An ambiguous relation” “

Rediscovering the sense of giving and sharing and making personal choices in the responsible use of money every day: that is the basic message that emerged from the three days of debate that brought together over 2,500 French Catholics in Paris (from 14 to 16 November) for the 78th Social Week of the Catholics of France. This year the Social Week was in fact dedicated to the theme: “Money”. The debate included interventions from 32 experts including businessmen, politicians, economists, sociologists, theologians, philosophers and witnesses. Cardinal Angelo Sodano , Secretary of State of the Holy See, also sent a message to the delegates on behalf of the Pope, complimenting them “for having taken the initiative to discuss this problem in truth and with lucidity, and inviting them to insert “a supplement of humanity” in economic activities. “The French – pointed out Michel Camdessus , president of the Social Weeks, in his conclusions – declare themselves very generous in opinion polls, but are not so generous in practice”. Camdessus therefore asked for “an effort of discernment and a process of conversion in the daily practice of money and sharing in the family, and in business, as citizens, consumers and investors”. This should begin with the “salaries of executives”: “It’s time – said Camdessus – to subject these salaries to some form of discipline”. At the meeting, the commitment was renewed “to walk with the poor, and to establish with them a partnership that may endure in time”. The same also goes for relations with the poor countries, especially in view of European enlargement, because “our responsibility and our duty of solidarity – stressed Camdessus – will change in proportion as the new Union becomes the world’s leading trading power”. The next Social Week – which will be celebrating its Centenary – will in fact have a European theme. It will be held in Lille from 23 to 26 September 2004, with thousands of participants from all over Europe. Here are some of the ideas that emerged from this year’s meeting. An “ambiguous” and “contradictory” relation. 78% of the French think that money occupies too important a place in society, but with regard to their own relation with money 62% of those interviewed call themselves “provident”, 53% “savers”, 41% “generous”. These are some of the data that emerged from a preparatory opinion poll. The Social Weeks in France were founded in the early years of the 20th century to provide a forum for Christians to reflect on current social problems. Point of departure for this year’s Week was an analysis of personal and social relations with money conducted by Robert Rochefort, vice-president of the Social Weeks of France: “Today people are no longer ashamed to admit that it is possible to live well and realise our own projects thanks to money – he observed –. But there is a danger: a survey conducted among the young showed that for them salary is the first principle in choosing a professional career”. According to Rochefort, the relation with money is often “ambiguous” and “in the search for eternal justifications”; at times it risks falling into double standards, for instance “when someone contests the young for riding on the metro without buying a ticket, but then evades tax or hires workers on the black market”. Putting finance in its right place. After reviewing the history of money, Jean Boissonnat, former president of the Social Weeks, pointed out that “every system has a need for moral legitimacy, otherwise its very legality is put in doubt. Within capitalism it is therefore essential – he said – to introduce actions of justice and social and moral norms that enable it to evolve while at the same time remaining peripheral”. Paul Dembinski, director of the Observatory of Finance in Geneva, recognized that “finance needs to be put in its right place, in other words it needs to become once again an activity at the service of man, otherwise no system will be able to survive”. The violence of money. Faced by the violence of money that causes conflicts, barbarities and ecological disasters all over the world, as described by the philosopher Patrick Viveret, “today the human species finds itself having to tackle the historic challenge of making a qualitative leap if it is to grow in humanity”. In daily practice, said the economist Etienne Perrot, “nothing will change if we do not first change ourselves, and accept the task of committing ourselves in the short term to initiatives with realizable objectives”. Of the same view is Chico Whitaker, member of the Brazilian Commission of Justice and Peace, visiting Paris at the present time to participate in the European Social Forum: “The way of conducting politics needs to be renewed by making civil society become a protagonists capable of making its voice heard”. The “just equilibrium” of Catholics. “Neither rich, nor poor, but finding each day a just equilibrium”. That is the ideal of the Bible. It is also the advice to Catholics given by Pierre Debergé, priest and dean of the faculty of theology at the Catholic Institute in Toulouse. “Money and material wealth are not intrinsically negative – he explained –; they are a sign that God loves us. But only if we put God in first place, recognising that life does not belong to us but was donated to us, can money once again become what it is: a means”. In this sense wealth, “which is in itself naturally good, becomes a test, because it challenges us in our fragility and in our capacity to be honest. It is up to the freedom of each person to show discernment and responsibility “. Money and the Church. These principles applied to the Church as institution require – according to Debergé – an invitation to “greater transparency in how money is managed and a supplement of truth”. In a public debate on this question, Olivier Lebel, assistant secretary of the French Episcopal Conference, listed some of the “obstacles to transparency”: “the complexity of the structure; and the fear of spoliation, as had happened in the past”. In France, out of 40 million French people who declare themselves Catholic, only 5 million regularly donate to provide for the upkeep of 10,000 parishes in a hundred or so dioceses, 20,000 priests, 1,600 laypeople, and 3,000 laypeople on the payroll of the Church. The donations made total some 450,000,000 euros, plus 50,000,000 euros and a further 30,000,000 euros that derive from other sources of income and financial and real-estate investments. “We need donations to be able to survive – said Lebel -. Transparency leads us no longer to conceal or be afraid of asking: it leads us to share”. In Judaism and in Islam. In Jewish religion money is not a problem, explained René-Samuel Sirat, former chief rabbi of France. In his view, “we need to overcome this kind of dichotomy between God and mammon, because God gives us the means to accomplish the works he indicates us to, for instance charity. He gives us the possibility to fulfil the needs of justice by having money at our disposal”. In Islam, too, there is utterly no taboo of money, as was pointed out by Myra Daridan, member of the Economic and Social Council: “It is not a matter of shame to be rich and not a matter of shame to be poor. There is a sort of trust: whether one is rich, or poor, one entrusts oneself in any case to God, hoping that he will adjust everything to the best. This presents positive and negative aspects. The negative aspect is that in some Moslem countries there are huge social inequalities. Poverty is never chosen. People accept poverty and they accept that there are rich people at their side”. Three experiences of sharing and solidarity. “With unemployment one begins to lose one’s own future and also one’s own past”. So said Charles Merivaux, in an emotional account of his own experiences: after six years of unemployment and material deprivation, he became the animator of groups of solidarity between people who have lost their jobs. One such group is the association “Solidarité nouvelle face au chômage” founded by Jean-Baptiste de Foucauld: “In those who lose their jobs there is deep suffering and a need for words – he explained –. In dialogue with others and with the help of those who have experienced the same difficulties, they succeed in finding ways out of their predicament”. Another group that aims to reconcile the social and economic dimensions through microcredits is ADIE, the association for the right to economic initiative directed by Maria Nowak. “The excluded have empty pockets and heads full of ideas. But their manpower and spirit of enterprise are stifled by the difficulty of gaining access to capital”. Some 3 billion people throughout the world in fact have no access to financial services. This problem is addressed by microfinance, which grants small loans to help people start up business activities: some 55 million people throughout the world are now the beneficiaries of microcredit. Since 1988 ADIE has helped the setting up of some 20,000 businesses. The hope that big business would also open itself to social and environmental responsibility was expressed in turn by Nicole Notat, president of an association that assesses the conduct of firms: “Evaluating their practices is a way to putting their credibility to the test”.