Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale384

women on the path to discovering their definitive, supernatural destiny. The

natural human inclination to live in community is confirmed and trans-

formed by the ''oneness of Spirit'' which God has bestowed upon his adopted

sons and daughters.5 Consequently, the responsibility of Christians to work

for peace and justice, their irrevocable commitment to build up the common

good, is inseparable from their mission to proclaim the gift of eternal life to

which God has called every man and woman. In this regard, the tranquillitas

ordinis of which Saint Augustine speaks refers to ''all things'': that is to say

both ''civil peace'', which is a ''concord among citizens'', and the ''peace of

the heavenly city'', which is the ''perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoy-

ment of God, and of one another in God''.6

The eyes of faith permit us to see that the heavenly and earthly cities

interpenetrate and are intrinsically ordered to one another, inasmuch as they

both belong to God the Father, who is ''above all and through all and in all''.7

At the same time, faith places into sharper focus the due autonomy of earthly

affairs, insofar as they are ''endowed with their own stability, truth, good-

ness, proper laws and order''.8 Hence, you can be assured that your discus-

sions will be of service to all people of good will, while simultaneously inspir-

ing Christians to embrace more readily their obligation to enhance solidarity

with and among their fellow citizens, and to act upon the principle of sub-

sidiarity by promoting family life, voluntary associations, private initiative,

and a public order that facilitates the healthy functioning of society's most

basic communities.9

When we examine the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity in the light

of the Gospel, we realize that they are not simply ''horizontal'': they both

have an essentially vertical dimension. Jesus commands us to do unto others

as we would have them do unto us 10; to love our neighbour as ourselves.11

These laws are inscribed by the Creator in man's very nature.12 Jesus teaches

that this love calls us to lay down our lives for the good of others.13 In this

sense, true solidarity - though it begins with an acknowledgment of the

5 Cfr Eph 4:3; 1 Pt 3:8. 6 De Civitate Dei, XIX, 13. 7 Eph 4:6. 8 Gaudium et Spes, 36. 9 Cfr Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 187.

10 Cfr Lk 6:31. 11 Cfr Mt 22:35. 12 Cfr Deus Caritas Est, 31. 13 Cfr Jn 15:12-13.