Don't let church become just another NGO, pope tells Swiss bishops
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Speaking of the "social dimension of the Gospel" means applying the Christian message not only to questions of justice and peace, but also to the difficulties people experience in daily life, including suffering and death, the pope told the bishops of Switzerland.
The country, he said, is renowned for peaceful coexistence, particularly of people of different cultures, languages and religions, and it hosts dozens of international and private organizations working in the areas of peace, labor, science and ecumenism.
The Catholic bishops, Pope Francis said, have a serious obligation to ensure that the church does not become just another nongovernmental organization.
Meeting the bishops at the Vatican Dec. 1 during their "ad limina" visits to report on the state of their dioceses, Pope Francis told them, "you have the great and beautiful responsibility to keep the faith alive in your land. Without a living faith in the risen Christ, all the beautiful churches and monasteries will, little by little, become museums."
While "many inhabitants keep their distance from the church," the pope said, "the majority recognizes the positive role of Catholics and Protestants in the social domain: their charitable engagement gives the poor and excluded a reflection of the tenderness of the Father."
However, the pope said, the church is more than a charitable agency and the human needs it can meet go deeper than material goods.
Catholic bishops and priests are called "to give a clear response to the problems of society at a time when many, including in the church, are tempted to withdraw from the real social dimension of the Gospel," he said.
The obligation to hand on the faith whole and entire includes sharing its social dimension with those who have distanced themselves from the church and with people who are "confused or focused on themselves and are seduced by ways of thinking which deliberately deny the transcendent dimension of the human person, of life and of human relationships, especially in the face of suffering or death."
"The witness of Christians and of parishes can enlighten their paths and support them in the search for happiness," the pope said. "In this way, the church in Switzerland can be itself and not just a great organization, another NGO."