Truth and Charity: Friends or Foes?

by David A Wemhoff

posted February 2, 2010

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, promulgated the encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2009. On January 13, 2010, on the Feast Day of St. Hillary, Kevin C. Rhoades, whose episcopal motto is "Truth in Charity", was installed as the new Bishop for the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, Indiana (references to his homily are taken from the January 17, 2010 issue of "Today's Catholic").

Both the Pope’s Encyclical and Bishop Rhoades’ homily deal with the concepts of truth and charity, yet their views on truth and charity appear quite different. The pressing inquiry is this: what is the proper relation between truth and charity? Is their relationship one of harmony or one of adversity?

The Holy Father, quite notably, named his encyclical "Charity in Truth" which is the inverse of St. Paul’s statement contained in Ephesians 4:15. In that passage, St. Paul, in describing how the Church provides the right environment for us to become holier and to live our Christian vocation, explains how different people are given different gifts: "And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ…." (Ephesians 4:11-13) With this sort of arrangement, the "body of Christ", which means the Church, avoids being subjected to evil people who with their false teachings deceive us and bring all manner of strife into our lives. (Ephesians 4:14.) "Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15) With apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, the society known as the Church enables its members to become more Christ-like because the love which forms the society encourages the living and learning of truth.

In making this inversion, Pope Benedict XVI explains that "Truth needs to be sought, found and expressed within the `economy’ of charity, but charity in its turn needs to be understood, confirmed and practised in the light of truth." (para. 2) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines "economy" as the "divine plan or system for the government of the world." Truth then becomes part of the divine plan of which charity is the first principle. After all, the Holy Father writes, since God is love, "everything has its origin in God’s love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it." (emphasis in original text) (para. 2)

Charity is known by truth. Benedict XVI writes: "Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity." (emphasis in original text)(para. 3) Truth makes charity known, and concrete, and understandable, and real. Truth is the manifestation, if not the fulfillment of charity. Truth is the sum of the principles by which all is to be ordered in accordance with His love, His charity. While truth and charity are two very different concepts to the Holy Father, they necessarily together form a coherent whole, and they are certainly in harmony with each other. If charity is known by truth, then one can never be superior to another. Also, and perhaps most importantly, one cannot exist without the other.

The Holy Father also presents how, consistent with this view, charity is a force, a motivator if you will. He writes "Love – caritas – is an extraordinary force" (para. 1) and again in the following sentence "It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth." (para. 1) Pope Benedict XVI clearly writes that "Charity in truth…is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and all humanity." (para. 1) Love, with its manifestation of the truth of the universe is the force that leads persons to develop so as to enable them to achieve their purpose of existence – union with God. And so it is that Benedict XVI concludes "Charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan." (para. 1)

According to the Holy Father, charity does not modify truth, nor vice versa. He correctly sees truth as an expression of charity. This is an important point of discussion because many Catholics hold that truth is somehow modified, if not perhaps even attenuated, by charity. This idea finds its most common manifestation in the belief that one should not be too harsh in speaking the truth but should soften its presentation somehow so as not to offend. But this is not what the Holy Father is saying.

Indeed, he tells us specifically how we are to present the truth, and in so telling us this the Holy Father refutes any argument that charity should somehow modify truth and its presentation. The Pope writes that we are "To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction" (para. 1) and that doing so is "therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity." (emphasis supplied) (para. 1) It is charity in action to speak the truth and to defend it. And if one must defend the truth, that means it is under attack – and attack implies an unpleasant situation, or at least one where avoiding offense is no longer a serious issue to be entertained.

Defending the truth cannot mean ignoring the truth or a part of it. And defending the truth cannot mean downplaying parts or all of the truth, nor can it mean embracing a lie along with the truth. Defending the truth means just that – defending the truth – which is to say that at the point one is engaged in the defense, some people have expressed an interest in destroying the truth, thereby becoming adversaries of the truth. In other words, the battle is already joined and we need only be true.

