It hardly seems more than a week since Pope Francis released his encyclical "Fratelli Tutti." Here's a brief synopsis which I wrote based on a summary from the Vatican Press Office.
On October 4 Pope Francis issued an encyclical which he began with the same words St. Francis of Assisi used to address an admonition to his Franciscan brothers. In it, says the Pope, he called for “us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives.”
The encyclical has 8 chapters:
1. is about “certain trends in our world that hinder the development of universal fraternity.”
2. focuses on the example the Good Samaritan gives us of active love for strangers.
3. speaks about moving outside ourselves in a broad network of relationships.
4. calls us to have “A Heart Open to the Whole World.”
5. envisions “A Better Kind of Politics.”
6. is about “coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground.”
7. deal with the need for peacemakers and “paths of peace to heal open wounds.”
8. tells of the place of religion in “building fraternity and defending justice in society.”
Maybe you have already seen some comments, favorable or unfavorable, in the secular media. Catholics should have enough respect for the papacy as an institution to try to hear the Pope with the ears of faith, not of partisan politics. All people of good will should give a respectful hearing, if they pay attention at all So don’t let somebody else tell you what to think. It may not be easy to set aside our own ideas (It won’t be for me.), but maybe we can ;earn something.
The Vatican Press Office has issued couple of summaries of the document. Here’s a link https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/fratelli-tutti-pope-fraternity-social-friendship-long-summary.html to the longer, more detailed one; and here’s the link https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-10/fratelli-tutti-pope-fraternity-social-friendship-short-summary.html to the shorter one.
The full text of the encyclical is available from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ in book form for $13.95 http://store.usccb.org/fratelli-tutti-p/7-678.htm or you can download it from the Vatican’s own website. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html
Perhaps, if we have consider what the Pope is saying, there will be things we disagree with, Perhaps we will look at some things a little differently.
After reading the first 22 (of 1340 pages, I've been especially struck at two points. One was in §7, where he wrote "As I was writing this letter, the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly erupted, exposing our false securities. Aside from the different ways that various countries responded to the crisis, their inability to work together became quite evident. For all our hyper-connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all. Anyone who thinks that the only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing, or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality." (Emphasis added.)
The second was a section titled "The Illusion of Communication." 42-46 In it he points out that digital communication itself does not promote true communication. "They lack the physical gestures, facial expressions, moments of silence, body language and even the smells, the trembling of hands, the blushes and perspiration that speak to us and are a part of human communication. Digital relationships, which do not demand the slow and gradual cultivation of friendships, stable interaction or the building of a consensus that matures over time, have the appearance of sociability. Yet they do not really build community; instead, they tend to disguise and expand the very individualism that finds expression in xenophobia and in contempt for the vulnerable. Digital connectivity is not enough to build bridges. It is not capable of uniting humanity." Perhaps some digital relationships can develop as friendships do; but one way or another, true community is needed. Certainly I feel closer to the internet friends whom I have spent time with in person, althugh I greatly enjoy exchanging ideas with everyone whom I follow or who follow me.
I hope I'll have more to discuss as I continue reading. As always I welcome comments.
