Dear friends, I am attaching
the full speech, which is worth reading, a major speech on 150 years of Cardinal Bagnasco Italian political unity. Clarify, first, the distinction between people, nation and state. (In blue the decisive part.)
Thank you and good day! I keep you always in my prayers.
Father Pier Luca
Rome December 2, 2010
X Cultural Forum Project
CATHOLICS "founding members" of the country
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco
I am pleased to take part in the Cultural Project X Forum of the Italian Church, now in its tenth edition. Since 1997 it has produced a large reflection nodes examined cultural and challenges emerging in our country, trying each time to propose an original reading from the Christian faith.
My heartfelt greetings and gratitude to each one of you, first of all the national committee for the cultural project and HE Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who is a passionate President.
The theme of this Forum - "Over 150 years of Italian unity. Tradition and design "- is an invitation to make this important anniversary, a circumstance not rhetoric, but an opportunity for a peaceful re-thinking of our national story, so as to find in it a shared memory and a future perspective can give rise to a" Falling in love again Being Italian, in a Europe united and wisely in a world of a balanced global "(Keynote Address to the General Assembly of the CEI, May 24, 2010). The occasion sees the United Church to the whole country in celebrating the founding event of the unified state, and already this finding is sufficient to measure the distance that separates us from the "breach of Porta Pia, the importance of the common path and the path partiality of certain readings that emphasize opposition now remote.
The contribution of the Catholic unity of the country is - the rest - well known and is not limited to the pre-unification, but also extends to the next stage of its development, as recently been authoritatively stated by the President of the Republic, in a telegram sent to me last May 3: "Even after the formation of the unified state the whole Catholic world, albeit not without difficult moments of friction and confrontation, was the protagonist of importance of public life, to profoundly influence the formation and approval of the republican constitution "(G. Napolitano). I would like to reread the contribution of Catholics who, rightly, feel 'founders' of this country, given the challenges that we face, to allow everyone to feel part of a "we" could at any time exceed interest particolaristici, e di sprigionare energie insospettate e slanci di generosità.
1. L’Italia “prima” dell’Italia
Cogliere il contributo cristiano rispetto al destino del nostro Paese richiede una lettura della storia scevra da pregiudizi e seriamente documentata, lontana dunque tanto da conformismi quanto da revisionismi. In effetti, ben prima del 1861 la nostra realtà italiana, per quanto frammentata in mille rivoli feudali, poi comunali, quindi statali, aveva conosciuto una profonda sintonia in virtù dell’eredità cristiana. Ne è prova assai significativa la persona di S. Francesco d’Assisi, cui si lega il ripetuto uso del termine Italia, ancora poco corrente nel Medioevo. Just in relation to S. Francis, irradiation of his presence, but one that is beginning to have substance and for centuries will remain only a geographical expression, but a living corposissima cultural identity, spiritual and above all religious. In addition to S. Francis are innumerable shapes - even women, such as S. Catherine of Siena - to make a decisive contribution to the growing religious and even economic and social development of our Peninsula. From here we get the realization that the only feeling that coupled the Italians, and they belonged to any social class in any of the pre-unification states they lived, was the religious and Catholic. To say that Italy is not home means naively remark birthright, but only to take the secret deep attraction between the identity of a people and what would become its historical form unit to another, not without serious disturbances of consciousness and for a long time, unresolved institutional conflicts. E 'enough to mention here that at the bottom of these events there was also the main concern of the Church to give full freedom and independence of the Pope, necessary for the exercise of his supreme apostolic ministry, and in general to avoid a "taxable "State of the Church.
The anniversary which we are preparing to celebrate, then, is relevant not so much “perché l’Italia sia un’invenzione di quel momento, ossia del 1861, ma perché in quel momento, per una serie di combinazioni, veniva a compiersi anche politicamente una nazione che da un punto di vista geografico, linguistico, religioso, culturale e artistico era già da secoli in cammino” (cfr. Prolusione all’Assemblea generale della CEI, 24 maggio 2010). In altre parole, veniva generato un popolo. E’ di tutta evidenza che lo Stato in sé ha bisogno di un popolo, ma il popolo non è tale in forza dello Stato, lo precede in quanto non è una somma di individui ma una comunità di persone, e una comunità vera e affidabile è sempre di ordine spirituale ed etica, ha un’anima. And this is his spine. But if the soul is imperishable, then it becomes fragile unity of the people, and the State is weakened and disfigured. When this can happen? When the dark consciousness of common values, their cultural identity. Talk about cultural identity does not mean fold or withdrawn, but it is not disfigure their faces: it is not faceless people meet, you can not know, appreciate, for correction, to walk together, to work towards the same goals , to be "people". The state can not create this unity which is pre-institutional, pre-political, but at the same time has to be careful and protect and not damage it. Sarebbe miope e irresponsabile attentare a ciò che unisce in nome di qualsivoglia prospettiva.
