Catholic Transcript Online

In an address to European Christian politicians recently (30 March) in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted a series of clear principles by which leaders and representatives in the political arena can find their way in the midst of confusion and error. These principles, the Holy Father reaffirmed, are not negotiable.

Ridiculing religion or religious leaders is gradually becoming "politically incorrect" again, as witness some of the more reasonable reactions to the recent Danish cartoons about the founder of Islam. But ridicule (and worse) is evidently still widely acceptable where Catholicism is the target.

To be a human being means being subject to death. St. Augustine, more than 1,500 years ago, wrote: "From the first moment that we find ourselves in a mortal body, something happens within us which steadily leads us toward death …" (De Civitate Dei) And in our own times, the atheistic German philosopher Martin Heidegger, described man simply as Sein zum Tode ("Being-to-death"). Heidegger differed radically, of course, from Augustine’s analysis of the ultimate meaning of the human being and the phenomenon of death.

Somehow, political and social commentary cartoonists seem to enjoy greater latitude in expressing their opinions than editorial writers do. But they often transgress recognized thresholds of good taste, or ignore protocols of prudence and sensitivity. The principle of freedom of speech is usually summoned in defense of alleged abuses.

Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est ("God is Love"), given in Rome on Christmas 2005 and issued in several languages on 25 January 2006, is so theologically rich that even many veteran commentators are evidently at a loss as to how to begin assessing it. Moreover, Part II of the 16,000-word document addresses the principal theme expressed in its title in an entirely different way from Part I. While the opening section reflects on the profound doctrinal and philosophical roots of love, the second discusses the practice of love by the Church, viewed as a "community of love." While the first part is from the pen of a consummate academician, the second reflects the soul of a Pope driven by pastoral concern and sensitivity.