Appeal to the conscience

“What have you done to your brother?”: six months before the presidential, legislative and municipal elections due to take place in France in the spring of 2007, and in the run up to the Socialist primaries (on 16 November), the Permanent Council of the French Bishops’ Conference has chosen this title for a message addressed to Catholics, political leaders and public opinion. “This appeal of God to the conscience of man has bridged the centuries”, say the bishops, “and we, as the bishops of France, wish to make it ring out anew”. The common good, national unity and the role of France in Europe are some of the points of reflection of the bishops, who also dwell on the family, work, immigration and globalization. Their appeals for “brotherhood” are frequent and insistent. The plenary assembly of the Bishops’ Conference is also due to be held at Lourdes In the week preceding the primaries (4-9 November). During the plenary the three work groups set up by the bishops at their previous assembly (November 2005) will report on the conclusions of their own reflections on social life, mission and Catholic teaching in the Church and society, ordained ministry and life of the Christian communities. The participation of the Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Ouellet, is also expected; he will describe the International Eucharistic Congress due to be held in his diocese from 15 to 22 June 2008. Another guest speaker will be Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Fisher, who will report on preparations for World Youth Day to be held in Australia from 15 to 20 July 2008. COMMON GOOD. “The Gospel that inspires the social doctrine of the Church – says the message of the French bishops – is our frame of reference and calls us to emphasise what seems to us essential today”. According to the bishops, “building a more fraternal city is the duty of Christians, but it also reflects the republican ideal” because “liberty and equality become a dead letter without fraternity”. “So how then – ask the bishops – can we build a more fraternal society capable of combating social exclusion by making political choices, but, at the same time, by recalling each citizen to personal involvement?”. “Living together – says the document – requires each of us to assume his/her own responsibilities”, because otherwise “no social life is possible”. “Democracy is a fragile reality and always remains incomplete. It needs to be reinvigorated at each election. Voting means participating in the improvement of collective life, what the teaching of the Church calls the universal common good”. A DELICATE BALANCE . Today, torn between the re-emergence of “local particularism” and the wider European horizon, we need “a new sense of the State, as the guarantor of the unity of the nation in a space circumscribed by the regions and, at the same time, by the enlarged Europe”, say the bishops. In this delicate balance “the next President of the Republic will play a decisive role”. After the referendum of 2005, “the elections will be an occasion to better define possible ways of building Europe”, in particular in terms of “globalization, development, common policies in the fields of immigration, energy and defence” and “fiscal and social harmonization”. THREE BUILDING SITES. There are three “main ‘building sites’ of brotherhood” indicated in the document. The first is the family, whose “fragilities reinforce the need for its promotion”. So the bishops appeal “to the conscience of everyone to build stable families, founded on the wedlock of a man and woman”. “The peculiarity of matrimony – stress the bishops – needs to be preserved: that of a union freely accepted, open to procreation and institutionally recognized”. As for work, “it represents a factor of integration: a right but also a duty”. In response to the difficulties that characterise the labour market today, the bishops invite the State to “promote dialogue so that policies and provisions in this field be inspired by an approach formulated in consultation with both sides of industry”. “For Christians – continues the message – the acceptance of migrants is a sign of the importance attached to brotherhood”. Immigration is “a difficult question”: the bishops call it the third ‘building site of brotherhood”, and it is “particularly felt by our fellow-citizens”. Although “considering it normal that our country should define a policy of immigration because this is one of the government’s responsibilities”, the bishops recall that “in the Church no one is a stranger” and invite electors “to pay attention to policies that foster social development”. “Many immigrants, to establish themselves in France, have overcome considerable difficulties and some have risked their life. Why not help them “to find a place in our society?”. The document also focuses on the need to “continue to welcome political and religious refugees” and explains that “regulating immigration also means prosecuting the criminal gangs that exploit clandestine immigration”. In conclusion, the bishops make a new appeal for brotherhood, an “objective that gives a meaning to social life” and that is promoted “through attention to the most vulnerable and respect for each person”.