2. L’unità del Paese si fa attorno al “retto vivere”
A questo livello dunque – quello più profondo – si pone in primo luogo la presenza dinamica dei cattolici di ieri e di oggi. L’humus popolare nasce sul territorio e nella società civile, è il frutto delle relazioni delle varie famiglie spirituali di cui la società si compone. La religione in genere, e in Italia le comunità cristiane in particolare, sono state e sono fermento nella pasta, accanto alla gente; sono prossimità di condivisione e di speranza evangelica, sorgente generatrice del senso ultimo of life, permanent memory of moral values. Assets are a common feeling that inspires widespread that identifies not excluding, which recognize approaching, urges the friendly sense of belonging and generous participation in the ecclesial community, the life of the village and the country, cities and regions of the state. Is it not true that the more the man turns back on itself, egocentric or scary, especially the social fabric crumbles, and each tends to become estranged from public affairs, the state feels far? But - in reverse image - it is also true that the more the State becomes self-referential, closed in the building, the more likely to find empty and alone, a stranger to his people. This is a circularity to never lose sight, smell from deep in his movements not to chase the populist inclinations of the moment and so useless, why did not weaken the underlying unity that is not doing the same things, but is a common feeling about the most important things of life and death. E 'to this grass-roots level - we could say, not ideological but ontological - that is created, resistant and grows as the soul of a nation state dynamics.
I would, for example, call softly as the Christian communities of all ages express themselves in diverse social, religious initiatives, cultural, charitable and training in different fields. And so remember with gratitude the extensive network of cooperative associations and aggregations in both religious and secular. Faith certainly can never be reduced to a "civil religion", but its fallout is undeniable in his personal life and public life.
Religion however is not set in civil society only for its welfare activities - horizontally - but just as a religion, vertically. The universal experience, in fact, first documented that openness to transcendence is neither superstructure nor purely individual and private matter, and on the other to certify that the approach to the mystery of God gives rise to cultura e civiltà. L’autocoscienza di una società – che si esprime anche nei suoi ordinamenti giuridici e statuali - è conseguenza dell’autocoscienza dell’uomo, cioè di come l’uomo si concepisce nel suo essere e nei suoi significati, e senza la prospettiva di una vita oltre la morte, la vita politica tenderà a farsi semplicemente organizzazione delle cose materiali, equilibrio di interessi, freno di appetiti individuali o corporativi, amministrazione e burocrazia. A nessuno sfugge come la visione dell’uomo e della vita assuma, nella luce della fede cattolica, prospettive e criteri che creano uno specifico ethos del vivere: il Vangelo invita l’uomo a guardare al Cielo per poter meglio guardare the earth, invites you to turn to God to find that others are not only similar but also of the brothers, remember that the bread is necessary, but that does not live by bread alone man. Finally, the dignity of the person, that today the international charters recognize as a given that the above positive law, finds its unconditioned only in transcendence, that is beyond the individual and human authority. E 'reference this creator and organizer that generates, establishes and guarantees the value of man and his moral action. And it is the respect and promotion of the dignity that is the core dynamic and orientation of the "common good", the aim of every true state. And the definition theoretical and the practical implementation of the common good, the contribution of Catholics was certainly not modest.
Com 'is known, the Second Vatican Council defines the common good as "the sum total of social conditions that enable groups and as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (Gaudium et Spes, 26). But what is the perfection of the different subjects, which are perfectly ordered conditions of social life? It is' the right to live "both to citizens and their representatives. E 'communion in good living, that is, righteously. Benedict XVI was explicit in this regard: "The development will never be fully guaranteed by forces somewhat automatic and impersonal ... The development is impossible without the upright, without financiers and politicians who live in their minds strongly the call of the common good . Are needed both for the professional and moral consistency "(CV, 71). Are no facilities as such nor the mere procedural laws to ensure ipso facto "right living", but the lives of righteous people who wish to be shaped by justice: justice already S. Thomas (S. Th, II-II, q. 58, aa.5-6) \u200b\u200bdescribed a "general virtue" in since it targets the social attitude of the person, which can not be limited by his needs and his particular needs, but is called to assume responsibility for the whole.
