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Fraternity and social friendship are the ways the Pontiff indicates to build a better, more just and peaceful world, with the contribution of all: people and institutions. With an emphatic confirmation of a ‘no’ to war and to globalized indifference.
La fraternité et l'amitié sociale sont les moyens indiqués par le Souverain Pontife pour construire un monde meilleur, plus juste et plus pacifique, avec la contribution de tous : personnes et institutions. En confirmant avec force le "non" à la guerre et à l'indifférence mondialisée.
La fraternidad y la amistad social son los caminos que el Pontífice indica para construir un mundo mejor, más justo y pacífico, con la contribución de todos: personas e instituciones. Con una confirmación enfática del "no" a la guerra y a la indiferencia globalizada.
Fraternity
is to be encouraged not only in words, but in deeds. Deeds made tangible in a
“better kind of politics”, which is not subordinated to financial interests,
but to serving the common good, able to place the dignity of every human being
at the centre and assure work to everyone, so that each one can develop his or
her own abilities. A politics which, removed from populism, is able to find
solutions to what attacks fundamental human rights and which aims to
definitively eliminate hunger and trafficking. At the same time, Pope Francis
underscores that a more just world is achieved by promoting peace, which is not
merely the absence of war; it demands “craftsmanship”, a job that involves
everyone. Linked to truth, peace and reconciliation must be “proactive”; they
must work toward justice through dialogue, in the name of mutual development.
This begets the Pontiff's condemnation of war, the “negation of all rights” and
is no longer conceivable even in a hypothetically “justified” form, because
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons already have enormous repercussions on
innocent civilians. There is also a strong rejection of the death penalty,
defined as “inadmissible”, and a central reflection on forgiveness,
connected to the concepts of remembrance and justice: to forgive does not mean
to forget, the Pontiff writes, nor to give up defending one's rights to
safeguard one's dignity, which is a gift from God. In the background of the
Encyclical is the Covid-19 pandemic which, Francis reveals, “unexpectedly
erupted” as he “was writing this letter”. But the global health emergency has
helped demonstrate that “no one can face life in isolation” and that the time
has truly come to “dream, then, as a single human family” in which we are
“brothers and sisters all” (7-8).
Global
problems, global actions
Opened
by a brief introduction and divided into eight chapters, the Encyclical gathers
– as the Pope himself explains – many of his statements on fraternity and
social friendship, arranged, however, “in a broader context of
reflection” and complemented by “a number of letters, documents” sent to
Francis by “many individuals and groups throughout the world” (5). In the first
chapter, “Dark clouds over a closed world”, the document reflects on the many
distortions of the contemporary era: the manipulation and deformation of
concepts such as democracy, freedom, justice; the loss of the meaning of the
social community and history; selfishness and indifference toward the common
good; the prevalence of a market logic based on profit and the culture of
waste; unemployment, racism, poverty; the disparity of rights and its
aberrations such as slavery, trafficking, women subjugated and then forced to
abort, organ trafficking (10-24). It deals with global problems that call for
global actions, emphasizes the Pope, also sounding the alarm against a “culture
of walls” that favours the proliferation of organized crime, fuelled by fear
and loneliness (27-28). Moreover, today we observe a deterioration of
ethics (29), contributed to, in a certain way, by the mass media which
shatter respect for others and eliminate all discretion, creating isolated and
self-referential virtual circles, in which freedom is an illusion and dialogue
is not constructive (42-50).
