A heritage to be changed

Fight against corruption: that’s the imperative underlined by Mgr. Vlado Kosic, Chairman of the "Justitia et Pax" Commission of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, in a statement issued on 8 November. It’s a priority that also emerged during the plenary session of the Croatian bishops held at Lovran on 21 October. We report some salient passages from the document.A long history. "Corruption in Croatian society has a long history: it is a social phenomenon and a problem that ought to be perceived and tackled as an inherited mentality we must change. In our country, we often hear how Europe – meaning the EU – will cure many of our ‘diseases’, including corruption. It’s a misleading idea from many points of view. Corruption is a deviant social phenomenon, from which not even contemporary European societies are immune. From a theological point of view, it regards the nature of the person as sinner, in other words the structures of sin, from which the person at the individual level, and society at the structural level, can and must be purified and liberated. It’s a continuous process that must be conducted by all persons and all societies. Therefore, we ought not to assume that entry into the EU will provide us with access to a perfect society without problems: these problems exist, and need to be tackled and combated, sometimes with greater, sometimes with lesser success. However, the fight against these ills is a constant need for a society that intends to be governed by the principles of the common good, and that wants to permit each individual to develop his/her own qualities and to participate in an optimum way in the life of society". The myth of the "scapegoat". Mgr. Kosic considers that a major obstacle "that prevents us from seriously tackling the problems [of Croatia] and properly solving them" is "an ideology of messianism that seeks a facile solution to all social problems, especially the difficult ones, believing that with some ‘force’ we can solve everything". Another obstacle consists of the "myth of the scapegoat", which can be explained as follows: "we perceive injustice, a problem. We find the guilty one, scapegoats. We sacrifice them and act as if the problem had been solved. But problems cannot be eliminated in this way; on the contrary they are multiplied. We think this is precisely what is happening today in the battle against corruption. Instead of addressing the problem itself, we pursue individuals and groups. Pursuing individuals and groups suspected of criminal activities is a task for the police and the judicial authorities. At the level of society, on the other hand, mechanisms need to put in place that dismantle the forces that lie behind this criminal conduct". The approach of the ‘scapegoat’, moreover, "spreads insecurity at the political, juridical and economic level. If the government promises arrests and trials, if the opposition promises still more arrests and trials, if the media hand down verdicts on individuals or ‘put them on trial’, the result is social insecurity that gives rise to political instability, legal uncertainty and economic stagnation. Uncertainty gives rise to mistrust. We note in society a constant decline of trust in social institutions and even between Croatians. In such a climate of mistrust, it’s impossible to achieve, or recover, any economic growth, especially in the short term. The current economic situation in society", warns the bishop, "is undoubtedly influenced in a massive way by the lack of trust and its constant erosion. If we continue to combat corruption by reducing it to these trials, the result might be that the cure would prove really worse than the disease, in other words, we could cause a general social instability, which in turn would determine a growth, not a diminution, of corruption in society". How to combat corruption? According to Mgr. Kosic, "the war against corruption should be fought by working on good and just laws, improving the authorities of civil servants and educating citizens, especially those involved in politics, so that they be in a condition to assume responsibilities, also for the difficult and risky decisions that need to be taken if the problems are to be solved. The war against the ills of corruption needs to be fought by reinforcing the institutions, and not just those that are repressive of society, and also by consolidating the fundamental social institutions, especially families and schools, and by showing respect for our own country, in which we are called not only to develop our talents but also to solve our problems".