Life and Dignity of the Human Person:

Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Life and dignity must be respected, whether that person worked for social services or a market in Baghdad, or a convicted criminal on death row. human life is sacred, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it protects and respects the life and dignity of the human person.

Making the right decisions regarding social concern and social action may be facilitated in a number of ways.

Ask three questions:

• How will this affect me?
  
• How will this affect others?
  
• How will this affect the cause of Christ?

Apply three tests:

• The test of secrecy (Would you mind if others knew?)
  
  
• The test of universality (Would you be willing for others to do the same thing?).
  
  
• The rest of prayer (could you pray to God about this matter?).

Turn to three sources of light:

• Light from within (a sensitized Christian conscience).
  
• Light from without (wise counselors).
  
• Light from above (God).

Christian social concern is based on the truth of God the Father revealed in Jesus Christ the Son, in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, and in the Bible. Christian social action is the outworking of authentic Christian experience.

When life is challenged by conditions of hardship, maladjustment, sickness or rejection, other programs—such as communities for treating drug addiction, residential communities for minors or the mentally ill, care and relief centers for AIDS patients, associations for solidarity especially towards the disabled—are expressions of what charity is able to devise in order to give everyone new reasons for hope and practical possibilities for life.

And when earthly existence draws to a close, it is again charity which finds the most appropriate means for enabling the elderly, especially those who can no longer look after themselves, and the terminally ill to enjoy genuinely humane assistance and to receive an adequate response to their needs, in particular their anxiety and their loneliness. In these cases the role of families is indispensable; yet families can receive much help from social welfare agencies and, if necessary, from recourse to palliative care, taking advantage of suitable medical and social services available in public institutions or in the home.

Africa

The United States must not write off Africa as having little relevance to our strategic priorities but rather must embrace a broader vision of our nation's interest in, and obligation to, the world's poorest continent. Our nation should provide more aid for the neediest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including aid for Africa's debilitated health care. The United States should also seek and develop trade relationships that are an engine for the elimination of poverty, and should play a more central role in promoting peace throughout Africa. Where is the Church on this issue?

Concerning Love.

To love means to will and work for the well-being of all God’s creatures and creation. God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Love has justice as its other side and finds its con¬creteness in justice (Micah 6:7-8). Love gives itself unselfishly to the object loved: “God so loved that he gave (John 3:16); “Greater love bath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13); “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Love for God and love for others are the fulfillment of the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:33-40). The Christian cannot love God and hate his neighbor (1 John 4:20-21).

James calls love “the royal law” (James 2:8). Our love for God and humanity is based on God’s having first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is love that constrains or controls us (2 Cot. 5:14). Love should be limitless, reaching out to our enemies as well as our friends (Matt. 5:43-45). Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), is the bond which “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:14, RSV), is the more excellent way (1 Cot. 12:31), and is the highest rung on the ladder of virtues (2 Pet. 1:5-7).

When we face the is¬sues of life, some of which may be extremely complex, we should ask, “Wht does love demand? How can I express the maximum quality and amount of love to God and to my neighbor?” Our prayer for ourselves and for one another should be comparable to Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians: “And may the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men” (1 Thess. 3:12).