Maravi

We hope Kunda has learnt something from Fr Umberto

We hope Kunda has learnt something from Fr Umberto
By Editor
Mon 02 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

The joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of our people, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, should be the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of our political leaders at all levels.

But this is not so. Instead, most of our leaders are preoccupied with amassing wealth for themselves and retaining their political offices for the same purpose.

We share the feelings expressed by Fr Umberto Davolli in his homily during Mass at Chifubu Parish yesterday that we are not doing enough to help the poor; our leaders do not care about the majority of our people who happen to be poor. And we hope George Kunda has learnt something positive from Fr Umberto’s homily, and will change his anti-people, anti-poor ways. What type of democracy is this that we are trying to build in this country which does not proceed from the interests of the majority? In a country like ours, where over 70 per cent of the people are poor, government policies and programmes, if they were to reflect the interests of the majority, would proceed from those of the poor.

But this is not the case. What we see every day are policies and programmes being designed and implemented to meet the interests of a tiny minority that is in power and its friends in the private sector.

The poor deserve preferential attention, option. This option, demanded by the scandalous reality of economic imbalances in our country, should lead us to establish a dignified, fraternal way of life together as human beings and to construct a just and free society. It is a fact that this poverty is impoverishment caused by the unjust political, economic and social structures that we have constructed in our country. The required change in unjust social, political and economic structures will not be authentic and complete if it is not accompanied by a change in our personal and collective outlook regarding the idea of a dignified, happy human life.

This, in turn, disposes us to undergo conversion. Committed to the poor, we should condemn the extreme poverty that affects an extremely large segment of the population of our country. We should make every effort to understand and denounce the mechanisms that generate this poverty. We should combine all our efforts in order to uproot poverty and create a more just and fraternal society.

Our Zambian world is no abstraction. It is a world made up mostly of men and women who are poor. And we say of that world of the poor that it is the key to understanding the feelings and activities of priests like Fr Umberto and the political dimension of their faith and ecclesial activity. It is the poor who tell priests like Fr Umberto what the world is, and what their service to the world should be. It is the poor who tell them what the polis is, and what it means for their church really to live in that world. The political dimension of their faith is nothing other than their response to the demands made upon them by the defacto socio-political reality in which they exist. This demand is a fundamental one for their faith, and they cannot ignore it. That is not to say they should regard their church as a political institution entering into competition with other political institutions, or that they have their own political processes. Nor, much less, is it to say that their church seeks political leadership. We are talking of something more profound, something more in keeping with the gospel. We are talking about an authentic option for the poor, of becoming incarnate in their world, of proclaiming the Good News to them, of giving them hope, of encouraging them to engage in a liberating praxis, of defending their cause and of sharing their fate.

This option for the poor explains the political dimension of their faith in its fundamental and in its basic outline. And because they have opted for the truly poor, not for the fictitiously poor, they live in a political world, and their church fulfils itself as a church also through politics. It cannot be otherwise if, like Jesus, they are to turn themselves toward the poor.

The position taken by Fr Umberto clearly arises from his conviction. The transcendence of the Gospel has guided him in his judgment. He has judged the social and political situation from the standpoint of faith. But it is also true, to look at it in another way, that the faith itself has been deepened, that hidden riches of the Gospel have been opened, precisely by taking up this stance toward socio-political reality such as it is.

Clearly, they have made an explicit preferential option for the poor – against poverty and in favour of social justice. From among the poor, they see with ever greater clarity that society must undergo structural transformation. They have no concrete political or economic strategy; they are simply calling for greater participation by the people in national decision making. Of course, they support those organisations that call for greater justice and foster those that struggle for a society that is neither rich nor poor, but is just and fraternal. In this regard, they have an undisputed social mission. Let us not forget that Christ’s entire doctrine was devoted to the humble, the poor; his doctrine was devoted to fighting against abuse, injustice and the degradation of human beings. That is, man’s material need, the basic foundation of life, was the most sacred thing for Jesus. It is important to understand that in Jesus’ way of thinking, there is nothing more sacred than the right to life.

Looking at things this way, one can understand why Fr Umberto has consistently spoken for the poor. And moreover, we are told in Proverbs 31:8-9: “Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all those who are helpless. Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy.”

Clearly, the option of preference of the poor is an option or a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity to which all of us should bear witness. It should affect the life of each Christian inasmuch as he or she seeks to imitate the life of Christ, but it applies equally to our social responsibilities, and hence to our manner of living.

Today, furthermore, giving the worldwide dimension which the social question has assumed, this option of preference for the poor, and the decisions it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitude of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without healthcare and, above all, those without hope of a better future. It is impossible not to take account of the existence of these realities. To ignore them would mean becoming like that rich man who pretended not to know the beggar Lazarus lying at his gate (Luke 16:19-31).

Our daily life as well as our decisions in the political and economic fields must be marked by these realities. Our political leaders, while they are obliged always to keep in mind the true human dimension as a priority in their development plans, should not forget to give precedence to the phenomenon of growing poverty. Unfortunately, instead of becoming fewer, the poor are becoming more numerous in our country.

It is necessary to state once more the characteristic principle of Christian social doctrine: the goods of this world are originally meant for all. And in his concern for the poor, one must not overlook that special form of poverty which consists in being deprived of fundamental human rights, in particular the right of access to clean water and other necessities of life.

Therefore, the motivating concern for the poor must be translated at all levels into concrete actions, until it decisively attains a series of necessary reforms. We need to reform certain unjust structures, in particular our political institutions, in order to replace corrupt ones, undemocratic ones that enable those in power to govern against the majority who happen to be poor.

None of what has been said here can be achieved without the collaboration of all in the framework of a solidarity which includes everyone, beginning with the most neglected. But at the same time, solidarity demands a readiness to accept the sacrifices necessary for the good of the whole nation.

Labels: GEORGE KUNDA, POVERTY, UMBERTO DAVOLI

posted by MrK @ 3:21 PM