It is charity to speak truth – even if offense ensues – because it is truth, as the expression of charity, that causes offense to those who would deny truth. But that is not the conclusion one draws from the homily of Bishop Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend. His homily was largely structured around his episcopal motto, "Truth in Charity" which is the inverse of the title of the Pope’s Encyclical. The source of this three word phrase is from Ephesians 4:15, which as we have already seen, applies to, or is descriptive of, the situation in the Church by which the members of the Church are brought to holiness. This lone phrase which comprises the Bishop’s motto, left by itself, may leave one with the impression that truth has a subordinate position to charity or that charity somehow purifies truth. The Bishop’s homily of January 13 not only confirms this impression that truth is subordinate to charity, but it also lays out the case for truth and charity to be in opposition to each other.

With nothing else, the order of the words -- "truth in charity" – indicates the subordination of truth to charity. The connector "in" means "within the confines of; inside." This connotes that truth, and its expression, is to be controlled by charity. Whereas the Holy Father saw truth as an expression of charity, or the concrete realization of charity, Bishop Rhoades seems to be saying that charity forms truth. This clearly gives charity a superior power over truth thereby implying a dissonance – if not outright hostility -- between the two. The Bishop’s view of the situation results in charity forming or shaping truth, but charity then is itself not capable of being shaped or defined, and hence will descend into a formlessness or sentimentality, or perhaps more realistically and frightfully, it will descend into a manipulation of what should be the truth and the truth’s presentation. Indeed, the Holy Father notes that without truth, this false charity will result in the situation in which "there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present." (para. 5) In other words, without truth, the powerful will rule and the law will be that of the jungle.

These things are precisely what the Holy Father observed in his encyclical: "I am aware of the ways in which charity has been and continues to be misconstrued and emptied of meaning, with the consequent risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living, and, in any event, undervalued." (para. 2) Indeed, it is for this very error that the Holy Father appears to have written the encyclical, for in the very next sentence he articulates the "inverse and complementary sequence of caritas in veritate." (emphasis in original text) (para. 2)

Bishop Rhoades’ homily seemed to reinforce the idea that truth and charity are at odds. By doing so, the Bishop reveals that his understanding of truth and charity is necessarily at odds with the Pope’s explanation of the two concepts. In the middle of the homily, Bishop Rhoades explains that his "episcopal motto, `veritatem in caritate’ (`truth in charity’) is a reminder that truth and charity must always go together." Perhaps like sandwich meat in between two slices of bread, the meat (or truth) that overhangs the bread (or charity) has to be trimmed, if the two are to be considered a proper sandwich.

The Bishop quoted from the speeches of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as a Cardinal and as Benedict XVI, as well as from a speech by Pope John Paul II to support this idea that truth and charity "must always go together" – as though they are building blocks or a binary element that can only have effect and meaning when the two parts are joined. He mentions Cardinal Ratzinger’s Homily at the Opening of the Conclave for the election of a new Pope in 2005 and the reference to 1 Cor. 13:1: In Christ, truth and love coincide. To the extent that we draw near to Christ in our own life, truth and love merge. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like `a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.'".

This discussion could seem to indicate that truth and charity can somehow exist without each other. However, that is not so when one considers the Holy Father’s encyclical. Charity is not charity without truth (para. 4): "charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world." The lesson that should be drawn from the matters Bishop Rhoades references is that the two concepts – truth and charity – are inseparable, and that one without the other is neither truth nor charity.

The consequence of viewing truth and charity as two concepts existing separate and apart from each other is suggested by the Bishop’s conclusion that charity must modulate truth in its presentation. He said "Throughout the history o the Church, there have been saintly bishops who are examples for us of living and professing the truth in charity." (emphasis added). When truth and charity are at odds, or when charity is seen as a greater thing than truth, the necessary result is the one the Bishop preached which is that truth’s expression must be limited by charity which is by itself a sentimentality and without shape or form. However, the question of the expression of truth is a completely different one from the relation of truth with charity, and the Holy Father instructed us on how truth is to be expressed: with humility and conviction. This must necessarily mean that we view ourselves as merely messengers of the truth and servants of God Whose truth we speak. Certainly, we as mere human beings cannot claim credit for authoring His truth.

