The Signs of the Times: Portrait of a Church Present to the World

To be a ＂Sign of the Times,＂ i.e. an institution channeling Jesus' saving presence to the world, the Roman Catholic Church has developed a systematic action oriented doctrine referred to as ＂Social Doctrine of the Church＂ or ＂Catholic Social Teaching (CST).＂ For CST, Christianity is an incarnate faith, concerned with societal issues. Using Scriptures and Tradition, CST strives to engages societal issues such as the conditions of the workers, common good, protection of the poor, ecology, right to private property, peace and justice in the confront of the proliferation of militarization, etc. As contemporary context recognizes the plurality of resources, and values the potentials of individuals, ideologies and religious traditions bring to the betterment of the world; CST is the area where to engage the Roman Catholic Church for a fruitful and mutually enriching debate and dialogue on the functional contribution of religion to society. The present article dwells on a theological praxis within the Roman Catholic Church, namely the reading or discernment of the signs of the time and the concreteness of the solutions provided. The praxis consists in an in-depth consideration of major and timely issues confronting society. Catholics are aware of the complex nature of social concerns and do not think that those problems should, in an elusive way, be confined to the secular realm. Social worries must be met with fitting Scripture, Tradition and faith inspired responses. True faith is one engaged, implicated and an engaged faith, a faith implicated and impacting on the daily struggle of the human society. In fostering appropriate responses, the Roman Catholic Church has developed systematic theological action oriented thinking called ＂Social Doctrine of the Church＂ or ＂Catholic Social Teaching＂ (CST) and enigmatically referred to as ＂Church's Best Kept Secrets.＂ CST is circulated through papal encyclicals, councils' and synods' documents as well as pronouncements from regional and episcopal conferences addressing specific social issues: such as the conditions of the workers, the right to private property in either communist or capitalist regimes, the implementation of common good, the protection of the poor, the right to peace in the confront of the proliferation of militarization, issues of justice and peace, ecology environment, etc. While today in a context valuing recognizes the plurality of resources, and pays attention to the potentials of individuals, ideologies and religious traditions bring to the betterment of the world; the Roman Catholic Church has been providing its contribution to the improvement of the living conditions of world's citizens by elaborating a social doctrine. CST is hence one of the areas of investigation for a fruitful and mutually enriching debate and dialogue on the functional contribution of the Roman Catholic Church to society.