Expertise, Solidarity, Charity Are True Measures Against Desertification
by Pontifical Council Cor Unum
The Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" published a note on desertification on 18 June, the day after the World Day to Combat Desertification. The note states that the causes are not only environmental but also the extreme poverty of the people in countries where the desert is encroaching. They lack the necessary means to survive. Men and women are the solution with their willingness to be open to others. Technical means, the use of scientific discoveries and training are indispensable. Charity is necessary: "it is the gift of self — from person to person — without any expectation of a reward". It is "the keystone of development . . . ". Here is a translation of the note.
1. The World Day to Combat Desertification was observed on Monday, 17 June. This event is a favourable and welcome opportunity to encourage all who are fighting the encroaching of the desert in various parts of the world. It must also be a moment for thinking about the true causes of this problem, which are not just of an environmental nature. Rather, it is the extreme poverty of the nations where it is taking place that is the cause of the problem.
The theme chosen this year is the degradation of the earth, since we witness the transformation of green and fertile farm land into barren desert. Land, which brought forth life in the past is becoming a place of death. Those who live there are brothers and sisters who have been reduced to poverty. It is they who must be the focus of our concern.
In this regard, the Holy Father said on 4 July 2000: "Lack of water will perhaps be the main issue that humanity will have to address in the near future. For this reason national leaders should not fail to adopt suitable measures for promoting equitable access to so precious a good for all humanity" (Address to the members of the Administrative Council of the Foundation for the Sahel and "Populorum Progressio", ORE 26 July 2000, p. 5).
2. Desertification is a clear sign of impoverishment; it is a symptom and cause of the lack of the necessary means for survival. The problem is not a new one.
In the past, the people of Israel found themselves facing this problem in the desert of Kadesh when they came to a barren wilderness, with neither water nor hope. Through Moses' prayers, the unexpected happened: water gushed from the rock and the impossible became possible (Nm 20,1-13).
Today we find ourselves in a similar situation. When Pope John Paul II visited the Sahel region in 1980, he created the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel to fight desertification, and entrusted it to the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum". The situation seemed impossible, but with time and with the generous use of the talent and resources of many people of good will, the impossible is becoming possible. Water can spring from a rock, even if unexpectedly.
It is this experience which teaches us that men and women are the solution which will curb the growth of the desert effectively and permanently with their willingness to be open to others: it is charity. Technical means and the use of scientific knowledge as well as training, are indispensable parts of humanitarian aid. Charity, however, does not only shift material and financial resources: it is the gift of self — from person to person — without any expectation of a reward. It is motivated by love, which puts love of neighbour before love of self. This gift is worthy of our being as persons and the attitude it implies is the keystone of development, as the activity of so many missionaries has shown.
Such a personal encounter eliminates barriers, and it makes service to one's neighbour one's chief end. Every person becomes a brother or a sister, part of the same family. His or her human and spiritual development becomes a personal concern of our own.
This charity helps the victims in the region affected to be greatly motivated in their daily struggle; it moves the richest nations to show greater generosity for the afflicted. Thanks to this attention to the human person, scientific and technical experts can achieve better results. Those with responsibilities in government or finance will have greater concern for the suffering and the media will be more diligent in showing the needs of the poor to the whole world.
The disinterested exchange is not one-sided: both those who receive and those who give can open their minds and hearts to the reality of our human condition, to rediscover the basic values of being a human person and part of a family in which those who have support those in need.
3. In the face of the immense problem of desertification, which is advancing progressively and powerfully like the rock of Kadesh, water can flow from the springs of charity. As the Holy Father said in Ouagadougou, "Solidarity in justice and charity must know no limits or boundaries . . . It is the Lord who invites us to do more" (Homily, 10 May 1980; ORE, 2 June 1980, p. 14). The desire to love unconditionally is inherent in each one of us, as the Creator willed: it is the desire to change "the valleys of death" into lands of peace and life.
© L'Osservatore Romano, Editorial and Management Offices, Via del Pellegrino, 00120, Vatican City, Europe, Telephone 39/6/698.99.390.
This item 4561 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
