GAUDIUM ET SPES
Introduction
This document was probably the most contentious one of the Council and its interpretation
is central to one's understanding of the purpose of the Council. It is claimed by 'liberals' and
'the Magisterium' as theirs. One issue of historic note is the question of "Liberation
Theology". Was it a development of this document? The answer is Yes, when the human
person is centre stage with liberation from sin, and all its personal and social consequences.
The answer is No when the human person is reduced to a part of the wider Marxist analysis
of the human condition with its revolutionary rhetoric.
This is the document most beloved by those on the liberal wing of the Church, and is also
the most quoted document in the writings of Pope John Paul II. If we assume the validity of
liberal-conservative divide, we result in the strangest of questions: "Why does a conservative
Pope quote so approvingly a liberal document?"
It is suggested that a more mainstream interpretation of this document will not only
overcome the division between the two positions, but also help identify points that need
further clarification.
This document is essential for understanding the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and his
focus on the human person and the Millennium (two thousand years from the
Incarnation), which unite through the person of Jesus Christ. Two other documents are also
essential, Redemptor Hominis and Veritatis Splendor. The first defined his pontificate and
the second was probably the most important of his pontificate.
Pre history to Gaudium et Spes
This document was originally known as Schema XIII. It was the last, along with Dignitate
Humanae, to be approved by the Second Vatican Council in December 1965. Many within
the Curia did not want the document at all, as its subject area was too diffuse and the
methodology used alien to the tradition of Church documents. The tone of the document is
one of dialogue with the world. Karol Wojtyla, one of those involved with its composition,
spoke of using "the power of arguments rather than moralisation" and of its being "more of
a meditation than a statement of doctrine". These ways did not sit well with the more
traditional form of Vatican documents, even those of Vatican II.
However it is a methodology that has stood the test of time, being used by Pope John Paul
II in his Encyclicals, Exhortations and other letters. Dialogue joined to Scriptural
exposition.
The two key concepts that will help in interpreting the document:
1. Christocentric Anthropology. What does this expression mean? It is the study of man
that looks in two directions simultaneously: one toward man himself, and the other toward
Christ. The Church does not advocate a particular school of anthropology, nor does she
preach a message that takes no account of the human condition. The search for appropriate
foundations that explain the dignity of the person will be the basis for a dialogue with the
world. The first part of the document will cover freedom and conscience especially human attributes valued highly by modern man.
This method is also Christocentric, because Jesus Christ has revealed the true dignity and
destiny of the human person.
The method may be described as "From the question of man to the question of God."
Many might feel uncomfortable with such an expression. They might ask what about
doctrine? Does this not take away from revelation? Instead it allows us to see man as the
chosen recipient of revelation. The spiritual underpinning of all human capacities makes us
able to hear the Word and also to freely accept it.
GS10: "In the light of Christ, the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation,
the Council means to address itself to everybody, to shed light on the mystery of man and to
co-operate in finding solutions to the problems of our time."
Other key Christocentric texts: No. 22, 32, 38-39, 40-41 and 45.
2. Pastoral nature. Seeking ways to present Jesus Christ to the human family. This
expresses the specific nature of the Church. St. Paul's advice to his pupil, Timothy, whom
he had left behind in Ephesus: "God wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge
of the truth." (1 Tim 2:4). The Church fulfils its nature when it is missionary. (Green
Paper)
The two terms central to this pastoral concern were 'aggiornamento' and 'signs of the times'.
These two terms have caused major difficulties in interpretation, as we shall see later.
Karol Wojtyla spoke at the opening debate about the "special timeliness". "Men and women
were eagerly awaiting what the Church had to say to them." Committed to dialogue with the
world, "the Church is seeking with it the truth and the just solution of the difficult problems
of human life." The document should take a cue from good teachers, adopting a "heuristic
method that permits the disciple to find the truth almost on his own." (Witness to Hope,
p.167)
In the drafting committee he commented that "the text should make reference to the
inadequate answers that the contemporary world is offering." The recognition of competing
answers to the question of being human is essential for the new evangelisation. If people do
not believe in God, they end up not believing in anything.
