Pope to Dominican Republic: keep spiritual and moral values alive

Vatican City, Dec 14, 2003 / 22:00 pm

During the presentation of the diplomatic credentials of the new ambassador of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Rafael Conrado Marion Landais-Castillo, Pope John Paul II asked this Caribbean nation to keep the spiritual and moral values that helped build the nation.

“It is appropriate,” said the Pope, “to recognize the activity carried out in your country through the dioceses, parishes, religious communities and apostolic movements.” He mentioned specifically “ecclesial activity in favor of the disabled, AIDS patients, ethnic minorities, migrants and refugees,” as well as the “presence of the Church in the field of education.”

John Paul II recalled that although the Church does not propose “solutions in the public or technical sphere, it must however indicate the motivations and guidance offered in the Gospel in order to illuminate the search for responses and solutions.”  Therefore, he continued, its mission is “to recall, defend and consolidate the genuine ethical, spiritual and transcendental values, particularly at the present moment during which internal and external causes have produced grave deterioration in your country and a descent in the quality of life of Dominicans. “

“While solving these problems,” the Pontiff continued, “one must never forget that the common good is the objective to achieve for which the Church lends its collaboration to the government and society, without interfering in other realms beyond its mission.”

 “In today’s world,” he continued, “it is not enough to limit oneself to the law of the market and its globalization; we must foster solidarity, avoiding the evils that come from a Capitalism that puts profit before the person and makes man the victim of so many injustices.”

“A model of development that does not keep in mind these inequalities or confront them decisively would not prosper in any way,” the Pope finally said.