Hunger Symposium: General Session: Panel Responses

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This morning, we'll focus for us.
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We've heard the three voices, Rome, Africa, and Asia, give us the broad sketch of the
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problems facing the families of man.
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Now what can we do?
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We primarily in this room as US Catholics and Christians, what can we do?
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What are we doing?
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It is my honor to present, if I could ask please for a little cooperation, we have to
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proceed now with the program.
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If the press would help us out in that regard, I would appreciate that.
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We're now proceeding.
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Thank you.
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It is my honor now to present the Most Reverend James Rouse, General Secretary of the National
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Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Rausch,
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our first respondent.
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Reverend, most reverend speakers,
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brother bishops and priests, my sisters and brothers in Christ.
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The previous speakers explored the contemporary condition of humankind
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and the challenge it poses for the Church in the modern world.
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As I perceive it, these deliberations are situated in two theological mysteries
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which set our theme today,
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the people of God in human history and Christ hungering in the world.
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In my response this morning, I propose to scan these two profound riches of the Catholic faith
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and to conclude with some observations especially applicable to the Church in the United States of America.
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The ancient biblical idiom, the people of God,
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received particular elaboration in the Second Vatican Council's document
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Lumen Gentium. God's saving plan, we are told, does not merely call to his loving
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embrace isolated individuals without any mutual bonds to each other. Rather, it
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it envisions a community of people
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and a community of people in action.
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God makes them into a single people,
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quote, a people which acknowledges him in truth
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and serves him in holiness.
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But for what purpose?
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To what end?
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Surely not merely for God's gratification.
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Those who call themselves believers, we are told,
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are a messianic people who share with Christ
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the threefold function of witness,
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communal life, and worship.
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But is the messianic experience for their own exclusive
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self-serving purpose?
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The people of God, while it does not actually
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include every person on earth, and may more often than not
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appear to be small in number, is intended precisely
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for the salvation of the whole human race.
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The purpose, then, for the people of God is for others.
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They are to go into human history, to light the world,
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and to be the salt of the earth.
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By the conduct of their affairs, they
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are to be the sign of the unity God prescribes,
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a harbinger of the universal peace, which
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is his ultimate plan.
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No single person within the people of God,
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nor any self-lauding sector, may assume a self-righteousness
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about his role.
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For indeed, the Council Fathers remind us,
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the whole of humankind belongs to the people of God
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and is related to it in a variety of ways.
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A further characteristic of the people of God
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is that while it transcends all limits of time and culture,
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race and nationality, it is destined to, quote,
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enter into the history of mankind
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with all of its inconsistencies, its contradictions,
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and its conflicts.
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It is precisely at this point that the second
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of the profound mysteries of our deliberations
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confronts us, the hungering Christ in the world.
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The Gospels are candid in their account
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of a number of incidents of the apostles' disbelief.
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Peter, soaking wet and half drowned after his vain attempt
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to walk across the lake.
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The Zebedee brothers rebuffed after their secret request
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for preferential seating with Jesus in the kingdom.
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But perhaps no episode in the gospel
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suggests the severity of the dilemma experienced
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by his closest followers than the account
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by Matthew of Jesus' description of the last judgment.
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They did not understand that Jesus was truly present
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in every suffering person.
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That is, he was alive, albeit barely so,
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in the hungering, in the thirst-ridden victims
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of humanity's inhumanity.
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The gospel writer asks, when did we see you suffering?
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But perhaps the most startling point
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was the revelation that even those who did not know him
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in the person of the victim, but who ministered to him simply
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because the victim was in need, they too
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were related in an extraordinary way
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to the people of God, the Good Samaritan.
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They were placed at God's right hand,
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the place reserved from the beginning of time
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for his chosen ones.
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We may well ask today, do we believe? Do we acknowledge him in truth and serve him in holiness?
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The evidence is enormous, even perhaps as Bishop de Sousa has suggested, we are stunned by its
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enormity. The presence of the Christ hungering in the world is characterized by two grim realities,
