Q: As a Christian missionary, do you adopt a position of neutrality between Christian poor and other poor? A: I am not neutral. I have my faith. Q: Can the Church do any wrong? A: No, as long as it stands on the side of God. Q: Mother, if you were born in the Middle Ages, and were asked, at the time of Galileo’s inquisition, to take side, which would you have chosen – the Church or modern astronomy? A: (Smiling) The Church. India Today, May 31, 1983. Interview of Mother Teresa.
“I say to all priests: You have not become priests to be social workers.” Gonzalez-Balado, J., Loving Jesus Mother Teresa, London 1991, p. 46. With reference to the priest involved in liberation theology.
“Tell them we are not here for work, we are here for Jesus. We are religious above all else. We are not social workers, not teachers, not doctors. We are nuns.” Mother Teresa, quoted in Walter Wuellenweber, “MOTHER TERESA: WHERE ARE HER MILLIONS?”, Germany’s STERN magazine on 10 September 1998
The social work carried out by the Church, especially among the poor, cannot be reduced to simple material or political work, says John Paul II. When the Pope met Saturday with a group of bishops visiting from northeast Brazil, he reminded them that a bishop’s first mission is to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, without which the work of the Church would be meaningless. “As vicars and legates of Christ, you are called above all to offer a clear and vigorous proclamation of the Gospel,” the Holy Father said.
He urged the Brazilian prelates not to have “reservations about associating the word of Christ to charitable activities by a misunderstood sense of respect for others’ convictions.”
…… On the contrary, “the fundamental mission of the bishop is evangelization, a task that he must carry out not only individually, but as Church,” John Paul II stressed. ……..
“Many pastors do not have the feeling of working in an evangelical vineyard, but rather in an arid steppe,” the Holy Father said. Yet, “the risen Lord walks with you and makes your efforts fruitful.” Church’s Social Work Is Not Political, John Paul II Says, Zenit.org, Oct 21, 2002. Mahatma Gandhi on the social work of the missionaries.
“When the missionary of another religion goes to them, he goes like a vendor of goods. He has no special spiritual merit that will distinguish him from those to whom he goes. He does however possess material goods, which he promises to those who will come to his fold.” (Harijan: April 3, 1937) “Only the other day a missionary descended on a famine area with money in his pocket, distributed it among the famine stricken, converted them to his fold, took charge of their temple and demolished it. This is outrageous.” (Harijan: November 5, 1937)
“I hold that proselytizing under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy to say the least. It is most resented by people here. Religion after all is a deeply personal thing. It touches the heart. Why should I change my religion because a doctor who professes Christianity as his religion has cured me of some disease, or why should the doctor expect such a change whilst I am under his influence?” (Young India: April 23, 1931)
Source: WHN Media Network
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