI has long made clear that Christianity does not believe in political messiahs… His words in September in the Czech Republic – a country celebrating 20 years since the fall of Communism – have important implications for all of Europe, for the Philippines and for the American continent, places whose history is inseparable from Christianity.

Speaking here at an ecumenical meeting, the pope noted, “As Europe listens to the story of Christianity, she hears her own. Her notions of justice, freedom and social responsibility, together with the cultural and legal institutions established to preserve these ideas and hand them on to future generations, are shaped by her Christian inheritance.” … Christianity must not be limited to the margins of society. Religious liberty must be protected, and Christianity must have a voice in the public arena, in shaping the conscience of the continent and in bringing moral consensus.

He said, “I wish to underline the irreplaceable role of Christianity for the formation of the conscience of each generation and promotion of a basic ethical consensus that serves every person who call this continent ‘home’!”…

Christians must bring the truth of their faith to bear on the formation of their nations’ conscience… In the Americas, as in Europe and the Philippines, the entire history is one of “baptized Christians.” Christians founded each country in America, and, equally important, each country has a strong Catholic tradition…

In the past century, the Catholic Church has been a witness to conscience, whether the issue was civil rights, religious liberty or the right to life. So, what should the future of politics look like?

We should start by considering how Catholic social teaching can inform the entirety of our political platforms. There must be space for Christianity in the “political ethics” of the state… As people of faith, we must have the responsibility of protecting the Gospel from manipulation by any political philosophy --- including our own…

During his meeting with Czech leaders, Pope Benedict put it this way: “True freedom presupposes the search for truth – for the true good – and hence finds its fulfillment precisely in knowing and doing what is right and just…. For Christians truth has a name: God and goodness has a face: Jesus Christ.”
George H. Kubeck, P.O. Box 865, Stanton, Ca. 90680-9998, U.S.A.