Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 677

seeks to accomplish in the world. The heart of Caritas is the sacrificial love of

Christ, and every form of individual and organized charity in the Church

must always find its point of reference in him, the source of charity.

This theological vision has practical implications for the work of chari-

table organizations, and today I should like to single out two of them.

The first is that every act of charity should be inspired by a personal

experience of faith, leading to the discovery that God is Love. The Caritas

worker is called to bear witness to that love before the world. Christian

charity exceeds our natural capacity for love: it is a theological virtue, as

Saint Paul teaches us in his famous hymn to charity.4 It therefore challenges

the giver to situate humanitarian assistance in the context of a personal

witness of faith, which then becomes a part of the gift offered to the poor.

Only when charitable activity takes the form of Christ-like self-giving does it

become a gesture truly worthy of the human person created in God's image

and likeness. Lived charity fosters growth in holiness, after the example of

the many servants of the poor whom the Church has raised to the dignity of

the altars.

The second implication follows closely from the first. God's love is offered

to everyone, hence the Church's charity is also universal in scope, and so it

has to include a commitment to social justice. Yet changing unjust structures

is not of itself sufficient to guarantee the happiness of the human person.

Moreover, as I affirmed recently to the Bishops gathered in Aparecida, Bra-

zil, the task of politics "is not the immediate competence of the Church".5

Rather, her mission is to promote the integral development of the human

person. For this reason, the great challenges facing the world at the present

time, such as globalization, human rights abuses, unjust social structures,

cannot be confronted and overcome unless attention is focused on the deepest

needs of the human person: the promotion of human dignity, well-being and,

in the final analysis, eternal salvation.

I am confident that the work of Caritas Internationalis is inspired by the

principles that I have just outlined. Throughout the world there are countless

men and women whose hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for the service

you render them. I wish to encourage each one of you to persevere in your

special mission to spread the love of Christ, who came so that all may have

4 Cf. 1 Cor 13. 5 Address to the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean,

13 May 2007.