It’s not enough” “

In spite of the fact that the social doctrine of the Church forms an essential part of the preaching of the Gospel, some Christians show a certain reluctance to be informed or their awareness heightened on the question. Yet the commitment to justice, peace and the common good, subsidiarity, the dignity of work, and the option for the poor, can wait no longer. “It’s true that today, as in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the poor would be satisfied with the crumbs fallen from the rich man’s table”, but for the Christian “that’s not enough”. Convinced of this is Archbishop DIARMUID MARTIN of Dublin, former secretary of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace. We cite some passages from a reflection by Msgr. Martin in the last number of the English monthly of pastoral theology “Priests & People”. PROPHET OF JUSTICE. “I am convinced that the most significant contribution that a bishop can make to the debate on the diffusion “of the Gospel of justice, peace and hope” consists “in the formation of consciences”, says the archbishop. “The most original contribution of the Church on the matter is the uniqueness of her anthropological view that springs from the Gospel”; a concept that “can be appreciated and easily assimilated to the models of development of today’s pluralist societies”. Recalling the recent apostolic exhortation Pastores Gregis, Msgr. Martin underlines its definition of the bishop as “prophet of justice”. Through “the moral and social teaching of the Church, the bishop proclaims hope and peace” and becomes the “prophet of charity”. His commitment “is not limited to a catalogue of denunciations of injustices”, nor is it translated into “an agenda of programmes of intervention”. CHARITY AND DISINTEREDNESS. According to the archbishop of Dublin, we need, first of all, to “revaluate the term ‘charity’, which has become inflated and unfortunately impoverished in common parlance”. Today in fact, remarks Martin, we often hear the phrase: “We don’t want charity; we want our rights and opportunities for development”; yet charity “is central to the Christian’s identity; it is the Christian’s most characteristic feature, and now, in a world “governed by the logic of personal advantages, long-term national interests and competition”, we need to recover the “fundamental dimension of charity as disinterested service in our relations with others”. As for poverty, it “is the incapacity of people to realise their God-given potential. So “struggling against poverty means” “investing in the capacity of each person, encouraging him to be what God wishes him to be: first of all, equal in dignity to anyone else”. According to Archbishop Martin, we need to “feel ourselves personally offended when someone else in the world does not have the same opportunities for self-realization we enjoy”. That’s why we need to encourage everyone to “be the protagonist of his/her own development”: “we ought to be happy – says Martin – even if the inhabitants of the poor countries become our competitors at the economic level” and this “is profoundly different from the old relief models”. THE VOICE OF THE POOR. The dignity of each person, the unity of the human family and the integrity of the creation are for Msgr. Martin the central pillars on which the commitment to justice needs to be founded. “The poor man – he remarks – asks above all to have a voice” and this implies “the elimination of the existing structures of domination and the establishment of participative systems”. It requires, in particular, “a serious commitment to the creation of a healthy, informed, critical and constructive society. A lot can be achieved through education in human rights and the contribution of the media, especially at the local level”. The role of the Church however remains strategic: “if the struggle against poverty is to take its rightful place in political programmes”, the Church, through “the formation of consciences” “can ensure that this ‘political choice’ is conscious and founded on investment in people”. The principle of the unity of the human family, is linked, moreover, to that of the universal destination of goods”; therefore, says the archbishop, “private property must not be assumed as an absolute principle”. In particular, warns the archbishop, “intellectual property should not be invoked to ‘hoard’ knowledge, especially in the field of medical and scientific research”. This leads Msgr. Martin to refer to the big pharmaceutical companies, which, in their reluctance to produce low-cost drugs for the treatment of Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, “seem to privilege the rights linked to intellectual property” more than “the good of humanity”. “The credibility of the international institutions will depend on their capacity to promote an “architecture of world relations based on law and good governance”, concludes Msgr. Martin, but “each effort must be accompanied by a convinced option for the poor”; a sphere in which “the Church can represent a powerful factor of stimulation”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1308 N.ro relativo : 48 Data pubblicazione : 25/06/2004