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Benedict XVI to annual 'Social Week'
of the Church in Italy:
'The common good as basic criterion
in social and political life'
Translated from
Oct. 14, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI, who is also Primate of Italy, sent a message to Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference, on the occasion of the 46th Settimana Sociale (Week for Social issues) for Italian Catholics meeting this year in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy.
Cardinal Bagnasco opens the Settimana Sociale meeting in Reggio Calabria's opera house.
Here is a translation of the Pope's message:
To my Venerated Brother
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco
President, Italian Bishops' Conference
My first thought, in addressing you and the conference participants gathered in Reggio Calabria for the 46th Settimana Sociale dei Cattolici Italiani, is profound gratitude for the contribution in reflections and confrontations which, in the name of the Church in Italy, you would be offering to the nation.
Such a contribution is made even more valuable by the ample preparation that has involved dioceses, ecclesial organizations and academic centers in the past two years: The initiatives proposed to this convention are evidence of widespread readiness within the Christian community to acknowledge themselves as 'Italian Catholics of today', cultivating 'an agenda of hope for the future of the nation', which is the theme of the present Settimana Sociale.
All this highlights the significance of the socio-economic conjuncture that we are experiencing. On the national level, the most evident consequence of the recent global financial crisis has been to propagate unemployment and precarious employment, which often prevents young people - specially in southern Italy - from rooting themselves in their hometowns as protagonists in development.
For everyone, these difficulties constitute an obstacle in the journey towards realizing their life ideals, favoring instead a folding inward and disorientation. Thus, lack of confidence becomes transformed into resignation, mistrust, disaffection and lack of commitment, instead of encouraging legitimate investment for the future.
The problem is not just economic but above all, cultural, corresponding specifically to the demographic crisis, the failure to fully appreciate the role of women, the difficulty of so many adults to think of themselves as educators of their own children.
For more reason, one must acknowledge and support, forcefully and concretely, the irreplaceable social function of the family, heart of emotional and relational life, as well as the place which, more than any other, assures the individual of help, care, solidarity, and the capacity to transmit a patrimony of values to the new generations.
It is thus necessary that all institutional and social subjects commit themselves to assuring the family effective measures of support, endowing it with adequate resources and allowing a correct conciliation of family time with work hours.
Catholics should, of course, be aware that these expectations must be within the framework of the complex and delicate transformations that affect all of mankind. As I underscored in the encyclical [Caritas in veritate: "The risk of our time is that the actual interdependence among men does not correspond to the interaction between conscience and intelligence" (No. 9). This requires "a clear vision of all the economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspects"
(ibidem, n. 31) of development.
To face present problems, while safeguarding human life from conception to its natural end, defending the dignity of the person, protecting the environment and promoting peace, is not an easy task, but not impossible if confidence in man's capacity remains firm, if the concept of reason and its uses are broadened, and if everyone assumes his own responsibility.
It would, in fact, be illusory to delegate the search for solutions only to public authorities: political subjects, the world of business enterprise, labor unions, social workers and all the citizens, as individuals and in association, are called on to mature a strong capacity for analysis, farsightedness and participation.
To act from a perspective of responsibility implies a readiness to give up the exclusive search for one's self-interest, so that all may work together for the good of the nation and the entire human family.
The Church, when it refers to the common good - which is the objective of her social doctrine - means 'the good of all of us', which is "sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it" (ibidem, n. 7).
In other words, the common good is that which constructs and defines the city of men, the fundamental criterion for social and political life, the goal of all human action and progress. It is 'a requirement of justice and charity' (ibidem), prompting respect for the rights of individuals and peoples, along with relationships characterized by the logic of giving.
It finds in Christian values "the element which is not just useful but indispensable for the construction of a good society and of truly integral human development (ibidem No. 4).
For this reason, I renew an appeal for a new generation of Catholics to emerge, persons who have been internally renewed and will be engaged in political activity without any inferiority complex. This presence, certainly, cannot be improvised. Rather, it remains the objective towards which intellectual and moral formation must be directed, and starting from the great truths about God, man and the world, offers criteria for judgment and ethical principles to determine what is good for all and for everyone.
For the Church in Italy, which has opportunely taken on the educational challenge as its pastoral priority for the decade, it means doing all it can to form mature Christian consciences,
free from selfishness, greed for material goods, and career ambitions - but rather, consistent with the faith we profess, connoisseurs of the cultural and social dynamics of our time, and able to take on public responsibilities with professional competence and in the spirit of service.
Such socio-political commitment, along with the spiritual resources and the attitude it requires, is an elevated calling, to which the Church invites Catholics to respond with humility and devotion.
The Settimana Sociale that you are observing is meant to propose "an agenda of hope for the future of the nation". Undoubtedly, this means innovating a work method, whose starting point will be actual experiences that will enable identification and evaluation of the cultural, political and moral potential inherent in these very complex times.
One of the areas you will be examining in depth is the phenomenon of migration, specifically the search for strategies and rules that can favor the social inclusion of new presences.
It is significant that exactly 50 years ago, and in the same city, a Settimana Sociale was devoted entirely to the topic of immigration, specially what was happening then all over Italy.
In our day, the phenomenon has grown to impressive proportions. We have gone beyond the first phase of emergency, when the Church gave of herself generously to insure a welcome for new immigrants.
Now we must pass to a second phase in which the terms of integration shall be defined, with full respect for what is legal.
The believer, as all men of good will, must do everything possible to eliminate situations of injustice, poverty and conflict which constrain so many persons to undertake the way of exodus, while promoting in our own country, conditions that will allow the insertion into our society of those who intend - with their work and with the patrimony of their own traditions - to contribute to the construction of a society better than that which they fled.
In acknowledging the positive role that immigrants can play, we are also called on to present the Gospel to them, as the announcement of salvation and a full life for every man and woman.
Moreover, the hope with which you intend to construct the future of this nation is not simply the legitimate aspiration for a better future. It comes from the conviction that history is guided by Divine Providence and is headed for a dawn that transcends the horizons of human working.
This 'reliable hope' has the face of Christ: in the Word of God made man, each of us finds the courage of witness and the abnegation of service.
Of course, there is that wondrous swath of light that distinguishes the life of faith of the Italian people - the glorious tracks of so many saints and blssseds (priests, consecrated persons and laymen) - who were consumed for the sake of their brothers and undertook social works to promote more just and equitable conditions for all, especially for the poor.
In this perspective, even as I wish you fruitful days of work and encounter, I encourage you to feel equal to the challenge that you have posed to yourselves. The Catholic Church has a heritage of values that are not things of the past, but constitute a reality that is very much alive and actual, which is capable of offering a creative orientation for the future of this nation.
On the eve of the 150th anniversary of national unity [[cCItalian reunification and the creation of the modern state of Italy, there can emerge from Reggio Calabria a common sentiment resulting from a believer's interpretation of the situation in Italy - a proactive wisdom resulting from cultural and ethical discernment, as the constitutive conditions for making political and economic choices.
On this depends the possibility of a new impetus for civic dynamism, for a future for everyone, in the name of the common good.
To the participants of the 46th SettimanA Sociale of Italian Catholics, I assure you of remembrance in my prayers, which I accompany with a special Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican
October 12, 2010
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/10/2010 02:28] |