Dives in Misericordia: “He Who Sees Me Sees the Father” (1, continued)

Chapter I of “Dives in Misericordia” (“Rich in Mercy”) is entitled “He Who Sees Me Sees the Father (cf. John 14:9).” It continues as follows:

“1. . . . The more the Church’s mission is centered upon man – the more it is, so to speak, anthropocentric – the more it must be confirmed and actualized theocentrically, that is to say, be directed in Jesus Christ to the Father. While the various currents of human thought both in the past and at the present have tended and still tend to separate theocentrism and anthropocentrism, and even to set them in opposition to each other, the Church, following Christ, seeks to link them up in human history, in a deep and organic way. And this is also one of the basic principles, perhaps the most important one, of the teaching of the last Council. Since, therefore, in the present phase of the Church’s history we put before ourselves as our primary task the implementation of the doctrine of the great Council, we must act upon this principle with faith, with an open mind and with all our heart. In the encyclical already referred to, I have tried to show that the deepening and the many-faceted enrichment of the Church’s consciousness resulting from the Council must open our minds and our hearts more widely to Christ. Today I wish to say that openness to Christ, who as the Redeemer of the world fully reveals man himself, can only be achieved through an ever more mature reference to the Father and His love.”

 

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Pope John Paul II: "Dives in Misericordia"