Question 10.155

10.155 What is the finest achievement of the Church?

God alone knows! In any case, the charitable activity of the Church on behalf of the poor and the needy is extraordinary. The Church has always fought to reduce the material and spiritual poverty of the peoples. The network of the 165 branches of Caritas throughout the world, Catholic charitable structures and organizations (such as the Order of Malta) that strive to put the Gospel into practice, the Church’s commitment to education and healthcare and to the defense of the dignity of the human person, her goodwill efforts placed at the service of the poorest of the poor, are a peerless army that work to relieve sufferings. God has granted us success in our exceptional charitable work for the weakest.

If I had not benefited from the Church’s aid, I would not be with you right now. From her origins, the Spouse of Christ always chose to go to the farthest limits of the world to help people who owned nothing. The Holy Ghost Fathers in my little village were part of that remarkable tradition of priests magnetized by the breath of God to such an extent that they were capable of things that were humanly impossible.

Over the course of the centuries, God’s greatest gift is to have sent, after Christ, saints who gave their lives for the poorest of the poor. Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint John Bosco, Saint Daniel Comboni, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta thought of those who were no longer of interest to anyone. The Church’s victory is engraved on the hearts of all the poor people she has saved for generations.

Thousands of priests and religious showed a matchless tenacity, despite serious obstacles, in carrying out their missions of charity. And the greatest charity of all is to reveal God manifested in his Son on the Cross. Thanks to the example of these men and women of God, the work of evangelizing and humanizing our societies met with great success.

It is important to understand the impact of charitable activity. For Christians, the essential thing is never the material and social assistance in itself, but the fight against spiritual poverty. From this perspective, as a corollary to the immense gift that God has given her, the Church has the serious obligation never to give up.

The most beautiful action on this earth, therefore, is still to restore to men their equal dignity as children of heaven and their ability to be open to the eternal light.

Thanks to the poor, the Church’s victory is always humble and hidden, far from deceptive trappings.