A “fair” distinction needs to be made between the Church and the State without “separating the Church from the social and cultural life” of a country. This is the message addressed by Benedict XVI to the presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe gathered in Paris for the CCEE Plenary Assembly. In a message signed by Vatican’s Secretary of State card. Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope assured the European bishops of his “spiritual closeness”. As for the theme chosen for this year’s session, “the Church-State Relations”, the Pope wrote: “a fair distinction needs to be made between the Church and the State, without separating the Church from the social and cultural life. The Church is faithful to its mission of truth for a society on a human scale promoting man’s dignity and his vocation. This fidelity to the human being, created in the image of God, demands fidelity to the truth, which alone can ensure an integral human development providing a remedy for the many imbalances affecting today’s world. The Church proclaims this truth trough its teachings and social doctrine, thus contributing to the establishment of the universal city of God towards which the human family is progressing”.

© SIR - oct 1, 2009