Bishop Skylstad calls new encyclical 'profound'

Published: 2006-01-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical shows "his great scholarship and his profound spiritual insight." He highlighted the pope's emphasis on the church's "service of charity" and his nuanced treatment of Catholic social teaching. The encyclical, titled "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love"), was released Jan. 25. The papal letter is "a profound meditation on the meaning of Christian love and the place of charity in the life of the church," Bishop Skylstad said in a statement released by the USCCB in Washington. "I would single out in particular the Holy Father's affirmation that 'the church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the sacraments and the word,'" he said.

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