|
In this issue of “The Servant Leader,” allow me to share
with you key parts of the message of our Pope Benedict
XVI to the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social
Sciences on “Charity and Justice in the Relations Among
Peoples and Nations.”
Papal
Message to the
Social
Sciences
Academy
I wish
to emphasize that, even in the most just society, there
will always be a place for charity: “there is no
ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the
need for a service of love.”
The
Church’s conviction of the inseparability of justice and
charity is ultimately born of her experience of the
revelation of God’s infinite justice and mercy in Jesus
Christ, that man himself and his dignity must be at the
center of political and social life.
Charity
enables justice to become more inventive and meet new
challenges; it inspires and purifies humanity’s efforts
to achieve authentic justice and the building of a
society worthy of man.
The
three specific challenges facing our world:
The
first concerns the environment and sustainable
development. The international community recognizes that
the world’s resources are limited and that it is the
duty of all peoples to implement policies to protect the
environment, in order to prevent the destruction of that
natural capital whose fruits are necessary for the
well-being of humanity. To meet this challenge, what is
required is an interdisciplinary approach. Also needed
is a capacity to assess and forecast, to monitor the
dynamics of environmental change and sustainable growth,
and to draw up and apply solutions at an international
level. Particular attention must be paid to the fact
that the poorest countries are likely to pay the
heaviest price for ecological deterioration—“the
destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish
use, and the violent hoarding of the earth’s resources .
. . are the consequences of an inhumane concept of
development. Indeed, if development were limited to the
technical-economic aspect, obscuring the moral-religious
dimension, it would be a one-sided distortion which
would end up by unleashing man’s destructive
capacities.”
The
second challenge involves our conception of the human
person and, consequently, our relationships with one
other. If human beings are not seen as persons, male and
female, created in God’s image and endowed with an
inviolable dignity, it will be very difficult to achieve
full justice in the world. Much progress needs to be
made in bringing this recognition to bear upon such
global problems as the growing gap between rich and poor
countries; the unequal distribution and allocation of
natural resources and of the wealth produced by human
activity; the tragedy of hunger, thirst and poverty on a
planet where there is an abundance of food, water and
prosperity; the human suffering of refugees and
displaced people; the continuing hostilities; the lack
of protection for the unborn; exploitation of children;
arms and drugs; and numerous other grave injustices.
The
third challenge relates to the values of the spirit.
Pressed by economic worries, we tend to forget that,
unlike material goods, those spiritual goods which are
properly human expand and multiply when communicated:
unlike divisible goods, spiritual goods such as
knowledge and education are indivisible, and the more
one shares them, the more they are possessed.
Globalization has increased the interdependence of
peoples with their different traditions, religions and
systems of education. This means that the peoples of the
world are constantly learning about one another and
coming into much greater contact. All the more
important, then, is the need for a dialogue which can
help people to understand their own traditions vis-à-vis
those of others, to develop greater self-awareness in
the face of challenges to their identity, and thus to
promote understanding and the acknowledgement of true
human values within an intercultural perspective. To
meet these challenges, a just equality of opportunity,
especially in the field of education and the
transmission of knowledge, is urgently needed.
Regrettably, education, especially at the primary level,
remains dramatically insufficient in many parts of the
world.
To meet
these challenges, only love for our neighbor can inspire
within us justice at the service of life and the
promotion of human dignity. Only love within the family,
founded on a man and a woman, who are created in the
image of God, can assure that inter-generational
solidarity. Only charity can encourage us to place the
human person once more at the center of life in society
and at the center of a globalized world governed by
justice.
Pope
Benedict XVI
For comments/feedback: e-mail: caritas_manila@yahoo.com;
for donations to Caritas Manila: 563-9311; and for
inquiries: 563-9308 and 563-9298; Fax: 563-9306. |