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starvation, and malnutrition. Experts differ about the exact number of those
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in this plight. For example, estimates about the number of deaths resulting
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from recent famines range between 1 million and tens of millions. But to
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expect accuracy in such tabulations is to fail to understand the reality, the
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harsh reality. In the destitute conditions of regions in Africa and Asia, keeping statistics
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of the dying is a luxury starving people can hardly afford. Malnutrition has practically
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become institutionalized in some regions of the world. For hundreds of millions of people,
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severe dietary deficiency is a permanent way of life. Its consequences can be seen in the
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the toll it takes in the life expectancy among adults
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and the mortality rate among infants.
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In more than 40 nations, life expectancy
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is about 25 years less than it is in the United States.
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Infant death rates are more than twice as great in half
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of the nations of this world.
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About one out of every four persons in the third world
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suffers from insufficient protein energy supply.
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The pervasive and awesome presence
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of the hungering Christ in the world
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proposes a challenge for us, the people of God.
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This is especially so for we who are the people of God
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in these United States.
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The issues of food production and global hunger
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have severe moral implications for each of us,
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since we are, in fact, the largest food
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exporters in the world.
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Several conditions for Americans are
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suggested by the moral dilemma.
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The first is our bountiful inheritance.
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When the United States made its agricultural breakthrough
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during the last century, it is important to note
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the presence of a number of factors.
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The United States took possession forcibly
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of virtually unlimited land.
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Some of it was the most fertile acreage in all the world.
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One expert noted recently that if a square mile of Iowa
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farmland was transported to almost any spot
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in the third world, the people there
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would be so astounded at the quality of the soil
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that they would make pilgrimages to it
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as if to a shrine.
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The midsection of the North American continent
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is blessed with abundant water.
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One fifth of the world's freshwater supply
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is in the great lakes of our country alone.
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Additional favorable factors include a long growing season
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for crops, access to European capital
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during our development stage, and millions of immigrants
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trained at the expense of their European homelands,
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who put their talents and their skills to use
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in this their adopted country.
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It is little wonder that in one of America's most popular
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national folk hymns, we find the line,
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above the fruited plain, America, America,
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God shed his grace on thee.
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The second is our use of the land.
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Over the last quarter of a century,
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the United States shipped millions
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of tons of agricultural exports to third world countries.
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During that period, as much as 25% of food exports
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were provided by the United States government
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on concessional terms or as straight grants,
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with the remainder handled through commercial sales
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to world markets.
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It was also during this period that the United States
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maintained grain reserves for world emergencies
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in excess of three months' supply.
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In more recent years, however, the grain supply
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has dwindled to about a month, and the United States
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has become the world's largest commercial grain merchant.
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A fundamental conflict presently exists
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between the right to food for persons in need
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and the right to sell by agricultural merchants.
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United States food policy today clearly
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gives a higher priority to the latter right.
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For example, during the especially marked years
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of food crisis, United States food aid
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was reduced by about 25%, while at the same time,
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commercial shipments soared to record levels.
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The third consideration is the definition
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of the problem itself.
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The way we define the problem tends to shape
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our understanding of our moral responsibility
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and in turn defines ourselves as a people and as a nation.
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Some national leaders consistently present
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the food problem as a humanitarian challenge.
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The humanitarian view emphasizes our moral responsibility
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in terms of a voluntary program undertaken
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in a spirit of generosity.
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A more appropriate way is to define the issue primarily
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in terms of the demands of social justice
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in an increasingly interdependent world.
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Justice recognizes the rights of others
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and seeks the various structural changes required
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to meet these rights.
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This point was emphasized at the Rome Food Conference in 1974
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when our Holy Father, Pope Paul, defined the right
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to eat as a basic human right owed to each person.
