The
recent tremendous attention paid worldwide to the death of Pope John
Paul II and to the election of Pope Benedict XVI has been truly
amazing. It demonstrates
that Catholic popes have become not simply religious leaders of a
major church but also world leaders with very wide and deep influence.
Their influence touches so many dimensions of our globalised
world and stirs reactions -- positive and negative -- among people of
every description.
With
death finally coming to Pope John Paul II, many of us in Zambia
recalled his visit to this country in 1989.
We remembered his warmth and energy and how he reached out to
so many different sectors of society – church people, politicians,
diplomats, ordinary citizens. The
Pope’s visit was not simply to Catholics but to all Zambians of
whatever church and faith. And
his message was very simple and plain:
“God loves you all very much!”
In
the days immediately following John Paul II’s death, many
reflections came to my mind and heart.
Of different responses I could make, I think it is helpful to
recall some of the key points the Social Teaching
of John
Paul II that have great relevance to Zambia
today. Let me suggest five
very obvious themes from his many speeches and writings.
PEACE
John
Paul II was rightly called the “Pope of Peace.”
Most recently, of course, he was known for the strong rejection
of the illegal and immoral war waged by the United States
and allies against Iraq.
He never backed down on his clear condemnation of that war,
reminding us that “War is not always inevitable.
It is always a defeat for humanity.”
In his many “World Day of Peace” messages, issued on the
first of January of each year, the Pope spoke strongly about the building
blocks for peace, for example: forgiveness and reconciliation,
respect for the environment, dedication to life, concern for the poor,
international cooperation, etc.
One
recalls the remarkable meetings convened by John Paul II of world
faith leaders, gathered for a day of prayer in Assisi, the home of the patron of peace, St. Francis.
The leaders – Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu and so
many other faiths – simply sat in quiet contemplation before God in
whatever way they recognised God.
There was no common prayer that might have compromised any
dogmatic positions! The
Pope gave a powerful example of the need to reach out to others to
work for peace.
We
in Zambia
have enjoyed forty years of peace, the absence of warfare.
But John Paul II often repeated the statement of his
predecessor, Paul VI: “Peace is not simply the absence of warfare,
but the presence of justice.” So
the struggle for social justice in Zambia
-- whether that struggle relates to government budget priorities,
working wages and conditions, constitutional reform or gender
representation in Parliament -- all relates to maintaining the peace
we have been blessed with since Independence.
To work for peace here in Zambia
is to work for justice and to remember the other important lesson of
the Church’s Social Teaching: “the new name for peace is
development”.
THE
INJUSTICE OF POVERTY
John
Paul II could also be called the “Pope of the Poor.”
He constantly called out for a “preferential option for the
poor” -- a placing of the poor at the top of public policy agendas.
Whatever action taken by government, by the church, by civil
society, should be evaluated by one clear question: “What does
this mean for the poor?”
In
his teachings, the Pope reminded us of God’s special love for the
poor, so evident in the pages of our Bible.
God cares for the poor of Israel
who were slaves in Egypt,
wanderers in the desert, attacked in their Holy Land. And Jesus identifies
himself with the hungry, naked, homeless, imprisoned and oppressed
(see Matthew 25).
The
Pope never missed an opportunity to speak on behalf of the poor.
He did this before gatherings of diplomats who came to him in
the Vatican
and in front of the huge audiences that attended to his visits in so
many countries around the world. His
encyclical letters went deeply into the causes of poverty -- for
example when he identified the “structures of sin” such as greed
for riches and the grabbing of power.
When
the Zambian government prepares a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP), we know that it is not simply an economic or political
document. No, it is
primarily a moral document. John
Paul II emphasised that a country could not be said to be
“developing” if the lives of the poor were not being improved.
That is a powerful lesson today for Zambia,
when so many of our people live below the poverty line.
It means that none of us are truly “developed” in human
terms, no matter how rich we might be in material terms!
INTERNATIONAL
JUSTICE
Today
we talk so much about “globalisation” and some people --
especially in the rich countries -- want us to believe that
globalisation as it is currently operating is inevitable and might
eventually -- maybe in the next hundred years -- bring benefits to
Africa and to Zambia. But
John Paul II was very clear in his call for “globalisation of
solidarity, globalisation without marginalisation.”
In
other words, he taught that no true progress in global living is
possible without everyone’s life being improved.
A globalisation that benefits only those who already profit
from economic advantages and/or political power is doomed to failure.
