Live, act on faith; avoid 'split' personality, pope tells politicians

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even in countries with the strictest separation of church and state, being a Christian means living and acting like one, Pope Leo XIV told a group of politicians and civic leaders from France.

"Christianity cannot be reduced to a merely private devotion, for it entails a way of living in society marked by loving God and neighbor, who in Christ is no longer an enemy but a brother," the pope said Aug. 28 to members of the group from the Diocese of Créteil, who were making a pilgrimage with their bishop, Bishop Dominique Blanchet.

Pope Leo began the audience by telling the delegation that while he assumed many of them spoke English, "I am going to attempt to speak French, counting on your benevolence!"

Faith in Jesus has implications for "every dimension of human life, such as culture, the economy and work, family and marriage, respect for human dignity and for life, and health care, along with communication, education and politics," the pope said.

"Unite yourself more and more to Jesus -- live in him and bear witness to him," Pope Leo told the group. There should be no "split in the personality of a public figure; there is not the politician on one side and the Christian on the other. Rather, there is the politician who, under the gaze of God and guided by his conscience, lives out his commitments and responsibilities as a Christian!"

The pope encouraged the politicians and civic leaders to grow in their faith and study Catholic doctrine, particularly the social teaching of the church, and "apply it in the exercise of your duties and in the drafting of laws."

"Its foundations are profoundly in harmony with human nature and the natural law that all can recognize, including non-Christians and nonbelievers," he said. "So, do not be afraid to propose and defend it with conviction: it is a doctrine of salvation aimed at the good of every human being, and at building peaceful, harmonious, prosperous and reconciled societies."

Pope Leo prayed that the Jubilee Year pilgrimage would help the pilgrims "return to your daily commitments strengthened in hope, more firmly grounded to work toward the building of a more just, more humane, more fraternal world -- which can only be a world more deeply imbued with the Gospel."