In concern for the common good is part of the commitment to national unity, which remains a valuable asset and an essential anchor. In this undertaking, as emphasized by President Napolitano, "no shadow weighs unit of Italy that is the relations between secular and Catholic institutions between the State and republican institutions of the Catholic Church, rather venendone comfort and support." E 'in the fertile soil of "being together "that federalism is a truly joint implants: a good thing that being together is not the be next by selecting one or the other so concerned, but which is made of esteem and respect, sympathy, justice, care and active solidarity towards all, especially to those who are poorest, weakest and most defenseless. Beware of love in Christ, the great Samaritan of humanity, is a model, teacher and source. Contemplating the Crucified, anywhere, recalls the sense of generosity: the gift of his life, in fact, is the constant witness of the gift without pretension. When a company keeps the joy of help without widespread utilitarian calculations, then the state perceives itself in a non-commercial, open and build in a sign of solidarity and subsidiarity. From this base of humus, which is woven in the worlds vital relationships - family, work, leisure, fragility, citizenship - that comes the reality of church and lay volunteers who breathe in great condition and that every effort, and of active hope.
3. The Church teaches for the good of
of this way of thinking, next to the family - incomparable array of humanity - the whole of society is the result, a chair and gym. And in this huge and exciting educational work, the Church will never mancare il suo contributo in continuità con la sua storia millenaria, consapevole di partecipare - oggi come allora – alla costruzione del bene comune.
A questo proposito, gli “Orientamenti pastorali”, recentemente pubblicati dalla nostra Conferenza Episcopale, rappresentano una opportunità per mantenere o ricostituire il patrimonio spirituale e morale indispensabile anche all’uomo post-moderno. L’annuncio integrale del Vangelo di Gesù Cristo, è ciò che di più caro e prezioso la Chiesa ha da offrire perché non si smarrisca l’identità personale e sociale, e anche il miglior antidoto a certo individualismo che mette a dura prova la coesistenza e il raggiungimento del bene comune. "Educating the good life of the Gospel" is also part of the path of the Italian Church which continues its work in time which is always a fruitful intertwining of evangelization and culture. The Church teaches the rest always and inseparably to human and Christian values, and today represents, in the concrete of our cities and our towns, a reliable reference, especially for children and young people. These mainly the adult world has to offer as an example and a credible response, countering the "culture of nothingness" that is the prelude to a widespread 'sadness'. But we must not forget that culture is not an abstract entity, to some extent depends on each of us, individuals and groups. We can say that the culture we are: if the lifestyles, the overall guidelines, laws have a significant influence on the formation of young people - but also adults! - Whether good or bad, it is also true that if every person of goodwill could be the virtuous behavior, and it widens with positive networks that sustain and propose can improve the environment in general.
In this season of renewed commitment to education, fits well what I was allowed to trust as 'a dream', the kind you make with your eyes open. Indeed, without wishing to ignore all the positive and there is already anzi con la cooperazione scaturente dalle esperienze già presenti sul campo, formulavo l’auspicio che possa sorgere una generazione nuova di italiani e di cattolici che sentono la cosa pubblica come fatto importante e decisivo, che credono fermamente nella politica come forma di carità autentica perché volta a segnare il destino di tutti (cfr. Prolusione al Consiglio permanente, 25 gennaio 2010). Alla luce di quanto determinante sia stato il contributo dei cattolici nella storia del nostro Paese torno a sottolineare questa necessità.
Puntuali e come sempre illuminanti risuonano le parole di Benedetto XVI nell’accommiatarsi dal Presidente della Repubblica durante l’ultima visita compiuta dal Pontefice il 4 ottobre 2008 al Palazzo Quirinale: "I hope ... that the contribution of the Catholic community is welcomed by all with the same spirit of goodwill with which it is offered. There is no reason to fear an abuse of power against the freedom of the Church and its members, who also expects to grant them the freedom to not betray their conscience enlightened by the Gospel. This will be even easier if it never be forgotten that all parts of society must commit themselves to each other with respect, to achieve that true good of the community whose hearts and minds of the Italian people, fed by twenty centuries of culture steeped of Christianity, are well aware. "
