In this year’s message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, celebrated on 1 January, Pope Benedict XVI chose as its theme Fighting poverty to build peace. The obvious question that comes to mind when reading this message is: how can one fight poverty? Reflecting deeply on what the Pontiff said I could detect that the bottom line of his thoughts resides in an essential key concept that might have been pivotal in the present rendering of this message: fraternal solidarity.
It is a fact that in today’s world millions of people are living in conditions of extreme poverty. It becomes tempting to pinpoint superficial causes that are causing this global economic and political imbalance. The vision is becoming blurred when on the political arena all that is spoken of is how much a country is faring well economically. Economics and finance on their own do not solve the plague of poverty in our world. In a simple yet incisive way Pope Benedict XVI presents to us the singular divine plan for this world: “We are called to form one family in which all – individuals, peoples and nations – model their behaviour according to the principles of fraternity and responsibility”. How can one apply these principles of fraternity and responsibility in our institutions?
Before replying to this question, Pope Benedict lists the causes which, according to his point of view, are generating so much hardships in our world. His list includes demographic change, pandemic diseases, child poverty, the erroneous relationship between disarmament and development, and the current food crisis. All of these factors contribute in widening the gap of inequality. Having said that one needs not closing an eye on what is happening in advanced wealthy societies. Ironically enough even in the industrialised world marginalisation is creating three types of poverty: affective, moral and spiritual. All said, poverty breeds disorder. Hence, the Church’s response to the current issue of poverty lies in proposing Pope Paul VI’s insight, as explained in his encyclical letter Populorum Progressio. “The new name for peace is development”. And authentic development is always the result of fraternal solidarity.
Within the international sphere there is a great need for a code of ethics that governs global solidarity. Such a code helps globalisation to bring together both the rich and poor countries, as well as different sections of well off countries as one community. In the area of international commerce and finance, fraternal solidarity focuses on long-term investment which augurs well to a stable development.
In this manner the financial activity finds it proper identity; that of acting as a bridge between the present and the future by creating and consolidating the common good. In the Pope’s words, fraternal solidarity demands “cooperation both on the economic level and on the legal level, so as to allow the international community, and especially poorer countries, to identify and implement coordinated strategies to deal with the problems [mentioned] above, thereby providing an effective legal framework for the economy.” Incentives that bring about participatory institutions, the creation of a culture of legality, investing in the formation of people, developing an all inclusive culture of enterprise and increasing per capita income help immensely in combating poverty in a fruitful manner. Moreover, fraternal solidarity calls for “an ethical approach to economics on the part of those active in the international market, an ethical approach to politics on the part of those in public office, and an ethical approach to participation capable of harnessing the contributions of civil society at local and international levels”.
Fraternal solidarity defeats greed and narrow vision, the two leading causes that escalate poverty. Furthermore, fraternal solidarity brings forward “men and women who live in a profoundly fraternal way and are able to accompany individuals, families and communities on journeys of authentic human development”.
Fr Mario Attard
OFM Cap
San Gwann