Pope Encourages More Catholic Involvement In Politics

(CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI addressed the role of the faithful in politics during an audience with members of the Pontifical Council for Laity on Friday. Not only are true Christian politicians needed for true societal and political change, he said, but a greater need exists for the laity to exercise their influence in the social and political realms.

The audience with the Pope took place with members of the council, led by its president Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko. They council is currently holding its 24th Plenary Assembly, which is focused on "Witnesses of Christ in the Political Community."

Developing on the theme of the three-day assembly, the Holy Father said that it's in the hands of the faithful to provide a concrete witness to the faith in the social, cultural and political spheres. They must witness to the fact "that the faith enables them to read reality in a new and profound way, and to transform it," he said.

The lay faithful participating in political life must act "in a manner coherent with the teaching of the Church," said the Holy Father, as they bring solid reasoning and "great ideals" into the democratic debate....

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