"God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 John 4:16). With these simple words Pope Benedict opens, and aptly summarises, the first encyclical of his papacy, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).
Eagerly awaited as a signpost to the direction of the Roman Catholic Church in the coming years, the encyclical will surprise few. It reflects both the compassion and conservatism of a man of ideas who has already shown that, above all, he represents continuity and the old certainties of the faith.
The two-part encyclical considers, on the one hand, the nature of "love" and the confusion of its many meanings, and, on the other, the nature of the charitable work of the church as the concrete expression of its love.
The encyclical affirms importantly that charity is an absolutely central part of the Christian's vocation and the church's role: "Love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind is as essential to her as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel ... For the church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, but is a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being." It is unconditional, and not proselytising.
Nor, the Pope argues, in implicit criticism of the more radical social justice wing of the church, should charity and justice be confused. The latter, although a worthy objective, is essentially the realm of the political. "In the end," he says, "the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live 'by bread alone' - a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human." The most just society will still need charity, he insists.
Pope Benedict's conservatism is also reflected in the first part of the encyclical. He warns uncontroversially that pure sexual gratification - "an intoxicated and undisciplined eros" - can only lead to human degradation. "Eros, reduced to pure 'sex', has become a commodity, a mere 'thing' to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity," the Pope says in language reminiscent of Marx's writings on alienation.
But it is his continued insistence on elevating traditional heterosexual marriage as the only place in which a true loving relationship can be fully realised that will disappoint the many Catholics who find deeply fulfilling, genuine love in other forms of relationships, whether unmarried, divorced or gay. "From the standpoint of creation, eros directs man towards marriage, to a bond which is unique and definitive," he argues. "Thus, and only thus, does it fulfil its deepest purpose. Corresponding to the image of a monotheistic God is monogamous marriage."
This is a cold, bleak view of human nature and sexuality which denies to many who fully share his understanding of love as, above all, "concern and care for the other", the comfort of a church that may mean so much to them.