Stephen Bevans outlines the building blocks for supportive relationships among peoples and countries.
Pope Francis sets out the theme of Fratelli Tutti in paragraph two. It is, he says, a reflection on “fraternity and social friendship.” What these ideas mean can be also expressed in another word — solidarity. Solidarity has a long history in Catholic Social Teaching and the Magisterium as well, going back to Gaudium et Spes in Vatican II, the teaching of John XXIII and John Paul II. Pope Francis has used solidarity in his own teaching from the beginning of his papal ministry. The term appears 19 times in Evangelii Gaudium and in various talks that he has given through the years. In Fratelli Tutti it appears 24 times in the text, and there is a short section devoted to the idea in paragraphs 114 to 117.
As Francis explains it, solidarity is “a moral virtue and social attitude born of personal conversion”. As a virtue, it “means much more than engaging in sporadic acts of generosity”. Francis speaks of it in terms of the common good, of opposition to the structures that dehumanise women and men, and commitment to care of Earth. Giving an example from ecological commitment, Francis commends people who, although they “enjoy a surplus of water … choose to conserve it for the sake of the greater human family”. This “allows them to look beyond themselves and the group to which they belong”. In the same way it is recognising “the rights of all people, even those born beyond our own borders”.
The basis of solidarity is reaching beyond the self. Francis calls this the “law of ekstasis” and says: “Let us realise that as our minds and hearts narrow, the less capable we become of understanding the world around us”. Solidarity is what makes us human. In a departure from the usual sources quoted in a papal document, Francis cites a popular song by the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes: “Life, for all its confrontations, is the art of encounter”. Solidarity creates sisterhood and brotherhood and social friendship.
How can we achieve the virtue of solidarity? Throughout the encyclical, Francis offers a number of “building blocks” toward solidarity. These are attitudes and practices which help us develop into people like the Good Samaritan. He reflects: “By his actions, the Good Samaritan showed that ‘the existence of each and every individual is deeply tied to that of others: life is not simply time that passes; life is a time for interactions.'"
Dignity of Every Person
The first building block is the recognition of the fundamental dignity of every human being, a recognition that anchors the whole structure of Catholic Social Teaching, and appears in many other places in Francis’s thought. When human dignity is respected, Francis writes, human beings begin creatively to perform “actions that further the common good”. Quoting his earlier encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, Francis insists that “The mere fact that some people are born in places with fewer resources or less development does not justify the fact that they are living with less dignity” (EG par 190). In his discussion of the death penalty toward the end of the encyclical, Francis affirms the human dignity of “even a murderer”. “If I do not deny that dignity to the worst of criminals, I will not deny it to anyone. I will give everyone the possibility of sharing this planet with me, despite all our differences.”
Affirming Human Rights
The second building block is affirming basic human rights, and in particular the rights of women.
Francis focuses on issues about which he has voiced his concern in previous years, namely human slavery and human trafficking.
Commitment to Justice
Awareness of this vicious reality and working to do all we can to end slavery is intimately related to a third building block, the commitment to justice. “In today’s world,” Francis laments, “the sense of belonging to a single human family is fading, and the dream of working together for justice and peace seems an outdated utopia.” The fact is, however, that we are all connected, we really “are all in the same boat”.
Culture of Encounter
A fourth building block is the development of a culture of encounter. Quoting from his message to the TED Conference in 2017, Francis exclaims: “How wonderful would it be, even as we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters who orbit around us”. Later in the encyclical the practice comes up again. To develop a “culture of encounter” means being “passionate about meeting others, seeking points of contact, building bridges, planning a project that includes everyone. This becomes an aspiration and a style of life”. “Building bridges”, not a “culture of walls”!
Trust
Fifth, there is the building block of trust, expressed negatively: not fearing the other, especially the stranger, the migrant. Fear may be our natural instinct, Francis says, but — echoing his anthropology of ekstasis — “an individual and a people are only fruitful and productive if they are able to develop a creative openness to others.” Our fears make us “intolerant, closed and perhaps even — without realising it — racist. In this way fear deprives us of the desire and ability to encounter the other”.
Listening and Dialogue
A sixth building block is developed in listening and dialogue. Through these practices we avoid what Francis calls “parallel monologues”, prevalent on social media. Dialogue and listening “calls for perseverance; it entails moments of silence and suffering, yet it can patiently embrace the broader experience of individuals and peoples”. Authentic listening and dialogue are, in many ways, ascetical practices, and as for the Good Samaritan can lead us to seeing and paying attention to the strangers we meet on life’s road.
Kindness and Memory
I have discovered other building blocks in Fratelli Tutti — inclusion, co-responsibility, “becoming a neighbour”, effective catechesis and preaching — but two warrant special mention: kindness and memory. “Reconciliation and forgiveness are acts of solidarity, but we must always remember — the victims of the Shoah, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of the slave trade, past and present. As Francis said in his message for the 2019 World Day of Peace, we must “keep alive the flame of collective conscience, bearing witness to succeeding generations to the horror of what happened”.
In an article about Fratelli Tutti, William Cavanaugh tells of a friend who “wondered how a document that is so full of truisms could also be so radical.” The building blocks that Francis offers for the virtue of solidarity are simple, often-cited practices. But that does not make them easy, or superficial. If women and men, of every culture, of every religion, take these practices seriously, Francis’s utopian vision of solidarity in Fratelli Tutti might well become a reality, and heal a wounded world.
Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 256 February 2021: 12-13