Pope to Ambassadors: Greatest poverty is lack of love
“Allowing everyone the opportunity to know God, and in full freedom, means helping
to forge a strong interior personality which enables people to witness to good and
accomplish good even if it comes at a cost” said Pope Benedict Friday as he received
a group of non-resident Ambassadors to the Holy See from the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia, Malaysia, Ireland, the Republic of Fiji and Armenia. Emer McCarthy reports
Listen:
As
has become tradition the Holy Father delivered one general address to the group which
focused on how openness to God in society can help overcome the ‘spiritual and material’
poverty that the current economic crisis has produced.
The Pope began by noting
how mass communications has made our planet “smaller” and people more aware of the
great suffering caused by poverty which is “dramatically developing” and has taken
on “new forms”.
Globalisation, Pope Benedict said, has led people to “believe
in the possibility of unlimited enjoyment and consumption”, but now that the necessary
means to satisfy these needs are lacking, “feelings of frustration have emerged”,
resulting in “an increase in loneliness due to exclusion”, a widening gap between
rich and poor and “a perception of unfairness” that can become a source of rebellion.
He called on States to ensure that the social laws do not increase inequalities,
adding that in order to strengthen the human foundation of the socio-political reality,
“we must be attentive to another kind of poverty: that of the loss reference to spiritual
values, to God”.
This vacuum – he continued - makes discernment between good
and evil more difficult and adherence to fashionable ideals easier. Subsequently,
“many young people in search of an ideal, turn to artificial paradises which destroy
them. Addiction, consumerism and materialism, do not fill the heart of man made for
infinity. For the greatest poverty is the lack of love”.
Pope Benedict said:
“In distress, compassion and selfless listening are a great comfort. Even without
great material resources, it is possible to be happy. Living simply in harmony with
what we believe, should remain a possibility”.
Finally he concluded, “religion
permits us to recognize in the other a brother in humanity”.
Below a
Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s address, delivered in French:
“Ladies
and Gentlemen Ambassadors,
It is with joy that I welcome you this morning for
the presentation of your Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of your respective countries to the Holy See: the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,
Malaysia, Ireland, the Republic of Fiji and Armenia. You have come to express the
cordial greetings of your Heads of State and I thank you. Would you please convey
to them my greetings and my respectful wishes for them and the high office they perform
in service to their country and their people. I also wish to greet through you, all
the civil and religious authorities of your Nations and all of your compatriots. My
thoughts also turn naturally to the Catholic communities in your countries, to assure
them of my prayers”.
“The development of mass communications has made our planet,
somehow, smaller. The ability to know almost immediately the events taking place worldwide,
just as the needs of peoples and individuals, is an urgent call to be close to them
in their joys and in their difficulties. The reality of the great suffering caused
worldwide by poverty and misery, both material and spiritual, invites a new mobilization
to respond, in justice and solidarity, to all that threatens human society and its
environment”.
“Urban migration, armed conflict, famine and pandemics, which
affect so many people, dramatically develop poverty which today has taken on new forms.
The global economic crisis has brought more and more families to an increasingly precarious
situation. While the creation and multiplication of needs led people to believe in
the possibility of unlimited enjoyment and consumption, once the necessary means to
satisfy these needs were lacking, feelings of frustration emerged. Loneliness due
to exclusion increased. And when poverty coexists with the very rich, a perception
of unfairness is born that can become a source of rebellion. It is therefore appropriate
that States ensure that the social laws do not increase inequalities and enable people
to live decently”.
“For this, consideration must be given to helping people
overcome this shortfall, by rendering them actors in their society, enabling them
to take charge of their own future, helping them to occupy a place within society
according to their abilities. Because "man is more precious for what he is than for
what he has" (CONC. VAT. II, Gaudium et spes, 35). Development for which every nation
aspires each should concern the integral person, not economic growth alone. This belief
must become an effective will for action. Experiments such as microcredit, and initiatives
to create equitable partnerships, show that it is possible to harmonize economic goals
with social needs, democratic governance and respect for nature. It is also good,
for example […] to promote manual labour and to promote an agriculture that is first
of all at the service of the inhabitants”. “The quality of human relationships and
resource sharing are the foundation of society, allowing each to have his or her place
and live with dignity in accordance with their aspirations”.
“For strengthening
the human foundation of the socio-political reality, we must be attentive to another
kind of poverty: that of the loss reference to spiritual values, to God. This vacuum
makes discernment between good and evil as well as the overcoming of personal interests
for the common good, more difficult. It makes it easier to adhere to ideals currently
in fashion and avoid the necessary effort of reflection and criticism. And many young
people in search of an ideal, turn to artificial paradises which destroy them. Addiction,
consumerism and materialism, do not fill the heart of man made for infinity. For the
greatest poverty is the lack of love. In distress, compassion and selfless listening
are a great comfort. Even without great material resources, it is possible to be happy.
Living simply in harmony with what we believe, should remain a possibility, and become
ever more possible. I encourage all efforts undertaken, particularly in favour of
families. Moreover, education must awaken to the spiritual dimension as "the human
being develops when he grows in the spirit" (Caritas in veritate, 76). Such education
helps build and strengthen more authentic bonds because it opens up to a more fraternal
society which it helps to build”.
“States have the duty to promote their cultural
and religious heritage which contributes to the development of a nation, and to facilitate
access to all, for in familiarising oneself with history, each individual is brought
to discover the roots of his or her own existence. Religion permits us to recognize
in the other a brother in humanity. Allowing all the opportunity to know God, and
in full freedom, means helping to forge a strong interior personality which enables
him to witness to good and accomplish good even if it comes at a cost. "Openness to
God makes us open towards our brothers and sisters and towards an understanding of
life as a joyful task to be accomplished in a spirit of solidarity" (Caritas in
veritate, 78). In this way we can build a society where experiences of sobriety
and fellowship will help reduce poverty, and take precedence over the indifference
and selfishness of profit and waste, and above all over exclusion”.