Change is possible

The gap between the so-called poor and those who live in conditions of wealth is artificial; it is fundamentally created by man. Due to the current financial and economic crisis, this gulf between rich and poor, dangerous for society in general and for each individual person, is growing ever wider and more exacerbated. No one ought to be poor because of unjust structures or unjust conditions. That is why “poverty zero” is our moral imperative: Caritas Europe considers that our societies have a need for a new framework of reference in which human rights are fully recognized and safeguarded not as a mere legal requirement, but because the dignity of the human person, source and goal of all rights and all duties, is recognized. We believe that each human being is created in the image of God.In Europe, Caritas wishes to contribute to a new way of looking at poverty. Poverty, in fact, is far more than the lack of prosperity: it weakens the person in body, spirit and existence; it weakens the community in which that person lives. As community of human beings, we cannot permit ourselves to lose anyone. We must put right the conditions of inequality inherited from the past and prevent new sources of injustice for present and future generations: it is a principle to which we commonly give the name “responsibility”, which confers sense and significance on our actions and our conduct, beyond their more immediate and material impact. For these actions and this conduct have a direct and indirect effect on ourselves and on our fellow-citizens.And the solutions exist; they are already in our hands. Change is possible: Caritas is witness of the change of persons who, despite living in conditions of poverty, have succeeded in shaping their own lives and their own destinies. Working with the poor and acting as their mouthpiece to the public authorities, Caritas pursues sustainable living conditions for everyone and proposes concrete measures to achieve them. Living responsibly can change our life and life in our “cities”, a term with which we define the organized communities in which we live, and which are everyday becoming more global and interdependent. We believe in interconnection by the power of the Holy Spirit, which permits us to live in communion beyond all frontiers.Caritas, as organization of charity of the Catholic Church, draws no distinction between those it serves and with whom it works. Proselytism is even contrary to its genuine nature and mission (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 31, c). Work with the poor and with the sick places Caritas at the centre of the social conflict between exclusion and inclusion.Inclusion is more than a key concept of the European Union (which intends to place the fight against poverty among its priorities even after 2010, European Year of Combating Poverty): it is a responsibility directly linked to human rights, and could be considered another way of creating communion.A process of active inclusion, besides, cannot be a unilateral task assigned to those who lack resources or to those that provide them. It is on the contrary a task that involves the whole community or “city”. Indeed, it could be maintained that in this dynamic and reciprocal process the greatest responsibility must fall on those in better conditions. Enabling others to live by exploiting their own potential means contributing to the integral development of each person and the whole of the person in every single dimension (cf. Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 14 and Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 11). So, the human promotion of the poor also means the human promotion of the entire community, of the “city” as a whole.Recognizing the poor as fellow-citizens who contribute to the construction of the “city”, like all those who consider themselves self-sufficient or independent persons, means recognizing that we all need each other.May the Year 2010 reaffirm the pledge to combat poverty in Europe and in the world! May “poverty zero” be the guiding principle of the entire “city”!