WHAT AND HOW IS “DEVELOPMENT” IN CST?
The Catholic Church in Zambia has been guided in its justice, development and peace work by the vision, values and vocation of the church’s social teaching (CST). This guide by CST may at times have been implicit – e.g., in the orientation and operation of mission schools and health facilities, or explicit – e.g., in the establishment of justice and peace committees and development structures at all levels. But whether implicit or explicit, it is a central guide for our work with and for the people of Zambia.
The foundation of this CST is the basic human dignity of every person, as a loved creature of God. As one of the early church writers exclaimed: “The glory of God is the human person fully alive!” Integral development is thus seen as people becoming more fully human. Obviously, this means more than simply economic growth. It requires an integral approach, emphasing material improvement, spiritual enrichment, cultural promotion, ecological harmony, community solidarity and intellectual growth.
Central to all development efforts, according to CST, must be people, people who are more valuable for what they are than for what they possess. Thus development is seen both as a means and as an end, both a process and a product. How we go about development, e.g., in agriculture, in provision of housing, can be as important as what we actually achieve, e.g., food for the body, dwelling places for families.
This means, then, that a Christian view of development, influenced by CST, stresses people’s active participation in ways that respect human dignity and rights. Decisions that affect people should be made by the people affected. People should be the subjects of development and not merely the objects of development. This CST principle becomes real and concrete, for example, in the Zambian church’s use of the Training for Transformation approach, a method of organising local people to identify their key needs and organise themselves to meet those needs.
Economic activity is key in the development of the nation. But CST places the human person at the centre of economic activity. This is not the human person in an individualistic sense but in their social character and as part of the community of creation. Thus a good definition of the “economy” is: Women and men working together in cooperation with the earth to meet their basic needs. This means that economic activity that does not serve the needs of people in community or respect the environment lacks any real justification.
How does this understanding of development relate to the task of evangelisation, bringing the good news to people? Integral evangelisation, the mission of the Christian community, is people becoming incorporated into God’s life. Thus evangelisation must necessarily include the work of development so that people made in God’s image may become more fully human. Education, health care, agricultural work, job training, poverty reduction, etc., then, is as central to evangelisation as liturgy, catechesis, sacraments, etc.
Thus it is clear that CST rejects a “dualism” that makes artificial splits between this world and the next world, the material and the spiritual, the sacred and the secular, the body and the soul. In no way does this view downgrade the importance of so-called “spiritual works” of the church – but it also assures that the so-called “material works” are in no way downgraded!
CST emphasises the close link between evangelisation (sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ) and human advancement (development and liberation). Development is seen as a moment that began at creation, because it is part of the on-going creation undertaken by us women and men who are made in the image and likeness of God the Creator. The work for development continues the work for creation and is thus a very sacred task for us Christians.
The consequences for the Zambian church of this vision and values as set forth in CST is a vocation to be a “church for development,” or as one African theologian has said, echoing the themes of the African Synod, “The Church-as-family at the service of society.” (A.E. Orobator, S.J.)
For the Zambian church to respond to this vocation requires:
1. A theological perspective open to seeing creation as an on-going process in which we all participate through our work for the common good.
2. A spirituality respectful of the material and social dimensions of salvation and sensitive to the place we have in the community of creation.
3. A strategic plan that shows a preferential option for the poor, taking sides in order to reconcile the whole of society to justice and the structures of community and solidarity.
4. A political stance on the side of those excluded from full development, which means that we commit ourselves to a genuine liberation that involves the transformation of dehumanising structures wherever they are found.
5. An institutional commitment that puts adequate resources (personnel, money and time) into development efforts and collaborates with others (ecumenical groups, NGOs, government agencies) whenever possible for more effective results.
To make this possible, the Zambian church must help Christians know and follow the church’s social teaching, so that it may truly be a guide for understanding of and involvement in integral development.
Pete
Henriot, S.J.
JCTR Staff