UP there in the Vatican structure, there’s an office that helps in deepening and developing the Church’s social doctrine and applying it in such fields as law, economics, politics and other social sciences.
This is the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which do research, dialogue and teaching so that Christ’s gospel can shed light on our increasingly complex world.
Yes, we should never forget that in the end and always, Christ’s gospel should inspire our thoughts and actions, our personal and social life, our business and politics.
Recently, it held a plenary session, to which the Pope was invited. And the theme was: “Pursuing the Common Good: How Solidarity and Subsidiarity Can Work Together.”
First of all, I would like to say that activities like this should be given due space and attention in our media, so that everyone can have a chance to know the important and crucial role they play in our lives.
We have to overcome the bias that pits what is supposed to be theoretical against what is to be practical. That kind of thinking is wrong, because there is an objectively organic link between the theoretical and the practical, and we just have to discover that link.
It’s also a painfully outdated attitude, since with our rapidly changing world, we should feel more intensely the need for guidance, and that means relating theories with practice and vice-versa. As much as possible, we should avoid the random and trial-and-error approaches.
Besides, when media systematically ignore events like this, they can’t help but plunge into cheap gossiping, chaotic wrangling, and the like. Even if one may not completely agree or understand these matters, it cannot be doubted that these studies offer some light. They deserve media space.
In this particular session of the Academy, the Pope, ever so brilliant and rooted in the gospel, gave some interesting and intriguing remarks that I thought are worth echoing.
What he said are not exactly new, since they are part of Christian doctrine. They just sound new since many of us are not familiar with them yet, in spite of the centuries of Christianity that we have had so far. This is a predicament we have to correct.
Yes, there are still a lot of inconsistencies and gaps in our knowledge of Christian doctrine, let alone the lacunae between our knowledge and our behavior. Thus, the help of the media to fill up these loopholes can be great.
So, instead of dwelling much in shallow, insubstantial and inane matters, the press can do a great service by tackling this serious responsibility of tracing the tenuous relationship between Christian theory and practice, especially in our social life.
In his address, the Pope in effect said that God’s most intimate inter-trinitarian life is reflected in our efforts to live solidarity and subsidiarity in pursuit of our common good. These efforts also have the potentials to lead us to the sharing of that life, to which we are actually called.
“In choosing the theme,” he told the Academy, “you have decided to examine the interrelationships between four fundamental principles of Catholic social teaching: the dignity of the human person, the common good, subsidiarity and solidarity.”
“These key realities,” he said, “which emerge from the living contact between the Gospel and concrete social circumstances, offer a framework for viewing and addressing the imperatives facing mankind at the dawn of the 21st century.”
He mentioned some challenges, like reducing inequalities in the distribution of goods, expanding opportunities for education, fostering sustainable growth and development, and protecting the environment.
I think that all of us should try to familiarize ourselves with these concepts that are already defined in our Catechism. And then try to apply them to our concrete situations, personal and social.
This, of course, should be done with a lot of prudence by collecting data, studying things thoroughly, engaging in dialogue with the different parties involved, developing programs and strategies, implementing them and monitoring them.
What should not be forgotten is that our social life should reflect as well as lead us to God’s Trinitarian life. Let’s never forget that our life always has a religious dimension.
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