Pope Francis takes on
inequality and money power in Evangelii Gaudium, his first Apostolic
exhortation
by George Mathew
Pope Francis has once again proved that he's
different. 'Evangelii Gaudium', the first Apostolic exhortation of the Holy
Father has caused ripples across the world – even among non-believers and
communists.
Translated into English, the title means “The
joy of the Gospel”.
Pope asks everyone to be evangelizers and
makes it clear that “Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without
excluding anyone.. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of
rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their
respective communities.” The emphasis is on words “bold and creative”.
Writing
in National Catholic Reporter, Pat Perriello said, “the latest papal document
is truly remarkable. I believe it is safe to say that there has never been a
papal document quite like the Evangelii Gaudium. Evangelisation is the central
theme of the latest papal document – especially its how, why, where and what.
The Pontiff writes “I” throughout the 224-page document, departing from the normal
style of “we” in hitherto papal documents. The most interesting observation is
it’s addressed directly to everybody, including you and me, dismantling the involvement of any
middlemen.
He clearly wants a Church “living in the midst
of the homes of her sons and daughters”. In other words, he says church should
be in contact with the homes and the lives of its people, and does not become a
useless structure out of touch with people or a “self-absorbed group made up of
a chosen few”.
Pope says the bishop must always foster the
missionary communion in his diocesan Church. While doing this, the bishop
sometime will have to go before his people, pointing the way and keeping their
hope vibrant. “At other times, he will simply be in their midst with his
unassuming and merciful presence. At yet other times, he will have to walk after
them, helping those who lag behind and – above all – allowing the flock to
strike out on new paths.”
According to him, if part of our baptized
people lack a sense of belonging to the Church, this is also due to certain
structures and the occasionally unwelcoming atmosphere of some of our parishes
and communities, or to a bureaucratic way of dealing with problems, be they
simple or complex, in the lives of our people. “In many places an
administrative approach prevails over a pastoral approach, as does a
concentration on administering the sacraments apart from other forms of
evangelization,” the document says.
He makes it clear the Church is called to be
the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such
openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone,
moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a
closed door, he says,
The Eucharist, although it is the fullness
of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and
nourishment for the weak.
“Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace
rather than its facilitators,” he says.
“The Church is not a toll house; it is the
house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their
problems,” the Holy Father says.
He says spiritual worldliness lurks behind a
fascination with social and political gain, or pride in their ability to manage
practical affairs, or an obsession with programmes of self-help and self-realization.
“It can also translate into a concern to be seen, into a social life full of
appearances, meetings, dinners and receptions. It can also lead to a business
mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations whose
principal
beneficiary is not God’s
people but the Church as an institution,”
Pope asks, “to whom should she (Church) go
first?” Quoting the Bible, he replies, “When we read the Gospel we find a clear
indication: not so much our friends and wealthy neighbours, but above all the
poor and the sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked, “those who
cannot repay you.”
He has a question to the media as well. How
can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of
exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case
of exclusion. “Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while
people are starving? This is a case of inequality,” the Pontiff says using
strong words.
Using a tough
language which could make Communists happy, Pope says, “Today everything
comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the
powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find
themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities,
without any means of escape.”
Coming down sharply on the new trend across
the world, he says, “to sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to
sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has
developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of
feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain,
and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s
responsibility and not our own.” Inequality eventually engenders a violence
which recourse to arms cannot and never will be able to resolve, he says.
Appalled at the consumerism wave, the pontiff
says “the culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market
offers us something new to purchase.” In the meantime all those lives stunted
for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.
Continuing his attack on the money power and
its evil influence, he says, “we have
created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (Exodus 32:1-35) has
returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the
dictatorship of an mpersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.
Pope exhorts that each individual Christian
and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and
promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.
“This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to
come to their aid. A mere glance at the Scriptures is enough to make us see how
our gracious Father wants to hear the cry of the poor,” he says.
-- GEORGE MATHEW
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