Pope Benedict's First Encyclical: Deus Caritas Est

Pope Benedict XVI gestures to the faithful gathered for the weekly general audience in Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday Jan. 25, 2006. Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday in his first encyclical that the Roman Catholic Church has no desire to govern states or set public policy, but can't remain silent when its charity is needed to ease suffering around the world. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)


Introduction

1. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”.

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