Why Europe too?

On Sunday 14 February, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI visited the Hostel named after “Don Luigi Di Liegro”, the first Director of the Diocesan Caritas of Rome. During this visit he met spiritually all the poor of Europe, expressing solidarity with them and setting an example to all of us.As a sign of this communion, COMECE and Caritas Europa invited similar encounters between bishops and the poor on that Sunday, which is the feast day of the patron saints of Europe, SS. Cyril and Methodius.Following this invitation, several visits took place in over 60 dioceses throughout Europe. In his address to the poor gathered at Stazione Termini, the Pope said: “My Visit occurs during the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, established by the European Parliament and the European Commission. In coming here as Bishop of Rome, the Church which has presided in charity from the earliest Christian times, I desire to encourage not only Catholics but also every person of good will, particularly those who have responsibility in the public administration and in the various institutions, to work for the construction of a future worthy of the human being, rediscovering charity as the driving force for authentic development and for the realization of a more just and brotherly society”.The Pope emphasised justice and brotherhood as the fundamental values for a peaceful coexistence of our societies in which, according to Eurostat, 85 million people experience material deprivation and one in every five children lives in poverty. One can ask: how is this possible in the richest part of the globe? A similar question was posed to the inhabitants of London by T. S. Eliot: “When the Stranger says: what is the meaning of this city? Do you huddle close together because you love each other? What will you answer? ‘We all dwell together to make money from each other’ or ‘This is a community’?”According to the social teaching of the Church not only natural necessity (“naturalis necessitas”), but also charity (“naturalis impetus ad societatem”) is one of the main forces driving us to live together. Civil friendship and fraternity are also real factors guaranteeing the stability of a society (“per amicitiam videntur conservari civitates”). Necessity means that we need each other to assure our interests. Charity strictly refers to generosity. “In order to promote a peaceful coexistence that helps people recognise that they are members of the one human family” – said Benedict XVI – “it is important that the dimensions of giving and of free generosity are rediscovered as constitutive elements of daily life and of interpersonal relations. All this becomes day after day increasingly urgent in a world in which, on the contrary, the logic of profit and of the quest for the individual’s own interest seem to prevail”.The time of Lent is a good occasion to bring about a conversion in our micro-relationships (with friends, with family members or within small groups) and in our macro-relationships (social, economic and political ones). To convert means – stressed the Pope – “to go against the current”, against this artificial and incoherent life style which so often dominates us and makes us prisoners of mediocrity. Not only Lent, but the entire Year for Combating Poverty can be an opportunity to introduce more charity into our social life and to take seriously the words of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me”.