Pope Francis called on canon lawyers and ecclesiastical law professionals to unify the values of justice and charity. The Holy Father was speaking to the participants of a training course organised by the Roman Rota Tribunal.
“The core of the message I wish to leave you today is this: you are called to love justice, charity and truth, and to strive every day to implement them in your work as canonists and in all the tasks you perform in the service of the faithful,” the Holy Father affirmed to those present in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.
“It is about loving all three at the same time, because they go together – these three, right? Justice, charity and truth, they go together – and if one is neglected, the others lose their authenticity. Indeed, our model is Jesus Christ, who is the Truth and is just and merciful,” he said.
Pope Francis recalled that the concepts of charity and justice are inseparable in the mission of the Church and must be lived together in pastoral and legal practice.
“There is no justice without charity, nor charity without justice. Charity without justice is not charity. Justice is a cardinal virtue of great importance, which leads to giving each person what is due to him. And this virtue must certainly be lived also within the Church: the rights of the faithful and the rights of the Church itself demand it,” he recalled.
In his speech, Francis not only stressed the importance of justice, but also the need to live “with the zeal of charity, seeking the good of others.”
“It is necessary to live the service of love, because ‘justice is only understood in the light of love’. Never forget that those who approach you asking you to exercise your ecclesial office must always encounter the face of our Mother, the Holy Church, who loves all her children with tenderness,” he said.
The Pope also warned against the danger of a cold, “merely distributive” justice that does not consider mercy: “A justice that does not go beyond the mere distribution of what is due, that does not transcend towards mercy, is an incomplete justice.”
He also recalled that charity, although it goes beyond justice, must never be without it. Quoting Benedict XVI in his Caritas in Veritate , the Pope noted that “charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give what is mine to the other; but it is never without justice, which impels us to give to the other what is his, what belongs to him by reason of his being or his acting.”
In this regard, the Pope explained that canonists, as servants of justice in the Church, must always remember that the rights of the faithful must be recognized and respected, but that this respect must be marked by love and mercy.
Regarding the work of ecclesiastical tribunals, Francis stressed that it is not just a matter of complying with legal formalities, but of recognizing what constitutes a true right of the person within the Church. “Their infinite dignity must be respected in an exemplary manner in intra-ecclesial relations,” he said.
In his conclusion, Pope Francis encouraged canonists to cultivate an ecclesial service full of hope. “The Church places great trust in you, as practitioners of justice and charity in truth,” he said. Quoting Psalm 27:14, he urged everyone to live with hope in the Lord: “Hope in the Lord! Be strong, be of good courage, and hope in the Lord!”
The Pope concluded his speech by giving his blessing and asking those present not to forget to pray for him.