The ”profit” of God

Transparency in communication is a set of overlapping and intertwining transparencies tending towards the highest degree of reliability and credibility. There is the transparency of sources called to respond with honesty and accuracy to the common good, and not to partisan interests. There is the transparency of professional communicators, called to remove ideological and prejudicial remnants while investigating to verify a news item. There is the transparency of editors, called to refrain from curtailing information in the grip of their personal calculations. There is the transparency of the reader called to view the news with an approach based on the constant quest for the truth. These reflections were the leitmotif of the meeting of the spokespersons of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), held a few days ago in Cologne (DE). The debate, initially focused on information regarding Church income and expenses, later addressed the very essence of communication, understood as completeness: mere competence must not be fragmented to the detriment of overall proficiency. The beauty of the tiles of a mosaic can’t be explained without referring to the beauty of the whole picture, and viceversa. That’s why to speak of money is to speak of experience, projects, initiatives and gestures, united by a motivation that falls within Church mission. Informing on incoming, outgoing economic resources – and their destination – means to ensure that the public opinion is cognizant of the budgets and financial statements drawn up on the basis of lawful criteria and at the same time it means raising public awareness on the peculiarities and on the reality of Church commitment in the world. Saying that the new evangelization passes through numbers, statistics and financial statements is no exaggeration as it refers to the fact that the only benefit of the Church is "profit" through the Gospel of God, explained in the Gospel with various, eloquent images."Of all the money we receive – once said an official in charge of financial support of a European Church, addressing an assembly of bishops – one day we will respond to God. He will ask to what extent the available resources have contributed to the dissemination and development of faith in Europe". God, who is transparency, is the first to love transparency and to demand transparency. He is the first to convey specific, significant meaning to transparency, and not only in terms of accounts, which must however be always marked and nourished by a righteous mind. In this light it is possible to grasp the bond between economic-financial transparency and the sharing of concerns and the hopes of our times. From this specific perspective, the Year of Faith can serve as an opportunity to teach a new understanding of economic support to Church life and mission. It is the belief of the spokespersons of European Bishops’ Conferences, shattered by the first-hand account of the tragedy of the Greek population, by the numerous situations of poverty in Europe, by the cry of the hungry, of the abandoned, of the forlorn in the world. For European Churches to speak of the transparency of their own financial and economic resources is to speak, with the language of faith, of charity and justice. These words, in lay terms, can be translated in solidarity. This is a value that should be recovered across a weary Europe, so that it may shed light on the motivations underlying its creation, its development, and on its responsibility as the bearer of peace in the world.