Pope Paul VI lecture 2010 (1): questions of collaboration

The Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture proved, as far as Claudette Werleigh's lecture was concerned, to be very interesting (in my view, any way). Ms Werleigh offered a very careful analysis of the situation in her home country of Haiti, both before and after January's earthquake. This situation was evaluated by reference to the encyclicals Populorum Progressio and Caritas in Veritate. Evaluation was also offered in terms of a notion of "human flourishing" from an author whose name I didn't catch. The full text of the lecture is due to appear on the CAFOD website from 26th November, and I intend offering a fuller comment when I have access to the published text. (Unfortunately, I do not think that the report by Anita Boniface at Independent Catholic News describes Ms Werleigh's lecture very well.)

What was apparent in two respects during the evening was the general question of how a Catholic organisation like CAFOD collaborates with others in public life who have views at odds with Catholic teaching.

1. Jon Snow's views were the subject of some comment before the lecture - see here, for example. As he introduced the lecture, Mr Snow described his first encounter with CAFOD. This was after he had been asked to go to El Salvador to cover events after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Mr Snow's crash course in El Salvador and Archbishop Romero was provided by Julian Filichowski, then the director of CAFOD.  This, I would suggest, was a positive side of collaboration - briefing someone - though Mr Snow's references to "liberation theology" and "the Jesuits in central America" did leave me hoping that he actually realised Archbishop Romero was no advocate of "liberation theology". Since he had just returned from covering the cholera outbreak in El Salvador, Mr Snow was also able to make some useful observations about the situation in Haiti later in the lecture.

2. Before the lecture began, two of CAFOD's promotional videos were shown on screen. In one of them, Nelson Mandela appears, calling for the overcoming of poverty: Your Kingdom Come Part 1. In the second, it is Archbishop Desmond Tutu who appears, urging us to "say no to injustice": Your Kingdom Come Trailer. Both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are great advocates of freedom, when that is seen in a certain respect. But Desmond Tutu, for example, had this to say when Pope Benedict XVI was elected:

"We would have hoped for someone more open to the more recent developments in the world, the whole question of the ministry of women and a more reasonable position with regards to condoms and HIV/Aids... (source here)

I have memories of him expressing his criticism of Pope Benedict (and the Catholic Church's) stance on condom use and HIV/AIDS more strongly than this when Pope Benedict visited Africa.

The nature of political engagement is that you work with people on one issue when, on another issue, you might be strongly opposing them. The collaboration on one issue would not thereby be seen as support on the other issue. For a Catholic organisation like CAFOD, I think this kind of political pragmatism has legitimacy. In political advocacy and the practical provision of overseas aid, it is possible to work alongside partners who don't fully hold one's own position without compromising your own inegrity.

The position is slightly different, though, when it comes to promotional activities or materials. I think that the discernment of what it is that you do share and value in the person of the collaborator should be more explicitly acknowledged. If it is not made more explicit, there can be a counter-witness to the values of the Catholic organisation involved. The notion of freedom to which Desmond Tutu is a great witness is not, because of his different position on contraceptive provision, quite the same as that which the Catholic Church would advocate. Whilst CAFOD might share his notion of freedom in some respects, in another respect they should not, and should take some care to avoid any misunderstanding on the point. The point actually matters, because a Catholic organisation like CAFOD promotes an integral development, and not a  partial development. So a misunderstanding of their use of Desmond Tutu as a "lead figure" in a promotional video can lead to a misunderstanding of something that is central to the purpose of their existence and activity. A smiliar consideration applies to Jon Snow's chairing of the Pope Paul VI lecture.

How far should Catholics celebrate a "secular" saint?

Nelson Mandela has reached his 90th birthday, an event that has been celebrated internationally. The Jesuit online journal Thinking Faith carried an article praising Mandela as an "apostle of justice". The article seemed to have adopted this title for him un-critically, though it may well prove to be generally justified.

As a general principle, praise of "secular saints" like Nelson Mandela needs to be undertaken as an act of dialogue. This involves recognising those points in their lives which are true and good, and giving due praise for them, whilst at the same time not endorsing aspects of their lives that may be in conflict with Catholic teaching.

Nelson Mandela was a key figure in founding a "military wing" of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960-62. Previously, the ANC had always advocated peaceful means (forms of civil disobedience) of campaigning against apartheid. What is interesting here is that Nelson Mandela had been a member of the ANC for many years before this, with experience of the peaceful forms of protest. What he saw, however, was that this was not achieving the needed outcome, and that the repression from the government and security forces in South Africa was becoming increasingly violent. Did Nelson Mandela find himself at this time in a similar position to that of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador, who referred to Pope Paul VI's encyclical Populorum Progressio to recognise that, in a situation of sustained injustice seriously injurious to human rights and the common good, insurrectional violence might be justified?

Since his retirement from the political life of South Africa, Nelson Mandela has campaigned on the issue of HIV/AIDS. His "46664" campaign and the work of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund are manifestations of this. I have not been able to find out all the work that is supported by these campaigns, but the 46664 website indicates a range of activities with which the Church would have no problem. He has certainly referred on more than one occasion, including when his son died of HIV/AIDS, to the need to overcome the stigma often associated with the disease in African and which hinders treatment and support for those who are infected. It needs to be treated as a "normal disease".

As an aside, I think the language of the "fight against AIDS" inadvertently contributes to this stigma. Medical care, for example, is not about fighting against a "disease" hidden in the patient; it is about caring for and treating the patient who has the disease. The language of "fighting AIDS" too easily slips, albeit accidentally, into a sense of the person who is suffering from it as being some kind of "enemy"; it is much better to have a language of being "for" the person who suffers. This is something that Nelson Mandela seems to appreciate.

Nelson Mandela has married three times, divorcing his first two wives. Clearly, the circumstances of his political life and imprisonment contributed to this, and it is necessary to read more closely into the precise circumstances to have a proper understanding of this aspect of Nelson Mandela's life. Nevertheless, it is perhaps a point that suggests Catholic praise of Nelson Mandela may need to be qualified.