The Bishop sees the job of Catholics and of himself as the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend as advancing "the mission of professing the truth in charity." The purpose of such a mission is "to lead people to an encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ." The Bishop appears to be saying that we have to say and do the right things, and that the truth has no power independent of human agency that conforms itself to something called charity, but which cannot be defined or identified. The Holy Father in contrast, and to repeat myself, says that truth by its nature is a fulfillment of charity and defines charity in a meaningful way.

If one were to summarize the two positions – the Holy Father’s and the Bishop’s -- one could do so by the placement of certain prepositions or verbs between these two key words of "truth" and "charity". The Pope’s position would be something along the lines of "truth fulfills charity" or "truth expresses charity" or "truth is charity (in understandable form)." Bishop Rhoades’ position would be more along the lines of "truth and charity" or perhaps more accurately "truth with charity" or even "truth conformed to charity."

While to the casual observer this appears to be so much attention to detail, this detail has profound ramifications on how we live our lives, but more importantly, how we fulfill the will of Christ as contained in Matthew 28:19-20:

"Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. "

Christ told us how to preach the Gospel by His example: on occasion he sat the crowds down and spoke to them, other times he called out to people, yet other times he stood before the Pharisees and accused them in no uncertain terms of their evil, and yet at other times he overturned the furniture and beat people with whips. Regardless of His tone of voice or his demeanor or the circumstance, we can gather that His preaching caused considerable anger and resentment amongst the Jews and their leaders. Christ did not shy away from this, though. He did not try to avoid causing the offense that truth preached necessarily brings. He persisted in the preaching of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. St. Paul reminds us that we are to do the same:

"[P]roclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching….But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:2, 4.

Many think that making statements that are strong or that cause offense to others – for whatever reason – is an unacceptable way of preaching. Their argument is essentially that one must be pleasing to others for their words to be accepted, or that nice packages must be given to people so that they will accept the truth. This argument demeans the human intellect, it negates the importance of the human heart, and ultimately it rejects the autonomy of the will. This argument says that humans are just machines who can react a certain way if we press the right buttons the right way at the right time. Reality is that offense comes as a result of rejection or opposition to the truth – not what surrounds the presentation of the truth. It is about good and evil, and that struggle is as old as the universe.

This argument that one must be pleasing to one’s listeners, expresses the attitude and the error of courtiers who position themselves by appealing to the vanity of others. This is not the attitude and bearing of an evangelist of the Word. While we have an obligation to speak simply so the target will have an opportunity to understand, if the target audience so chooses, we have to realize that reception or rejection of the Word is necessarily a matter of the heart and the will over which each person has control. Should people reject the truth as preached, it is because they reject the truth, and not because their sensibilities were offended. This latter point – that one must conform the truth to human sentiments -- is used to club preachers into silence or meaningless babble which only serves to confirm the target audience in the hardness of their hearts, and in the strength of their vanity. If we speak with humility and conviction, then we properly preach the truth.

This discussion has given a glimmer of light to a problem which underlies being Roman Catholic in today’s world. It is a problem that clouds many Catholic minds and affects the judgement of many Catholic prelates. This problem, and its solution, can best be addressed at greater length at another time, but a brief statement of the matter should be made. A short statement of the problem is this – how can Roman Catholics exist and spiritually prosper as a Roman Catholic in a world in which religious pluralism is viewed as a good, and our communities are so fractured? The short answer is to rally around charity in truth.

If we see truth as something to be modified by charity so as not to offend, then we will fail in fulfilling Christ’s command. If we see truth as opposed to charity, then we will fail in fulfilling Christ’s command. If we see truth’s expression as the fulfillment of charity, then the salvation of souls has been improved, and the Kingdom of God has been advanced.

Bishop Rhoades adopted his episcopal motto in 2004 upon being elevated to the episcopacy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, published five years later, could very well be a response to the errors that have arisen from a misunderstanding of the proper relationship between truth and charity.

