Home · Faith · Oct 7 archive
Pope warns that ‘watering down’ Christianity’s demands won’t make it more attractive
Developing
In Short: "It is certainly not by watering down the content or softening the demands that Christianity can be made attractive," the Pope said, addressing the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday urged Christians to uphold the Gospel message without diluting its demands, stating that such an approach would not make Christianity more attractive.
He emphasized the importance of Christians actively transforming society according to the spirit of the Gospel, highlighting the need to oppose oppression of the weak and poor and unjust structures that perpetuate conditions of dependence and injustice.
The Pope also criticized the logic of profit at all costs and the manipulation of information, which he said exerts undue pressure on people to conform to a lifestyle centered on material consumption.
He stressed the necessity for baptized individuals to cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit to ensure their faith is living and expressed in consistent behavior.
"It is the task of the whole people of God, especially pastors and theologians, to discern what in the cultures of our time is worthy of consideration, always taking the word of God and the tradition of the Church as the supreme criteria for discernment," the Pope added.
The Pope also noted that the Second Vatican Council reminds us that the Church is grafted into the world, neither above nor beside it, and its mission is to contribute to the construction of the earthly city while bearing witness to faith and charity.
What's still developing
- “It is certainly not by watering down the content or softening the demands that Christianity can be made attractive,” he recalled on Wednesday, citing the address he delivered to the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section on Fundamental Questions Regarding Evangelization in the World, on May 28.
- “The council fathers remind us that the Church’s mission is fulfilled also in contributing to the construction of the earthly city. However, her methods and aims are not primarily of a political order; rather, they consist in bearing witness to faith and charity, together with commitment for justice, peace, and fraternity,” he said.
Sources
- Ewtnnewslink