'Gospel values' vs. worldly achievement
From the address of Pope John Paul II to the bishops of India on their "Ad Limina" visit, Monday, Nov. 17, 2003

My Dear Brother Bishops,

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His love endures forever" (Ps 118:1).

... My previous addresses to your brother Bishops have frequently examined the importance of promoting a true spirit of solidarity in the Church and in society. It is not enough that the Christian community hold the principle of solidarity as a lofty ideal; rather it must be seen as the norm for human interaction which, in the words of my venerable predecessor Pope Pius XII, has been "sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his Heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity" (Summi Pontificatus). Being successors of Christ’s Apostles, we have a primary duty to encourage all men and women to develop this solidarity into a "spirituality of communion" for the good of the Church and humanity (cf. Pastores Gregis, 22). As I share these thoughts with you today, I wish to place my reflections in the context of this fundamental principle of human and Christian relations.

... Any semblance of a caste-based prejudice in relations between Christians is a countersign to authentic human solidarity, a threat to genuine spirituality and a serious hindrance to the Church’s mission of evangelization. Therefore, customs or traditions that perpetuate or reinforce caste division should be sensitively reformed so that they may become an expression of the solidarity of the whole Christian community. As the Apostle Paul teaches us, "if one member suffers, all suffer together" (1 Cor 12:26). It is the Church’s obligation to work unceasingly to change hearts, helping all people to see every human being as a child of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and therefore a member of our own family.

Genuine communion with God and others leads all Christians to proclaim the Good News to those who have neither seen nor heard (cf. 1 Jn 1:1). The Church has been given the unique mission to serve "the Kingdom by spreading throughout the world the ‘Gospel values’ which are an expression of the Kingdom and which help people to accept God’s plan" (Redemptoris Missio, 20).

... In modern societies, large portions of the population find themselves in desperate situations often leading them to seek quick and easy solutions to complicated problems. This sense of hopelessness may explain, in part, why so many people, young and old alike, are attracted to fundamentalist sects offering short-lived emotional fervour and an assurance of wealth and worldly achievement. Our response to this must be one of "re-evangelization", and the success of this depends on our ability to show people the emptiness of such promises, while convincing them that Christ and His Body share their sufferings, and reminding them to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Mt 6:33).

... Unfortunately, even those who have been ordained to service can at times fall victim to unhealthy cultural or societal trends which undermine their credibility and seriously hamper their mission. As men of faith, priests must not let the temptation of power or material gain distract them from their vocations, nor can they permit ethnic or caste difference to detract from their fundamental charge to spread the Gospel.