Taking sanctity to the next level

THE Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences is a Vatican office tasked to monitor and make in-depth study of world social developments. As such, it carries out an important function of the Church.

This is because the Church, while mainly religious, spiritual and supernatural in character and mission, cannot avoid having to grapple with mundane events. In the first place, it is immersed in the world.

To effectively shepherd souls to their ultimate destination, the Church has to know how to Christianize the world. While its mission transcends worldly dimension, the Church cannot escape from worldly affairs.

Thus, it is important to distinguish between the material and the spiritual, what would comprise our earthly progress and what our spiritual and supernatural growth would entail. We should avoid confusing them.

At the same time, we have to know the relation and unity between our material and spiritual dimensions, our temporal occupations and eternal vocation. Any moral gap in these two dimensions should be bridged.

This is our inescapable condition which we have to learn to properly live with. It is not easy at all, but again it is not impossible. What is more, we just have to find an effective way to do this integrating act, because it is necessary.

We have to understand that our salvation is not only a purely spiritual and personal affair. That means nothing unless it gives due attention to our complete character that includes our material and social aspects.

This is taking our sanctity to the next level. This is precisely the self-understanding of the Church today, as embodied in many documents like the pastoral constitution “Gaudium et spes,” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, etc.

The good thing about this Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences is that
there’s a serious, inter-disciplinary effort to know the root causes of world developments, so as to infuse the proper Christian spirit into them.

It is manned by very able men and women, all professionals and experts in their fields. There’s a regular program of activities, study sessions, meetings and exchanges as well as special initiatives when good reason warrants them.

In short, it is a living and working entity, governed both by love for the Church and competence that includes the indispensable and tricky prudence from all its members.

In its current plenary session, it tackles the question of charity and justice in the relations among nations and peoples. It is listing some worrying signs of the times that need to be addressed. It promises to be an exciting session.

I just hope something like this can be replicated in the local levels of our Church. We have to give more attention to how our Christianity can be consistently lived in our social life—in our business, politics, entertainment, etc.

If there already are such offices in the local levels, then we may need to put more life into them, since there’s hardly anything substantial heard from them.

Instead, we get the impression many Church leaders are awkward in this regard. We have to go beyond knee-jerk responses to issues, recycled motherhood statements, idle attacks and condemnations, all bluster-and-bombast stuff.

It is for these reasons that complaints about clericalism or undue interference of priests and bishops in civil life are heard.

Toward this end, I believe we have enough professionals with true love for
the Church and competence who can help. Let’s work toward a more constructive pastoral ministry of our earthly affairs.

Also, there is a need for Church leaders to be more familiar with social issues and to learn how to effectively shepherd souls in this area. Thus, the Church’s social doctrine has to be mastered. This will help us overcome our blind and soft spots.

This obviously will require a lot of prayer, study, patience, humility, mercy, fortitude. The capacity to be flexible, to dialogue and consult all parties, to adapt with changing situations, and to act, should be cultivated.

Of course, all these virtues should spring from an authentic personal sanctity. This is the barest requirement.