Catholicism's Best Kept Secret

In my years as a college student, I discovered one of the best kept secrets of Roman Catholicism: its social teaching. My mind and heart were engaged as I read, "...the conviction grows...that it devolves on humanity to establish a political, social, and economic order which will increasingly...help individuals as well as groups to affirm and develop the dignity proper to them..." (Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, paragraph 9.) In a later paragraph this church document asserts: "A human being is more precious for what he is than for what he has."

Against this background, I read with interest Lorraine Lezama's analysis (Crimson, August 17) of Pope John Paul II's recent American visit. And I both concur with and applaud the observation in her opening sentence: though it was a visually exciting spectacle, the visit did not conceal the Pope's uncompromising message. Human beings are more valuable for who they are than for what they have.

On his way to the U.S., the Pope stopped in Jamaica, a young country, barely 30 years old, struggling with its national identity and a heavy burden of debt. Ominously, since the middle seventies, guns proliferate in the culture, and people face increasing poverty. In the United States, the Pope spoke about the violence which plagues the lives of young people in our cities--calling attention to "a culture of death which does not respect life," at home or abroad. Yes, it was and is an uncompromising message. Human beings are more valuable for who they are than for what they have.

As to Lezama's observation that there was "no real attempt to locate the source of internal problems and quell widespread dissension among Catholics," I disagree. The Vatican made a conscious decision nearly two years ago to have World Youth Day be an international celebration. Thus, young people from around the globe came together to celebrate their shared identity as Roman Catholics. I believe any and all attempts to examine our "internal life" as a church begin in our shared commitment to be Roman Catholic. That is, to claim as our own a faith tradition which is rich in its spiritual and theological heritage, and which challenges us to let the primacy of persons over possessions shape our personal and professional lives. Mary Karen Powers, R.S.M.   Chaplain Harvard-Radcliffe Catholic Student Center