Thursday, January 26, 2006

On Christian Love (Deus Caritas Est)

Got this letter from the Pope yesterday. Actually it was a bulk mailing, including to "All the Lay Faithful."

Leaving the substance to others, the document is in the usual numbered paragraphs. Too bad the Vatican doesn't set up hypertext anchors so we could link directly to them. The online version does not have an outline of the contents. Mine follows, with letters added for the subparts.

INTRODUCTION 1-3

PART I. THE UNITY OF LOVE IN CREATION AND IN SALVATION HISTORY 4-18

[A.] A problem of language 2
[B.] "Eros" and "Agape" – difference and unity 3-8
[C.] The newness of biblical faith 9-11
[D.] Jesus Christ – the incarnate love of God 12-15
[E.] Love of God and love of neighbour 16-18

PART II. CARITAS: THE PRACTICE OF LOVE BY THE CHURCH AS A "COMMUNITY OF LOVE" 19-39
[A.] The Church's charitable activity as a manifestation of Trinitarian love 19
[B.] Charity as a responsibility of the Church 20-25
[C.] Justice and Charity 26-29
[D.] The multiple structures of charitable service in the social context of the present day 30
[E.] The distinctiveness of the Church's charitable activity 31
[F.] Those responsible for the Church's charitable activity 32-39

CONCLUSION 40-42

If the Bible on the Vatican site had internal anchors, then the many biblical citations could have been hyperlinks as well. As it is, there are a few links to whole books of the Bible where the Pope is referring to a specific passage.

On-screen reading would be easier if it had margins as a percentage of screen width, and if the source text did not have line breaks.

All this indicates the document is edited with hard copy, not the screen, in mind. The document printed nicely, as is.

Update: Diogenes notes the English edition generally quotes the Revised Standard Version, not the (Revised) New American Bible. Looks like the Vatican needs to upload the RSV for linking.

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