Pope
Francis: discourse to Bolivian civil authorities
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis addressed the civil authorities and
representatives of culture and civil society in Bolivia on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting took place in the cathedral of La Paz, the Bolivian capital, and
followed a courtesy visit with Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales. In his
prepared remarks, Pope Francis focused once again on the need to work in
concert to promote the common good and meet the challenges facing society,
especially the crisis of the family, immigration, and integral human
development alongside and together with the challenges of stewardship of
creation. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s
prepared remarks, in their official English translation
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Meeting with Civil Authorities
La Paz Cathedral
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Mr President,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to meet you, the political and civil authorities of
Bolivia, the members of the Diplomatic Corps and representatives of the
nation’s cultural institutions and volunteer organizations. I am grateful
to Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor of La Paz for his kind welcome. With
your permission, I would like to offer a few words of encouragement in support
of your work.
Each of us here shares a calling to work for the common
good. Fifty years ago, the Second Vatican Council defined the common good
as “the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and
their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own
fulfillment”. I thank you for striving – in your work and your mission –
to enable individuals and society to develop and find fulfillment. I am
certain that you seek what is beautiful, true and good in your service of the
common good. May your efforts contribute to the growth of greater respect
for the human person, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his
or her integral development, and social peace, namely, the stability and
security provided by a certain order which cannot be achieved without
particular concern for distributive justice (cf.Laudato Si’, 157).
On the way to this Cathedral I was able to admire the peaks of
Hayna Potosí, the “young mountain”, and Illimani, the mountain which shows “the
place where the sun rises”. I also saw the ingenious way in which many
houses and neighborhoods blend with the hillsides, and was struck by the
architecture of some of these structures. The natural environment is
closely related to the social, political and economic environment. It is
urgent for all of us to lay the foundations of an integral ecology, one capable
of respecting all these human dimensions in resolving the grave social and
environmental issues of our time. Otherwise, the glaciers of those
mountains will continue to recede, and our sense of gratitude and
responsibility with regard to these gifts, our concern for the world we want to
leave to future generations, for its meaning and values, will melt just like
those glaciers (cf. Laudato Si’ 159-160).
Because everything is related, we need one another. If
politics is dominated by financial speculation, or if the economy is ruled
solely by a technocratic and utilitarian paradigm concerned with maximum
production, we will not grasp, much less resolve, the great problems of
humanity. Cultural life has an important role to play in this regard, for
it has to do not only with the development of the mind through the sciences and
the creation of beauty through the arts, but also esteem for the local
traditions of a people, which are so expressive of the milieu in which they
arose and to which they give meaning. There is also need for an ethical
and moral education which can cultivate solidarity and shared responsibility
between individuals. We should acknowledge the specific role of the
religions in the development of culture and the benefits which can they can
bring to society. Christians in particular, as disciples of the Good
News, are bearers of a message of salvation which has the ability to ennoble
and to inspire great ideals. In this way it leads to ways of acting which
transcend individual interest, readiness to make sacrifices for the sake of
others, sobriety and other virtues which develop in us the ability to live as
one.
It is so easy for us to become accustomed to the atmosphere of
inequality all around us, with the result that we take it for granted.
Without even being conscious of it, we confuse the “common good” with
“prosperity”, especially when we are the ones who enjoy that prosperity.
Prosperity understood only in terms of material wealth has a tendency to become
selfish, to defend private interests, to be unconcerned about others, and to
give free rein to consumerism. Understood in this way, prosperity,
instead of helping, breeds conflict and social disintegration; as it becomes
more prevalent, it opens the door to the evil of corruption, which brings so
much discouragement and damage in its wake. The common good, on the other
hand, is much more than the sum of individual interests. It moves from
“what is best for me” to “what is best for everyone”. It embraces
everything which brings a people together: common purpose, shared values, ideas
which help us to look beyond our limited individual horizons.
Different social groups have a responsibility to work for unity
and the development of society. Freedom is always the best environment
for thinkers, civic associations and the communications media to carry out
their activities with passion and creativity in service of the common
good. Christians too, are called to be a leaven within society, to bring
it their message. The light of Christ’s Gospel is not the property of the
Church; the Church is at the service of the Gospel, so that it can reach the
ends of the earth. Faith is a light which does not blind or confuse, but
one which illuminates and respectfully guides the consciences and history of
every person and society. Christianity has played an important role in
shaping the identity of the Bolivian people. Religious freedom – a phrase
we often encounter in civil discourse – also reminds us that faith cannot be
restricted to a purely subjective experience. It also challenges us to
help foster the growth of spirituality and Christian commitment in social
projects.
Among the various social groups, I would like to mention in
particular the family, which is everywhere threatened by domestic violence,
alcoholism, sexism, drug addiction, unemployment, urban unrest, the abandonment
of the elderly, and children left to the streets. These problems often
meet with pseudo-solutions which show the clear effects of an ideological
colonization... So many social problems are quietly resolved in the
family; the failure to assist families would leave those who are most
vulnerable without protection.
A nation which seeks the common good cannot be closed in on
itself; societies are strengthened by networks of relationships. The
current problem of immigration makes this clear. These days it is
essential to improve diplomatic relations between the countries of the region,
in order to avoid conflicts between sister peoples and to advance frank and
open dialogue about their problems. Instead of raising walls, we need to
be building bridges. All these issues, thorny as they may be, can find
solutions which are shared, reasonable, equitable and lasting. And in any
event, they should never be a cause for aggressiveness, resentment or enmity;
these only worsen situations and stand in the way of their resolution.
Bolivia is at an historic crossroads: politics, the world of
culture, the religions are all part of this beautiful challenge to grow in
unity. In this land whose history has been marred by exploitation, greed
and so many forms of selfishness and sectarianism, now is the time for
integration. Today Bolivia can “create new forms of cultural
synthesis”. How beautiful are those cities which overcome paralyzing
mistrust, integrate those who are different and make this very integration a
new factor of development! How attractive it is when those cities are
full of spaces which connect, relate and favor the recognition of others!” (cf. Evangelii
Gaudium, 210). Bolivia in its process of integration and its search
for unity, is called to be an example of such “multifaceted and inviting
harmony” (ibid., 117).
I thank you for your attention. I pray to the Lord that
Bolivia, “this innocent and beautiful land”, may make ever greater progress
towards being “the happy homeland whose people enjoy the blessings of good
fortune and peace.” May the Blessed Virgin watch over you, and the Lord
bless you abundantly. Please remember me in your prayers; I need them.
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