facebook
rss
twitter
  • About
    • Contact
    • Elementary & Secondary Education Department
    • Social Concerns Department
  • Legislative Review
  • Issues
    • Catholic Education
    • Faith and Politics
    • Health Care
    • Life and Dignity
    • Marriage and Family
    • Religious Liberty
    • Social Justice
  • Bishops’ Statements
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Bulletin Inserts
    • Church Documents
    • PA Catholic Statistics
    • Related Sites
    • Send A Letter to The Editor
  • Subscribe
    • RSS Feeds
    • Via E-mail
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Pentecost and the nature of speaking the truth

May 26, 2015
by Blue
Archbishop chaput, Catholic Philly
Comments are off
Photo by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness

Photo by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M, CAP. 

In Christian thought, justice is one of the cardinal (or “hinge”) virtues. Mercy — also a virtue — is a fruit of the great theological virtue, charity. Together, mercy and justice should guide a mature Christian’s actions, choices and words.

Each virtue without the other is incomplete. Mercy without justice is little more than a warm feeling. It can ripen into what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace,” a disregard for truth in the name of compassion. Likewise, justice without mercy becomes a disguised form of revenge. Anger at society’s sins very easily feeds a habit of moral preening, with a selective blind spot for the sins we’d rather not discuss.

So when St. Paul urges us to “speak the truth with love,” he means the whole truth preached honestly, without editing, and ruled by charity. Pope Francis does this with extraordinary joy and simplicity, endearing him to people around the world.

Last week Georgetown University hosted a panel discussion on one of Francis’ main themes — poverty — featuring Arthur Brooks, Robert Putnam and President Obama. It was a useful event with valuable information. In the process though, the president displayed his curious leadership style by suggesting that Christians have spent too much time and energy on issues like abortion, at the expense of other issues that “capture the essence of who we are” as believers, like poverty.

As Ross Douthat and others quickly observed, “it would be too kind to call [the president’s] comments wrong; they were ridiculous.” Maybe so; maybe not. In the panel’s actual transcript, the president’s tone is affable and measured. But there’s some remarkable irony here, nonetheless.

Read the rest at Catholicphilly.com. 

About the Author
Social Share
  • google-share

News From Around PA

  • Polish family murdered by Nazis along with Jews they sheltered recalled on Holocaust Remembrance Day; family’s martyrdom paves way for beatification
  • Cathedral Basilica to hold Memorial Mass marking the one month anniversary of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
  • Humility is a hallmark of the Kingdom of God
  • Full Time Office Administrator -- Catholic Parish Cemeteries Association, West End
  • Underway: Trial of pro-life activist charged with violating federal FACE Act
  • SRCES Advancement Regional Coordinator , South Regional Catholic Elementary Schools
Click To Read More

Post Archives

Unable to load Tweets

Follow

Recent Posts

PCC Capitol Wrap for Friday, 1-27-23
Jan 27, 2023
PCC Capitol Wrap for Thursday, 1-26-23
Jan 26, 2023
PCC Capitol Wrap for Wednesday, 1-25-23
Jan 25, 2023

All Issues

  • Catholic Education
  • Faith and Politics
  • Health Care
  • Life and Dignity
  • Marriage and Family
  • Religious Liberty
  • Social Justice

banner

Sign up to join the Catholic Advocacy Network today!

CClogo© 2021 Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Bookmark and Share Site by Halibut Blue® | Login