In his opening address on 28 September 1965, he said the "new Constitution" was more of a
meditation than a statement of doctrine, since its principal concern is the human person,
considered in himself, in community and "in the scheme of all things." (Witness to Hope,
p. 168)
Looking ahead one may see both the Christocentric Anthropology and the emphasis on
dialogue in this quote from Redemptor Hominis (para. 8). This document helps anchor a
true interpretation of Gaudium et Spes.
"In the penetrating analysis of 'the modern world' the Second Vatican Council reached that
most important point of the visible world that is man, by penetrating like Christ the depth of
human consciousness and by making contact with the inward mystery of man, which in
biblical and non-biblical language is expressed by the word 'heart'. Christ the Redeemer of
the world is the one who penetrated in a unique, unrepeatable way into the mystery of man
and entered his 'heart.' Rightly therefore does the Second Vatican Council teach: 'The truth
is that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For
Adam, the first man, was a type of Him who was to come (Rom.5:14), Christ the Lord.
Christ, the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully
reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling.' And the Council continues:
'He who is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) is Himself the perfect man who has
restored in the children of Adam that likeness to God which had been disfigured ever since
the first sin. Human nature, by the very fact that it was assumed by, not absorbed in, Him
has been raised in us also to a dignity beyond compare. For, by His Incarnation, He, the Son
of God, in a certain way united Himself with each man. He worked with human hands, He
thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart He loved.
Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been one of us, like to us in all things except sin.' "
(GS22). No.8 Redemptor Hominis.
Outline of the Document
Preface: Situation of humanity in the world of today.
Part I. The Church and man's vocation.
Four headings: 1) The dignity of the human person.
2) The community of man.
3) The activity of man in the world.
4) The Church's function in the world.
Part II.
Five headings: 1) The dignity of marriage and the family.
2) The proper promotion of cultural process.
3) Social and economic life.
4) The life of the political community.
5) Fostering peace and the international community.
Conclusion.
Preface: (pp. 1-3) Solidarity of the Church with the whole human family. Man at the
centre. "His joys and hopes". Gaudium et Spes the sorrow and the anxiety.
Situation of mankind in the world today: The key expression of the 'signs of the time'
and the need to interpret them in the light of the Gospel. The document sets the scene with
some general observations.
Gaudium et Spes needs to be seen in its context of the post-war European settlement, and
the post-colonial era. Sustained economic growth and scientific advances led to greater
awareness of the gap between rich and poor, between what is possible and what is actual and
thus an increased awareness of unrequited aspirations. In a time of change there was a
difficulty in recognising enduring values. The 1980s saw a demand for cultural rights, a life
worthy of man. The document was speaking to all different cultures and painting a picture.
The section concludes with the observation that the contradictions in the world are mirrored
in the contradictions in man. Life is viewed as a drama - a favourite theme of European
philosophy. The person writes the script. Existentialism, 'person and act', written by Karol
Wojtyla.
Inference is not to despair; these questions are a fertile place to preach the Gospel. The
speaker had accepted two Mass intentions from the same girl, one for Kurt Cobain and the
other for Mother Angelica. Understanding this apparent dichotomy is understanding
something of contemporary culture.
The Council affirms that "Christ is the centre and purpose of all human history. The Church
claims that beneath all change there are many things unchanging which have their ultimate
foundation in Christ who is the same yesterday and today and forever."
Part I. The Church and man's Vocation.
This section emphasises that the Church can enter with confidence into this arena.
"Faith sheds new light on everything and reveals the divine intention about man's entire
vocation, thus guiding the mind towards a fully human solution of problems." (para. 11)
It demonstrates that those values most highly praised today, freedom, truth and conscience
find their meaning through their divine origin. But there is a need to underline something
here. It is not sufficient simply to say my faith is my free act, my conscience is open to God,
but also we must say that these gifts, freedom and conscience, are gifts from God as such.
God gives us the means to believe in Him; otherwise we end up believing God is very lucky
to have me as one of His believers.
There are four sections. The first three, the dignity of the human person, the human
community and the significance of human enterprise, form the dialogue between the Church
and the world. The fourth assumed Lumen Gentium focus on the Church's role in the
world in the light of what has been said beforehand.
I The dignity of the human person.
The opening comment states that believer and non-believer agree on man as the focus of
creation "in the image of God"; "male and female He created them."