JMJ

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Truth and Charity: Friends or Foes? by David A Wemhoff posted February 2, 2010 The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, promulgated the encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2009. On January 13, 2010, on the Feast Day of St. Hillary, Kevin C. Rhoades, whose episcopal motto is "Truth in Charity", was installed as the new Bishop for the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, Indiana (references to his homily are taken from the January 17, 2010 issue of "Today's Catholic"). Both the Pope’s Encyclical and Bishop Rhoades’ homily deal with the concepts of truth and charity, yet their views on truth and charity appear quite different. The pressing inquiry is this: what is the proper relation between truth and charity? Is their relationship one of harmony or one of adversity? The Holy Father, quite notably, named his encyclical "Charity in Truth" which is the inverse of St. Paul’s statement contained in Ephesians 4:15. In that passage, St. Paul, in describing how the Church provides the right environment for us to become holier and to live our Christian vocation, explains how different people are given different gifts: "And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ…." (Ephesians 4:11-13) With this sort of arrangement, the "body of Christ", which means the Church, avoids being subjected to evil people who with their false teachings deceive us and bring all manner of strife into our lives. (Ephesians 4:14.) "Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15) With apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, the society known as the Church enables its members to become more Christ-like because the love which forms the society encourages the living and learning of truth. In making this inversion, Pope Benedict XVI explains that "Truth needs to be sought, found and expressed within the `economy’ of charity, but charity in its turn needs to be understood, confirmed and practised in the light of truth." (para. 2) The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines "economy" as the "divine plan or system for the government of the world." Truth then becomes part of the divine plan of which charity is the first principle. After all, the Holy Father writes, since God is love, "everything has its origin in God’s love, everything is shaped by it, everything is directed towards it." (emphasis in original text) (para. 2) Charity is known by truth. Benedict XVI writes: "Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity." (emphasis in original text)(para. 3) Truth makes charity known, and concrete, and understandable, and real. Truth is the manifestation, if not the fulfillment of charity. Truth is the sum of the principles by which all is to be ordered in accordance with His love, His charity. While truth and charity are two very different concepts to the Holy Father, they necessarily together form a coherent whole, and they are certainly in harmony with each other. If charity is known by truth, then one can never be superior to another. Also, and perhaps most importantly, one cannot exist without the other. The Holy Father also presents how, consistent with this view, charity is a force, a motivator if you will. He writes "Love – caritas – is an extraordinary force" (para. 1) and again in the following sentence "It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth." (para. 1) Pope Benedict XVI clearly writes that "Charity in truth…is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and all humanity." (para. 1) Love, with its manifestation of the truth of the universe is the force that leads persons to develop so as to enable them to achieve their purpose of existence – union with God. And so it is that Benedict XVI concludes "Charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan." (para. 1) According to the Holy Father, charity does not modify truth, nor vice versa. He correctly sees truth as an expression of charity. This is an important point of discussion because many Catholics hold that truth is somehow modified, if not perhaps even attenuated, by charity. This idea finds its most common manifestation in the belief that one should not be too harsh in speaking the truth but should soften its presentation somehow so as not to offend. But this is not what the Holy Father is saying. Indeed, he tells us specifically how we are to present the truth, and in so telling us this the Holy Father refutes any argument that charity should somehow modify truth and its presentation. The Pope writes that we are "To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction" (para. 1) and that doing so is "therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity." (emphasis supplied) (para. 1) It is charity in action to speak the truth and to defend it. And if one must defend the truth, that means it is under attack – and attack implies an unpleasant situation, or at least one where avoiding offense is no longer a serious issue to be entertained. Defending the truth cannot mean ignoring the truth or a part of it. And defending the truth cannot mean downplaying parts or all of the truth, nor can it mean embracing a lie along with the truth. Defending the truth means just that – defending the truth – which is to say that at the point one is engaged in the defense, some people have expressed an interest in destroying the truth, thereby becoming adversaries of the truth. In other words, the battle is already joined and we need only be true. It is charity