Poona (AsiaNews) – “Caritas in Veritate is a magnificent gift to the world. The vision it outlines for the development of humanity will provide excellent guidelines to India. Our country is benefiting from the process of globalisation and is involved in a process of growth that will provide security and development to all its citizens. In such a situation the Pope’s guidelines can only enrich and benefit the whole of India.”

Mgr Thomas Dabre, bishop of Poona and chairperson of the Commission for Theology and Doctrine of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), thus begins his long reflection on Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical. He gave AsiaNews a long interview in which he discussed many of the topics covered in the pontifical document and their repercussions on the current situation in India.

Economics is usually a field for specialists. The Pope chose to go beyond this restriction, but ordinary people may ask: By what right can he speak on such issues?

Economic issues are necessarily human issues, because the economy ought to serve all human beings. Both those who manage the economy and those who benefit from it, whether they are individuals or groups, must adhere to certain ethical and moral principles because development should not lead to distortions, inequality, injustice and discrimination in society. This is why the economy cannot be left to economic experts only, but should involve all those who seek everyone’s overall well-being. Hence the Pope is most certainly entitled to give guidelines on matters pertaining to economy. With Caritas in Veritate, he gets the social debate on the right track, providing hope and energy so that we can act with love for the good and the future of nations.

Market must be ruled by ethics and profits cannot be the ultimate goals. Progress must be available to everyone.

How is Caritas in Veritate relevant for India?

For us in India, this document is like a gift. Even though we are becoming a global economic power, our rural poor are still languishing in inhumane conditions. They even lack the necessary wherewithal to meet their basic needs like food, clean drinking water and primary health care.

India has the third largest scientific and technical labour pool in the world, and yet, whilst India’s progress in space technology has attracted worldwide attention, the gap between the rich and the poor grows ever more. Those who eke out a living on the margins of society, the poorest of the poor, Dalits, Tribals, unorganised labour are all excluded from this economic progress.

Fortunately, the worldwide economic crisis has not impacted India that much. But corruption, fundamentalism and social discrimination are real social evils in our society. 

The Pope’s Encyclical mentions religious freedom. What connects it to economics and development?

The Holy Father is saddened that some people kill in the name of religion. He has emphasised that the denial of religious freedom is an obstacle to progress and leads to terrorism and violence, which disproportionately affect women and the poor. Such a culture of intolerance is used by religious fundamentalists. From this point of view the fact that Caritas in Veritate was released so close to 15 August, India’s 63rd Independence Day, is an added bonus.

What type of economy is described in the papal document?

For the Pope the economy ought to be built for men and women in which things are also done out of solidarity or for free, in which contractual relations are not the all and be all for alone they cannot achieve the common good. An economy based on short-term profits, interests and plans cannot benefit everyone and ensure a stable and lasting economy.

For the Holy Father we must be aware of the profound insecurity many poor people experience, a situation largely caused by greed, selfishness and an inadequate sense of responsibility. These are widespread in our society and are a break on development. For the Holy Father individuals must be cognizant that they have a personal and share a social responsibility to guarantee justice and the common good. The link between personal rights and duties must be emphasised; ethics must be centred on the human person.

This is Benedict XVI’s third Encyclical. Do all three have something in common?

They certainly do. Deus Caritas est and the other two are linked by the principle that God is love and that we can always have hope in the future of humanity, because it is based on God’s love, which is mankind’s salvation and its common good.

For the Holy Father, only in God’s love is humanity free from desperation, despair and materialistic development. Hope and Caritas, love, enable people of good will to work for economic development that ensures the kind of economic progress that is based on the common good for the whole of mankind.

When we are the recipients of God’s love, our lives are filled with hope and are guided by moral principles which permeate our economic processes. Our lives should be guided by a Spirit of Love and the Light of Truth.  God, who freely gave us truth and love, shows us who we are and where we should go.

Globalisation is mentioned several times in Caritas in Veritate. What is the Church’s position on the matter? Does it view it as a problem or an opportunity?

According to the Pope, blind opposition to globalisation would be a mistake and a sign of a biased attitude. We should recognise the positive aspects of this process because it can open up unprecedented possibilities to redistribute wealth. At the same time the Pope warns us that globalisation can increase poverty and inequality and that this might even trigger a global crisis.

We need the appropriate ethical spirit to lead globalisation towards the common good and solidarity, away from individualism and utilitarianism.

If we want globalisation to bring benefits and not end up causing social fragmentation, it must be governed by a spirit of justice and a desire to achieve the common good. On their own, economic and technical progress are insufficient. In our century poverty, hunger and malnutrition are still there to prove it. Globalisation cannot be centred only on the economy but must have man at its centre; it must address the needs of communities and reflect cultural processes.

What kind of development does the Encyclical envisage?

Hunger and underdevelopment must be eliminated if real development is to be achieved. This means that mankind must be at the centre of development programmes. Likewise would-be beneficiaries of development plans must be involved. From an economic point of view blaming underdevelopment on people is an error as well. Instead we should look at bureaucratic and administrative costs and focus on the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity.

As we look for a solution to the current global economic crisis, aid to developing countries should be seen as a legitimate tool to create wealth for everyone.

Technological development has led to the idea that technology can fix everything. This has led to a situation in which too much attention has been given on how problems can be solved rather than on why they have developed.

The Encyclical is titled Caritas in Veritate, charity in truth. What truth is the Pope trying to announce to humanity?

The beautiful and simple truth of God. The Holy Father is quite clear that atheistic humanism is inhuman; that it cannot ensure the true development of mankind.

Charity and truth are linked in a holistic way. God’s love leads us to discover the truth about ourselves as reflected in the face of Christ, who is Truth.

Truth needs to be sought out, found and expressed in relationships of charity, which must be understood, confirmed and practised in the light of truth. Together charity and truth can lead to mankind’s true development.

The ideological rejection of God and atheism’s indifference are obstacles to development. For this reason charity and love of truth are an especially great challenge for the Church in a globalising world.

Asserting the truth of every man means asserting that his dignity is inviolable from birth till death. Our beloved Pope, in a prophetic way, has always opposed the mindset that is opposed to life at its beginning or is in favour of the legalisation of euthanasia. Life like creation is God’s gift. This means that we have a great responsibility which is to pass on to future generations a planet, Earth, where we can live and farm.

In this Encyclical the Holy Father has touched upon a number of crucial topics drawn from the social teachings of the Church and which are applicable to today’s situation: the economy, globalisation, the gap between rich and poor, ecology, fundamentalism, etc. For me this is one the Encyclical’s key merits. In this document Benedict XVI is not simply developing some intellectual arguments, but is going straight for man’s essence.

For the Indian Church the title itself provides further joy and hope because in Sanskrit our national motto, Satyameva Jayate, means ‘Truth alone Triumps’. This is the truth: Charity in Truth.