Card Tagle: Put human beings at centre of humanitarian
aid
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle of Manila is taking part in the World Humanitarian Summit as the
President of aid agency Caritas Internationalis. In an interview with Vatican
Radio’s Linda Bordoni, Cardinal Tagle identified three important ideas that can
help to re-shape or re-think humanitarian assistance.
Drawing from the experience
of the Church—and especially the experience of the local churches—he said the
first concrete step is to consider human beings seriously. He said it is “sad”
if policy-makers think only in terms of statistics and theories. “While that
might be necessary,” he said, “I think the first concrete [step] is to go back
to the human beings. Hold the hand of a survivor of a calamity. Enter the shack
of a refugee family. Listen to the stories.”
Cardinal Tagle also spoke of
the importance of the principle of solidarity. International donors and
agencies offer much-needed help to victims of natural or man-made disasters,
but they must be respectful of the local communities, which “know their
cultures, their needs, their situations better.” He said it is important to
enable local communities “to really get involved in their own rehabilitation,
the rebuilding of their lives.”
Finally, he said, it is
necessary “to address the process of the conflicts that drive people away from
their homes.” Confronting and dealing with the causes of calamities “would help
us cope with these changes, prevent disasters, etc.”
During the Summit, Cardinal
Tagle spoke to the participants on the importance of religion in humanitarian
aid efforts. In his interview with Vatican Radio, he said he had proposed
tapping into “the wisdoms and the treasures contained in the different
religions to address the conflicts, not just extending compassion to the
victims.” He asked what resources religions have to instil peace, to build
bridges, and to help humanity become more reconciled and peace-loving. “I’m
sure the different religions have enough resources,” Cardinal Tagle said. “But
can we tap them?”
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