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If the right is being denied when the means are
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available to fulfill it, then, our Holy Father said,
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it is time to look at our mechanisms of dealing
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with food.
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This means looking at the systems and structures
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of production and distribution by which we determine
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what happens to food in an interdependent world.
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The global food problem concerns a fundamental right
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to life issue, people's right to eat.
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To say others have a right to eat
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is to pose the problem in terms of obligation on our part
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rather than choice.
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If we fail in charity, the verdict
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that we have not been generous. If we fail in justice, the verdict is that we
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have fallen short of a minimal moral duty. If we fail, in fact, the hungering
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Christ stands in judgment of us. I was hungry and you did not give me to eat.
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The distinction between charity and justice is not merely semantic. To define
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our personal choices and our national policy options in terms of charity tends
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to distract us from the key national question. In the conventional
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understanding of the term, charity would call upon us to share our nation's
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surplus food with those who are in need. All of us accept us. But this leads to an
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inadequate assessment of the food problem, since the actual policy choice
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our nation faces no longer fits into this conventional charity mode. The
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challenge today in the short run is for the United States to produce more food
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than we need domestically and more food than we can sell abroad in order to help
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people in distant lands who otherwise might starve or remain chronically
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undernourished. The long-term and fundamental measure is to help the
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poorer countries develop their own agriculture and this calls for a
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a substantial national commitment of financial and technical aid
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from the richer countries, a burden which
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falls inescapably on the richer countries as taxpayers.
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Government policies are necessarily
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formulated on the basis of some conception of justice,
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however limited, whereas charity informs and inspires
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policy decisions only infrequently and then
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unsystematically.
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Thus, the issues of public policy
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comprising the world food problem
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must be decided systematically and on the basis
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of basic assumptions about the concepts of justice.
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In my concluding remarks, I propose
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to outline a tentative Christian response
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appropriate for the US scene.
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The outline tries to adopt a threefold function
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of the people of God in the contemporary world.
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That is, witness, communal life, and worship.
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Like the tasks of the people of God, each of the phases
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is intricately related to the other two.
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They cannot be separated one from the other.
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The first phase is witnessing.
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that is the Christian life at the personal level.
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Individual lifestyles can make a difference.
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Excessive habits of consumption of food
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already in short supply violates the most fundamental
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Christian principle.
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The per capita consumption of protein in the United States
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is about twice the level considered
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by many to be adequate.
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A child born in this country places a demand
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on the world's resources five times greater than a child born
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in the third world.
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Individuals and families can decide
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to change their lifestyles.
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They must decide to change their lifestyles
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by voluntarily limiting their patterns of consumption
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and thereby reduce, however slightly,
259
00:18:39,940 --> 00:18:44,460
the rate of depletion of the world's finite resources
260
00:18:44,460 --> 00:18:49,100
and the starvation of those who have no food.
261
00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:52,860
Fasting is an ancient and virtuous practice
262
00:18:52,860 --> 00:18:56,060
in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
263
00:18:56,060 --> 00:19:00,500
Individual acts of fasting are needed today.
264
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:04,240
I cannot help but think here of the young boy who
265
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,820
had a few loaves and fishes.
266
00:19:06,820 --> 00:19:09,620
We all know that Christ, who is God,
267
00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:12,900
did not need those few loaves and fishes
268
00:19:12,900 --> 00:19:15,020
to feed that multitude.
269
00:19:15,020 --> 00:19:16,980
But he wanted to show us he depends
270
00:19:16,980 --> 00:19:22,580
on our individual act of being willing to give to others,
271
00:19:22,580 --> 00:19:27,780
to do his own work in loving all mankind.
272
00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:31,780
Individual acts of fasting are needed then,
273
00:19:31,780 --> 00:19:36,340
but they alone are not enough.
274
00:19:36,340 --> 00:19:39,580
The second phase is communal living.
275
00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:43,340
In the modern context, communal life
276
00:19:43,340 --> 00:19:46,820
has a structural or political dimension.
277
00:19:46,820 --> 00:19:50,660
Society is organized into political patterns
278
00:19:50,660 --> 00:19:53,180
designed to express and implement
279
00:19:53,180 --> 00:19:55,580
the will of the Commonwealth.
280
00:19:55,580 --> 00:20:00,460
The world food problems involves the structures and systems
281
00:20:00,460 --> 00:20:03,840
of food production, of food distribution,
282
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,180
and of financing, which determine
283
00:20:06,180 --> 00:20:11,300
how nation's scarce resources are to be allocated.
284
00:20:11,300 --> 00:20:14,040
In order to alleviate some of the problems,
285
00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,660
changes in our nation's policies will
286
00:20:16,660 --> 00:20:21,200
have to be made through legislative action.
287
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:26,800
Such reforms require informed and committed citizens
288
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:31,980
who are deeply concerned about rectifying present inequities
289
00:20:31,980 --> 00:20:37,260
and committed to pursuing a more just society.
290
00:20:37,260 --> 00:20:41,740
Effective functioning of the American political process
291
00:20:41,740 --> 00:20:46,780
is desperately dependent upon an informed and concerned
292
