At the presentation of a book on Pope Francis' social teaching in Aachen, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development explained the Catholic vision of human development and its relevance in today's world.
By Lisa Zengarini
Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, traveled to Germany on Friday to receive the 2024 Klaus Hemmerle Prize, which honors his tireless commitment to human dignity and human rights.
The prize is awarded every two years by the Focolare Movement in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to personalities who have made special contributions as bridge builders and who promote dialogue between churches, religions and different worldviews in a special way.
It was founded in 2004 in memory of the late theologian and Aachen Bishop Klaus Hemmerle (1929-1994), who dedicated his life to promoting dialogue and inspired the movement's founder Chiara Lubich.
Before the award ceremony at Aachen Cathedral, on Friday morning, Cardinal Czerny presented the book “We Are All Siblings – A Sign of the Times: The Social Teaching of Pope Francis”) at an academic event on the social teaching of the Church
Pope St. Paul VI's landmark “Popular Progress”
In the presentation at the Kommende Dortmund Institute, the Cardinal Prefect addressed the Catholic vision of “integral human development” as expressed by Pope Paul VI. The social teaching of Pope Francis was formulated and further developed in his groundbreaking social encyclical Popolorum Progressio on the development of peoples.
He pointed out that Paul VI. by introducing the concept of “integral human development,” “challenged the dominant development paradigm that is focused solely on economic growth,” as opposed to authentic development that must promote “the development of every human being and the whole human being.”
Following this view, Cardinal Czerny stated: “Everyone has a contribution to make to society as a whole, and no one is excluded from contributing something for the good of all.”
Most importantly, he added, Populorum Progressio recognized that “real development cannot be achieved in isolation, but in the context of a just and balanced society that promotes solidarity, peace and respect for human dignity.”
Pope Francis' social teaching is rooted in holistic human development
Pope Francis' social teaching, the prefect continued, is deeply rooted in this idea of holistic human development and offers us a perspective and orientation for many of the problems facing the world today.
In Evangelii Gaudium (2013), the Pope criticizes globalization and the prevailing technocratic and profit-oriented paradigm, which measures and manages reality exclusively from an economic perspective and inevitably leads to a “throwaway culture” in which there are no excluded, simply exploited, but to ” “waste”.
In Laudato si' (2015) he opposes the “technocratic paradigm” by stating that “the market alone cannot guarantee holistic human development and social inclusion”.
Furthermore, in Fratelli tutti (2020), he says that the “throwaway culture” must be replaced by a “culture of encounter,” guided and animated by deep feelings of friendship and brotherhood, in order to build a more just society.
The direction needs to change
Given today's global challenges, exacerbated by the current extractive economic model, Pope Francis, Cardinal Czerny said, calls on us to reflect on the urgent need to “change direction” and adopt “a new humanistic economic mentality” that our mindset changes focus “from profit to prosperity, from economic growth to sustainability and from materiality to human dignity.”
“All of us, in our professional and social roles, play a crucial role in shaping a new logic that can protect our fragile environment and strengthen our fragmented communities,” concluded the Cardinal Prefect. “May the Church never tire of making this contribution, knowing full well that holistic development is the path to good that the human family should take.”
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