Question of sin: "What revelation teaches, experience confirms, man looking into his heart
finds himself prone to evil and sunk in many evils which cannot come from God." The
Revelation of Jesus Christ helps us "understand why man is conscious at the same time of
his sublime destiny and profound wretchedness" (para. 13). All the positive comments made
about the natural expressions of freedom, truth and conscience have to be related to the
ubiquity of sin.
Anthropology: man as body and soul, transcends immediate experience. Man also looks for
a deeper truth. Through reflection he discerns the law of conscience, i.e., do this, avoid that
(recognition of our created status). A law written in his heart by God, where he is alone with
God. Fathers quote from Ben Sirach: "God wished to leave man in the power of his own
inclination." (15:14)
No-one can embrace the good except freely. Man's dignity depends on this free conscious
choice as to his purposes, which is neither coerced, nor bound by passion. The believer
spontaneously seeks his Creator (para. 16 & 17). This has pastoral implications for running a
parish.
The secular mind which might accept all the above, fails in front of death. The Church's
method is not the same here. Where imagination fails, Revelation shows man is created by
God, the source of life (para. 18).
This dialogue with the world reveals a common source for all that is most precious, and
demonstrates reasonableness in committing oneself to God (para. 19).
This gives the key to understanding atheism. If through the human person an opening to
God exists, why are so many practical atheists? The Church recognises many sources, both
individual and cultural, and the bad example of religious people. It also includes, more
prominently now, the lack of disquiet over the human condition (a tiny bit of man claiming
to be a whole, Julia Flyte on Rex Mottram in Brideshead Revisited). Historical note on
Marxism and systematic atheism, but the reasoning from human autonomy to atheism is still
valid (para. 20).
Pastoral reflection on penetrating the atheist's mind as to why he / she rejects God, in order
to stimulate a recognition that man himself is an unanswered question (para. 21), and that
human dignity finds its perfection in communion with God.
The method outlined above demonstrates that "the Church knows that her message is in
harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart".
Conclusion: Christ is the new man. The convergence of these precious human attributes
and the existence of God as Creator find their Incarnation in the historical figure of Jesus
Christ. Christ makes man clear to himself. "Christ the new Adam, in revealing the mystery
of the Father and his love, makes man fully clear to himself, makes clear his vocation. No
wonder then that in Him the above truths find their source and their culmination." (para. 22)
Through his Death, Resurrection and donation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ restores the
divine likeness that sin distorted. Through the Incarnation God in Jesus Christ unites
Himself with every man.
Paragraph 22 is the key passage for Redemptor Hominis being the legacy and explanation of
Pope John Paul II, his programme for the Church. Later he will give a more systematic
presentation on freedom and conscience in Veritatis Splendor. It is important to remember
that Gaudium et Spes was not a systematic treatise, more an agreed 'status quaestionis'.
II The community of man.
The community of persons is not simply an economic or technological necessity but the
desire of God. There is one Creator for one people. Hence the first commandment. Love
God and love your neighbour. Taken further through revelation: "May they be one . . . even
as we are one." (Jn 17:21-22; para. 24). The Trinity is the model of human community,
"being in relation". We see this in the experience of family life: even if the members drive
us mad, they are nevertheless the people who give us meaning, we are defined in relation to
them. It draws the conclusion from Trinitarian reflection that man cannot find himself
except in sincere self-giving.
Therefore all human institutions, as visible expressions of the one, should have the person as
their beginning and end. Man needs these for his full development especially the family and
the political community.
The consequence of this:
1. Certain environments and situations are an encouragement to sin (para. 25).
2. Proper access to the necessities of life. This will require change, the management of
things should be subordinate to personal values. Does this mean voting for the Labour
Party? The Gospel performs a critical function by continually rousing in the heart the
demand for dignity.
3. Treat every man as a neighbour, whatever his / her condition. "As you did it the least of
these, you did it to me."
4. Respect the views of others without forgetting "to tell the salutary truths" (para. 28), the
classical Christian distinction between error and the person in error, between sin and the
sinner.
5. Concern with the common good. The further uniting of the world demands a broader
commitment.
6. Education to broaden young minds so that they may carry out the works of conscience.
The Council Fathers reinforce this by their emphasis on the communitarian dimension of
Jesus's ministry. It sanctified family ties and called us brothers / sisters. Ultimately offered
Himself for all.
