The road of solidarity

“Solidarity is a constitutive duty for all of us” and is “our shared future”. This was repeated by the approximately 500 participants in the first “Catholic Social Days for Europe” – which ended in Gdansk, October 11th, on the initiative of Comece (Commission of EU Bishops Conferences) – in the final message, “Solidarity is our future”, read under the rain at the entrance of the shipyard of the Polish town, significant place where there was the beginning of the Solidarnosc movement in 1979. The delegates sent also a letter to Benedict XVI where they state: “we have searched for concrete ways for an authentic solidarity of Europe in view of the construction of a culture of love, both in our continent and at the service of peace and justice in the world. We assure You, Your Holiness, our commitment to spread the social teaching of the Church and to live it in our Christian testimony”. (See also SIR Europa 68 and SIR daily news 8-9-12 October – Agensir.it).A strategy for the common good. Seventy years after the gunshots on the Westerplatte that officially opened the Second World War which led to “the pursuit of reconciliation” that “boosted the project of freedom, peace and progress that has become the European Union”, the delegates of 29 countries of the continent state: “Our generation” is “called to take on again the challenge of building a strategy for the common good”. This “requires that the social institutions respect the spaces of independent action, so that everyone can fully accomplish their own potential” and requires such institutions to “be imbued with the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity”. This strategy needs “a fair democracy that can only work through everyone’s responsible contribution. Selfish behaviours, utilitarianism and materialism must give way to sharing, as has been widely proven by the current economic crisis”.Three lines of action. “Economic solidarity – goes on the final message – must become the guiding principle of any action. The inalienable dignity of human life, from conception to natural death, must be respected. So must that of the foreigner who knocks on our door and that of the future generations”. In insisting that “solidarity is a constitutive duty for all of us and only on this condition will rights not turn into abuse”, the delegates warn: “We must not be afraid: solidarity is out common future. The unity of Europe was some people’s dream. It has become many people’s hope. Now it is our duty to make it keep serving the goal of global solidarity”. Three lines of action have been pointed out: solidarity between generations, between European citizens, between Europe and the rest of the world. As to the first point, the delegates highlight the pressing need to promote and protect the family based on marriage of man and woman, “laying the conditions to enable parents to raise their children and reconcile their family and professional lives” and to “implement a common European immigration and asylum policy, acknowledging every migrant’s human dignity”.“Economy must be made to serve everyone”. “Our lifestyles and economic growth must be redirected so as to reduce our ecological footprint, the consumption of non-renewable natural resources, and thus leave a still-habitable planet to the future generations”, states the final message of the Catholic Social Days for Europe. For “true solidarity to exist among the European citizens”, “economy must be made to serve everyone”, acknowledging the value of work “in all its forms”; “social market economy must be adapted to the new challenges; the vulnerable ones must be protected, social justice and equal opportunities must be improved”. To do this, “more effective measures must be taken to reduce poverty and social exclusion”; “a policy for regulating the financial markets in the European Union must be promoted and international governance facilities must be supported”. But Europe must also look at the rest of the world: hence the invitation to “keep the promises made to the developing countries and promote joint development with the poorer countries, especially Africa; to further develop fair trade practices”; to promote “peace and justice, based on the respect of human dignity, human rights and in particular religious freedom”.At open arms to receive. “To achieve these goals, we must make the balances of the states and the EU adapt”, say the participants in the Catholic Social Days, asking, in the message to the European citizens who share such prospects, to commit themselves to such accomplishment and to take on “the necessary political responsibilities at their respective levels”. As Christians, “the call to the full development of people and populations” – the text goes on – is a calling that comes before us and constitutes us”. “Europe needs properly-formed men and women, who have their arms open to receive their neighbours in the name of Jesus Christ and build together relations and institutions of solidarity, at the service of the men of our time, keeping the future generations in mind”. “We – the document concludes – also want to keep talking and working with men and women of different beliefs in the pursuit of the common good”.