The movement of modernity in the western culture could be defined by a number of different characteristics, but one possible lens can focus on where beliefs and ideas originated from. For years, the Catholic Christian Church held the power and was the authority figure for most individuals in the western world. Two parts of modernity broke the power of the authorities and helped give individuals more autonomous thinking. To begin, individuals critiqued current beliefs held onto because of the power of authorities and then offered new perspectives, formed from individual thought, on how the world works. With more people buying into these new ideals, the Church began to lose more power and people began to have more of a separation between their
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Pope Francis explained the importance in removing self-centeredness by saying, “If we can overcome individualism, we will truly be able to develop a different lifestyle and bring about significant changes in society” (Francis, 208). What is one possible way of overcoming individualism? Implementing and building a community that emphasizes the importance of the human dignity of everyone. With the majority of people focused on benefiting themselves, there is little time to be concerned for the well-being of both the earth and individual human beings. Pope Francis appealed that “the urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change” (Francis, 13). In order to protect our “common home” the entire “human family” must come together and begin a movement for change. A community is not only necessary to bring everyone together on the same page, but because every individual offers their own talent to help with the fight in protecting our home (Francis, 14). Modernity’s movement towards the autonomous self has brought us into a slide that begins to focus on the self too much, and has lost a community connecting …show more content…
They needed to address the human person’s inherit dignity and the relationship between humans and God. The Church also needed to reconsider what Her role was within this newly changing, fast paced world. The Second Vatican Council II announced that the Church’s role was strictly religious and “Christ, to be sure, gave His Church no proper mission in the political, economic or social order” (Vatican Council II, 42). In this sense, the Church could be used a tool to connect nations and diverse human communities because of Her universality. Another mission of the Church, according to Pope John Paul II, was to “always call to attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and help to guide the above-mentioned changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society” (John Paul II, 1). Combining these two roles the Church can play in the world, Pope Francis had a synthesized idea of how the Church would affect the world. He felt that the Church must be used as a tool to build communities, but at the same time be used to recognize the dignity of human beings. Pope Francis realizes that we need to form communities in order to save our common home, which was entrusted to us from God (Francis, 5). A large response to the loss of followers and
Pope Francis explained the importance in removing self-centeredness by saying, “If we can overcome individualism, we will truly be able to develop a different lifestyle and bring about significant changes in society” (Francis, 208). What is one possible way of overcoming individualism? Implementing and building a community that emphasizes the importance of the human dignity of everyone. With the majority of people focused on benefiting themselves, there is little time to be concerned for the well-being of both the earth and individual human beings. Pope Francis appealed that “the urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change” (Francis, 13). In order to protect our “common home” the entire “human family” must come together and begin a movement for change. A community is not only necessary to bring everyone together on the same page, but because every individual offers their own talent to help with the fight in protecting our home (Francis, 14). Modernity’s movement towards the autonomous self has brought us into a slide that begins to focus on the self too much, and has lost a community connecting …show more content…
They needed to address the human person’s inherit dignity and the relationship between humans and God. The Church also needed to reconsider what Her role was within this newly changing, fast paced world. The Second Vatican Council II announced that the Church’s role was strictly religious and “Christ, to be sure, gave His Church no proper mission in the political, economic or social order” (Vatican Council II, 42). In this sense, the Church could be used a tool to connect nations and diverse human communities because of Her universality. Another mission of the Church, according to Pope John Paul II, was to “always call to attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and help to guide the above-mentioned changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society” (John Paul II, 1). Combining these two roles the Church can play in the world, Pope Francis had a synthesized idea of how the Church would affect the world. He felt that the Church must be used as a tool to build communities, but at the same time be used to recognize the dignity of human beings. Pope Francis realizes that we need to form communities in order to save our common home, which was entrusted to us from God (Francis, 5). A large response to the loss of followers and