Nancy Pelosi: ‘Spiritually, I Am Always Moved by Pope Benedict’s Powerful Encyclical, ‘God is Love’”

(CNSNews.com)- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) put out a statement on Saturday on the passing away of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in which she pointed to Benedict’s encyclical letter, “God is Love.”

“Paul and I join our fellow Catholics in mourning the passing of Pope Benedict XVI: a global leader whose devotion, scholarship and hopeful message stirred the hearts of people of all faiths,” Pelosi said in her statement.

“Spiritually, I am always moved by Pope Benedict’s powerful encyclical, ‘God is Love,’ where he quotes St. Augustine highlighting our moral duty as public servants to fight for justice,” she said.

Pope Benedict published this encyclical, whose Latin title is “Deus Caritas Est,” in 2005.

At one point in this encyclical, Pope Benedict quotes St. Augustine on the “just ordering of society.”

In this context, Benedict says the following:

“The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics. As Augustine once said, a State which is not governed according to justice would be just bunch of thieves: ‘Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regni nisi magna latrocina?’ Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between Church and State, or, as the Second Vatican Council puts it, the autonomy of the temporal sphere. The State may not impose religion, yet it must guarantee religious freedom and harmony between the followers of different religions. For her part, the Church, as the social expression of Christian faith, has a proper independence and is structured on the basis of her faith as a community which the State must recognize. The two sphere are distinct, yet always interrelated.”

Here is the full text of the statement Speaker Pelosi issued on the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:

San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on the passing of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI:

“Paul and I join our fellow Catholics in mourning the passing of Pope Benedict XVI: a global leader whose devotion, scholarship and hopeful message stirred the hearts of people of all faiths.

“Spiritually, I am always moved by Pope Benedict’s powerful encyclical, ‘God is Love,’ where he quotes St. Augustine highlighting our moral duty as public servants to fight for justice.

“Officially, it was my privilege to visit His Holiness in the Vatican and, in 2008, to join in welcoming him to our nation’s capital. 

“May it be comfort to His Holiness Pope Francis and the Vatican community that so many pray for Pope Benedict during this sad time.”

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