00:20:46,780 --> 00:20:48,820
citizenry.
293
00:20:48,820 --> 00:20:55,300
But even revamped national policies are not enough.
294
00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:59,700
The final phase is worship.
295
00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:03,380
the worshiping community affirms its belief
296
00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:08,340
in the saving power and in the living presence and concern
297
00:21:08,340 --> 00:21:11,680
of God in this universe.
298
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,780
Worshiping Christians believe that despite the best
299
00:21:15,780 --> 00:21:20,500
of their intentions and their most enlightened visions
300
00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:23,340
and even their hardest work, there
301
00:21:23,340 --> 00:21:29,560
remains an extra measure that is beyond all human capability.
302
00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:34,560
and that is God's active presence through Christ
303
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,360
among us in the world.
304
00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:41,200
The people of God believe that prayer
305
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,600
can solicit this presence.
306
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,560
The complexities of the food problem
307
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:53,600
taxes the human imagination and invites efficacious prayer
308
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,120
from all of us Christians.
309
00:21:56,120 --> 00:22:00,560
Prayer not only has a place in the life of the people of God,
310
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,920
it is essential to that life, and it
311
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:08,840
is essential in the life of the world.
312
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,000
Two cautionary notes are in order.
313
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:18,360
First, as I said, these three go together.
314
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:23,800
And each of these phases taken alone has its faulty side.
315
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,960
Fasting, for instance, can lead a person to feel self-righteous,
316
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:32,560
and the act becomes merely vain and prideful.
317
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,840
To pursue national political programs can become an end-all,
318
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,800
and communal life can become contorted
319
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,760
into a political party.
320
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:51,240
To pray can be to presume upon God's infinite resources
321
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,860
and may lead us to presumptuousness.
322
00:22:54,860 --> 00:22:59,580
The three must go together.
323
00:22:59,580 --> 00:23:03,660
Second, each of the three phases cannot be done equally
324
00:23:03,660 --> 00:23:07,440
by everyone among God's people.
325
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,020
Each person has special talents and limitations.
326
00:23:12,020 --> 00:23:16,740
As Mother Teresa says, I cannot do what you do.
327
00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:19,460
You cannot do what I do.
328
00:23:19,460 --> 00:23:23,820
but together we can do something worthwhile.
329
00:23:23,820 --> 00:23:27,740
But for those who choose one phase over another,
330
00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:31,100
they must know that the other phases must be done
331
00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:33,580
by some members of the community.
332
00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:35,500
They must solicit that.
333
00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:38,140
They must support that.
334
00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:43,820
Therefore, some persons must fast for others.
335
00:23:43,820 --> 00:23:47,740
Some must politic for others.
336
00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:52,220
Some must pray for others.
337
00:23:52,220 --> 00:23:55,420
A concluding suggestion.
338
00:23:55,420 --> 00:24:00,820
Most of us have prayed the Lord's Prayer countless times,
339
00:24:00,820 --> 00:24:04,500
but few of us have ever known the reality of not
340
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:08,860
receiving our daily bread.
341
00:24:08,860 --> 00:24:12,340
Perhaps it might be well, occasionally,
342
00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:16,660
in prayerful obedience to Jesus' intentions
343
00:24:16,660 --> 00:24:24,660
to ask our Father, give them this day their daily bread,
344
00:24:24,660 --> 00:24:29,820
and forgive us the wrongs we have done to them.
345
00:24:29,820 --> 00:24:30,620
Thank you very much.
346
00:24:30,620 --> 00:24:31,620
Thank you.
347
00:25:00,620 --> 00:25:13,300
And so as the final speaker on this morning's panel, it is my honor to present Sister Alice
348
00:25:13,300 --> 00:25:20,300
Anita, Mother General of the Sisters of St. Joseph stationed here at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.
349
00:25:20,300 --> 00:25:21,300
Sister Anita.
350
00:25:21,300 --> 00:25:43,100
Your Excellencies, Reverend Fathers, dear sisters, and our friends in the laity.
351
00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:52,920
Your Excellency, Father Arrupe, Bishop D'Souza, and Bishop Sango, in reflecting on the challenges
352
00:25:52,920 --> 00:26:00,700
and the inspirational messages that you have given, my response focuses on three areas.
353
00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:06,500
The signs of the times, sometimes as signs of hope.
354
00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:12,140
obstacles to realistic response to this hungers of the world
355
00:26:12,140 --> 00:26:15,580
and overcoming these obstacles.
356
00:26:15,580 --> 00:26:20,180
I too share your anxiety, concern, and discouragement
357
00:26:20,180 --> 00:26:22,940
over world conditions.
358
00:26:22,940 --> 00:26:29,420
The task before us to alleviate world hunger
359
00:26:29,420 --> 00:26:34,100
is of infinite magnitude, seemingly
360
00:26:34,100 --> 00:26:41,700
far beyond our human energies and resources, one that we could not dare to undertake were
361
00:26:41,700 --> 00:26:50,380
it not for our confidence that with Christ and through Christ all things are possible.
362
00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:55,380
It is true the suffering in the world is overwhelming.
363
00:26:55,380 --> 00:27:02,540
The cries of the hungry, the cries of terror and despair reach us from all quarters of
364
00:27:02,540 --> 00:27:10,240
the earth, including our own United States. And yet, despite the evidences of
365
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:16,960
this rampant inhumanity and injustice, I read some signs as signs of hope and
366
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:25,480
promise. The first sign of promise lies in the remarkable increase in global
367
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:31,320
awareness of world hunger. We are listening, many of us, as we have never
368
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:37,600
listened before to the pleas of the starving. We are beginning to make their
369
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:44,720
problems ours. The very theme of this second day of the Congress, the focus of
370
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:52,280
this symposium, witnesses to our efforts, individual and collective, to eliminate
371
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:59,760
malnutrition and hunger in the world. Has not the Emmaus experience been
372
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:05,560
hours this morning as we listen to the vivid depiction of the world's suffering
373
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:12,600
and neglect. Were not our hearts burning within us as we more empathetically than
374
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:19,680
ever recognize the Christ in our poor. The very fact that we are gathered here
375
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:25,520
together witnessing to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist demonstrates
376
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:31,720
our faith conviction that Christ is living in all oppressed persons in the
377
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:38,680
world which he himself brought into being. I cannot restrain the hope that
378
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:44,720
the events of this week's conferences will be recorded as a turning point in
379
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:52,320
the inactivizing the social history of the church and of the world. But
380
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:58,920
I believe that this keen awareness, this almost tangible realization of world hunger, is a
381
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,720
sign of hope for us.
382
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:09,720
A sign that ignorance, apathy, indifference, and insensitivity are slowly, though very
383
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:11,840
slowly, being overcome.

