Non believers - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Thu, 14 May 2015 01:49:34 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg Non believers - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 Benedict XVI calls for pastoral care for non-believers https://cathnews.co.nz/2015/05/15/benedict-xvi-calls-for-pastoral-care-for-non-believers/ Thu, 14 May 2015 19:14:54 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=71380

In a rare piece of writing published since his retirement, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI pointed to the need for the Church to extend its pastoral care to non-believers. A letter written by Benedict was published as an introduction to a book by former Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The book was titled "Faith and the Read more

Benedict XVI calls for pastoral care for non-believers... Read more]]> In a rare piece of writing published since his retirement, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI pointed to the need for the Church to extend its pastoral care to non-believers.

A letter written by Benedict was published as an introduction to a book by former Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The book was titled "Faith and the Common Good: The Christian Proposal to Contemporary Society".

In the letter to Cardinal Bertone, Benedict wrote that "the service of a shepherd cannot be only limited only to the Church".

This is even though "in the first place, we are entrusted with the care of the faithful and of those who are directly seeking faith".

The Church, he maintained, "is part of the world, and therefore it can properly play its service only if it takes care of the world in its entirety".

The Pope emeritus wrote that the "Word of God concerns the totality of reality, and this actuality places on the Church a general responsibility".

This is the reason why the Church "must be involved in the efforts that humanity and society put into action" for a path toward justice.

It is also why the Church must "find a way of reasoning" that would also include non-believers.

"Pastoral care does not just deal with the fact that we in the Church provide to the faithful the service of the Sacraments and of the announcement of the Gospel," Benedict XVI wrote.

Pastoral care, he explained, "definitely includes the intellectual dimension".

That means that "only if we share the perspective and questions of our times we will be able to understand the Word of God in present times".

Benedict XVI added that "only if we (shepherds) take part in the opportunity and needs of our times, will the sacraments reach out to men with their actual strength".

Sources

Benedict XVI calls for pastoral care for non-believers]]> 71380 Atheist's 40 "Difficult" Questions to ask a Christian https://cathnews.co.nz/2013/08/09/atheists-40-difficult-questions-to-ask-a-christian/ Thu, 08 Aug 2013 19:30:44 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=48058 John Barron says he thought I'd write in this Twitter post, "Not so much because I feel a need to offer proper answers, more so because I am always amused at what Atheists offering these kinds of questions or challenges believe they are 'difficult' or substantive challenges to Christianity. It makes one wonder, if these are Read more

Atheist's 40 "Difficult" Questions to ask a Christian... Read more]]> John Barron says he thought I'd write in this Twitter post, "Not so much because I feel a need to offer proper answers, more so because I am always amused at what Atheists offering these kinds of questions or challenges believe they are 'difficult' or substantive challenges to Christianity. It makes one wonder, if these are the kinds of things they believe are difficult for Christians, how intellectual could their rejection of Christianity or adherence to atheism possibly be?" Continue reading

Atheist's 40 "Difficult" Questions to ask a Christian]]> 48058 Does religious belief increase compassion? https://cathnews.co.nz/2012/05/04/does-religious-belief-increase-compassion/ Thu, 03 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=24512

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are suggesting that the results from a series of three experiments they conducted show that the link between compassion and generosity is stronger in those who are non religious or less religious than it is in highly religious people The study defined compassion as "an emotion felt when people see the suffering of Read more

Does religious belief increase compassion?... Read more]]> Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are suggesting that the results from a series of three experiments they conducted show that the link between compassion and generosity is stronger in those who are non religious or less religious than it is in highly religious people

The study defined compassion as "an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at personal risk.

"Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not," said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. "The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns."

Read: Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believer

Image: Insanity: Wake up and feel it

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