III The activity of man in the world at large.
It starts on a positive note referring to scientific advance as part of God's design. Man has
been commanded to subdue the earth. The world of work should sustain their families and
aid society, and thus advance the work of the Creator. In conclusion it says that man's skill
and power are not necessarily a rival to God's. However the greater the power the greater
the responsibility (para. 34), as man is always created.
Human work also affects man as the worker, and through work he can continue to perfect
himself. This process is ultimately more important than any paper profit. This section
sounds quite naïve now. It is obvious that "who man is" is more important than "what man
has." Similarly human progress in brotherhood is more valuable than technical progress.
However, is backdoor nationalisation through 'Health & Safety' and the torrent of legislation
better than more laissez-faire capitalism? (para. 35)
The Council emphasises the rightful "autonomy" of created things. They obey laws, etc.,
but, and this is the part that tends to be forgotten, they are all part of God's created order
and subject to God's law. (Each subject has its own wisdom dimension - the discovery of
the laws or values of any academic discipline or science. This discovery can open the human
subject up to the Creator - Pope John Paul II, Fides et Ratio.)
In conclusion, no-one can use the created world for his or her own selfish desires, as if it
were autonomous from God. The Church does have a critical role to play in the world. It is
not a matter of abandoning the world of enterprise but of purifying man the worker through
Christ's Cross and Resurrection.
Christ showed that the transformation of the world is the new commandment of love, the
putting aside of self-interest. The way of love is open to all in the small and large
circumstances of life (para. 38). We begin here to see the theme of Christian witness that
will dominate the second part.
The desire to better this world does not clash with the expectation of the world to come.
There is not a simple correlation between human enterprise and the advancement of the
Kingdom of God, though the bettering of human society is very much in the interest of the
Kingdom of God (para. 39).
IV The Church's function in the contemporary world.
The subjects of the dialogue between the Church and the world have been discussed above.
The Church is described as leaven in the world. The Church through preaching salvation
illuminates the conditions mentioned above, enhancing human dignity, reinforcing the social
structure and giving deeper meaning to man's everyday task.
There is both a grand and humble quality to the Church's task in the world. Through her
mission she keeps alive for non-religious men the deepest questions. Only the Church
continues to maintain the dignity of man despite fluctuating fashions. The Gospel message
on liberty and conscience emphasises that the divine order does not take away from the
rightful autonomy of man but brings it to completion.
"The power of the Church consists simply of that faith and charity brought to bear on life."
(para. 42)
One of the more pressing issues today is the breach between faith and daily life. The Church
associates with the concerns of humanity, in the building up of solidarity. All Christians
should exercise their earthly talents after the example of Jesus the carpenter. The Church
has limited competence in the professional issues of the world, but priests should give light
and form the conscience of the laity, to be able to make the right decisions at the right time.
There is a perennial danger of leaving things to the experts.
Each of the following sections ends with an emphasis on the witness given by
Christians, the followers of Christ. Through their lives they bear witness to the unity
between human liberty and the teaching of the Church.
Part II
The document now applies these guiding principles established above, the convergence of
human aspirations and God's will through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I
The dignity of marriage and the family.
The family is at the heart of the human and social order. Contemporary difficulties make the
Council highlight certain issues. The document talks about the duty of procreation and
repeats the condemnation of unacceptable means of birth regulation, but it is not an
extended thesis. We need to see later documents such as Humanae Vitae and Familiaris
Consortio.
Husband and wife minister to each other in a special way through the joining of their
persons and activities. It demands full fidelity and argues for their indissoluble unity. The
lasting fidelity reflects the fidelity of Christ to the Church. It is a life-giving place for
sanctification.
The sacrament enriches this rational personal act, described as "a special endowment of
grace and charity." It takes exceptional virtue to live up to this Christian vocation. There is
a need to be fortified with the life of grace for a constancy of love, largeness of mind and
spirit of sacrifice.
Procreation of children is central to a marriage but united with the other "ends" of marriage,
personal sanctification and the good of the Church. "Hence the proper cultivation of
married love and the whole character of family life arising from it have the tendency, without
thrusting into the background the other purposes of marriage, of disposing married people
to co-operate courageously with the love of the Creator and Saviour, who through them
continually enlarges and enriches His own family." (para. 50)
It goes on to say that they should fulfil their duty with human and Christian responsibility,
being guided by conscience and conformed to the divine law.
