A counter-current presence

Thanking all the faithful who serve in the many Catholic voluntary services present in all the countries of Europe and encouraging their witness: that’s the aim of the meeting of Benedict XVI with the leaders of Catholic voluntary services in Europe due to be held in the Vatican on 10-11 November, to mark the European Year of Voluntary Service, promoted by the EU. Cor Unum, the office of the Holy See responsible for the Church’s charitable activity, was called to organize the event. And an expression of gratitude for Europe’s voluntary services has already been made by the President of Cor Unum, Cardinal Robert Sarah, who on 8 November, during his presentation of the event to the press, said that, in response to the flash floods that have so severely struck several Italy regions in recent days, Liguria most of all, “we cannot fail to share the suffering of all those who have been victimized, or fail to admire the large numbers of volunteers, many of them youngsters, who are involved in bringing aid and succour. Disasters and tragedies like the ones we are witnessing today bring people closer together and foster solidarity. A gesture of our faith can save a life”.The impulse of faith. Speaking of the forthcoming meeting, the Secretary of Cor Unum, Monsignor Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, said that “in a society so influenced by the market economy, where the profit motive seems to be the fundamental criterion for living and therefore where personal relations, too, seem to be subjected to the criterion of utility, voluntary service is a markedly counter-current phenomenon. It testifies that the other person is not a competitor, but a brother, and that the person is worth more than money. What fundamentally impels us is faith. Christ taught us to love without any thought of a return”. The aim of this meeting, he continued, “is to recall the spontaneity that characterized the origins of this phenomenon and the strong bond with the Church, confraternities and congregations and to discuss how to tackle new approaches and situations”. From a social point of view, explained Mgr. Dal Toso, “the necessary collaboration with public authorities leads to increased bureaucracy, professionalism and specialization. This is fundamentally positive because it enables us to provide better services”. “The State – remarked the Secretary of Cor Unum – has the duty to support those initiatives that make society more humane and that meet real needs. So the problem is not money but our consciousness that we are first and foremost in the service of God and that our commitment to man is a witness of Him. This sense of mission must never be lost”. Catholic voluntary service. From the pastoral point of view, the Secretary of Cor Unum underlined the importance, for Catholic voluntary service, of “safeguarding the personal approach to problems: voluntary service is not born to create structures, but to respond to man’s needs, here and now, in the name of Christ. Safeguarding the spirit of discernment: voluntary service is frequently in the advance guard and sees in greater depth, because it is more spontaneous and can therefore respond more swiftly than the State or the public authorities to the needs that arise, so it is in the interest of States, in the spirit of subsidiarity, to keep alive these social forces without stripping them of their nature”. Even more important, however, is the need to “safeguard the element of faith, which is the real origin of this phenomenon: here we need to overcome a certain conflict between acting in the world and belonging to the Church, almost as if this latter should hamper a full attention to the world; on the contrary: the experience of many saints tells us that the more we belong to God, the more we are able to open ourselves to the world and to its real needs; the creation of schools or hospitals or social centres does not arise from wishing to intervene in the world. Rather, it is fidelity to God that necessarily impels us to fidelity to man”. Programme. Some 160 delegates from 25 countries have been invited to attend the meeting; they include bishops and representatives of Catholic volunteer services in Europe. Apart from the various national organizations, such as Caritas, representatives of international organizations such as the Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul, the Scouts, or the Association of Volunteers for International Service (AVIS) will be present. The meeting opens on Thursday 10 November (3.00 pm, auditorium of the Palazzo San Pio X, Via della Conciliazione, 5) with an address by Cardinal Robert Sarah, followed by the testimony of Veronica Ottubray, representative of l’Arche, and the presentation of the results of a questionnaire intended to assess the state of health, challenges and potential of voluntary service today. The European Commissioner with responsibility for voluntary service, Kristalina Georgieva, will speak at the end of the meeting. On Friday 11 November (at 11.30) there will be a private audience with Benedict XVI after a Mass in St. Peter’s celebrated by Cardinal Josip Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb.