With the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council intended to focus on a fundamental theme, namely the relationship between the Church and the contemporary world… an essential element of the nature of the Church, describing her pastoral character as constitutive. It is not a question of naïve optimism, but rather a renewed fidelity to the Mystery of Christ who, by becoming incarnate, chooses to share our life.
It is a sharing that calls on us to leave behind all passivity and indifference in the face of current events, history and people’s lives, especially in the face of the rapid and profound changes we are experiencing today. We cannot remain as unengaged spectators; rather, we must listen with our hearts, allow ourselves to be challenged, and become involved… Indeed, only in sharing and commitment is it possible to arrive at adequate responses, always supported by the certainty that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rm 8:18).
Christian solidarity commits us to engaging with reality and also to unmasking the contradictions that characterize personal and social life in the contemporary world: for example, scientific and technological progress, which constantly offers new possibilities, but only to some… or a shared awareness that the future of the planet is at stake, coupled with an inability to renounce selfish consumption and the illusion that war is an effective means of building peace.
In a time marked by profound changes, giving rise to worrying imbalances, the Church is called to serve the human person, listening to and welcoming the deepest questions of their heart and the longings that dwell within them, pointing to Christ as “the key, the focal point and the goal of … all human history” (GS 10)… may joy and hope – gaudium et spes – be the distinctive features of a Church who proclaims and bears witness to the Gospel.