(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Tuesday whoever lives the mission of “Caritas” is a true witness of Christ.
Speaking during his homily for the opening Mass of the XXth General Assembly of “Caritas Internationalis”, the Pope said the Church’s humanitarian and development organization reveals the power of Christian love and the desire of the Church to reach out to Jesus in every person, especially the poor and the suffering.
The Mass, in St. Peter’s Basilica, inaugurated the “Caritas Internationalis” General Assembly during which members of the Caritas Confederation from across the globe come together to approve a strategic framework and a budget for the next four years.
Please find below the translation of the full text of the Pope’s homily:
HOMILY FOR THE OPENING MASS
OF THE XXth GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS*
12.5.2015
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 16: 22-34) that we have just heard presents us a somewhat special character. It is the jailer of the prison at Philippi, where Paul and Silas were imprisoned following an up roar of the crowd against them. The magistrates first had Paul and Silas beaten and then sent to prison, ordering the jailer to keep a good guard. So, during the night, when the man felt the earthquake and saw the prison doors open, he was full of despair and thought of killing himself. But Paul reassured him; and trembling and full of wonder, the man got down on his knees and pleaded for salvation.
The story tells us that the man immediately took the necessary steps on the path towards faith and salvation: together with his household, he listened to the Word of the Lord; washed the wounds of Paul and Silas; received Baptism with his entire family; and finally, full of joy, he welcomed Paul and Silas into his home, setting the table and offering them something to eat.
The Gospel, proclaimed and believed, urges us to wash the feet and the wounds of the suffering and to prepare the table for them. The simplicity of the gestures, where the acceptance of the Word and the sacrament of Baptism are accompanied by the welcome of the brother, as if these were indeed one single gesture: to welcome God and to welcome others; to welcome others with the grace of God; to welcome God and express this act in the service to our brothers and sisters. Word, Sacraments and service refer to and nourish each other, as can already be seen in these testimonies of the early Church.
We can see in this gesture the entire vocation of Caritas. Caritas is now a great Confederation, widely recognized throughout the world for its work and accomplishments. Caritas is a reality of the Church in many parts of the world and must still seek a greater expansion in the different parishes and communities, to renew what took place in the early days of the Church. In fact, the source of all your service lies in the simple and docile welcome of God and neighbor.This is the source; if you take away this source Caritas will die. This welcome is first personally experienced by you, so that you may then go out into the world, and there, to serve others in the name of Christ, whom you have met and whom you will continue to meet in every brother and sister that you will approach as your neighbor. Thanks to this, you will actually avoid the risk of being reduced to a mere humanitarian organization.
There are no large or small “Caritas”‘, they are all the same. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to understand what is the true dimension of “Caritas”; the grace so as not to fall into the deceit of believing that well-organized centralization is the right road to take; the grace to understand that “Caritas” is always to be found in the peripheries, in each particular Church; the grace to believe that the central “Caritas” is only aid, service and common experience but it is not the head of them all.
Whoever lives the mission of Caritas is not simple charitable worker, but is a true witness of Christ. He is a person who seeks Christ and allows Christ to seek him; people who love with the spirit of Christ, a spirit of gratuitousness and gift. All of our strategies and plans remain empty unless we carry this love in us. Not our love, but His. Or better yet: our love, purified and strengthened by His love.
In this way, we can serve everyone and set the table for all. This is also a beautiful image that the Word of God offers us today: setting the table. Even now, God sets the table of the Eucharist. Caritas sets many tables for the hungry. In recent months you launched the great campaign”One human family, food for all”. There are still so many people today who do not have enough to eat. The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone. We ought to set the table for all, and ask that there be a table for all. We must do what we can so that everyone has something to eat, but we must also remind the powerful of the Earth that God will call them to judgement one day and there it will be revealed if they really tried to provide food for Him in every person (cf. Matt.25: 35) and if they did what they could to preserve the environment so that it could produce this food.
And thinking about the table of the Eucharist, we cannot forget our Christian brothers and sisters who have been violently deprived of the food for the body and for the soul: they have been driven from their homes and their churches – at times destroyed. I renew the appeal not to forget these people and these intolerable injustices.
