Christians grappling with the crisis

Many "fronts of the crisis" are reason for serious concern, which include Christians’ persecution in the world, the problem of world hunger, "worsening indigence rates" and individualism. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, addressed these themes in the prolusion that opened the works of the permanent Council on Monday January 28 (ongoing until January 31). The social question. "Many have rightly highlighted the relevance that the social question has acquired in Italy and Europe, owing to the consequences of marginalization that it is creating – said the cardinal -. We, due to the proximity with the real life of the people, confirm this situation with growing alarm and with a sorrowful heart". Youth unemployment is, for now, "a kind of epidemic that can’t be clamped down", while "the question is whether the legislative initiatives that have been adopted so far have led to relief or exacerbation". It is necessary that "leading experts cooperate in a joint effort, along with every institution" so that "the creation of new jobs and economic recovery may be seen and experienced". "In order to contribute to economic recovery people have accepted heavy sacrifices".The foundations of the human person. Speaking of the upcoming elections, the cardinal said that "biopolitics is now a frontier inevitable in any political program. France, Spain, England, the United States, just to mention these countries, tell us that we cannot pretend to set aside the problems when they constitute the nodal issues of post-modern societies". In fact, "talking about life, health, disease, the so-called vegetative states, pain, unfavorable prognosis, palliative medicine, invasive diagnosis, disabilities, doctor-patient relationship, as well as medicine and government budget, conscientious objection, transplantation policies… means addressing crucial issues that are only bound to increase, together with the "scandalous" question of abortion, surrogate motherhood, and active or passive euthanasia. For the CEI president, "to turn one’s back on fragile life which is lacking the voice and the face to reaffirm itself, signals the State’s efficiency-driven and arrogant self-understanding: a disturbing identity card, even though it is often motivated by noble intentions". For Cardinal Bagnasco, "when facing the door leading to the fundamentals of the human person, nobody must remain silent, neither individuals nor institutions. It is the core of the matter. Reticence and short cuts are not accepted. We ought to communicate to the State a family of people or a maze of interests?". One of us. Speaking about non negotiable values, the prelate welcomed the campaign "One of Us", due to be launched soon, "which will bring life-related issues within Community bodies". Conversely, His Eminence added, "it is surprising that distancing from these themes is already considered an option. Moreover, they are ‘part and parcel of developed Europe". The Cardinal asked, "do evolution and progress consist in the denial of human values? Why should we follow and copy someone who decided to relinquish such values and drift apart from the ethical code, entering the absolute realm of relative visions, of precariousness, subjectivity, risking a farewell to history?" "Why should Europe exert self-constraint when it urges strict rules in the job market, and be supported when it intends to decide on the existential balance of our human experience?" As bishops "it is our duty to share the invitation not to let ourselves be divided by secularism, implemented with the lenses of nihilism". The narrow door. A few days before the opening of the Permanent Council, on January 24, the volume by Cardinal Bagnasco, "La Porta Stretta" (The narrow door), which collects the prolusions of the first five-year period as president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, was presented in Rome. In an interview granted to SIR Editor-in-chief Domenico Delle Foglie, His Eminence observed that "Christians cannot limit themselves to a merely individual understanding of goodness, their commitment must broaden the scope of the common good, i.e., the opportunity of self-fulfillment offered to everyone. This provides the realm of politics sometimes motivated by self-interests only to recover its raison d’être". In the interview the cardinal also conveyed his hope that within the Catholic World may grow the "vocations" aimed at "building a new season of commitments for the values of life and solidarity".