Even in the United States, bishops generally do not express themselves about public policy in specific terms unless such policy expressly intersects the values and interests of the Church, as Obamacare does, or Roe v Wade. But Cardinal Bagnasco, head of the Italian bishops' conference, has never shied away from passing judgment on Italian government policy and legislation, in general and specific terms, insofar as they negatively affect the Italian people. He does so again in his opening remarks Monday afternoon to the weeklong working meeting of the CEI Permanent Council... Since Cardinal Bagnasco had a private meeting with the Pope last week in preparation for the Council sessions (the Pope is Primate of Italy), one might infer that he provided the Pope with a copy of his text, and that it has his imprimatur...
Cardinal Bagnasco speaks out:
Politicians should not waste
the sacrifices Italians have made
with nothing to show for it
after three years of crisis
by GIACOMO GALEAZZI
Translated from the Italian service of
January 28, 2013
The Italian bishops, noting more new fronts in the 'appalling' national crisis, say politicians must not "waste the sacrifices being undertaken by the Italian people" in adapting to the economic crisis these past few years, but they are not telling the faithful who to vote for.
[As they never have! They promote the Catholic view on issues that are to be voted for in a referendum, but never candidates for office!]
Left, Cardinal Bagnasco addressing the CEI bishops today; right, greeting the Holy Father at the last Christmas audience for the Roman Curia.
Rather, the mission of the Church in Italy is "to implant the seed of eternity into the human management of life", said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI) in opening today a weeklong meeting of the CEI's Permanent Council.
"It is not true that we are interested in playing politics - our interest is Jesus," but he pointed out that for citizens, "voting is an irrevocable duty".
Less than a month away from the scheduled national elections for a new Parliament (and a new government), Cardinal Bagnasco outlined the high bar for the private and public life of Catholics.
He called into question "the mechanism of consumership, government spending and public debt" and called on politicians to "abandon the logic of illusions that have fatally proven their absolute moral and practical inadequacy".
The current model of government must be 'revolutionized', he said, "by a new way of thinking which is firmly convinced that work is a defining element of the human being.... work (as) the noble participation of man in the work of the Creator, which allows him to sustain himself in a dignified way and to contribute to building society and to general harmony, and which generates a future for everyone".
He said "justice demands that we overcome the imbalance between those who have things in excess and those who lack even the essential". He acknowdleged that "important actions have been taken recently to bring back a sense of reliance and authority to the government, but it has been at the price of heavy sacrifices that have not always been proportionately distributed among Italians... But they have held on, sensing intuitively that what is being done is what needs to be done. Now it remains to consolidate, even visibly, this willingness of the people to accommodate themselves to political and economic necessity".
There is an imbalance, he said, "between the desire of the people to emerge from the tunnel and the measures that are being taken by public authorities in order to promote private enterprise".
He noted that youth unemployment is 'an epidemic that cannot be dammed', and "we must ask ourselves whether the legislative initiatives that have been taken have relieved or worsened the situation".
"There is no institutional firmness worthy of the name," he went on, "if there are no political formations that are capable of consolidating the popular will, and interpreting it scrupulously according to their respective sensibilities, as long as they ultimately converge" [on an effective plan of action].
He said the sacrifices already made by the Italian people - "such a patrimony of responsibility and sacrifice, of dignity and adaptation" - cannot be wasted because the politicians fail to act. It would be an 'insult' to Italians, he said, when instead. "they should be starting to see results from all their sacrifices".
Bagnasco said that the political logic of 'being against, whatever' must be abandoned as "an insult to the intelligence and to the gravity of the issue". He called this "the logic of ideological suspicion, which generates artificial divisions, unwanted consequences, and reprisals that are superficial but tragic".
"To promote respect for the social and civilian economy and for its most typical experiences in what has been called the 'third sector' (non-profit non-governmental social work) is a condition for being able to continue deriving income from an economy that touches people most closely and that favors the common good", he added.
Bagnasco also expressed great concern about the state of health care in Italy. He condemned "the imbroglios, maneuverings and tricks going on in a sector which has a very high altruistic calling" while calling for government spending cuts to be "guided by criteria that always have the patient at the center of considerations".
Whatever his age and condition, the cardinal said, "the person of the patient must be safeguarded above all", for which "there are specialties, competences and research work that must be strategically kept".
On another major problem that is endemic to Italy (as nowhere else, except perhaps Mexico), while he said there ought not to be 'privileges' meted to some interests, neither should there be "narrow and punitive attitudes", especially not for the population of southern Italy "who, not just today, have been oppressed by organized crime whose tentacles have reached out across the nation".
Rather, "we must look out, resist, encourage, denounce, restore and recuperate - all through the lens of education of human promotinm which are inseparable from evangelization".
The Council's agenda this week includes an examination of Benedict XVI's recent motu proprio
Intima Ecclesiae natura, underscoring the responsibility of bishops in dealing with the multiple forms of charitable work carried on by Christian communities and organizations.
One outcome will be a Pastoral Note (to be prepared by the Episcopal Commissions for culture and social communications, and for family and life) on the value and mission of parish oratories (multi-purpose community centers used for catechesis, general instruction, work training, as well as recreational activities). Italian bishops consider the oratories as a parish reality that has a long tradition in Italy but which are also capable of continuous renewal in order to respond to actual educational demands.
The bishops will also consider a proposal to draw up an appropriate manual of orientation for catechists; and evaluate the most recent developments on the Italian government's intention to collect property taxes from hitherto-exempt Church properties and institutions.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/01/2013 03:37]