Together with many other charitable organizations of the Church, Caritas, therefore, reveals the power of Christian love and the desire of the Church to reach out to Jesus in every person, especially the poor and suffering. This is the path that lies ahead of us. With this perspective, I hope that you will carry out your work during these. We entrust them to the Virgin Mary, who has made this welcome of God and neighbor as the fundamental criteria of her life. In fact, tomorrow we will celebrate Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to announce victory over evil. With such a great support, we are not afraid to continue our mission. Amen.
*The official text is published on the website of the Holy See.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) ‘One Human Family, Caring for Creation’ – that’s the theme of the Caritas Internationalis General Assembly which kicked off Tuesday in Rome. A press conference introducing the works of the 12-17 May Assembly was held in the Vatican Press Office. Pope Francis was to officially open the Assembly with a special Mass Tuesday evening at 5:30 pm local time in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Click here to follow the Mass live . Over the next five days, more than 300 delegates from around the world will lay out plans for the coming four years, aimed at improving the lives of those living in poverty and misery.
“Pope Francis has asked us to go to the ‘peripheries’ to help those in need,” said Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga. “During the Caritas Internationalis General Assembly, the peripheries will come to Rome to seek better ways to improve our service to the most vulnerable”.
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga will officially open the event on 13 May at Domus Mariae Church Palace Hotel.
Guest speakers will include Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; theologian Fr Gustavo Gutierrez O.P; economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Dr Jacques Diouf, Special Envoy for the Sahel and the Horn of Africa; and Beverly Haddad from the University of Kwazulu-Natal.
Some fifty young people, volunteers, grassroots communities and campaigners against hunger will also be present.
“Inequality, migration, climate change, conflict, and the scandal of hunger are challenges facing Caritas and its mission to promote development and justice,” said Michel Roy, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis. “There are major opportunities coming up to work towards this goal, such as a new papal encyclical on human ecology, the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals and the COP 21 climate meeting in Paris”.
Key leadership roles will also be up for election. Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga will step down as president after eight years. Candidates for president are Archbishop Youssef Soueif , president of Caritas Cyprus and Cardinal Luis Tagle, Archbishop of Manila. Elections for the leadership will take place on 14 May.
After the General Assembly, Caritas delegates will go to the EXPO 2015 in Milan for an official EXPO Caritas Day on 19 May. The event is part of Caritas’ campaign ‘One Human Family, Food for All’ which aims to end hunger by 2025.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Michel Roy described the General Assembly as a unique moment to “celebrate who we are and what we do.” Mr Roy said that Caritas had prepared a 5 point strategic framework that would be discussed over the course of the meeting.
Michel Roy also explained that there will be a “new governance coming out of this Assembly” A new President of Caritas Internationalis will be elected as Cardinal Maradiaga will have completed the maximum two terms at the helm of the organization.
Listen to Michel Roy, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) A Press Conference was held at the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday to present details the Caritas Internationalis General Assembly which runs from the 12-17 May in Rome and is held every four years.
The theme for the event is ‘One Human Family, Caring for Creation’ and it brings together over 300 delegates from around the world who will discuss plans for the next 4 years that will entail helping the most vulnerable.
Attending the briefing on Tuesday was the President of Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, Michel Roy, the organistion’s Secretary General, Teologian, Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., and Haridas Varikottil, an expert in Agriculture from Caritas India.
Listen to Michel Roy, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis
During his intervention to journalists, Michel Roy described the Assembly as a unique moment to “celebrate who we are and what we do.” Mr Roy said that Caritas had prepared a 5 point strategic framework that would be discussed over the course of the meeting. The 5 strategic orientations he spoke of are:
“ To help the Church to be a poor Church for the poor.”
The work of Caritas will continue to respond to major emergencies.
Promoting integral human development.
To strengthen global solidarity.
To strengthen and developed the capacity of the weakest or more vulnerable members of the Caritas Internationalis network.
Over the course of the Assembly there will be a number of guest speakers including Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who will speak on the subject of climate change.
Michel Roy also explained that there will be a “new governance coming out of this Assembly” A new President of Caritas Internationalis will be elected as Cardinal Maradiaga will have completed the maximum two terms at the helm of the organization.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Council of European Bishops’ Conferences is having its 4th meeting of bishops and delegates in charge of relations with Muslims in Europe. The meeting is being held at the Abbey of Saint Maurice in Switzerland this week and will last for three days. Two key areas which will be covered are dialogue between Christians and Muslims, along with sociological realities.
