Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On the the occasion of the end of Ramadan (‘Id al-Fitr, 1430 A.H./2009 A.D.), the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has issued a message to Muslims, signed by the President of the Pontifical Council, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, and the Secretary Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata. The theme of the message is: “Christians and Muslims: Together in overcoming poverty.”
“The attention, the compassion and the help that we, brothers and sisters in humanity, can offer to those who are poor, helping them to establish their place in the fabric of society, is a living proof of the Love of the Almighty, because it is man as such whom He calls us to love and help, without distinction of affiliation,” the message says. The text then mentions that “poverty has the power to humiliate and to engender intolerable sufferings; it is often a source of isolation, anger, even hatred and the desire for revenge. It can provoke hostile actions using any available means, even seeking to justify them on religious grounds...his is why confronting the phenomena of extremism and violence necessarily implies tackling poverty through the promotion of integral human development.”
The message then quotes the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, in which Benedict XVI “underlines the need for a 'new humanistic synthesis' (n. 21), which, safeguarding the openness of man to God, gives him his place as the earth’s 'centre and summit' (n. 57).” Reference is also made to the Holy Father's homily last January 1, on the World Day for Peace 2009, in which he distinguished between two types of poverty: a poverty that should be fought and a poverty to be embraced. “The poverty to be combated is before the eyes of everyone: hunger, lack of clean water, limited medical care and inadequate shelter, insufficient educational and cultural systems, illiteracy, not to mention also the existence of new forms of poverty...The poverty to be embraced is that of a style of life which is simple and essential, avoiding waste and respecting the environment and the goodness of Creation.”
The text then points out that, for believers, the quest for “a just and durable solution to the scourge of poverty certainly also implies reflecting on the grave problems of our time and, when possible, sharing a common commitment to eradicate them. In this regard, the reference to the aspects of poverty linked to the phenomena of globalization of our societies has a spiritual and moral meaning, because all share the vocation to build one human family.” The origin of the complex phenomenon of poverty is found “the lack of respect for the innate dignity of the human person and calls us to a global solidarity, for example through the adoption of a 'common ethical code.'”
In conclusion, a positive aspect is seen, “in diverse places of the world we have passed from tolerance to a meeting together, beginning with common lived experience and real shared concerns,” and there is the hope that “the poor question us, they challenge us, but above all they invite us to cooperate in a noble cause: overcoming poverty!.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2009)
