– FAUSTO GOMEZ OP

The role of the Social Doctrine of the Church is to shed the light of the Gospel with the help of reason on the relevant social problems of the times. The huge chasm between rich and poor countries, or between developed and underdeveloped countries was a big problem in the second half of the twentieth century. Pope Paul VI addressed the problem in his pace-setting Encyclical Populorum Progressio (PP), On the Development of Peoples, which was issued on March 26, 1967, two years after Vatican II. The encyclical is addressed not only to Catholics, but to all peoples: “to all men of good will.”

– Aurelio Porfiri

The topic of China and religion has been very much in the news in recent months, also thanks to the developments in relations between the same China and the Holy See. There are many voices commenting on that provisional agreement, in favor or against.

Looking at the issue on a more general way, we need to recognize that there are several scholars that have devoted their attention to look at the “religious phenomenon” in mainland China. We might regard the country as being completely materialistic and certainly there is a strong materialistic component. But it would be wrong to think of the country only in this way.  Indeed, the Chinese people have shown a strong religious dimension throughout their troubled history. For those who want to explore this religious dimension in China, there is a book not to be missed: The Souls of China. The Return of Religion After Mao (2017 Vintage Books). The author of the book is Ian Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize winning author for his investigative journalism. So from these premises you can be sure that the book is not only interesting for its content, but also makes for good reading because of the engaging writing of the writer. The book puts religion, in a quite broad sense, in the spotlight. So we can see Buddhism, Protestantism, Taoism and their challenges. What I think is the most significant claim in the book of Ian Johnson is that, despite the difficulties, Chinese people have a strong religious spirit and this spirit is not doomed even amidst strong restrictions regarding their faith. The book was well received by the press.

“Little Herman from his earliest years, manifested a most tender devotion to the Mother of God, and almost as soon as he could speak, he begged his mother to teach him how to honor her. His parents were very poor, but they taught him to confide in Jesus and Mary and he would, in all simplicity, tell Them of all his childish wants. He often had to go barefoot in the coldest weather, and one day he came to pray before the statue of Mary, with his feet all blue with cold.

“Herman,” said Our Lady, “why do you go barefoot when it is so cold?”

– Fr Rodrigo Lynce de Faria

The biggest difference between humans and animals is that a human being is not “something” but “someone”: he has the dignity of being a human person.

This means that a human being is capable of possessing himself through his will, and capable of understanding himself through intelligence.

He is a being who has the capacity to recognize that he does not give himself existence, and therefore can open himself to the infinity of his Creator.

In our personal encounter with Jesus Christ we discover who we really are: children of God, who are recipients of an infinite Love.