The Unity of Human Society
- What a wonderful vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.|Pope Pius XII|referring to racism and anti-semitism in 1939
In his first encyclical, Pius XII Summi Pontificatus, developed a main theme of his pontificate. Christianity is universal, and therefore opposed to racial or national hostility and superiority. He continues this theme in other encyclicals, such as Mystici Corporis, and Mediator Dei and in numerous speeches and addresses. There are no racial differences, because the human race forms a unity, for "from one ancestor made all nations to inhabit the whole earth".
Nations, despite a difference of development due to diverse conditions of life and of culture, are not destined to break the unity of the human race, but rather to enrich and embellish it by the sharing of their own peculiar gifts and by a reciprocal interchange. All races, the human race are loved by Christ without exception or exclusion. Differences in nationality and race do not matter. True love means loving all, if they are Catholic, Christian or not.
- Because of this divine law of human solidarity and charity, and because God loved the whole human race, we are assured, that all men are truly brethren, without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and societies, even if they do not belong to the Catholic Church or share the Christian faith Divine precepts contradict belief in "superiority". Superior and inferior cultures do not exist and different levels of development within and between nations are source for enrichment and not discrimination of the human race.
| “ | Oh, the teachings of Pius XII. He understood to adapt the magisterium of the Church to the most modern thinking. | ” |
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—Pope John XXIII, referring to more than 8000 pages of papal teaching. |
Read more about this topic: Theology Of Pope Pius XII
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