Love
builds bridges: the Good Samaritan
To
many shadows, however, the Encyclical responds with a luminous example, a
herald of hope: the Good Samaritan. The second chapter, “A stranger on the road”,
is dedicated to this figure. In it, the Pope emphasizes that, in an
unhealthy society that turns its back on suffering and that is “illiterate” in
caring for the frail and vulnerable (64-65), we are all called – just like the
Good Samaritan – to become neighbours to others (81), overcoming prejudices,
personal interests, historic and cultural barriers. We all, in fact, are co-responsible
in creating a society that is able to include, integrate and lift up those who
have fallen or are suffering (77). Love builds bridges and “we were made for
love” (88), the Pope adds, particularly exhorting Christians to recognize
Christ in the face of every excluded person (85). The principle of the capacity
to love according to “a universal dimension” (83) is also resumed in the
third chapter, “Envisaging and engendering an open world”. In this chapter
Francis exhorts us to go “‘outside’ the self” in order to find “a fuller
existence in another” (88), opening ourselves up to the other according to the
dynamism of charity which makes us tend toward “universal fulfilment”
(95). In the background – the Encyclical recalls – the spiritual stature of
a person’s life is measured by love, which always “takes first place” and leads
us to seek better for the life of the other, far from all selfishness (92-93).
Rights
have no borders
A
fraternal society, therefore, will be one that promotes educating in dialogue
in order to defeat the “virus” of “radical individualism” (105) and to allow
everyone to give the best of themselves. Beginning with protection of the
family and respect for its “primary and vital mission of education” (114).
There are two ‘tools’ in particular to achieve this type of society:
benevolence, or truly wanting good for the other (112), and solidarity which
cares for fragility and is expressed in service to people and not to
ideologies, fighting against poverty and inequality (115). The right to live
with dignity cannot be denied to anyone, the Pope again affirms, and since
rights have no borders, no one can remain excluded, regardless of where
they are born (121). In this perspective the Pontiff also calls us to consider
“an ethics of international relations” (126), because every country also
belongs to foreigners and the goods of the territory cannot be denied to those
who are in need and come from another place. Thus, the natural right to private
property will be secondary to the principal of the universal destination of
created goods (120). The Encyclical also places specific emphasis on the issue
of foreign debt: subject to the principal that it must be paid, it is hoped
nonetheless that this does not compromise the growth and subsistence of the
poorest countries (126).
Migrants:
global governance for long-term planning
Meanwhile,
part of the second and the entire fourth chapter are dedicated to the theme of
migration, the latter, entitled “A heart open to the whole world”. With their
lives “at stake” (37), fleeing from war, persecution, natural catastrophes,
unscrupulous trafficking, ripped from their communities of origin, migrants are
to be welcomed, protected, supported and integrated. Unnecessary migration
needs to be avoided, the Pontiff affirms, by creating concrete opportunities to
live with dignity in the countries of origin. But at the same time, we need to
respect the right to seek a better life elsewhere. In receiving countries, the
right balance will be between the protection of citizens' rights and the
guarantee of welcome and assistance for migrants (38-40). Specifically, the
Pope points to several “indispensable steps, especially in response to those who
are fleeing grave humanitarian crises”: to increase and simplify the granting
of visas; to open humanitarian corridors; to assure lodging, security and
essential services; to offer opportunities for employment and training; to
favour family reunification; to protect minors; to guarantee religious freedom
and promote social inclusion. The Pope also calls for establishing in society
the concept of “full citizenship”, and to reject the discriminatory use
of the term “minorities” (129-131). What is needed above all – the document
reads – is global governance, an international collaboration for migration
which implements long-term planning, going beyond single emergencies (132), on
behalf of the supportive development of all peoples based on the principle of
gratuitousness. In this way, countries will be able to think as “human family”
(139-141). Others who are different from us are a gift and an enrichment for
all, Francis writes, because differences represent an opportunity for growth
(133-135). A healthy culture is a welcoming culture that is able to open up to
others, without renouncing itself, offering them something authentic. As in a
polyhedron – an image dear to the Pontiff – the whole is more than its single
parts, but the value of each one of them is respected (145-146).