to speak truth – even if offense ensues – because it is truth, as the expression of charity, that causes offense to those who would deny truth. But that is not the conclusion one draws from the homily of Bishop Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend. His homily was largely structured around his episcopal motto, "Truth in Charity" which is the inverse of the title of the Pope’s Encyclical. The source of this three word phrase is from Ephesians 4:15, which as we have already seen, applies to, or is descriptive of, the situation in the Church by which the members of the Church are brought to holiness. This lone phrase which comprises the Bishop’s motto, left by itself, may leave one with the impression that truth has a subordinate position to charity or that charity somehow purifies truth. The Bishop’s homily of January 13 not only confirms this impression that truth is subordinate to charity, but it also lays out the case for truth and charity to be in opposition to each other. With nothing else, the order of the words -- "truth in charity" – indicates the subordination of truth to charity. The connector "in" means "within the confines of; inside." This connotes that truth, and its expression, is to be controlled by charity. Whereas the Holy Father saw truth as an expression of charity, or the concrete realization of charity, Bishop Rhoades seems to be saying that charity forms truth. This clearly gives charity a superior power over truth thereby implying a dissonance – if not outright hostility -- between the two. The Bishop’s view of the situation results in charity forming or shaping truth, but charity then is itself not capable of being shaped or defined, and hence will descend into a formlessness or sentimentality, or perhaps more realistically and frightfully, it will descend into a manipulation of what should be the truth and the truth’s presentation. Indeed, the Holy Father notes that without truth, this false charity will result in the situation in which "there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalized society at difficult times like the present." (para. 5) In other words, without truth, the powerful will rule and the law will be that of the jungle. These things are precisely what the Holy Father observed in his encyclical: "I am aware of the ways in which charity has been and continues to be misconstrued and emptied of meaning, with the consequent risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living, and, in any event, undervalued." (para. 2) Indeed, it is for this very error that the Holy Father appears to have written the encyclical, for in the very next sentence he articulates the "inverse and complementary sequence of caritas in veritate." (emphasis in original text) (para. 2) Bishop Rhoades’ homily seemed to reinforce the idea that truth and charity are at odds. By doing so, the Bishop reveals that his understanding of truth and charity is necessarily at odds with the Pope’s explanation of the two concepts. In the middle of the homily, Bishop Rhoades explains that his "episcopal motto, `veritatem in caritate’ (`truth in charity’) is a reminder that truth and charity must always go together." Perhaps like sandwich meat in between two slices of bread, the meat (or truth) that overhangs the bread (or charity) has to be trimmed, if the two are to be considered a proper sandwich. The Bishop quoted from the speeches of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as a Cardinal and as Benedict XVI, as well as from a speech by Pope John Paul II to support this idea that truth and charity "must always go together" – as though they are building blocks or a binary element that can only have effect and meaning when the two parts are joined. He mentions Cardinal Ratzinger’s Homily at the Opening of the Conclave for the election of a new Pope in 2005 and the reference to 1 Cor. 13:1: In Christ, truth and love coincide. To the extent that we draw near to Christ in our own life, truth and love merge. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like `a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.'". This discussion could seem to indicate that truth and charity can somehow exist without each other. However, that is not so when one considers the Holy Father’s encyclical. Charity is not charity without truth (para. 4): "charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world." The lesson that should be drawn from the matters Bishop Rhoades references is that the two concepts – truth and charity – are inseparable, and that one without the other is neither truth nor charity. The consequence of viewing truth and charity as two concepts existing separate and apart from each other is suggested by the Bishop’s conclusion that charity must modulate truth in its presentation. He said "Throughout the history o the Church, there have been saintly bishops who are examples for us of living and professing the truth in charity." (emphasis added). When truth and charity are at odds, or when charity is seen as a greater thing than truth, the necessary result is the one the Bishop preached which is that truth’s expression must be limited by charity which is by itself a sentimentality and without shape or form. However, the question of the expression of truth is a completely different one from the relation of truth with charity, and the Holy Father instructed us on how truth is to be expressed: with humility and conviction. This must necessarily mean that we view ourselves as merely messengers of the truth and servants of God