In his first keenly-awaited encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love), released yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI has reaffirmed fundamental Catholic beliefs about the primary role of love and charity in the lives of the faithful, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome
The first encyclical of any pontificate is eagerly analysed for clues about the major concerns of the new Pope, often being seen as an indication of how and where the new pontiff intends to lead the church.
In that context, commentators - and there was an unprecedented "full house" at the Vatican press office yesterday - looking for controversial, outspoken or even "hardline" teaching may be in for a disappointment.
Deus Caritas Est, subtitled On Christian Love, is a 71-page-long meditation on the complex relationship between love, God's love for mankind, the foundation of the Christian faith and the Catholic Church's works of charity.
In essence, Pope Benedict says that, for the true Christian, there is an intrinsic link between "love of God and love of neighbour".
Not for nothing, the encyclical makes several references to the parable of the Good Samaritan.
In his introduction, the Pope says that his message about the love "God lavishes upon us" is both timely and significant in a world where the word God is sometimes "associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence". Divided into two parts, the encyclical first deals with the question of "love", the unity of love in creation, before focusing on "charity", or the practice of love by the church.
In the first section, the Pope bemoans the fact that love has become one of the most frequently "used and misused of words". He then goes on to distinguish between two of the Greek words for love, namely eros, or erotic love, and agape, spiritual or selfless love, and the term more frequently used in the New Testament.
With regard to eros, the Pope writes: "Eros, reduced to pure sex, has become a commodity, a mere thing to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity. Here we are actually dealing with a debasement of the human body."
Agape, however, the Pope argues, is not "self-seeking", but rather a journey "towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God".
In the second part of the encyclical, the Pope explores the history of that "practical commitment", with reference to the diaconia (relief or charity works) of the early church. Along with proclaiming the word of God and celebrating the sacraments, the church also has a responsibility to exercise charity, he states. In this context, the Pope says that while the "just ordering of society" is the responsibility of politics, the church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice".