Some people like to think of Catholic social teaching as a political programme – sometimes as a political programme that could equally be secular. That is a mistake.
This happens for several reasons. One is that people look at the imperfections in the world, and they look to that body (government) they feel can rectify those imperfections the most direct way (often with terrible unforeseen consequences). Secondly, most people are not interested in theology so, when a pope issues what is known as a social encyclical, the media tend only to be interested in questions such as “what does the pope think about what President Trump is doing about migration?” or “what does the pope think about climate change?”. Thirdly, people like to scan the Church’s documents on social issues for statements that justify their own pre-conceived political views. Andrew Yuengert often writes on “Catholic social teaching from the ground up” and this blog is reflective of that philosophy.
The theme of fraternity unites the teaching of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis in a neat way.
Pope Benedict issued Deus caritas est on Christmas Day 2005. In that document, he wrote something important which should transcend political debate:
The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern…This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than material support. (Deus caritas est, 28).
We are all called, as Christians, to work for the common good: that is to help create the conditions in which all people can reach fulfilment and perfection. That means not just ensuring material needs are met (important though that is) but also attending to people’s relational and spiritual needs because we ultimately reach our fulfilment through relationship with each other and with God. That requires us to operate at a local level and at an individual level. The promotion of the common good does not just need a cheque – it needs relationships. Organisations such as Emmaus and the SVP promote such relationships.
Pope Francis developed this theme further. In a letter on the family, Pope Francis had written: “When a family is welcoming and reaches out to others, especially the poor and the neglected, it is a symbol, witness and participant in the Church’s motherhood.”
Pope Francis made a similar point in relation to migration in Fratelli tutti. He wrote:
Our response to the arrival of migrating persons can be summarized by four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate. For it is not a case of implementing welfare programmes from the top down, but rather of undertaking a journey together, through these four actions….
In other words, the promotion of the common good when it comes to migration requires fraternity which starts with our own personal relationships wherever we encounter migrants, or those from other ethnic groups whether in the parish, the school or as neighbours. That is a two-way relationship: fraternity runs in both directions.
Pope Benedict’s and Pope Francis’s teaching in this area raises questions such as “do I send cheques to homeless charities but never stop to talk to a homeless person – or even smile at them?”. “Do I campaign to change political structures but never assist people personally or through community groups?”. Looking at it from the other direction, do we celebrate people who give money but not who give time?
The parable of the Good Samaritan is important here. It shows us how these acts of fraternity should involve anybody with whom God’s providence leads us to have an encounter. The Good Samaritan provided money (which was, in fact, important), but he personally tended to the man and made it his business to put himself in danger by returning to see that everything was okay.
And Pope Francis wrote about how these acts can change culture. He wrote:
We can start from below and, case by case, act at the most concrete and local levels, and then expand to the farthest reaches of our countries and our world, with the same care and concern that the Samaritan showed for each of the wounded man’s injuries.
In other words, our acts of solidarity can, if engrained in culture, radiate outwards and can turn into a great social movement. In fact, Pope Benedict’s Deus caritas est recounts how this attitude was what made the Church so attractive in the early centuries during its rapid expansion. The same is true during her European revival in the nineteenth century. And I perceive the same thing is happening today.
The great Christian social movements were based on providing for the real needs of people – through material and spiritual support, through fraternity and through relationships. And the great movements always started small. No great movement or institution starts as a great movement or institution.
But we might that what we do is never enough. It is then that we need to unite social action to prayer. Here, Pope Benedict had some wise words which help us connect our social and spiritual lives. In Deus caritas est, he wrote:
There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged…In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord…To do all we can with what strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: “The love of Christ urges us on.” (2 Cor 5:14).
In other words, a living relationship with Christ helps keep us on the right path in love of, and of service to, others. Pope Benedict mentions the example of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta who showed how time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour, but it is, in fact, an inexhaustible source of that service.
We can relate this to the ideas of horizontal and vertical communio. The cross has two pieces. We are called to act like the horizontal piece reaching out to all our brothers and sisters on earth (we are all children of God), responding to God’s call in our own circumstances. But, without the vertical piece, the horizontal piece falls to the ground. We are also called to be in a relationship with God represented by the vertical piece which stretches upwards. That relationship feeds our social action. The two pieces are inextricably linked.
Indeed, it is worth taking the idea of prayer a bit further. Some people may feel helpless because they are unable to reach out in support to others. Maybe they are housebound or disabled or children who are too young to participate in a particular activity. It would be terrible to think that people feel excluded from responding to the Church’s social teaching. But they are not. For some people, the most important way in which Catholic social teaching affects their daily life is in the prayers they offer up for those in need and for the efforts of our fellow parishioners in addressing those needs. Everybody can contribute.
That way, we can all be united in fraternity, and, in turn, united as one community with God.
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Photo by Diva Plavalaguna