Side 2

00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,800
Found is a renewed sense of mission to the world, both personal and communal.
 
2
00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:17,040
The Christian community is endeavoring to place the strength of its transnational power
 
3
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:22,840
of compassion at the service of the undernourished and starving.
 
4
00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:29,280
Collectively, we are attempting to do for the suffering what each one of us would like
 
5
00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,000
to do personally but cannot.
 
6
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,480
Dedicated and informed individuals
 
7
00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:39,080
are working indefatigably to educate people
 
8
00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:44,640
to the needs of the human family and of their responsibilities
 
9
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,160
to the suffering poor.
 
10
00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:52,520
Such education now being imparted on all levels, school,
 
11
00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,480
college, university, parish, diocese,
 
12
00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:02,600
is a vital agent of this transnational social change.
 
13
00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,360
Christians everywhere are being exposed to the problem
 
14
00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,960
and acquiring a heightened consciousness
 
15
00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:12,640
of the awesome reality that the needs of the poor
 
16
00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,320
are our needs.
 
17
00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:18,400
Their hunger is our hunger.
 
18
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,560
Many people are making sincere efforts now
 
19
00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,040
to translate knowledge into action.
 
20
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,740
They are uniting efforts, organizing, and working
 
21
00:01:28,740 --> 00:01:31,760
together to bring about change.
 
22
00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,280
One such group is the World Bread for the World Committee,
 
23
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,380
enthusiastic reality in local groups,
 
24
00:01:39,380 --> 00:01:42,360
and or in congressional districts,
 
25
00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,440
and or in state or coordinated sections.
 
26
00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,120
Much more of this will be discussed
 
27
00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,960
in this afternoon's panels.
 
28
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,480
Presidents of church-related colleges, universities,
 
29
00:01:57,480 --> 00:01:59,920
and seminaries in the United States
 
30
00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:02,440
have come together to participate
 
31
00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:04,440
in a symposium entitled,
 
32
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,880
A Decade of Commitment on World Hunger.
 
33
00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,360
This symposium is resultant of previous local research,
 
34
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,600
conferences, and workshops.
 
35
00:02:17,740 --> 00:02:22,400
Bishop Sangu referred to the Niobe Conference.
 
36
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:29,680
I am quoting Bishop just what I have read recently in America magazine.
 
37
00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:37,360
In the July 24th issue of America, another evidence of hope is recorded by Philip Land.
 
38
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:44,720
In evaluating his reaction to the full months of May's meeting in Nairobi, the United Nations
 
39
00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:52,120
Trade and Development Conferences, he stated that the goal was to balance a more equitable
 
40
00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,460
and just economic order internationally
 
41
00:02:56,460 --> 00:03:01,620
between the first world nations, the industrialized nations,
 
42
00:03:01,620 --> 00:03:07,060
and the third world nations, named Group 77.
 
43
00:03:07,060 --> 00:03:09,980
Though this was the fourth meeting of its kind,
 
44
00:03:09,980 --> 00:03:14,140
four years intervening between each meeting,
 
45
00:03:14,140 --> 00:03:16,720
it ended at least with a ray of hope
 
46
00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,260
that some of the wealthy nations were
 
47
00:03:19,260 --> 00:03:22,740
listening to the poor nations.
 
48
00:03:22,740 --> 00:03:26,500
Those from the rich, industrialized First World,
 
49
00:03:26,500 --> 00:03:32,460
North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
 
50
00:03:32,460 --> 00:03:36,940
probably instructed not to make any significant commitments,
 
51
00:03:36,940 --> 00:03:39,860
left the meeting satisfied that they
 
52
00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:43,660
had avoided doing just that.
 
53
00:03:43,660 --> 00:03:45,900
Some of the First World countries,
 
54
00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:50,500
however, notably the Nordic countries of the common market,
 
55
00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:54,380
with the exception of Great Britain and West Germany,
 
56
00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:58,620
must have gone home with some justified satisfaction
 
57
00:03:58,620 --> 00:04:01,060
resultant of their serious efforts
 
58
00:04:01,060 --> 00:04:05,300
at useful and honest compromises.
 
59
00:04:05,300 --> 00:04:07,860
The Nairobi conference was evaluated
 
60
00:04:07,860 --> 00:04:10,980
by Jamaica's Herbert Walker, spokesman
 
61
00:04:10,980 --> 00:04:15,300
for the Third World Group of 77.
 
62
00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:19,680
He states, quote, it was a turning point
 
63
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,700
in the international economic relations
 
64
00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:27,680
after months of preparation and in an especially intense effort
 
65
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,960
of the last two days.
 
66
00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,740
We've bent all our efforts to reach each other
 
67
00:04:32,740 --> 00:04:38,760
across the dividing lines of the rich and the poor, end of quote.
 
