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President of the Episcopal Conference: With the new encyclical “Fratelli tutti”, Francis directs an urgent call to universal brotherhood and social friendship to all people – the Pope warns “to think big and deep, cross borders and not look at the small and needy lose “
Salzburg / Vienna (KAP) – With his new social encyclical “Fratelli tutti”, Pope Francis emphasizes that he is and continues to be “a defender of the weak, poor, elderly, refugees, as well as a defender of life and creation”: this is emphasized by the President of the Austrian Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Franz Lackner, to the new papal teaching charter. “Without losing the individual in his unshakable dignity, the Pope creates a universal vision of the whole of society with its religious and public forms of organization: courageous in pointing out the weaknesses and the paths that have become fragile, but at the same time supported by a deeply rooted evangelical piety, “declared the Archbishop of Salzburg in a statement to the Kathpress news agency.
With his letter, Francisco directs an urgent call to universal brotherhood and social friendship to all people. The Pope urges “to think big and deep, to cross borders and not lose sight of the little ones and those in need.” This is exactly my “social friendship,” declared the president of the Episcopal Conference.
The Pope signed the new social encyclical in Assisi over the weekend and subsequently published it. In the third great teaching letter of his pontificate, Francis addresses humanity with an urgent call for solidarity across all borders and urges the renunciation of selfishness at all levels of society. This is the only way to deal with the consequences of the corona pandemic and global challenges such as social inequality and migration.
“Radical option for the weak”
The eponymous words “Fratelli tutti” in the encyclical are a quote from the papal namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 / 1182-1228). Publication of the circular also fell on October 4, the feast of the saint, often called Poverello.
For Pope Francis, “the poor boy of Assisi is the prophet who did not exclude anyone from his universal love and at the same time lived a radical option for the weak and the poor,” emphasized Archbishop Lackner, who himself belongs to the Franciscan order: “That also seems to be the great concern to be this Pope in his encyclical.”
“Always achieve the good again”
The president of the Episcopal Conference referred to the opening chapter of the encyclical. In it, the Pope dedicates himself to “a world that has become increasingly isolated” and addresses untimely conflicts, nationalisms, ideologies, new forms of selfishness, loss of social conscience and deconstructivism.
Good, love, justice and solidarity as a counter-model cannot be achieved once and for all, “they must be won every day,” Bishop Lackner recalled, referring to a corresponding requirement in the papal encyclical. It is very wrong to be content with prosperity in our part of the world, while many brothers and sisters suffer greatly in situations of injustice. According to the Pope, a new openness to the world as a whole is necessary, “and he warns that also for the economy”, added Lackner: “The Pope sees himself as the advocate for the poor, all those in a world marked by the masses are alone. “
Inviolable human dignity
The Archbishop of Salzburg also highlighted those passages in the papal letter in which Francis criticizes that parts of humanity are not only forgotten, but also sacrificed. “Not only products, but the inefficient and elderly degenerate into – as the Pope calls it – waste. In this context, human rights are not universally valid. Furthermore, millions of people are deprived of their liberty and find themselves in a situation comparable slavery, “Lackner summarized.
On the other hand, the Pope does not tire of pointing out the dignity of the human being, regardless of their origin and culture, regardless of whether they are highly productive or not. Francisco also measured individualism and unhealthy populism. He also addressed the problem of migration. “The Pope may understand that there may be fear, but he invites you to go beyond these primary reactions,” Archbishop Lackner said. In his encyclical, Francis re-emphasized the four central words “absorb, protect, promote and integrate.”
The Pope invites hope
At the same time, it is important to Lackner how explicitly Francis speaks of hope in his encyclical. This lies in faith in a God who has shown himself universal love in Jesus Christ, has become man, has turned to people:
“The Pope invites hope, because – as he says – hope is bold!” Emphasized the Archbishop of Salzburg.
With his thinking based on the biblical example of the Good Samaritan, the Pope encouraged the reconstruction of a wounded society and “a universal love without limits, but against a leveling, since in part it is promoted by globalization”, Lackner said: “The future it is not monochrome and the moral good must be promoted. Every society must also worry about transmitting values ”.
Religions do not justify violence
It is also fundamental for the president of the Episcopal Conference that the Pope expressly and repeatedly refers in his encyclical to the meeting with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, with whom he will be in Abu Dhabi in 2019. “Document on the Brotherhood of All Men.” Lackner: “What they both agree is that religions never provoke war. If that happens and has happened, then they have been instrumentalized. Terrorism is doomed. Religions are deeply convinced of the sanctity of human life. They do not justify the violence. “
Approach Kathpress constantly updated with all messages and background reports on the new papal encyclical available at www.kathpress.at/FratelliTutti
((end)) GOOD / PWU
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