The Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe clergy enjoyed being brothers in a week of retreat at Teng-ab, Bontoc, Mountain Province. The clergy took turns in lecturing on the encyclical of Pope Francis, “Fratelli Tutti.” I was entrusted to talk on the eighth chapter of the encyclical. I enjoyed reading, pondering, and lecturing on the rich insights of the Pope.
Chapter 8 of Fratelli Tutti, the most recent encyclical of Pope Francis, tackles religion and fraternity, particularly dealing with religions at the service in our world.
Pope Francis underlines respect of each other as a human person called to be a child of God and the goal of dialogue between different religions.
The different religions, based on their respect for each human person as a creature called to be a child of God, contribute significantly to building fraternity and defending justice in society.
Dialogue between followers of different religions does not take place simply for the sake of diplomacy, consideration, or tolerance. In the words of the Bishops of India, “the goal of dialogue is to establish friendship, peace and harmony, and to share spiritual and moral values and experiences in a spirit of truth and love.”
The ultimate foundation of fraternity underlines our being children of the Father. The basic foundation of fraternity is the strong conviction that we have one Father in heaven.
As believers, we are convinced that, without openness to the Father of all, there will be no solid and stable reason for an appeal to fraternity. We are certain that “only with this awareness that we are not orphans, but children, can we live in peace with one another”.
Pope Francis exhorts each one to look into the transcendent truth. In the third chapter, Pope Francis underlined the movement towards others as “moving beyond ourselves.” In the last chapter he uses transcendence. It is not merely reaching out but going beyond the basic tenets and creeds of religion. Before one is a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Judaist, a Shinto, or a Hindu, he or she is first and foremost the image and likeness of God. That is the most basic identity and truth of the human person. (Genesis 1:27) We have to go beyond our religion and see that basic and intrinsic truth that makes us equal. Pope Francis calls it as transcendent truth.
In this regard, I wish to cite the following memorable statement: “If there is no transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves his full identity, then there is no sure principle for guaranteeing just relations between people.
Their self-interest as a class, group or nation would inevitably set them in opposition to one another. If one does not acknowledge transcendent truth, then the force of power takes over, and each person tends to make full use of the means at his disposal in order to impose his own interests or his own opinion, with no regard for the rights of others.
The root of modern totalitarianism is to be found in the denial of the transcendent dignity of the human person who, as the visible image of the invisible God, is therefore by his very nature the subject of rights that no one may violate.
When we seek God and witness to him we affirm religion serving fraternity.
We, the believers of the different religions, know that our witness to God benefits our societies. The effort to seek God with a sincere heart helps us recognize one another as travelling companions, truly brothers and sisters. We are convinced that “when, in the name of an ideology, there is an attempt to remove God from a society, that society ends up adoring idols, and very soon men and women lose their way, their dignity is trampled and their rights violated.”
However, the transcendent truth can be eroded.
It should be acknowledged that “among the most important causes of the crises of the modern world are a desensitized human conscience, a distancing from religious values, and the prevailing individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies that deify the human person and introduce worldly and material values in place of supreme and transcendental principles.”
May 17, 2024
