In praise of solidarity

“Solidarity is not a slogan but a constitutive element of human nature. As we cannot live without eating or drinking we cannot live as humans without living in solidarity with others.”

This was one of the main points I put forward when, quite some time ago, I addressed a seminar organised by the Nationalist Party for people not involved in politics.

I also said solidarity should not be equated with social policy or alms giving, as solidarity should be the soul of politics and all policies.

I recalled my presentation when I recently read the pastoral letter Bishop Mario Grech wrote on the occasion of the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.

As is his custom, Mgr Grech managed to communicate the social dimension of the religious feast we were celebrating. He used the feast to catechise the members of his diocese – and beyond – about ‘society where solidarity resides’.

I immediately felt at home with his statement that “solidarity is not a sentimental attitude or some form of allowance. Solidarity does not mean giving alms or the occasional charitable act.”

Basing himself on Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Mgr Grech dismissed the fragmented notion of solidarity, a solidarity of fits and starts.

“We need to discover the social and political dimension of solidarity. There is a link between solidarity and justice: caring for our neighbour does not only mean conser­ving individual wellbeing, but also safeguarding the common good.”

Solidarity is the Christian answer to poverty: material, affective and the poverty brought by an ill-formed character. He points out that one of the “reasons for all this poverty is the individualism that has been generated by a capitalist culture”.

In such a culture, humans are looked at as one-dimensional beings living a kind of nomadic existence though outwardly living in the thick of things.

Bishop Grech mentioned different types of solidarity. Social solidarity is shown by, for example, the provision of work. He gave a voice to the needs of the people under his care.

“This need is especially felt by youths in Gozo, who, in the absence of a well-planned public and private investment, will still have to face the challenge of internal migration with all the hardships it carries.”

Respect of fiscal laws is, for Mgr Grech, another dimension of social solidarity. “Consequently, solidarity and tax evasion do not go together.”

Solidarity is also shown in education. “To attain this goal our educational system must encourage the teaching profession to adopt a person-centred rather than a subject-centred app­roach.”

Bishop Grech is right to note there are many who are more focused on academic achievement than holistic personality development.

Solidarity with families is shown when, instead of condemning families in difficulty, “we offer remedies that are compatible with the nature of marriage and the family – healing processes that help couples in difficulty to attain stability rather than marriage break-up”.

Mgr Grech backed his words with a concrete project – the setting up of a family therapy clinic, where suffering families may “obtain a healing therapy rather than their death blow”.

The environment is another aspect where solidarity is shown with present and future generations.

“The capricious abuse of the environment stems from people’s egoism and greed, and is leading to its destruction.”

The basis of this policy of solidarity is God’s solidarity with the human race, as shown in a fundamental way in Jesus Christ, and in secondary ways in feasts such as that of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven.

Bishop Grech has shown that the feasts we celebrate are not mainly a commemoration of a past event but the enunciation of an action programme aimed at helping us realise and fully live our humanity.

joseph.borg@um.edu.mt