On the eve of the formal launch of the electoral campaign, can Maltese Catholics learn anything from Pope Benedict XVI’s recent sayings and doings?
Benedict has now more than once navigated the media environment with the same mental agility he used to navigate the halls of academia- Fr Joe Borg
A couple of weeks ago, Pope Benedict did a first. He started tweeting on December 12.
More than two million, and rising, follow his Twitter account @pontifex (the name chosen is very telling for it means the ‘bridge-builder’).
One of his first tweets concerned the truth. “We do not possess the truth, the truth possesses us,” the Pope tweeted.
There is much room for reflection in this tweet, but this is not the place for a lengthy or profound reflection. I propose for your consideration the pragmatic application of this tweet without going into its Christological application.
I do this as we are about to formally enter an electoral campaign; a period where truth is likely to be a casualty.
While one expects a level of spin, one hopes that truth will neither go into hibernation nor will it have to be taken care of in the intensive care unit of our collective consciousness.
Pope Benedict wanted a double whammy and, just a few days ago, he managed another first. He wrote an op-ed for the London prestigious paper, the Financial Times. It was an invitation craftily made and enthusiastically accepted.
He who had been billed by the secular media as the 21st century incarnation of Torquemada has become characterised by his willingness to respond to unusual requests by the media.
Do you remember when he delivered the BBC Thought for the Day on Christmas Eve 2010 or his participation in the RAI programme A sua immagine to mark Good Friday? Benedict has now more than once navigated the media environment with the same mental agility he used to navigate the halls of academia. This shows progress on the number of media blunders committed by his press office at the beginning of the pontificate.
The Financial Times of December 20 described the writer as the Bishop of Rome and author of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. It promoted the op-piece on its front page, calling it A Christmas Lesson in Times of Austerity. It should have been more aptly called: Christmas: An Eminently Political Feast – Benedict.
The piece is only available to subscribers of the paper but the Vatican made the text available through its press office: http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-pope-in-financial-times-christmas.html
Writing for the Financial Times gave Pope Benedict two advantages. He could directly address the crème de la crème of the City of London gathered in their upmarket boardrooms to explain the message of the Baby in the manger. His message, like Christmas, is evergreen.
It has no use-by date stamped on it. Through the general diffusion of the message, he could then address millions around the world.
The message was loud and clear: the Birth of Christ challenges us to reassess our priorities, our values, our very way of life.
Christians, he said, both under the Roman Emperors and in our own day, refuse to bow down to “false gods” while particularly referring to the potential tyrannical duopoly of money and power. The dignity of the human person and his eternal destiny cannot be advanced by old or new idols.
The relevance of all this to the period our country is embarking on should be clear. Fortunately, the Pope’s op-piece gives clearer indications and one can clinch from it at least three pieces of advice.
His first piece of advice is an appeal to get involved in politics but to do so with a purpose and a particular direction.
“It is in the Gospel that Christians find inspiration for their daily lives and their involvement in worldly affairs – be it in the Houses of Parliament or the stock exchange. Christians should not shun the world; they should engage with it. But their involvement in politics and economics should transcend every form of ideology.”
Christmas, for Pope Benedict, is not a sweet devotional feast but a politically germane one.
It is “a time for Christians to engage with the world”. This involvement in politics is not guided by ideologies, polls or opportunistic short-term gains but by a Person who outlines a vision which is based on values. It should be guided by principles not convenience. Ends do not justify the means.
Secondly: Christians should not be browbeaten by those who try to rubbish their involvement in society by calling it an outmoded way of living. Our involvement is anything but antiquated.
“When Christians refuse to bow down before the false gods proposed today, it is not because of an antiquated worldview. Rather, it is because they are free from the constraints of ideology and inspired by such a noble vision of human destiny that they cannot collude with anything that undermines it.”
In Jesus’ time it was fashionable to show obeisance to Caesar. At other times, other ‘gods’ were venerated. Today many genuflect to modernity, so-called scientific progress, a ‘new’ philosophy of sexuality, egotistic liberalism and a false version of freedom.
The jargon of these modern idols is becoming part of our political discourse and will feature during the election campaign. The reaction of Christians should be a proud niet.
Thirdly: At voting time, Christians should choose in favour of the most vulnerable. “They work for more equitable sharing of the earth’s resources out of a belief that – as stewards of God’s creation – we have a duty to care for the weakest and most vulnerable. Christians oppose greed and exploitation out of a conviction that generosity and selfless love, as taught and lived by Jesus of Nazareth, are the way that leads to fullness of life.”
Two snares should be avoided. Some use the poor and the vulnerable as slogans or as stepping stones; bait for votes, sort of.
On the other hand, there can be the temptation to sweep the poor under the carpet for the electioneering period.
A careful reading of the very beautiful homily delivered by Benedict during the midnight Christmas Mass (www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20121224_christmas_en.html) says how these pitfalls can be avoided.
The op-ed writer showed the way. It would be a pity if the local Catholic community does not follow.
joseph.borg@um.edu.mt