This
theme of international justice the Pope repeated especially in his
visits to rich nations, calling them to pay attention to the majority
of the world’s population that live in poor nations.
He liked to repeat the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
(Luke 16: 19-31)
in front of audiences in Europe
and North
America.
He would explain that the rich man was not condemned for what
he physically did to the poor man but mainly for ignoring the
poverty of Lazarus! He
cautioned the rich nations that they would face a similar fate on
judgment day if they continued to ignore the poor of the world and
what international policies inflicted on those poor.
This
message is very important indeed to pay attention to in Zambia
when we are so much pushed around these days by the international
financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO.
Global power that does not promote international justice is
unacceptable. Terms of
trade, conditions for loans, investment liberalisation, and other
instruments of international relations are human constructions that
must be re-evaluated and re-worked with one clear intention, the
promotion of the structures of justice that respect human dignity and
human rights. Zambia
must not be ruled by outsiders who ignore the suffering of the poor of
this country.
DEBT
BURDEN
Do
we remember that it was in the mid-1980’s that John Paul II began
the global campaign for cancellation of the unjust debt of the poor
countries? At that time
the Vatican
described the effect of external debt as a “strangling” of the
lives of the poor. So when
the Pope wrote a document to prepare people to celebrate the Jubilee
Year of 2000, he made clear that cancellation of debt must be
central to the Jubilee -- just as it was in the Old Testament
teaching (see Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15).
John
Paul II’s influence was then felt when the three church leadership
bodies here in Zambia
-- Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), Christian Council of Zambia
(CCZ) and Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) -- issued a joint pastoral
letter in 1998 that launched the Jubilee 2000-Zambia
campaign. The religious
leaders told us that Zambia could not pay back its debts
because it would be economically destructive, would not pay
back its debts because it would be politically destablising, and should
not pay back its debts because it would be morally unacceptable
– hurting the poor most!
As
Zambia
struggles to find out the consequences of finally reaching that
elusive “HIPC completion point,” it is important to recall the
clear message of John Paul II. He
added his strong voice to the global movement of the Jubilee
campaign calling
for the cancellation of the debt of the poor countries.
Zambia
needs more, much more, than the inadequate solution of the HIPC
initiative with all its entangling conditionalities.
We want 100% cancellation, with the necessary Zambian
government regulations accountability and efficiency in meeting the
needs of the poor. When
the leaders of the G-8 (richest industrialized countries) meet in
Edinburgh, Scotland
at the start of July 2005, the clarion call of John Paul II must be
heard: “Cancel the debts!”
YOUTH
It
is amazing that an old man like John Paul II could have been so
attractive to young people around the world.
Even when they might not have agreed with some of his strict
teachings on morality, youth recognised in the Pope a friend who
understood their problems and loved them.
The huge crowds of young people who turned out for his visits
-- rivaling the rallies of rock stars! -- were testimony to the power
of his words of encouragement for youth to respect life, to work for
the future, to trust in God’s love for them.
Central
to John Paul II’s message for youth was the theme he repeated over
and over again in so many different contexts and in so many different
ways: human dignity and respect for life.
To assure the fullness of life for youth requires life-giving policies and attitudes.
This emphasis can be seen in the Pope’s social encyclicals
and many social messages during his 26 years in office.
More
than 60% of Zambians are youths -- this means that we are a young
nation! And unless our
country values these young people, we have no future.
What does it mean
to value the young?
Surely
it means to make education and health care the number one priorities,
and to promote employment opportunities.
It means
to pay
attention to household food security -- something
that the JCTR “Basic Needs Basket” makes so evident every month!
It means to encourage Iife-giving responses to the HIV/AIDS
pandemic wiping out our youth every day.
If we love the youth the way John Paul II did, then we must
work to make a more just Zambia.
CONCLUSION
In
the days ahead, we will continue to hear and read a lot about John
Paul II and his legacy. There
will be many analyses of the impact of his more than quarter of a
century of leadership of the Catholic Church.
He became a true world leader, impacting on the fall of
Communism and on the concern for the developing nations.
Many will focus on his moral teachings and some of the
heated controversy that these at times have stirred.
But
here in Zambia, am I correct to say that his strongest contribution to
all of us was his clear social teaching for justice for all?
A justice founded on love for each human person created in
God’s image. That is his
heritage, and that is his challenge for us!
Peter Henriot, S.J.
JCTR Staff
Lusaka
