From: kriz@skat.usc.edu (KRIZ)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Cath. Christianity 101 - CDFs 1986 Christian Freedom and Liberation - 7
Date: 16 Aug 1992 19:47:55 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: skat.usc.edu

The following is a portion of the CDF's 1986 "Instruction on
Christian Freedom and Liberation."  The document is organized in
the following manner:

     Introduction.
     Chpt 1. The State of Freedom in the World Today.
     Chpt 2. Man's Vocation to Freedom and the Tragedy of Sin.
     Chpt 3. Liberation and Christian Freedom.
     Chpt 4. The Liberating Mission of the Church.
     Chpt 5. The Social Doctrine of the Church: For a Christian
               Practice of Liberation.
-->  Conclusion.

Note: (-->) indicates the section of the document contained herein.

In Christ,

Dennis
kriz@skat.usc.edu

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CDFs 1986 Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation - Concl.


                           CONCLUSION

The canticle of the Magnificat
------------------------------

  97. BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED (Lk 1:45).  At Elizabeth's
greeting, the heart of the Mother of God would burst into the song
of the MAGNIFICAT.  It tells us that it is by faith and in faith
like that of Mary that the People of God express in words and
translate into life the mysterious plan of salvation with its
liberating effects upon individual and social existence.  It is
really in the light of faith that one comes to understand how
salvation history is the history of liberation from evil in its
most radical form and of the introduction of humanity into the true
freedom of the children of God.  Mary is totally dependent on her
Son and completely directed towards him by the impulse of her
faith; and, at his side, she is the most perfect image of freedom
and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe.  It is to
her as Mother and Model that the Church must look in order to
understand in its completeness the remarkable meaning of her own
mission.

  It is altogether remarkable that the sense of faith found in the
poor leads not only to an acute perception of the mystery of the
redeeming Cross but also to a love and unshakable trust in the
Mother of the Son of God, who is venerated in so many shrines.


The "sensus fidei" of the People of God
---------------------------------------

  98. Pastors and all those who, as priests, laity, or men and
women religious, often work under very difficult conditions for
evangelization and integral human advancement, should be filled
with hope when they think of the amazing resources of holiness
contained in the living faith of the people of God.  The riches of
the *sensus fidei* must be given the chance to come to full
flowering and bear abundant fruit.  To help the faith of the poor
to express itself clearly and to be translated into life, through
a profound meditation on the plan of salvation as it unfolds itself
in the Virgin of the MAGNIFICAT -- this is a noble ecclesial task
which awaits the theologian.

  Thus a theology of freedom and liberation which faithfully echoes
Mary's MAGNIFICAT preserved in the Church's memory is something
needed by the times in which we are living.  But it would be
criminal to take the energies of popular piety and misdirect them
toward a purely earthly plan of liberation, which would very soon
be revealed as nothing more than an illusion and a cause of new
forms of slavery.  Those who in this way surrender to the
ideologies of the world and to the alleged necessity of violence
are no longer being faithful to hope, to hope's boldness and
courage, as they are extolled in the hymn to the God of mercy which
the Virgin teaches us.


Dimensions of an authentic liberation
-------------------------------------

  99.  The *sensus fidei* grasps the very core of the liberation
accomplished by the Redeemer.  It is from the most radical evil,
from sin and the power of death, that he has delivered us in order
to restore freedom to itself and to show it the right path.  This
path is marked out by the supreme commandment, which is the
commandment of love.

  Liberation, in its primary meaning which is salvific, thus
extends into a liberating task, as an ethical requirement.  Here is
to be found the social doctrine of the Church, which illustrates
Christian practice on the level of society.

  The Christian is called to act according to the truth [144], and
thus to work for the establishment of that "civilization of love"
of which Pope Paul VI spoke [145].  The present document, without
claiming to be complete, has indicated some of the directions in
which it is urgently necessary to undertake indepth reforms.  The
primary task, which is a condition for the success of all the
others, is an educational one.  The love which guides commitment
must henceforth bring into being new forms of solidarity.  To the
accomplishment of these tasks urgently facing the Christian
conscience, all people of good will are called.

  It is the truth of the mystery of salvation at work today in
order to lead redeemed humanity towards the perfection of the
Kingdom which gives true meaning to the necessary efforts for
liberation in the economic, social and political orders and which
keeps them from falling into new forms of slavery.


The task that lies ahead
------------------------

  100. It is true that before the immensity and the complexity of
the task, which can require the gift of self even to a heroic
degree, many are tempted to discouragement, skepticism or the
recklessness of despair.  A formidable challenge is made to hope,
both theological and human.  The loving Virgin of the MAGNIFICAT,
who enfolds the Church and humanity in her prayer, is the firm
support of hope.  For in her we contemplate the victory of divine
love which no obstacle can hold back, and we discover to what
sublime freedom God raises up the lowly.  Along the path which she
shows us, the faith which works through love must go forward with
great resolve [146].

  DURING AN AUDIENCE GRANTED TO THE UNDERSIGNED PREFECT, HIS
HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II, APPROVED THIS INSTRUCTION, ADOPTED IN
AN ORDINARY SESSION OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE
FAITH, AND ORDERED IT TO BE PUBLISHED.

  Given at Rome, from the Congregation, March 22, 1986, the
Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord.

                              Joseph Card. Ratzinger
                              Prefect

                              Alberto Bovone
                              Titular Archbishop of Caesarea
                              in Numidia Secretary

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Footnotes:

[144] Cf. Jn. 3:21.

[145] Cf. Paul VI, GENERAL AUDIENCE of 31 December 1975:
L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, 1 January 1976, p. 1.  John Paul II took up
this idea in the DISCOURSE TO THE "MEETING FOR FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN
PEOPLE" of 29 August 1982: L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, 30-31 August 1982. 
The Latin American Bishops also alluded to this idea in the MESSAGE
TO THE PEOPLES OF LATIN-AMERICA, 8 and the PUEBLA DOCUMENT, 1188
and 1192.

[146] Cf. Gal. 5:6.