CSDC 71

This right of the Church is at the same time a duty, because she cannot forsake this responsibility without denying herself and her fidelity to Christ: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16). The warning that St. Paul addresses to himself rings in the Church's conscience as a call to walk all paths of evangelization, not only those that lead to individual consciences but also those that wind their way into public institutions: on the one hand, religion must not be restricted “to the purely private sphere”⁹⁶ John Paul II, Message to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2 December 1978): AAS 71AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 71 (1979) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1979), 124., on the other, the Christian message must not be relegated to a purely other-worldly salvation incapable of shedding light on our earthly existence⁹⁷ Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 5: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 799.. Because of the public relevance of the Gospel and faith, because of the corrupting effects of injustice, that is, of sin, the Church cannot remain indifferent to social matters⁹⁸ Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 34: AAS 68AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 68 (1976) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1976), 28.: “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls”⁹⁹ Code of Canon Law, canon 747, § 2..