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Pope Addresses Group Promoting Principles of Christian Democracy in World

Membership made up of political parties mostly from Europe and Latin America

By Meg Jalsevac

ROME, Italy, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This past Friday, Pope Benedict addressed the attendees of the annual meeting of the Executive Committee of the international political group, Centrist Democratic International.  In his address, the Holy Father encouraged the leaders to continue to strive to promote the "basic principles" of the Christian European tradition such as "the centrality of the human person, a respect for human rights, a commitment to peace and the promotion of justice for all."

According to the website of the Centrist Democratic International, the group works to unite "political parties and organisations based on the principles of Christian or integral humanism, that is, a humanism open to transcendency and committed to brotherhood."  The group's membership is made up of political parties mostly hailing from Europe and Latin America and while members represent varying faiths, they are united in their effort to promote the fundamental principles of Christian democracy throughout the globe.

The Pope began his address by greeting the members and entreating them to "persevere in your efforts to serve the common good, taking it upon yourselves to prevent the dissemination and entrenchment of ideologies which obscure and confuse consciences by promoting an illusory vision of truth and goodness."

Pope Benedict warned of some of the encroaching dangers of today's society and the need to be vigilant in response to "increasing challenges today due to the profound changes taking place in your respective communities." 

"In the economic sphere, for example, there is a tendency to view financial gain as the only good, thus eroding the internal ethos of commerce to the point that even profit margins suffer. There are those who maintain that human reason is incapable of grasping the truth, and therefore of pursuing the good that corresponds to personal dignity. There are some who believe that it is legitimate to destroy human life in its earliest or final stages."

"Equally troubling is the growing crisis of the family, which is the fundamental nucleus of society based on the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman. Experience has shown that when the truth about man is subverted or the foundation of the family undermined, peace itself is threatened and the rule of law is compromised, leading inevitably to forms of injustice and violence."

The Pope continued by stressing the importance of religious liberty, "which is a fundamental, irrepressible, inalienable and inviolable right rooted in the dignity of every human being and acknowledged by various international documents, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

"In fact, religious liberty corresponds to the human person's innate openness to God, who is the fullness of truth and the supreme good. An appreciation for religious freedom is a fundamental expression of respect for human reason and its capacity to know the truth. Openness to transcendence is an indispensable guarantee of human dignity since within every human heart there are needs and desires which find their fulfillment in God alone."

Read the entire text of Pope Benedict's address:
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=156413

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