Pope Francis says "When secularism becomes ideology...this poisons relations and even democracies." FULL TEXT
ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE MEETING PROMOTED
BY THE "GRAVISSIMUM EDUCATIONIS" FOUNDATION
Sala Clementina
Friday, March 18, 2022
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We are used to hearing news of wars, but far away. Syria, Yemen ... habitual. Now the war has approached, it is practically at home. And this makes us think about the "wildness" of human nature, how far we are capable of going. Murderers of our brothers. Thank you, Archbishop Guy-Réal Thivierge, for this letter that you brought, which is a call, draws attention to what is happening. We speak of education, and when one thinks of education one thinks of children, young people ... We think of many soldiers who are sent to the front, very young, Russian soldiers, poor people. We think of many young Ukrainian soldiers; let's think of the inhabitants, the young people, the boys, the girls… This happens near us. The Gospel only asks us not to look the other way, which is precisely the most pagan attitude of Christians: the Christian, when he gets used to looking the other way, slowly becomes a pagan disguised as a Christian. This is why I wanted to begin with this, with this reflection. The war is not far away: it is on the doorstep. What I do? Here in Rome, at the “Bambin Gesù”, there are children injured by the bombings. At home, they take them home. You are welcome? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, how do we normally live distant wars? A war always - always! - is the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because elsewhere we are responsible. There are no just wars: they don't exist! slowly he becomes a pagan disguised as a Christian. This is why I wanted to begin with this, with this reflection. The war is not far away: he is at the doorstep. What I do? Here in Rome, at the “Bambin Gesù”, there are children injured by the bombings. At home, they take them home. You are welcome? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, how do we normally live distant wars? A war always - always! - is the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because elsewhere we are responsible. There are no just wars: they don't exist! slowly he becomes a pagan disguised as a Christian. This is why I wanted to begin with this, with this reflection. The war is not far away: he is at the doorstep. What I do? Here in Rome, at the “Bambin Gesù”, there are children injured by the bombings. At home, they take them home. You are welcome? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, how do we normally live distant wars? A war always - always! - is the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because elsewhere we are responsible. There are no just wars: they don't exist! they take them home. You are welcome? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, how do we normally live distant wars? A war always - always! - is the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because elsewhere we are responsible. There are no just wars: they don't exist! they take them home. You are welcome? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, how do we normally live distant wars? A war always - always! - is the defeat of humanity, always. We, the educated, who work in education, are defeated by this war, because elsewhere we are responsible. There are no just wars: they don't exist!
Dear friends,
I welcome all of you who are participating in the International Congress "Educating for Democracy in a Fragmented World", promoted by the Pontifical Foundation Gravissimum Educationis .
I thank Cardinal Versaldi for his introductory words and I am grateful to each of you for having contributed the richness of your cultural context, of your professional and research sector. This meeting of yours deals with the theme of democracy from an educational perspective. A very current issue, and also much debated one. But it is certainly not often that it is approached from the point of view of education. Instead, this approach, which belongs in a special way to the tradition of the Church, is the only one capable of giving long-term results.
I would like to offer you a brief reflection starting from the Word that the Lord addresses to us in the Gospel of today's liturgy, that is, the parable of the murderous tenants ( Mt 21: 33-43.45-46). Jesus warns against a temptation that belongs to everyone and to all times: the temptation of possession. The tenants of the parable, blinded by the desire to take over the vineyard, do not hesitate to use violence and to kill. This reminds us that when man denies his vocation as a collaborator in God's work and presumes to put himself in his place, he loses the dignity of a son and becomes an enemy of his brothers. He turns into Cain.
The goods of creation are offered to each and every one in proportion to their needs, so that no one accumulates the superfluous nor does anyone else lack the necessary. Conversely, when selfish possession fills hearts, relationships, and political and social structures, then the essence of democracy is poisoned. And it becomes a formal democracy, not a real one.
I dwell on two degenerations: totalitarianism and secularism. They are degenerations of democracy.
St. John Paul II stressed that a state is totalitarian when "it tends to absorb the nation, society, family, religious communities and the people themselves" (Enc. Centesimus annus , 45). By exercising ideological oppression, the totalitarian state empties the fundamental rights of the person and society of value, to the point of suppressing freedom. It is an ideological oppression, and we can talk about the ideological colonizations, which go on and lead us to this.
Radical secularism, in its turn ideological, deforms the democratic spirit in a more subtle and subtle way: by eliminating the transcendent dimension, it weakens, and little by little cancels, any openness to dialogue. If there is no ultimate truth, human ideas and beliefs can easily be exploited for purposes of power. "Humanism that excludes God is an inhuman humanism", said Benedict XVI (Enc. Caritas in veritate , 78). And here is the difference, small but substantial, between a healthy secularism and a poisoned secularism. When secularism becomes ideology, it turns into secularism, and this poisons relations and even democracies.
To these degenerations, you have opposed the transforming power of education. In some universities around the world, for example, you have started training activities, looking for the most effective strategies to transmit democratic principles, to educate for democracy . I invite you to continue along this line and I share some proposals, which I entrust to all of you, engaged in the various areas.
1. To nourish the thirst for democracy in young people . It is a question of helping them to understand and appreciate the value of living in a democratic system, always perfectible but capable of protecting the participation of citizens (cf. Centesimus annus , 46), the freedom of choice, action and expression. And to go on the path of universality against uniformity. The poison is uniformity. And that young people learn the difference and also practice it.
2. Teach young people that the common good is mixed with love . It cannot be defended by military force. A community or nation that wants to assert itself by force does so to the detriment of other communities or other nations, and becomes a fomenter of injustice, inequality and violence. The path of destruction is easy to take, but it produces a lot of rubble; only love can save the human family. On this, we are living the ugliest example near us.
3. Educate young people to live authority as a service . There is a need to train "people willing to put themselves at the service of the community" ( Message for the launch of the Educational Pact , 12 September 2019). We are all called to a service of authority, in the family, in work, in social life. Exercising authority is not easy: it is a service. Let us not forget that God entrusts us with certain roles not for personal affirmation but so that, with our work, the whole community may grow. When authority goes beyond the rights of society, of people, it becomes authoritarianism and eventually becomes dictatorship. Authority is a very balanced thing, but it is a beautiful thing that we must learn and teach young people to learn how to manage it.
There are three oriented educational paths, as Saint Paul VI would say, to the civilization of love, and ask to be carried forward with courage and creativity. It seems to me that they can fit well into the framework of the Educational Pact, which we started together with the Congregation for Catholic Education. And I take this opportunity to re-launch this Pact, this alliance which aims to bring together those who care about the education of the younger generations, and which can become an instrument for pursuing the global common good. In the context caused by the war in Ukraine, the value of this Educational Pact stands out even more, in order to promote universal brotherhood in the one human family, based on love. Prayer for peace must in fact be accompanied by a patient educational commitment, so that children and young people develop a strong awareness that conflicts are not resolved by violence, they are not resolved by oppression, but by confrontation and dialogue. There will always be conflicts: teaching young people how to resolve a conflict. Not with violence, not with oppression but with confrontation, healthy confrontation, and dialogue.
Dear friends, thank you for your work. I cordially bless all of you and your loved ones, your institutions and your work. Thank you! I cordially give this blessing to everyone. And I ask you please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you!
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