The divine law, the rationality that fosters married love, also governs the transmission of life.
There are objective standards, not simply sincere intentions; conduct bears on eternal
destiny. The questions of abortion and contraception will be covered in more detail in later
documents (Humanae Vitae and later still Evangelium Vitae).
It particularly emphasises support for the recently married.
II
The proper promotion of cultural progress.
The mention of culture as a subject matter for the teachings of the Church is new. The
Council Fathers were searching how best to express these issues, and this section has both
been developed in later documents and criticised for having a too simplistic view about
culture.
Culture is the totality of man's achievements, spiritual experiences, and their communication
and preservation. "Every human community has its own patrimony of traditional
institutions." We are all part of a historical movement.
1. The condition of culture in the modern world.
The 1960s ushered in a new age, categorised through the advance of science, the advance of
psychology, the development of history, to name a few. There was increasing exchange and
uniformity.
The demands of a new humanism (para. 55) are coupled with an anxiety about many aspects
of this new situation. The Council does not recognise the downside of cultural exchange
that destroys cultures and the destruction of tradition.
2. Certain principles for rightly promoting culture.
Christians have their eyes on the world to come, but this requires building up the human
world on earth and is part of the vocation to subdue the earth, and make it yield fruit and
become a fit place to live in (para. 57). Through intellectual work man's mind can rise up to
God in wonder being opened up to revelation: "the grace that enlightens all men." (Jn 1:910) All too often the advances of science blind one to these glimpses of wonder, but the
Church has nothing to fear from scientific endeavour as such.
Through the ties between the message of salvation and human culture God progressively
reveals himself down through time to the incarnation of His Son. The Church has preached
in many cultures and settings. The Church also animates/ purifies different cultures. There
is a danger here in implying that there is an impersonal force in the improvement of culture.
It suggests that modern is always better than old, making one want to assume the opposite.
Culture springs from the rational and social nature of man so there is a need to cultivate the
mind to sustain culture, increasing the capacity for wonder, inward scrutiny, contemplation
and personal judgment by developing a moral and religious sense. This can only really take
place freely, but also the Church recognises the rightful autonomy of human culture and
especially of the sciences (para. 59) but only within the bounds of morality.
3. Certain more urgent duties of Christians in the matter of culture.
The right to a civilised way of life makes it a duty to ensure public decisions are taken that
foster culture. This leads to a focus on education, especially higher education.
The explosion of knowledge has made the universal man a thing of the past, but we have a
duty to keep in view the human person as a whole, i.e., the values of intelligence, will,
conscience and brotherhood. The source is God.
The task of theologians is to present the same faith in new ways and how to understand
recent scientific discoveries. The Council fathers were conscious that the Church should
support novelists and artists who seek to understand the human person. They expressed the
vain hope for new art in the sanctuary.
III
Social and economic life.
The centre of all social and economic life is the dignity of the person, and the integrity of his
vocation. "Man is the author, the centre, and the end of all social and economic life." (para.
63)
Today the economy has greater control over nature, it becomes ever more complex and ever
more interdependent, thus leading to greater political control over economic activity.
Economic activity has exacerbated economic difficulties and led to contempt of the poor.
The Church has established principles of justice for individual, social and international life.
These principles should be the ground of any reform in economic life, and form Her critique
of all current practices.
1. Economic progress.
Economic progress is at the service of man, not increasing for its own good. Economic
activity has "its own methods and laws within the bounds of the moral order." (para. 64)
The Church strikes a middle way between a command economy (which subordinates the
individual to the collective) and a free market (a false liberty).
In its comments on economic injustice the emphasis on agriculture reveals a worldwide
audience. A topical point about the need to find markets for their produce. (para. 66)
2. Some principles governing social and economic life as a whole.
Human labour is the chief element in economic life as man ultimately does all work. It is
connected with the redemptive work of Christ; there is an obligation to work loyally, and a
right to work. (para 67)
Work as a common enterprise. The care of workers. A share in the management of an
enterprise, the necessary establishment of trade unions.
Goods of the earth are for the use of all and should be regulated by justice and charity.