Politics:
valuable form of charity
The
theme of the fifth chapter is “A better kind of politics”, which represents one
of the most valuable forms of charity because it is placed at the service of
the common good (180) and recognizes the importance of people, understood as an
open category, available for discussion and dialogue (160). In a certain sense,
this is the populism indicated by Francis, which counters that “populism”
which ignores the legitimacy of the notion of “people”, by attracting
consensuses in order to exploit them for its own service and fomenting
selfishness in order to increase its own popularity (159). But a better
politics is also one that protects work, an “essential dimension of social
life”, and seeks to ensure everyone the opportunity to develop their own
abilities (162). The best help to a poor person, the Pontiff explains, is not
just money, which is a provisional remedy, but rather allowing him or her to
have a dignified life through work. The true anti-poverty strategy does not
simply aim to contain or render indigents inoffensive, but to promote them in
the perspective of solidarity and subsidiarity (187). The task of politics,
moreover, is to find a solution to all that attacks fundamental human rights,
such as social exclusion; the marketing of organs, tissues, weapons and drugs;
sexual exploitation; slave labour; terrorism and organized crime. The Pope
makes an emphatic appeal to definitively eliminate human trafficking, a “source
of shame for humanity”, and hunger, which is “criminal” because food is “an
inalienable right” (188-189).
The
marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem. It requires a reform of
the UN
The
politics we need, Francis also underscores, is one that says ‘no’ to
corruption, to inefficiency, to the malign use of power, to the lack of respect
for laws (177). It is a politics centred on human dignity and not subjected to
finance because “the marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem”: the
“havoc” wreaked by financial speculation has demonstrated this (168).
Hence, popular movements have taken on particular relevance: as true “social
poets” with that “torrent of moral energy”, they must be engaged in social,
political and economic participation, subject, however, to greater
coordination. In this way – the Pope states – it will be possible to go beyond
a Policy “with” and “of” the poor (169). Another hope present in
the Encyclical regards the reform of the UN: in the face of the predominance of
the economic dimension which nullifies the power of the individual state, in
fact, the task of the United Nations will be to give substance to the concept
of a “family of nations” working for the common good, the eradication of
indigence and the protection of human rights. Tireless recourse “to
negotiation, mediation and arbitration” – the Papal Document states – the
UN must promote the force of law rather than the law of force, by favouring
multilateral accords that better protect even the weakest states (173-175).
The
miracle of kindness
From
the sixth chapter, “Dialogue and friendship in society”, further emerges the
concept of life as the “art of encounter” with everyone, even with the world’s
peripheries and with original peoples, because “each of us can learn something
from others. No one is useless and no one is expendable” (215). True dialogue,
indeed, is what allows one to respect the point of view of others, their
legitimate interests and, above all, the truth of human dignity. Relativism is
not a solution – we read in the Encyclical – because without universal
principals and moral norms that prohibit intrinsic evil, laws become merely
arbitrary impositions (206). From this perspective, a particular role falls to
the media which, without exploiting human weaknesses or drawing out the worst
in us, must be directed toward generous encounter and to closeness with the
least, promoting proximity and the sense of human family (205). Then, of
particular note, is the Pope’s reference to the miracle of “kindness”, an
attitude to be recovered because it is a star “shining in the midst of darkness”
and “frees us from the cruelty ... the anxiety ... the frantic flurry of
activity” that prevail in the contemporary era. A kind person, writes Francis,
creates a healthy coexistence and opens paths in places where exasperation
burns bridges (222-224).
The
art of peace and the importance of forgiveness
The
value and promotion of peace is reflected on in the seventh chapter, “Paths of
renewed encounter”, in which the Pope underlines that peace is connected to
truth, justice and mercy. Far from the desire for vengeance, it is “proactive”
and aims at forming a society based on service to others and on the pursuit of
reconciliation and mutual development (227-229). In a society, everyone must
feel “at home”, the Pope writes. Thus, peace is an “art” that involves and
regards everyone and in which each one must do his or her part. Peace-building
is “an open-ended endeavour, a never-ending task”, the Pope continues, and thus
it is important to place the human person, his or her dignity and the common
good at the centre of all activity (230-232). Forgiveness is linked to peace:
we must love everyone, without exception – the Encyclical reads – but loving an
oppressor means helping him to change and not allowing him to continue
oppressing his neighbour. On the contrary: one who suffers an injustice must
vigorously defend his rights in order to safeguard his dignity, a gift of
God (241-242). Forgiveness does not mean impunity, but rather, justice and
remembrance, because to forgive does not mean to forget, but to renounce the
destructive power of evil and the desire for revenge. Never forget “horrors”
like the Shoah, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, persecutions and
ethnic massacres – exhorts the Pope. They must be remembered always,
anew, so as not be become anaesthetized and to keep the flame of collective
conscience alive. It is just as important to remember the good, and those who
have chosen forgiveness and fraternity (246-252).