68
00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:44,020
Conferences such as this are not abstract computer responses.
 
69
00:04:44,020 --> 00:04:49,020
Conferences are women and men interiorized by a goal,
 
70
00:04:49,380 --> 00:04:53,020
whether that goal be materialistic or spiritual.
 
71
00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:57,060
For me, this seemed a beginning,
 
72
00:04:57,060 --> 00:05:01,300
a microcosm of the implementation at last
 
73
00:05:01,300 --> 00:05:05,660
of Pope Paul's admission given on the 80th anniversary
 
74
00:05:05,660 --> 00:05:07,820
of Rerum Novarum.
 
75
00:05:07,820 --> 00:05:10,260
In that conference, he stated,
 
76
00:05:10,260 --> 00:05:16,980
The law of the market, like every other creation, has its moral limits.
 
77
00:05:16,980 --> 00:05:22,860
When it denies food to the starving people, it must be changed.
 
78
00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:29,100
He further stated, we do not make a gift of our possessions to the poor person.
 
79
00:05:29,100 --> 00:05:32,060
We are giving him what is his.
 
80
00:05:32,060 --> 00:05:37,820
For what we have has been given to us by our creator for the use of all.
 
81
00:05:37,820 --> 00:05:40,900
we have arrogated it to ourselves.
 
82
00:05:40,900 --> 00:05:46,660
This world was given to all, not only to the wealthy.
 
83
00:05:46,660 --> 00:05:53,100
The gift of the Eucharist thus becomes our responsibility.
 
84
00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:56,820
The third sign of promise stems from a deeper understanding
 
85
00:05:56,820 --> 00:06:00,860
among Catholics of the universality of the Church
 
86
00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:02,900
and of the Church's mission to the peoples
 
87
00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:05,300
everywhere on Earth.
 
88
00:06:05,300 --> 00:06:10,740
The Church has developed within the last 15 years a corpus of social doctrine that is
 
89
00:06:10,740 --> 00:06:13,040
without precedent.
 
90
00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:20,020
In the face of inhuman and intolerable conditions, the Church has not remained silent.
 
91
00:06:20,020 --> 00:06:25,500
The American bishops exhort us to undertake genuine reordering of our priorities in the
 
92
00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:27,780
American Church.
 
93
00:06:27,780 --> 00:06:35,000
Their appeals to Christian conscience and responsible stewardship echo St. Paul's teaching
 
94
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,520
in his first letter to the Corinthians,
 
95
00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:40,620
that we must recognize the body,
 
96
00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:43,480
that the body of Christ in the bread
 
97
00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,520
and the body of Christ in the community belong together.
 
98
00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,220
St. Paul's concern that the Corinthian community
 
99
00:06:52,220 --> 00:06:55,200
was not caring for its weaker members
 
100
00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,260
is the bishop's concern for us.
 
101
00:06:58,260 --> 00:07:00,340
They cannot do this alone.
 
102
00:07:00,340 --> 00:07:05,340
We are indeed today's Corinthians' community.
 
103
00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:09,340
Eucharist for the early Christians meant sharing,
 
104
00:07:09,340 --> 00:07:13,340
selling their possessions so that no one would be in want.
 
105
00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:17,340
This is what it must become for us,
 
106
00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:22,340
for the gift of the Eucharist becomes our responsibility.
 
107
00:07:22,340 --> 00:07:26,340
Another sign of promise is a call to action
 
108
00:07:26,340 --> 00:07:32,340
found in the awakened consciences of religious women and men,
 
109
00:07:32,340 --> 00:07:36,340
in the renewal processes in their congregations.
 
110
00:07:36,340 --> 00:07:40,340
The traditional apostolates in ministry to the Church and the people
 
111
00:07:40,340 --> 00:07:43,340
are still, and I state this emphatically,
 
112
00:07:43,340 --> 00:07:48,340
of the greatest vital lifeline to the world.
 
113
00:07:48,340 --> 00:07:54,340
Ministry of Christian education, of nursing, of care for the aged.
 
114
00:07:54,340 --> 00:08:00,660
All that we have been doing must continue to be done, but it must be revitalized,
 
115
00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:06,340
rededicated by the women and men committed by personal consecration to do so.
 
116
00:08:07,780 --> 00:08:14,580
Mother Teresa is God's instrument of this revitalized compassion in all apostolic endeavors.
 
117
00:08:17,220 --> 00:08:21,700
Contemplative in action is her witness to the world in love.
 
118
00:08:21,700 --> 00:08:29,100
The traditional ministry of education from preschool to university must be the vital
 
119
00:08:29,100 --> 00:08:35,300
lifeline of Christocentric living. But as Pope Paul warns us,
 
120
00:08:35,300 --> 00:08:42,940
quote, education is vital, but it is not sufficient for the Church to enlighten minds.
 
