Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who is visiting the Philippines this month, reminded the faithful to be always generous and just, saying that the two come together.
In his homily during Mass at Church-run Radio Veritas in Manila on Wednesday, the cardinal said justice without kindness is always an empty gesture.
“If there is only generosity without justice, people will forget the concept of justice,” he said, adding that for God, “justice and benevolence should not be in conflict.”
“For God, everyone, whether they’re ahead or behind, has a role to play,” said Cardinal Tagle, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Last month, the cardinal reminded the Philippine leaders to imitate the “compassionate governance” of Jesus Christ.
In a video message, he cited a passage from the Book of Jeremiah that describes a “false shepherd” as someone who “misleads, scatters, drives people away and does not care.”
The Book of St. Paul says those “who used to be separated by hostility, they become one community in the person of the shepherd,” said Cardinal Tagle.
“How we wish that this type of leadership and governance would be present not only in faith-based groups, but also in nations, in government, for it is only in the person of the one who rules and not just in the rules or laws – that we find true compassion,” he added.
The cardinal said Christ’s kind of leadership is something that is not taught in the four walls of educational institutions, but is “deeply personal” and naturally comes out because of the “quality of the person.”
He said that compassionate governance should also be applied to families, communities and parishes, not just in politics.
