THE TABLET
Jan. 3, 2008
World Day of Peace 2009
"Fighting to Build Peace"
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Each year, as has been the custom for almost 40 years, the Roman Pontiffs have issued a New Year’s Day message for the World Day of Peace initiated by Pope Paul VI. This year’s theme is “Fighting Poverty to Build Peace.” Perhaps one of the most interesting sayings of Pope Paul VI was that the “new name of peace is development.” Development, in the long run, will reduce human poverty. From a sociological point of view, however, in the short term it produces some unintended consequences. This is very true in the complex phenomenon of globalization that has become the new world order.
Pope Benedict XVI in one succinct sentence summarizes this when he says, “On the one hand I have in mind what is known as “moral underdevelopment”, and on the other hand the negative consequences of “superdevelopment”. The causes of the unintended consequences of globalization come from underdevelopment. By itself, globalization is a neutral phenomena, however, what we make of it and how we deal with it makes all the difference.
In outlining the causes and consequences of poverty from moral underdevelopment, Pope Benedict XVI cites current issues that demand our attention. The first step is to admit that poverty is the result of demography, which is the growth of human population. As he states, “population is proving to be an asset, not a factor that contributes to poverty.” As one of the great economists once said, “the ultimate resource is people.” The world’s population has grown by 4 billion since the end of the Second World War. But poverty has not increased because of that growth. Rather, it remains, unfortunately, stable.
An additional area of major concern is the pandemic diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS which have contributed to the underdevelopment of many countries. These diseases demand our attention as the message tells us. Another area that has an intrinsic moral dimension is that of child poverty. When children are poor, they suffer many difficulties and are not able to contribute to the development of their countries. This should be the clear priority for our development planning. Other causes of underdevelopment is the race for arms and weapons of mass destruction which contribute to underdevelopment. Finally, the current food crisis places the fulfillment of basis needs in jeopardy.
One of the solutions that might affect the fight against poverty is the effort to build world peace. As John Paul II once said, “We need to globalize solidarity.” As Benedict says in his statement, “There needs to be a strong sense of global solidarity between rich and poor countries, as well as within individual countries, including affluent ones.” This demands a common code of ethics based on the natural law.
At the same time, we look to our own economic situation today and the many who have analyzed it in various ways. Some have said that it is the fault of deregulation, unfettered capitalism, or even greed. Some economists, however, have recently taken a deeper look and recognized that although these factors contributed to our present situation, the actual causes can be traced to an unusual monetary policy and novel federal regulatory interventions which favored affordable housing through expanded purchases, and sub-prime loans to low-income applicants. Policies that foster an ownership society are good;, however, the consequences when deregulation and greed came together were disastrous. This lead to the wrong investments by financial institutions which lead them to unsustainable positions. A common code of ethics and sensible policies are truly needed to reestablish our own economic situation.
The Holy Father goes on to speak about the integration of economies which is certainly a consequence of globalization, which must also have ethical standards since uneven economies can adversely affect the resident populations when there is no solidarity. Also, important to remember are the ethical considerations of globalization regarding finance, technology and, I might add, the movement of peoples into other countries. All of these are new challenges that demand new solutions. How important it is today that an ethical consensus be developed which can assure that economies be governed by good political considerations that have popular input. This insures the democratic balance some need to regulate the unintended effects of globalization.
At the closing of this statement, our Holy Father recommends to us an understanding of globalization which is realistic when he says, “Globalization on its own is incapable of building peace, and, in many cases, it actually creates divisions and conflicts.” His solution for us is to recognize that new aspects of the social question have been recently discovered. How can people live in society without fear of poverty - a condition which debilitates their human development? Fear is banished when we embrace a preferential love for the poor which comes to us from understanding the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s Epistles. Finally, Pope Benedict XVI exhorts us to generosity “not only by ‘giving from one’s surplus’, but above all by ‘a change of life-styles, of models of production and consumption, and of the established structures of power which today govern societies.” Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, has truly challenged us to make some New Year’s resolutions which can affect not only our own lives, but that of others. The most sensible definition of poverty that I have ever heard is that “Those who are poor do not have what they need, and those who are rich do not need what they have.” On which side of this equation do we fall? Perhaps by putting out into the deep this year will mean reexamining what we have and how we use it for the good of others.
Allow me to take this opportunity to wish you and your dear families a healthy and Happy New Year.
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The complete statement “Fighting Poverty to Build Peace” can be found on the Vatican website at www.vatican.va.