121
00:08:42,940 --> 00:08:49,860
It must also take part in Christian social action and spread with concern, compassion,
 
122
00:08:49,860 --> 00:08:56,860
in service and effectiveness the energies of the gospel."
 
123
00:08:56,860 --> 00:09:05,460
Society is to learn that there is no greater corporate power of Christocentric transformation
 
124
00:09:05,460 --> 00:09:11,060
of man than in religious congregations of women and men.
 
125
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Our call to discipleship is our life's commitment.
 
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The renewal process mandated by Vatican II has been and continues to be painful and a
 
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soul-searching one.
 
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Some have left to find other ways of Christian service.
 
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Those who remain are more deeply committed than they have ever been.
 
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Therefore, it is inevitable that society will find dedicated and qualified religious in
 
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all areas of life where the seeds of injustice are sown.
 
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I would speak for a moment for the religious women of the United States and tell you how
 
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we are responding to the pleas of the suffering in brevity.
 
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Fully aware that we can no longer be locked together in a limited world, that we must
 
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broaden our horizons of humanity, religious are taking on now new functions, new duties,
 
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every sector of human need in order to make justice and compassion living realities for
 
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the poor and the hungry.
 
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A report from the National Catholic Relief Services is that the religious women of the
 
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United States this year have contributed to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
 
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at least $1 million to the hungry,
 
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$300,000 of that corporate, the remainder personal.
 
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Corporate seems to be a very abstract word
 
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because that corporateness is divided
 
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into individual communities, corporate sacrifice.
 
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Just as one or two examples,
 
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one community that corporately decided
 
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that that year, no one in the community would buy new shoes.
 
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And that money was collected and sent
 
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to the Catholic Relief Services.
 
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Many of these individual examples could be given,
 
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but time does not permit.
 
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Second to the parochial schools and the CCD classes,
 
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great stimulation to personal responsibility
 
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is being motivated, is motivating sacrifice.
 
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We have had that perfect example in our Operation Rice Bowl
 
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of last year.
 
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Concern for neighborhood needs, the lonely
 
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who are living alone, the hungry and the ill.
 
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Here in Philadelphia, St. John's Hospice
 
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is a focal point for many religious women
 
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who are devoting their time and sacrifice.
 
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Qualified and deaf, each of these sisters
 
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is in full-time ministry of education.
 
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Qualified and dedicated religion are keeping a Nader-like eye
 
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on legislative action relevant to justice and peace,
 
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and they are forming a strong lobbying force.
 
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Administrative persons and religious communities
 
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endeavor to modify the policies of large corporations
 
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in which the corporate community holds stocks.
 
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This is accomplished by membership
 
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in the National Catholic Coalition
 
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for Responsible Investments, which, again,
 
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is the Christian nadir-like way of saying,
 
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of keeping eyes on those corporations.
 
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As shareholders, we exercise our voting power
 
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and demand evidence of gospel value
 
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in the financial operations of these corporations.
 
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Two examples that I will give you
 
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are the Charity Sisters of Nazareth, Kentucky,
 
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and the Sisters of Loretta,
 
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who successfully brought pressure to bear
 
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on a large corporation and a few small companies
 
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to reclaim areas in Appalachia
 
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that were destroyed by strip mining operations.
 
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Another religious community of women,
 
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the Caldwell Dominicans of New Jersey,
 
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After a three-year struggle with zoning regulations in courts,
 
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finally last month succeeded to the Supreme Court of New
 
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Jersey in obtaining the legal right
 
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to build a home on their property
 
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for aging middle class persons.
 
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We, Sisters of St. Joseph, through a chapter mandate
 
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in 1974, have established a social concerns committee
 
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under the chairmanship of one of our counselors.
 
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Active participation began in 1975
 
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at a conference sponsored at St. Joseph's College
 
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under the guidance of Reverend Edward Brady.
 
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As a result of that, a small beginning started.
 
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400 hunger kits were distributed throughout our schools.
 
200
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:22,280
letter-writing campaigns began, the right to life, right to food, criminal justice,
 
201
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:28,640
Indians, the farm workers' support. Hundreds of letters were xeroxed and
 
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00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:35,280
mailed at the community expense in defense of these rights. Quietly but
 
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00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:40,440
effectively, I am grateful to say the work of concern in many areas
 
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continues by individual sisters fully involved in the work in the Ministry of
 
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Education. A survey of all religious communities would be an invaluable
 
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stimuli to those who fear consciousness for the poor is not being raised. These
 
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00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:06,680
are some signs of the times which give hope and courage to us all. Our response
 
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to the world situation nevertheless is still weak and inadequate. The problem is
 
209
00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:22,220
coming to grips with the food crisis of daunting complexity. We continue to
 
210
00:15:22,220 --> 00:15:28,200
take small steps for the betterment of mankind when in reality we should be
 
211
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:35,720
taking giant ones. What holds back at one our full and wholehearted response to
 
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to the hungers of the world.
 