Never
again war, a failure of humanity
Part
of the seventh chapter, then, focuses on war: it is not “a ghost from the past”
– Francis emphasizes – “but a constant threat”, and it represents “the negation
of all rights”, “a failure of politics and of humanity”, and “a stinging defeat
before the forces of evil” which lies in their “abyss”. Moreover, due to
nuclear chemical and biological weapons that strike many innocent civilians,
today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a “just
war”, but we must vehemently reaffirm: “Never again war!” And considering that
we are experiencing a “world war fought piecemeal”, because all conflicts are
interconnected, the total elimination of nuclear arms is “a moral and
humanitarian imperative”. With the money invested in weapons, the Pope suggests
instead the establishment of a global fund for the elimination of hunger
(255-262).
The
death penalty inadmissible, to be abolished
Francis
expresses just as clear a position with regard to the death penalty: it
is inadmissible and must be abolished worldwide, because “not even a
murderer loses his personal dignity” – the Pope writes – “and God himself
pledges to guarantee this”. From here, two exhortations: do not view punishment
as vindictive, but rather as part of a process of healing and of social
reintegration, and to improve prison conditions, with respect for the human
dignity of the inmates, also considering that “a life sentence is a secret
death penalty” (263-269). There is emphasis on the necessity to respect “the
sacredness of life” (283) where today “some parts of our human family, it
appears, can be readily sacrificed”, such as the unborn, the poor, the disabled
and the elderly (18).
Guarantee
religious freedom
In
the eighth and final chapter, the Pontiff focuses on “Religions at the service
of fraternity in our world” and again emphasizes that violence has no basis in
religious convictions, but rather in their deformities. Thus, “deplorable”
acts, such as acts of terrorism, are not due to religion but to erroneous
interpretations of religious texts, as well as “policies linked to hunger,
poverty, injustice, oppression”. Terrorism must not be supported with either
money or weapons, much less with media coverage, because it is an international
crime against security and world peace, and as such must be condemned
(282-283). At the same time the Pope underscores that a journey of peace
among religions is possible and that it is therefore necessary to guarantee
religious freedom, a fundamental human right for all believers (279). The
Encyclical reflects, in particular, on the role of the Church: she does not
“restrict her mission to the private sphere”, it states. She does not remain at
the margins of society and, while not engaging in politics, however, she does
not renounce the political dimension of life itself. Attention to the common
good and concern for integral human development, in fact, concern humanity, and
all that is human concerns the Church, according to evangelical principals
(276-278). Lastly, reminding religious leaders of their role as “authentic
mediators” who expend themselves in order to build peace, Francis quotes the “Document
on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together”, which he signed on 4
February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, along with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad
Al-Tayyib: from that milestone of interreligious dialogue, the Pontiff returns
to the appeal that, in the name of human fraternity, dialogue be adopted as the
way, common cooperation as conduct, and mutual knowledge as method and standard
(285).
Blessed
Charles de Foucauld, “the universal brother”
The
Encyclical concludes by remembering Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu,
Mahatma Gandhi and above all Blessed Charles de Foucauld, a model for everyone
of what it means to identify with the least in order to become “the universal
brother” (286-287). The last lines of the Document are given to two prayers:
one “to the Creator” and the other an “Ecumenical Christian Prayer”, so that
the heart of mankind may harbour “a spirit of fraternity”.
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