Whose truth we speak. Certainly, we as mere human beings cannot claim credit for authoring His truth. The Bishop sees the job of Catholics and of himself as the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend as advancing "the mission of professing the truth in charity." The purpose of such a mission is "to lead people to an encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ." The Bishop appears to be saying that we have to say and do the right things, and that the truth has no power independent of human agency that conforms itself to something called charity, but which cannot be defined or identified. The Holy Father in contrast, and to repeat myself, says that truth by its nature is a fulfillment of charity and defines charity in a meaningful way. If one were to summarize the two positions – the Holy Father’s and the Bishop’s -- one could do so by the placement of certain prepositions or verbs between these two key words of "truth" and "charity". The Pope’s position would be something along the lines of "truth fulfills charity" or "truth expresses charity" or "truth is charity (in understandable form)." Bishop Rhoades’ position would be more along the lines of "truth and charity" or perhaps more accurately "truth with charity" or even "truth conformed to charity." While to the casual observer this appears to be so much attention to detail, this detail has profound ramifications on how we live our lives, but more importantly, how we fulfill the will of Christ as contained in Matthew 28:19-20: "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. " Christ told us how to preach the Gospel by His example: on occasion he sat the crowds down and spoke to them, other times he called out to people, yet other times he stood before the Pharisees and accused them in no uncertain terms of their evil, and yet at other times he overturned the furniture and beat people with whips. Regardless of His tone of voice or his demeanor or the circumstance, we can gather that His preaching caused considerable anger and resentment amongst the Jews and their leaders. Christ did not shy away from this, though. He did not try to avoid causing the offense that truth preached necessarily brings. He persisted in the preaching of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. St. Paul reminds us that we are to do the same: "[P]roclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching….But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:2, 4. Many think that making statements that are strong or that cause offense to others – for whatever reason – is an unacceptable way of preaching. Their argument is essentially that one must be pleasing to others for their words to be accepted, or that nice packages must be given to people so that they will accept the truth. This argument demeans the human intellect, it negates the importance of the human heart, and ultimately it rejects the autonomy of the will. This argument says that humans are just machines who can react a certain way if we press the right buttons the right way at the right time. Reality is that offense comes as a result of rejection or opposition to the truth – not what surrounds the presentation of the truth. It is about good and evil, and that struggle is as old as the universe. This argument that one must be pleasing to one’s listeners, expresses the attitude and the error of courtiers who position themselves by appealing to the vanity of others. This is not the attitude and bearing of an evangelist of the Word. While we have an obligation to speak simply so the target will have an opportunity to understand, if the target audience so chooses, we have to realize that reception or rejection of the Word is necessarily a matter of the heart and the will over which each person has control. Should people reject the truth as preached, it is because they reject the truth, and not because their sensibilities were offended. This latter point – that one must conform the truth to human sentiments -- is used to club preachers into silence or meaningless babble which only serves to confirm the target audience in the hardness of their hearts, and in the strength of their vanity. If we speak with humility and conviction, then we properly preach the truth. This discussion has given a glimmer of light to a problem which underlies being Roman Catholic in today’s world. It is a problem that clouds many Catholic minds and affects the judgement of many Catholic prelates. This problem, and its solution, can best be addressed at greater length at another time, but a brief statement of the matter should be made. A short statement of the problem is this – how can Roman Catholics exist and spiritually prosper as a Roman Catholic in a world in which religious pluralism is viewed as a good, and our communities are so fractured? The short answer is to rally around charity in truth. If we see truth as something to be modified by charity so as not to offend, then we will fail in fulfilling Christ’s command. If we see truth as opposed to charity, then we will fail in fulfilling Christ’s command. If we see truth’s expression as the fulfillment of charity, then the salvation of souls has been improved, and the Kingdom of God has been advanced. Bishop Rhoades adopted his episcopal motto in 2004 upon being elevated to the episcopacy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical, published five years later, could very well be a response to the errors that have arisen from a misunderstanding of the proper relationship between truth and charity.