The Council of European Bishops’ Conferences has released the announcement reprinted below regarding the meeting.
How Muslims in Europe Change
4th Meeting of bishops and delegates in charge of relationships with Muslims in Europe, Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, 13-15 May 2015
Is there a radicalisation of Muslims in Europe? And how is this issue tackled within the Muslim communities? How is it possible to promote a culture of dialogue between Christians and Muslims? In other words, what is the cultural and religious vitality of the Muslims on the continent? These are some of the issues which will be discussed by the bishops and delegates from Europe’s Bishops’ Conferences in charge of relations with Muslims.
In the Abbey of Saint-Maurice (Switzerland), the oldest Western monastery still functioning, boasting an uninterrupted presence since 515, about forty experts in dialogue with Muslims in Europe will be guided in their work by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and former CCEE Vice-President (2006-2011), and with the participation, too, of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
The meeting, promoted by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), is taking place in the Canton of Valais at the invitation of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference and its General Secretary, Dr. Erwin Tanner.
The speakers guiding the reflections include Prof. Olivier Roy from the European University Institute in Florence; Dr. Omero Marongiu-Perria, an expert in the sociology of religions and member of CISMOC (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Islam in the Contemporary World – University of Louvain, Belgium); Bishops Michel Dubost (France), Juan Antonio Martínez Camino (Spain) and Charles Morerod (Switzerland), who will speak about the vision of dialogue with Muslims in their respective countries. The reflections will then be completed by a series of practical experiences of dialogue, such as that of Fr. Christophe Roucou, talking about the French experience of dialogue between priests and imams; that of Helmut Wiesmann, talking about the German experience of co-operation in charitable work; and finally the experience of Bishop Pero Sudar in the areas of formation and education in Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina).
The meeting will end on the morning of Friday 15 May with an open debate about the results of a questionnaire on some sensitive aspects of the dialogue in the different countries which will be presented by Don Andrea Pacini, CCEE Co-ordinator for this network and Secretary of the Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious dialogue of the Piemonte-Valle d’Aosta regional Bishops’ Conference, followed by concluding remarks from Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, delivered an address to the 9 th review conference of the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty earlier this month. In his prepared remarks, Archbishop Auza told his fellow delegates the very credibility of the Treaty is at stake. “If commitments to nuclear disarmament are not kept and result in breaches of trust, nuclear weapons proliferation will be the foreseeable corollary,” he said. “This threatens the credibility and ultimately the existence of the NPT,” he continued.
Below, please find the full text of Archbishop Auza’s remarks, in English
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The Holy See on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and
Head of Delegation to the ninth review conference of the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons
From Nuclear Deterrence to Disarmament: Evolving Catholic Perspectives
A Conference at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
New York City, 7 May 2015
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening!
Thank you very much, Mr. Speedie, for hosting us here at the seat of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Thank you, Dr. Powers, for serving as our Chairperson. Thank you, sponsors and organizers, for making this conference possible. Thank you all for the interest in the topic of this evening’s discussion: “From Nuclear Deterrence to Disarmament: Evolving Catholic Perspectives.”
This evening’s event comes while the 191 Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are in the ninth quinquennial review conference. The review is considering how best to build on the successes of the NPT to date, as well as how to address the failures that continue to block the full implementation of the terms of the Treaty.
On the one hand, the Holy See appreciates the substantial reductions in nuclear weapon stockpiles on the part of some nuclear weapon states and the remarkable reach of the Treaty to the 186 non-nuclear weapon states. It welcomes the continued implementation of the New Start Treaty and of the array of safeguards agreements governing peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
On the other hand, the Holy See notes the lack of progress towards the realization of the commitment made by Parties to the NPT, namely “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to [the] cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control” (Art. VI). Moreover, given the inability of the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations on a treaty governing the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and the unstable situations in many regions of the world, we have the potential for the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
I would like to develop my reflection on the topic under three sub-themes: First, the Popes and the constant call for the abolition of nuclear weapons; Second, Pope Francis and the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons; and Third, Some Elements of the Holy See’s call for nuclear disarmament.
