A
first international meeting of chaplains serving in Parliaments is
taking place at the Pontifical Justice and Peace Council this week,
reflecting on ways of supporting Catholics engaged in political life.
The
encounter, entitled ‘Pastoral Care of Politicians: Spiritual
Companionship and Promotion of the Common Good’, was opened on Thursday
by Council President, Cardinal Peter Turkson, who spoke of “new and
serious issues” facing those searching for a right relationship between
Christian faith and political decision making.
During a break in the
meeting, Philippa Hitchen caught up with Cardinal Turkson to find out
more about the goals of the two day conference:
Please find below the text of Cardinal Turkson's introduction to the meeting:
Your Excellencies, Rev. Fathers, Distinguished Speakers and Participants, dear friends:
1.
It is a joy for me to welcome you to the Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace for this first meeting of chaplains serving parliaments.
Thank you for making yourselves available for these two days of
discussion and labour. Let me especially thank the speakers who have
agreed to enrich our reflections.
2. We are gathered here to
celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Vatican II. As we begin our
deliberations, we cannot avoid thinking of the emphasis in Gaudium et
Spes on participation in the political sphere: “There is no better way
to establish political life on a truly human basis than by fostering an
inward sense of justice and kindliness, and of service to the common
good, and by strengthening basic convictions as to the true nature of
the political community and the aim, right exercise, and sphere of
action of public authority.” The mission of priests involved in various
ways with political figures fits into this desire of Vatican II. This
mission is not only one of defending particular positions, even if it is
sometimes necessary to do so. Above all, it is imperative to assist
those in public life to give their political engagement proper
foundations and direction in an interiorized manner, through reflection
and prayer, rather than leaving it merely to formal conventions.
3. A
little more than ten years ago, the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith issued its Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the
Participation of Catholics in Political Life. It noted that “today’s
democratic societies ... call for new and fuller forms of participation
in public life by Christian and non-Christian citizens alike.” It
analyzed the “cultural process” in which we are engaged, which combines
the “great strides made in ... humanity’s progress in attaining
conditions of life which are more in keeping with human dignity” with
“the real dangers which certain tendencies in society are promoting
through legislation, nor can one ignore the effects this will have on
future generations.” The text went on to deplore “a kind of cultural
relativism [that] exists today, evident in the conceptualization and
defence of an ethical pluralism, which sanctions the decadence and
disintegration of reason and the principles of the natural moral law.”
The Doctrinal Note then proposed a thorough study of the conditions for a
just secularism. Overall it urged a closer accompaniment of Christians
involved in politics, to form them to engage in ever more serious
subjects with true ethical discernment – that is, both fully rational
and open to the light of Revelation.
4. This is the context in which
you exercise your ministries to parliaments, and in which we gather
here today. New and very serious issues call for a more vigorous
commitment of the Church to politicians. This commitment must be both
intellectual and spiritual. At the same time as helping Christian
politicians to rationally discern the common good, we must nourish their
hope and bolster their courage. But it is not for the clergy to replace
the laity. Rather it is a matter of helping these politicians to
exercise their baptismal responsibility fully and justly, in the spirit
of Lumen Gentium and Christifideles Laici. Nor is it a matter of
interfering with legitimate pluralism, but of helping those whose
mission is to serve human dignity in all its dimensions. The
preferential option for the poor includes the unborn and social
insecurity, migrants and the elderly, the unemployed and the
environment. One characteristic of Christians involved in politics is or
should be an ability to promote an all-encompassing and coherent
principle of humanity. Fr. Francesco Occhetta of La Civiltà Cattolica
will open the reflection on dimensions of the Catholic political
commitment, while Fr. Paolo Benanti will consider important new
opportunities and challenges which come with the Digital Age we are in.
5.
As a group, you practice your ministry in extremely varied conditions.
Some of you have official status – you carry out functions that are
recognized by your country’s governments. Others, particularly in more
strictly secular States, are limited to offering ecclesial support more
or less informally, outside of the parliamentary institution. For some,
the ministry is primarily spiritual and oriented to worship, while
others give most attention to ethical discernment. Some of you are
engaged full-time with parliamentarians, while for others it is just one
pastoral preoccupation among many, especially in countries where no
genuine parliamentary ministry exists – or at least, not yet. We could
regard the variety of your situations as an accurate reflection of the
complexity of a right relationship of Christian faith to political life.
Thus it will be productive for us to learn from each other’s
experience.
6. In order for this sharing of experience to be as
fruitful as possible, we thought that it should be enriched with a
fundamental theological reflection on “the principles and relevance of
Catholic theology of politics” and a broad sociological perspective on
“Church-State relations in the world”. This is what Fr. Frédéric Louzeau
and Professor José Casanova will provide this afternoon. The Doctrinal
Note that I mentioned earlier asked important questions a decade ago; it
is worthwhile to assess its impact and, with the benefit of hindsight,
to explore the outlook for the years to come. For this we will hear from
His Excellency Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria, Secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
7. Ministry to
parliamentarians, I have said, is a context of particular interest for
collaboration between clergy and laity. That is why it was important to
also have lay persons share their experiences and expectations with us.
Spanish parliamentarian José Miguel Castillo Calvín and Tugdual
Derville, Executive Director of Alliance Vita, will be our speakers. The
latter will talk about “new models of Christian action”: it is very
important nowadays to avoid restricting political action to the
parliamentary or institutional setting, but to be active as well with
lobbies and think tanks and with the worlds of public communication and
social reflection.
8. This first meeting is mainly European and
Western in focus. Accordingly, it is important to consider the specific
conditions for political ministry in Europe. Bishop Piotr Mazurkiewicz,
Professor of Political Science in Warsaw and former Secretary General of
COMECE, is a particularly appropriate speaker on this topic. Several
chaplains will share their experiences: Bishop Lorenzo Leuzzi from
Italy, Mons. Karl Jüsten from Germany and Fr. Patrick Conroy from the
United States. However, the catholicity of the Church is a persistent
reminder to situate political action in the complex and fascinating
perspective of globalization. Therefore I am especially pleased that a
pioneer in this ministry from South Africa, Fr. Peter John Pearson, can
also give us his testimony. Finally, Bishop Mario Toso, Secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will review the various
dimensions of the pastoral care and spiritual accompaniment of
politicians and the promotion of the common good.
9. Dear friends,
we shall devote two days to reflection and to sharing our experiences.
But we will also experience a time of fraternity—that fraternity which
is at the heart of the Christian experience and which is ours to share
with a world longing for unity and peace. We will celebrate the
Eucharist, the sacrament of unity and peace, and pray for those in
positions of public authority today.
During the Great Jubilee Year
of 2000, Blessed John Paul II, soon to be declared a Saint, named St.
Thomas More as patron of politicians. Let us entrust our labours to his
prayerful guidance. Through the intercession of St. Thomas More, I ask
God to raise authentic servants of the common good throughout the world
and priests who know how to accompany them. May the Lord bless our
discussions and our work.
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson
President