Ultimately all goods belong to all men; do possess a right to goods sufficient for themselves
and their family. (para. 69)
The primacy of the person leads to the demands of charity: "Feed a man dying from hunger
and if you have not fed him you have killed him." Gratian. Not giving just from the surplus.
There is a caution about welfare payments. They may become a disincentive to work and a
disinclination to serve others. (Not something one has heard the bishops mention recently.)
Private property is a condition of civil liberties. Public ownership of private property is only
legitimate within the bounds of the common good. (para. 72)
Christians should maintain the right scale of values in the world's business, faithful to Christ
and his Gospel, so that their whole life, personal and social, may be full of the spirit of the
Beatitudes, and particularly of poverty. (para. 72)
IV
The life of the political community.
The contemporary situation is about building a juridical-political order in which rights
affecting public life are safeguarded, e.g., freedom of expression, freedom of religion. "The
safeguarding of personal rights is indispensable if citizens are to take part, singly or in
association, in public life and government." (para. 73)
As a prerequisite political life is fostered by a sense of goodwill, justice and public service,
and by the strengthening of convictions about the true nature of the political community and
the purpose / limits of public authority.
It is a worthwhile enterprise because political community is needed for the fostering of
human life and the common good, from which it draws its legitimacy. The political
community is founded in human nature and thus belongs to the order determined by God.
Consequently it must be carried out within the moral order. If so then the citizen is in
conscience bound to obey.
The defence of rights against an over-arching government cannot include withholding what
is due to the common good.
There are duties both ways, government to peoples, but the people are involved with the
government through voting. Government must recognise the value of the family and
associations which are intermediate institutions. It is very perceptive about what this
government wishes to destroy. Peoples must recognise that governments cannot do
everything (para. 75). Political parties should not put their own advantage before the
common good (para. 76).
Christians have a key role in the political community to demonstrate conscientious
attention to general welfare showing the connection between public authority and personal
liberty and the relationship between personal initiative and social solidarity.
The Church is the sign in any society that the person ultimately transcends the field of
politics. The Church does not need temporal power in order to do so.
V
Fostering peace and promoting the international community.
The international situation requires a conversion to bring peoples together, the aspiration of
many. The Church can provide this focus. All Christians should work together for the
establishment of peace.
This peace is not the absence of war, but "the work of justice" (para. 78). The fruit of divine
order built into human society, but needs to be refashioned in every age owing to sin and
changed situations. Peace is also the fruit of love and brotherhood, again something made
visible in the Cross. So Christians should speak the truth in love.
1. Avoiding war.
This chapter begins by rehearsing the natural law arguments for a just war. Governments
have the right to self-defence and need to conduct war within conventions. Not everything
is legitimate once hostilities have broken out.
Atomic weapons have created a new situation. The document quotes Pope John XXIII:
"Thus in this age which boasts of its atomic power, it no longer makes sense to maintain that
war is a fit instrument with which to repair the violations of justice."
The armaments race is no way to safeguard humanity. The money should be spent on
relieving destitution.
Peace is born of mutual trust, not imposed by terror. It believes in the establishment of a
world order to safeguard justice and ban war. The Church should support all those seeking
for peace. The Church recognises the need of education and thus bringing together the
peoples with their leaders.
2. Setting up the international community.
The requirements of peace can only be established by rooting out the causes of dissension
among men, especially injustice at the level of the person, society, national and international.
The world today is becoming more international.
International brotherhood demands greater international economic co-operation, especially
the poorer nations, in trade, manpower and finance.
Four points for development:
1. The human development of the native peoples is essential, having their own
genius and tradition.
2. All business done by the developed world with the Third World should have
their interests at heart.
3. Subsidies should be effectively used.
4. Economic structures need revising but with a concern for the spiritual and not
just economic.
Christians should participate in this process of development. Christ calls on the charity of
His followers. (para. 88)
Conclusion.
The Church is there to better help all men, believers or not, to find their vocation, to build a
world that better reflects the dignity of man, to foster a wider brotherhood.
The desire to unite all people must be reflected in the unity within the Church, the
promotion of mutual esteem within the Church. Therefore we should also look for unity
between the Churches.
Work of unity beyond just the ecclesial: "It is the Father's will that we recognise and really
love Christ our brother in all people . . . thereby witnessing to the truth, and that we share
with others the mystery of the heavenly Father's love." (para. 93)