Addressing social engagement

A few days ago the members of the “Caritas in veritate” Commission of the European Bishops’ Conference (CCEE) gathered in Brussels. Msgr. Giampaolo Crepaldi, President of the CCEE Commission, Archbishop, bishop of Trieste (Italy), interviewed by SIR Europe, spoke about the origin and purposes of the body. Why is the name of the Commission dedicated to the social encyclical of Benedict XVI? “The Commission was recently set up by the Assembly of the Presidents of the European Bishops’ Conferences. It was thus considered timely to name it after the latest Papal encyclical. ‘Caritas in veritate’ thus constitutes the inspiring and operative document of the Commission”. What is the finality of the Commission? “The Commission was set up ensuing the decision to review CCEE activity from a social angle, ranging from environmental protection to migration, including justice and peace. The purpose is to highlight a special attention to the social realities in Europe, from the perspective of the social doctrine of the Church, within CCEE activity. Secondly, we wish to help national Bishops’ Conferences to take stock of a special pastoral care of social issues”.Will you be engaged in the European Social Days? “Sure, the event falls within our areas of intervention. However, the Days will be coordinated jointly with COMECE, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community”.What is the composition of the “Caritas in veritate” Commission?“There are three sections: one is addressed to problems relating to the areas of justice and peace, whose responsible is the auxiliary Bishop of Warsaw Msgr. Piotr Jarecki; the second deals with environmental questions and the “safeguard of the Creation” under the lead of Msgr. André-Joseph Léonard, Archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles; the third on migration is chaired by the Archbishop of Zaghreb, CCEE Vice-president, Cardinal Josip Bozanic. In my capacities as President I am tasked with coordinating these activities along with the Secretary of the Commission Fr. Luis German Ramon Okulik, a priest in the diocese of Trieste. The purpose is to respond to two major needs: implementing unitary work and ensuring its bond with Church Social Magisterium”.What are the next steps of the Commission? “The next reunion will take place in September in Tirana, Albania, simultaneously with the works of the CCEE plenary meeting. A meeting with the representatives of the bishops of all European Bishops’ Conferences in charge of social pastoral care is scheduled to take place in Trieste in 2012, while the Second European Social Days will take place in 2013”. An ancient commitment is renewedThe first European meeting of the Bishops of the European Bishops’ Conferences in charge of social issues took place in Zagreb in June 2009, with the participation of 37 delegates representing 22 Bishops’ Conferences. This renewed social commitment, always at the heart of CCEE engagement, is due to the fact that “the Church always feels called into question when the life of man, the dignity of the human person, the common good, the right to employment, to a dignified living conditions and the defence of weaker brackets is at stake”, explained at the time CCEE Secretary General Duarte da Cunha. “By reiterating the centrality of the human person it defends the public aspect of faith and tirelessly raises public awareness on the non-negotiable, non man-made values”. “In the light of this experience – da Cunha adds today – CCEE has decided to set up the Caritas in Veritate Commission as the expression of the Church’s commitment in Europe, thus providing “a targeted, responsible contribution for the development of specific solutions to social problems, on the basis of Europe’s patrimony of faith and of its own social experience”. For the CCEE secretary general “the current European scenario, still marked in some countries by the serious social-economic crisis, should encourages the networking process of the Bishops’ Conferences in Europe, along with an in-depth survey on the situation, an exchange of experiences aimed at identifying common strategies thus implementing efficient cooperation with all the ecclesial bodies engaged in social questions. This is the goal of the Commission”.