1. The Popes and the calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons
Has the Catholic teaching on nuclear weapons evolved? If yes, in what way? To attempt to answer these two questions, I would give a brief summary of the teachings of the Popes during the nuclear era.
In 1943, two years and a half prior to the Trinity test in 1945, Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), alerted to the discovery of nuclear fission, voiced deep concern regarding the violent use of nuclear energy. After repeated warnings, in his Easter Message in 1954, Pope Pius XII called for “the effective proscription and banishment of atomic … warfare,” citing “the vision of vast territories rendered uninhabitable and useless to mankind, … transmissible diseases … and monstrous deformities.” He called the arms race a “costly relationship of mutual terror.”
In 1963, Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) issued the Encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (Peace on Earth) just a few months after the nerve-wracking experiences of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, an event some of us in this room lived through. John XXIII was aware of the theory, or strategy, of nuclear deterrence. Rejecting it, he called for the abolition of nuclear weapons, for the cessation of the arms race achieved through “a suitable disarmament program, with an effective system of mutual control.” This approach foreshadows Article VI of the NPT, in which the abolition of nuclear weapons is placed within the framework of effective verification through effective international control. In order “to banish fear and the anxious expectation of war from men’s minds,”John XXIII called for “the realization that true and lasting peace among nations” and said that it “cannot consist in the possession of an equal supply of armaments but only in mutual trust.” John XXIII’s position that “trust should be verified” sounds like the forerunner of Ronald Reagan’s “trust and verify.”
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978), like his predecessors, rejected reliance on nuclear weapons. He defined the sort of peace created by nuclear deterrence as “a tragic illusion.” Along the line of his strong emphasis on the development of peoples, to which he dedicated his Encyclical “Populorum Progressio,” he brought the theme of development into the moral argument for the abolition of nuclear weapons, repeatedly asserting that the nuclear arms race retarded the development of peoples and contributed to the “crying disproportion between the resources in money and intelligence devoted to the service of death and the resources devoted to the service of life.”
The Pastoral Constitution “Gaudium et Spes” of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) stated, “To be sure, scientific weapons are not amassed solely for use in war. Since the defensive strength of any nation is considered to be dependent upon its capacity for immediate retaliation, this accumulation of arms, which increases each year, likewise serves, in a way heretofore unknown, as deterrent to possible enemy attack. Many regard this procedure as the most effective way by which peace of a sort can be maintained between nations at the present time.”
The document went on strongly to challenge this argument, saying, “Whatever be the facts about this method of deterrence, men should be convinced that th e arms race in which an already considerable number of countries are engaged is not a safe way to preserve a steady peace, nor is the so-called balance resulting from this race a sure and authentic peace…. Therefore, we say it again: the arms race is an utterly treacherous trap for humanity, and one which ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree” (GS 81).
With Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), one may affirm that, in the context of the Cold War and the fight against communism, he left the door temporarily ajar for a temporary accommodation of the minimally morally acceptable argument of deterrence, but he did so strictly within the framework of the process towards the total abolition of nuclear weapons. In his message to the second special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament in 1982, he says that in the “current conditions of the Cold War, ‘deterrence,’ considered not as an end in itself but as a step toward a progressive disarmament, may still be judged morally acceptable. Nonetheless, in order to ensure peace, it is indispensable not to be satisfied with this minimum, which is always susceptible to the real danger of explosion.”
Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) spoke out against nuclear weapons several times, calling the argument that nuclear weapons are a basis for peace as “completely fallacious,” while affirming that “peace requires that all … strive for progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament.” In brief, the Holy See took a moral stance against nuclear weapons even before their creation, has always called for their abolition, and continues to work for a world , not only without nuclear weapons, but one that increasingly moves away from war. From veryearly on, the Catholic Church has consistently rejected deterrence as a reliable or, much less, permanent basis for peace.
2. Pope Francis and the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons
The Catholic Church’s continued call for nuclear disarmament has found echoes among many states and non-state organizations, in particular in the conferences on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, beginning in Norway in 2013, then in Mexico in February 2014 and in Vienna in December 2014.
