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For Europe and for Caritas: Populorum Progressio, After 50 Years, More Topical Than Ever

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For Europe and for Caritas: Populorum Progressio, After 50 Years, More Topical Than Ever By Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary General of Caritas Europa For Europe and for Caritas: Populorum Progressio, after 50 years, more topical than ever The 26th of March, 1967, Blessed Pope Paul VI presented to the world the Encyclical letter Populorum Progressio. What does this have to do with today’s Europe, with the European construction? A lot! Paul VI presented to the world the guiding values for a new world order, in which development became the new word for peace. He requested the rich nations to assume their moral obligation towards the poorer, providing development aid and working for the common good. He made an appeal for solidarity and collaboration – between people and between nations - and outlined what international cooperation should be. He stressed that authentic development “cannot be restricted to economic growth alone. To be authentic, it must be well rounded; it must foster the development of each man and of the whole man” (PP 14). He placed the person in communion with the others in the center of development and introduced the concept of integral human development. Part of his integral vision of development is the multi-dimensional links between the social and emotional wellbeing of people, families and communities with the economic dimension. During all these decades Populorum Progressio has been a strong inspiration for many of the diverse forces that in dialogue, also in conflict of ideas and words (not of weapons), have been and continues to be building the European Union we know today. Many of the then new concepts introduced by Populorum Progressio, as for instance, integral human development, are today undisputedly part of the European vocabulary, part of the European acquis. Caritas Europa still uses these concepts today to advocate, defend and bring the voices of the poor and the Caritas’ experience to the European Institutions. In doing so, we use at the same time the language of the church and European language. At the same time I’m convinced that Pope Paul VI, while reading the signs of the times, was inspired by the Treaty of Rome, signed on the 25th of March of 1957, 10 years and one day before Populorum Progressio. Coincidence? I think Pope Paul VI did it on purpose. The European project started as a project of peace and solidarity, two core items in Populorum Progressio. Peace: After hundreds of years of wars on European soil, a number of politicians from different nationalities, Christians, we call them today the Founding Fathers of the European Union, decided to lay the basis for a long lasting peace. The strategy was to create interdependence in different policy areas (starting with coal, steel, and commerce), so that cooperation would be the only winning way. The peace in the territory of the EU lasts now more than 70 years. Solidarity: the Treaties of Rome established immediately the European Social Fund, a first huge solidarity tool to help the people in need, at that time the workers from the coal and steel industries who would lose their jobs and would have to find a new one. Later other European policies and funds reinforced the concept of solidarity: EAFRD, solidarity with farmers and rural population; caritas europa is the network of Caritas organisations on the European continent – http://www.caritas.eu ERDF, solidarity with the poorer regions of Europe; and so many other funds and programmes over the last 60 years. I’m convinced that without the European project, without the European solidarity, higher inequalities among regions and countries would exist, the poor in our countries would be poorer and we would face nowadays many more structural problems. Despite all the justified criticisms we can make today to our governments and the European Institutions, regarding the need for better implementation and protection of human and social rights, Europe is nevertheless a much better place today than it was 60 years ago. And despite all incoherencies and mistakes, we shall acknowledge that the world is also a much better place because of Europe’s role in the international arena in these last decades. And Europe and the world are better places precisely because of the successes in the European project. While reading how the Lord shapes the history of humanity, observing the promising development of the European project, with his Populorum Progressio Pope Paul VI wanted to remind (also) to the Europeans the higher values that should guide the further construction of the European project. The poor need Europe, yes, definitively. And not only money, but an integral approach toward human development. The idea we are hearing lately of “my region first”, “my country first” or let’s imagine someone would say “my Caritas first”, is against the principle of the common good enshrined by Blessed Pope Paul VI. Re-reading this encyclical letter, we see that it remains at the latest cutting edge. We need to reinforce those values in our Caritas work, promote them in the relationship with the local, regional, national governments and the European institutions. In Caritas, our direct encounter with people in poverty and the guidance provided by the Social Teaching of the Church, are the solid foundations of our “political path of charity” (Caritas in Veritate, 7), in order to lend our voice to the causes of the poor (Evangelii Gauidum, 198). While building on the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has requested in three different moments to work for the further development of the European project: his address to the Council of Europe (2014), his address to the European Parliament (2014) and his speech at the conferral of the Charlemagne Prize (2016). If Pope has a vision, clearly founded in the tradition and teachings of the church oriented toward integral development of his people, and his vision is supported by Caritas’ experiences, in Caritas we shall clearly engage in the construction of Europe. Europe is a beautiful project, imperfect, but a work in progress. Without unity in diversity in Europe, without dialogue, without a vision of the whole, Europe would fall apart. We need Europe. A Europe built in the spirit of Populorum Progressio. caritas europa is the network of Caritas organisations on the European continent – http://www.caritas.eu .
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