Threat or hope?

“Religions, threat or hope for our societies?”: that’s the theme that will be discussed by the 4000 participants at the 83rd Semaine Sociale of Catholics in France, due to be held at the Congress Centre in Lyon from 21 to 23 November. This year’s session will be attended by various European guests, including a large delegation from Eastern Europe. Most of the major religions will be represented, to permit a rich inter-religious dialogue. The main addresses will include those of the sociologists Danièle Hervieu-Léger and Jean-Louis Schlegel, theologians Paul-Michaël Zulehner, Jean-Paul Willaime and Enzo Bianchi, the pastor of the Reformed Church of France, Agnès von Kirchbach, and distinguished political exponents such as Jacques Barrot, former Vice-President of the European Commission, and Tony Blair, former Premier of the United Kingdom. Also present at the meeting will be Cardinal Peter Erdö, President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE). The workshops will examine various aspects of religion: the management of religion in public life; religion in the media and its cultural expression; religion, education and the formation of citizens; religion and social cohesion; religion and society in response to science and ethical dilemmas; religions and the body. At the end of the session a message will be addressed to the participants and to society in general. The Semaines Sociales de France were founded in 1904 with the aim of fostering knowledge of the thought of the Church and contributing to the social debate. The idea for the venture was that of Marius Gonin and Adèodat Boissard, two Catholic laymen concerned to propagate the social thought of the Church and apply it to the issues of their time. The themes chosen for the Semaines Sociales thus reflect this need, as demonstrated by those of the last eight sessions (see the website www.ssf-fr.org): 2000: Living and workingWork is the very fabric of economic life and an essential, though not exclusive, component of the destiny of each human being. It changes with technology and evolves with mentalities. These changes were at the centre of the session in 2000, at which such desperate situations as that of unemployment were not papered over. 2001: Biology, medicine and society: what will we do to man?The progress of genetics is preparing the way for a revolution: man has the power to intervene on life itself. Torn between enthusiasm and apprehension, it is man’s duty to respond to the fundamental questions that are posed when everything becomes possible: what right do we have over life in the womb? And what right over life in its terminal phase? What should be healed and what cured? On whom depends the face of our civilization.2002: Violence. How to live together? Violence is everywhere and always has been. But it now seems more discouraging in its new aspects: youth violence, the violence suffered by very young children, the most defenceless, and the violence of economic injustice and international terrorism. Everything is being placed in question, the family, school, justice, but also political powers and international organizations. Are we more violent? Between individuals, races, religions and states? And why? Understanding our violence is the first step towards rediscovering the key to living together in harmony. 2003: MoneyThe session provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of money at a time when it is causing fear and raising spectres. The session tried to re-establish the proper importance of money without elevating it into the idol of our consumer societies, by proposing the rehabilitation of gift as response to the challenges of the world economy and globalization. 2004: Europe . A society to be invented It was the year of the centenary and discussion focused on Europe as a society to be invented but that aspires to become a privileged space of human hope. Europe will only do so if it becomes a precious dimension of our identity, a place of participative democracy and demanding and brotherly ecumenism. Its destiny is in our hands. 2005: Transmitting. Sharing values, creating freedomTransmission is fundamental, but it is only possible in mutual trust. The challenge of transmission, to which man has always responded, is regarded with apprehension by our contemporaries. By departing from the transmission of the love of life, we discover that this does not have an immediate result: its germination time is long. 2006: What is a just society?The session invited reflection on this theme, but also its practical implementation. Four candidates for the 2007 presidential elections were invited to address the session, to explain their vision of a just society and to reply to the questions contained in the manifesto of the Semaines Sociales : “12 proposals for a more just society”.2007: Living differently. For sustainable and lasting developmentThe concept of sustainable development cannot be reduced only to the environmental dimension. For the first time, we are beginning to realize that without a vision of sustainability, without paying heed to future generations, development risks being lethal. If our world is to be sustainable, it must also be more sharing: sustainability and solidarity go hand in hand. What’s at stake is a new model of civilization which we need to invent, and in which frugality is synonymous not with belt-tightening but with brotherhood.