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Is it first that our faith is weak?
 
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Our response to the pleas of the hungry
 
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will always be proportionate to the depth of our faith,
 
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00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:55,040
to the intensity of our belief in the mystical body of Christ.
 
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As a community of faith, we are called to be
 
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a community of the Beatitudes.
 
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A second reason for our reluctance
 
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to accept generously the opportunity to make up
 
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for what is wanting in the sufferings of Christ
 
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for the sake of his body, the church,
 
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arises from a crisis of solidarity.
 
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This stems from an unwillingness to contribute
 
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to a better distribution of available resources.
 
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His Holiness asks, quote,
 
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Will those who possess these means remain as those struck by paralysis when confronted with the enduring poverty of so many?"
 
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And yet they continue to worship, we continue to worship the idol of power, making material abundance an end in itself.
 
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Another reason hindering authentic living of our Beatitudes, implicitly contained in the other two reasons, and already mentioned by Father Arrupe, is lack of motivation.
 
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Motivation is an intricate, complex, intangible reality.
 
231
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Responding to the needs of the world involves much more than mere material contributions.
 
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It is not sufficient to give of our material abundance only.
 
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Genuine motivation must be predicated on certain basic truths.
 
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First, that the sacrificial death of Christ was offered for all men and all times.
 
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Second, that it is not enough for us to share Christ's sacrifice.
 
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we must identify with him and his concern for all men.
 
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Third, that the suffering of one is the suffering of all.
 
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When these spiritual truths are entrenched
 
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in our minds and hearts, then and only then
 
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will we be motivated to make our act of total giving
 
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00:18:06,340 --> 00:18:09,160
and loving to our suffering family.
 
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weakness of faith, crisis of solidarity, and lack of motivation.
 
243
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These are the chief obstacles to the full living of the Beatitudes,
 
244
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:27,160
for our failure to hear the words of our modern prophets.
 
245
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:31,160
If we as Christians are to proclaim realistically
 
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00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,160
the living relationship between God and man,
 
247
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If we are to make Christ credible and relevant to our unbelieving world,
 
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we must overcome these obstacles, first within ourselves,
 
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so that the early recognition of the Christians may again be identified with us.
 
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See how those Christians love one another.
 
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It is only through the transformation of man that this can be accomplished.
 
252
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:12,520
Without a conversion of heart and attitude, we cannot meet the demands of love and sacrifice
 
253
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required to alleviate the sufferings of humanity.
 
254
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How futile it is to work for societal changes without first changing ourselves.
 
255
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The Eucharist is the sign of unity, of solidarity, and it is the bond of charity.
 
256
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Anyone who approaches it cannot ignore the unfortunate members of the body.
 
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He must feel committed within the limits of his possibilities to satisfy the hungers of his needy neighbors,
 
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be they local or global.
 
259
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The reception of the Bread of Life expresses not only the personal relationship between ourselves and God,
 
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but also the communal relationship between ourselves and our fellow men.
 
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00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:12,040
Transformed by the experience of Christ's love in the Eucharist, a person
 
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responds in love for his fellow man and accepts responsibility for him.
 
263
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The Eucharist is the motivating force, the inspiration and strength of our personal
 
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00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:34,180
and communal mission to the world. The Eucharist indissolubly joins us to the
 
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cross of Christ and exacts from us the price of discipleship. Father Ruppe
 
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00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:50,040
named this victimhood. Love and sacrifice are the very elements of
 
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of Eucharistic mystery.
 
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00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,920
These are the elements of the Christocentric action
 
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00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,920
of every Christian, priest, minister, laity, religious.
 
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00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,860
Without them, all efforts are merely activism,
 
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00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,380
an alleviation of the hungers of the world, fruitless.
 
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00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,700
Let us reflect for a moment on the effect
 
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of Christ's last message to the multitude
 
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after the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.
 
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Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
 
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you shall not have life in you.
 
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He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
 
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abides in me and I in him.
 
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00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,020
Many of his followers said to each other,
 
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This is an intolerable saying, and they walked with him no more.
 
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Are we Christians of this great, challenging period of history open to Christ's promise
 
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00:22:03,860 --> 00:22:15,540
and thus leave each Eucharistic celebration as other Christ, or is this to us an intolerable
 
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saying and do I choose to remain bread and wine. Thank you.
 
284
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Thank you.
 
285
00:22:43,380 --> 00:22:44,380
Thank you, Sister Anita.
 
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00:22:44,380 --> 00:22:48,580
And may I also say thank you, Father Arrupe.
 
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00:22:48,580 --> 00:22:50,060
Thank you, Bishop D'Souza.
 
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Thank you, Bishop Sangu.
 
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00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:58,280
Bishop Rouse for having let us off in this panel. And now my dear friends, we
 
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will proceed with the ceremony that we have all waited for.