HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE HEART OF DIALOGUE

Guido Bossa

Inviting young people from all over the world to unite in an embrace of faith and love in order to build a "more hospitable world" and "a more peaceful future", the Pope entered decisively into the debate that is characterizing this end of the century, and he invited all those present and those who followed him from afar to participate as protagonists in an exchange of ideas and proposals in which up to now young people have been mere spectators, in some case even guinea pigs, rather than real partners. And since the themes the Pope discussed are now seen every day on the pages of newspapers, this time, perhaps more than in other circumstances, John Paul II's message was received with respect and attention by the international press and all the mass media.

The end of what has been defined as the "short century", because it covers the period between the 1917 Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, is certainly not accompanied by the roll of drums nor does it seem to present exciting prospects; and not only because there were two terrible world wars between these two dates and an infinite number of local conflicts which have recurred above all in Europe, Asia and Africa. The collapse of ideologies, mainly responsible for the conflicts, was accompanied by a dramatic decline in ideals, which has hardened consciences and limited horizons. The myths that had nourished the history of the century that is now ending have collapsed one after the other: superman, the egalitarian dream, the Western race and its superiority. Even politics, which for the generations after the second War had been the essential mortar for building a new world, now shows its inadequacy, so much so that one French girl, replying to the (few) sceptic commentators of her country, was able to say: «Do you not realize that John Paul II's success lies also in the incredible void left by politics. In France, but I think also in Italy, the credibility of those who govern us is minimal. Young people need great emotions to rouse them, but also ideals. Young people are looking for a flag. John Paul II has given them this flag».

With other words, the philosopher Massimo Cacciari said that «this Pope is the only bearer of values left», while one French lay left-wing historian, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, declared to Corriere della Sera that with his preaching of human rights the Pope «goes beyond the French Revolution», and that «the Catholic youth who flocked to Paris revive forgotten virtues». During the days in Paris there was an intense and lively exchange - which amazed observers - between the Pope and the young people with regard to values, human rights and hopes in a new world - as well as regarding the solid foundation of faith and charity. «The messenger and his message answer an expectation: the young need heroes different from those of the market economy», Jean Daniel declared in an article published in several European newspapers, in which he also wrote that the «Church is no longer the enemy; indeed, it has united the Republic».

If John Paul II's "success" «surprised and reassured the Catholic Church», as Le Monde stated in one of its headlines, and if Cardinal Lustiger himself spoke of a capital of hope accumulated in the days in Paris, this is due to the fact that the Pope was the first not to hesitate to face with evangelical courage the most pressing problems of political and social relevance, courageously adopting positions against the stream. For example, in one question in an interview granted to La Croix and published on the eve of his arrival in Paris, the reporters of the French Catholic daily seemed to take it as a foregone conclusion that the concept of the globalization "of mass technology, finance and culture" would be accepted in the terms in which it is transmitted by popular newspapers but also in political and commercial relations on an international level. Well: the Pope does not hesitate to dispute this platitude, expressing his opinion with determination: «The very word globalization does not please me in any way. There is the world, the human family, the family of peoples: this is the first reality, before techniques of communication which allow us to give a world dimension to one part, but to one part only, of economic life and culture. What is global is above all a common heritage: it is, I would say, the human person with his or her specific nature as the image of God, and the whole of humanity, with its thirst for freedom and dignity».

In a world that is becoming smaller and smaller and more and more homogenous, what then is important to the Church and the Pope, and what interests young people as well - apart from their ideas and even their faith - is «that man has supremacy over economics and the market, that legitimate competition does not suffocate solidarity on a wider scale; an increase of wealth should allow us to reduce inequality rather than increase it».

On these concepts, the Pope found he was also in great agreement with the French socialist Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, who on his departure for Rome said goodbye to John Paul II in a totally informal leave-taking, as observers noted. In fact, in regulating the process of globalization, the role of States and of the international community, the task of financial organisms like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the International Chamber of Commerce and others is the object of discussion at every level; and an ideologically liberating conception which trusts blindly in the self-regulating virtues of the market, is countered by another concept more of intervention, whose aim is to create minimum living conditions, competition and growth for all, favouring populations, social classes and age groups which at present are at a disadvantage. Naturally the Pope does not discuss the merits of this debate, but he clearly expresses an opinion when he declares that «no society can accept indigence as if it were a simple fatality without damaging its honour».

The reaffirmation of inviolable human rights could not be louder or more explicit, almost as if the Pope wanted to reinterpret in a modern key the universal principles affirmed in France in the Age of Enlightenment. Those who listened to these words without prejudice understood his message. The young people understood it at once, and «those who were present at this extraordinary event - the International Herald Tribune wrote - truly had the sensation of a young Church projected along the ways of the world».