The diaconia of charity: Card. Bertone opens Caritas Assembly
From May 22nd to 27th the Caritas Confederation is holding its
General Assembly in Rome. Delegates from the Confederation's 160 nations will have
to vote for a new board of governors and on the plan of action for the Churches global
charity arm over the next four years.
On Sunday evening Vatican Secretary
of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone celebrated mass opening the Assembly. Addressing
the congregation he began by expressing thanks on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI for
the tireless work of the Caritas confederation on behalf of the Church and humanity.
He said “Particular gratitude is due for the work carried out in the aftermath of
the recent natural disasters in Haiti and Japan, as well as for the ready assistance
provided in emergencies resulting from conflicts like those in Côte d'Ivoire and in
other situations of war, and from situations of extreme poverty. Amid all these painful
realities, this worthy Church institution is called to demonstrate, practically and
effectively, that the world is one family, the family of the children of God: “One
human family, zero poverty”, to echo the theme of the present Assembly”.
The
Cardinal then went on to reflect on the diaconia of charity:
“The Church’s
charitable activity, like that of Christ, could never be limited to assisting people’s
material needs, however urgent and immediate those needs might be. A humanitarian
assistance which would habitually prescind from its Christian identity, adapting a
“neutral” approach seeking to please everyone, would risk, even in cases where it
obtained its immediate goals, failing to offer men and women a fine service consonant
with their full dignity. Thus, even without wishing to do so, they would eventually
foster in those whom they assist a materialistic mentality which the latter would
then bring to other relationships and to their approach to social issues. In a word:
the Church must not only practice charity, but practice it as Christ did.”
Reflecting
on the reasons for the founding of Caritas 60 years ago Cardinal Bertone said the
task of Caritas is primarily educational:
“Caritas Internationalis,
in its daily encounter with human needs and forms of poverty, recognizes the urgency
of defending and promoting the rights of the poor, also vis-à-vis international authorities.
Within the terms of the agency’s particular share in the Church’s mission and its
specific mandate as a canonical public person, when carried out in communion with
the Church’s rightful pastors, such advocacy enriches the Church. Nonetheless, there
is another level of service which is prior to and more important than that which concerns
public authorities. It involves appealing in a convincing and respectful way to the
minds and hearts of believers and all persons of good will, enabling them to see the
poor as their brothers and sisters. This is what the Servant of God Pope Paul VI
had in mind he insisted that the task of Caritas is primarily educational.
Ideologies both liberal and collectivist, while containing aspects of truth borrowed
from Christianity, have led to disillusionment because they promised a paradise on
earth. The fact is that paradise will never be attained in history, yet we must constantly
commit ourselves responsibly to the service of our brothers and sisters. At the root
of all forms of poverty are selfishness and indifference, which express themselves
politically above all in corruption. Caritas Internationalis and the national
and local Caritas agencies do immense good when they help persons and communities
to lovingly acknowledge the presence of our brothers and sisters in need, which is
the presence of Christ himself (cf. Mt 25:31-46); when they trouble consciences
and help people to realize the importance of evangelical sharing, whether by personal
initiatives or in cooperation with the Church’s organized charitable activity. To
reveal the faces of our brothers and sisters, to help Christians and all people of
goodwill to care for their needs as if they were their own, and to demand the full
recognition of their dignity: this is the fundamental commitment of Caritas Internationalis,
as well as the goal of that renewed relationship with the agencies of the Holy See
which I trust will be the result of the present Assembly”.
Finally he outlined
the aims of the assembly:
“To carry out the diaconia of charity in its fullness,
to go beyond providing material assistance and defending the rights of the poor, to
strive to awaken in all those whom you assist an awareness of their human dignity,
and to confirm in Christians and in people of good will a practical sense of fraternity
especially with regard to the poor, it is necessary to live in Jesus Christ, who is
“the way, the truth and the life”, and to be enlivened by his Holy Spirit. This Assembly
is not only an occasion for a fraternal encounter and the fulfilment of institutional
duties. It is primarily an occasion for a more intense encounter with Christ and
for a renewed personal commitment to serve our brothers and sisters in the spirit
of Christ. We find Christ in his Word and in the Bread of Life, in personal prayer
and in the sacraments; we also find him, and we share his life with others, in the
activities of Caritas and the Caritas family, as a distinctive part
of the Church. The sacraments, the Word and diaconia are all essential elements of
the Church’s life and that of individual Christians. Thanks to these elements we
will be able to take the “place” prepared for us by Christ in the Father’s house,
but only if we have loved our brothers and sisters as Jesus taught us”.