With new words

Less than a month to the 84th Catholic Social Week of France – November 20-22 Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte (Seine Saint Denis) – on “New solidarity, new society”. The purpose of the meeting, said the promoters, “is to go beyond the purely economic aspect of solidarity and enhance its moral and political bearing”. The Social Weeks of France were established in 1904 on the initiative of two lay Catholics, Marius Gonin and Adèodat Boissard, with the purpose of spreading awareness on Church teaching and contribute to social debate. The SWF were carried out in cities across France and are most renown for the national annual meeting. Since the year of the centenary, 2004, with the edition held in Lille on “Europe, inventing society”, the Weeks developed a European dimension. “Even though poverty has decreased over the past years, inequalities and exclusion surged across societies. Does solidarity encompass only fiscal redistribution? Do the new forms of solidarity act as a form of replacement, revelation or protest?” is stated in a note. Some 4thousand participants will seek to “look into the resources to implement new forms of solidarity”, notably towards the youth and in the working environment. The 2009 edition of the Weeks (program available at http://www.ssf-fr.org) will also address the question of Europe’s forthcoming challenges. The program of the meeting includes addresses, debates, workshops and round tables. It will be moderated by the President of the Social Weeks of France Jérôme Vignon. Speakers include, along with association representatives and people experiencing precarious situations, Pierre Rosanvallon, storico del Collège de France; François Soulage, President of Secours Catholique; economist and Peace Nobel Prize Muhammad Yunus; Marie-Claude Petit, founder of “Familles rurales”, Sylvie Goulard, president of the Mouvement Européen France, along with philosopher and European MEP Vincent Peillon. From Gdansk to Paris. “Solidarity is a concept that comes from architecture. It indicates the safe support of a construction, it refers to the solidity of a building designed to resist a storm and withstand the decay of time”, Jérôme Vignon told SIR Europe on the occasion of the first Catholic Social Days for Europe (Gdansk October 8-11). As Christians we must continue giving our contribution to the dialogue between faith and reason since solidarity is an integrating part of the Common European Home, where persons from different cultural and religions backgrounds are welcome, and are granted duties and rights. If Catholics will make the effort to be open and not dogmatic, if they will testify to the truth with transparence and coherence Europe will develop according to the ‘dreams’ of the Fathers and will become a reference of peace and justice for the entire world”.The commitment of European Catholic Churches, added Vignon, “in the past years brought good fruits. Western Churches were able to listen to Eastern Churches and vice-versa. Different sensitivities, concerns and expectations were confronted, constituting the basis for the development of Catholic thought and action that will benefit Europe.Pöttering’s encouragement. As relates to lay Catholics in Europe, the president of the Social Weeks of French gave his positive evaluation since “they are ever more aware of Europe’s progress, of the fact that the Christian roots of Europe ought to give rise to a renewed cultural and political commitment and to a more constructive presence amidst European institutions.” Vignon to this regard endorsed the words pronounced by Hans-Gert Pöttering at the Westerplatte when he called upon “Catholic Church members who are used to criticizing the EU rather than considering its success to encourage and support politicians that endorse our common values, rather than blaming them for the negative developments we all seek to avoid”.The new word. “This old Europe certainly needs truth in order to develop and define its identity, but in turn this truth needs love to enter people’s minds and hearts. Benedict XVI’s encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’ inserts the new word of truth in the vocabulary of economy and this gives substance to another word we often repeat: solidarity. In the Social Weeks of France we will reflect on the newness of love that can lead to a renewed form of solidarity for the erection of a new, more human, more just and more beautiful society. It is a time that is favorable to the word ‘love’, it’s up to us Catholics, to us Christians, not to waste this moment by lingering in our fears, uncertainties and dogmatisms. We must have greater faith in the cultural and political recovery of Christians in Europe since love – which is not that of do-gooders – paves the way to another major term: responsibility”.