At the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna, the Holy See issued three documents outlining the moral argument for the abolition of nuclear weapons: the Message that Pope Francis sent to the President of the Vienna Conference Sebastian Kurz; the Statement delivered by the Delegation of the Holy See atthe Conference; and a paper entitled “Nuclear Weapons: Time for Abolition.”To lend further impetus to nuclear disarmament efforts and to highlight the moral argument for the abolition of nuclear weapons, on 9 April this year, the Holy See Mission to the United Nations organized a conference at the UN Headquarters in New York. I was pleased to host Bishop Oscar Cantu, Bishop of Las Cruces and Chairman of the US Catholic Conference of Bishop’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, as well as an Anglican Bishop, an Evangelical Minister, a Rabbi and an Imam, who argued for the abolition of nuclear weapons from the perspective of their respective faiths.
Moreover, the Holy See joins some 160 States Parties to the NPT in a common Statement that has been getting circulated at the ongoing NPT Review Conference, demanding effective implementation of the terms of the NPT and the inclusion in the outcome document of the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.
3. Some elements of the Holy See’s argument
In advancing the moral argument against the possession and use of nuclear weapons and against the “doctrine” of deterrence, the Holy See has also focused on the illegitimacy of the use of nuclear weapons vis-à-vis the international humanitarian law; the incompatibility of the nuclear weapons with “just war” principles; the current and emerging grave threats by non-state actors; the scandal of extreme poverty; the perpetuation of inequality contained in the NPT; and the lack of progress in nuclear disarmament as a threat to the very existence of the NPT.
Nuclear weapons, because of the incalculable and indiscriminate consequences of their use, are clearly against the international humanitarian law and their use would inevitably violate it. As the Vatican II Fathers affirmed, “Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man himself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation”(GS 80). As the body of evidence of the unimaginably disastrous humanitarian and environmental impact of any use of nuclear weapons has continued to grow, the NPT eighth review conference in 2010 recognized for the first time the “catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons”. The Holy See calls on all to build on this positive development to strengthen both the moral and legal arguments
against nuclear weapons.
With regard to terrorism, the prospect that non-state actors may acquire nuclear weapons cannot be countered by reliance on nuclear deterrence. Concerning extreme poverty, the investments in military forces, including nuclear weapons and modernization programs, divert financial resources and political will from the needs of the poor. I argue that a dollar spent on development has a much greater impact on global peace and security than a dollar spent on advancing the nuclear weapon programs. Extravagant sums are being spent for weapons, which cannot remedy the miseries afflicting our world today. It would be naïve and myopic if we seek to assure world peace and security through nuclear weapons rather than through the eradication of extreme poverty, making healthcare and education accessible to all, and promoting peaceful institutions and societies through dialogue and solidarity.
In relation to NPT inequality, the non-proliferation regime is rooted in it. In the grand bargain at the Treaty’s foundation, the non-possessing powers granted a monopoly on nuclear weapons to the possessing powers in return for a “transformative” good faith pledge by the nuclear weapons states to reduce and disarm their nuclear arsenals. What was intended to be a temporary state of affairs now appears to have become a permanent reality, establishing a class structure within the international system between possessing and non-possessing states. If there is little or no progress toward disarmament by the nuclear states, the NPT will be regarded as an unjust perpetuation of the status quo. Only insofar as the nuclear-armed states move towards disarmament will the rest of the world regard the nonproliferation regime as just.
Finally, with regard to the threat to the continued existence of the NPT itself, the ancient principle Pacta sunt servanda applies .The NPT is not just a set of legal obligations; it is also a moral commitment based on trust among Parties. The NPT’s central promise of nuclear disarmament in exchange for nuclear non-proliferation, however, remains a distant dream. If commitments to nuclear disarmament are not kept and result in breaches of trust, nuclear weapons proliferation will be the foreseeable corollary. This threatens the credibility and ultimately the existence of the NPT.
Concluding Remarks
Let me end by citing Pope Francis’ message conveyed to the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in December: “I am convinced that the desire for peace and fraternity planted deep in the human heart will bear fruit in concrete ways to ensure that nuclear weapons are banned, once and for all, to the benefit of our common home.” It is for us to make this happen, the sooner, much the better. Have it then in your bucket list.
Thank you for your attention.
(from Vatican Radio)…