Social doctrine, St. Anne and St. François de Laval: Second stage of the papal journeyAnna Maria Tarantola: "Focusing the company on people is efficient".The Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation was created by St. John Paul II in 1993 to promote the implementation of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Today this foundation is present on four continents and has some 350 members.
Its name is taken from the Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus of John Paul II in 1991. To celebrate its anniversary, the foundation has held an international meeting on June 5 and 6, 2023 in Rome, with the title: "Memory to build the future: thinking and acting in terms of community".
Social Doctrine of the Church
The Pope today received in audience the members of Centesimus Annus and, in his address speechThe encyclical of John Paul II, written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the foundation, recalled the origins of the foundation: the encyclical of John Paul II, written on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the foundation. Rerum novarum Your commitment has been placed precisely on this path, in this 'tradition': (...) to study and spread the Social Doctrine of the Church, trying to show that it is not only theory, but that it can become a virtuous way of life with which to make societies worthy of man grow", said the Pope.
Francis especially thanked the Foundation for its work over the past ten years "in welcoming and relaunching the contributions that I have tried to make to the development of the Social Doctrine".
Economy at the service of people
He then pointed out the most important points he wanted to highlight in his latest encyclicals. "In the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium I wanted to warn against the danger of living the economy in an unhealthy way. 'This economy kills' (n. 53), I said in 2013, denouncing an economic model that produces waste and fosters what can be called the 'globalization of indifference'. Many of you work in the economic field: you know how beneficial for everyone a way of imagining reality that puts the person at the center, that does not belittle the worker and that seeks to create good for all can be."
Regarding Laudato si'The Pope pointed out that he highlighted "the dominant technocratic paradigm and proposed the logic of integral ecology, in which 'everything is connected', 'everything is related' and the environmental question is inseparable from the social question, they go together. Care for the environment and care for the poor go together. After all, no one is saved alone, and the rediscovery of fraternity and social friendship is decisive in order not to fall into an individualism that makes us lose the joy of living. And it also makes us lose our life".
The importance of solidarity
The Pope also noted his joy at the choice of the motto for this international congress, which refers to the 116th number of his encyclical Fratelli tutti. Francis stressed the importance of solidarity, indicating that it is "much more than some sporadic acts of generosity" and highlighting other aspects such as "fighting against the structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labor rights. It is to confront the destructive effects of the empire of money: forced displacements, painful migrations, human trafficking, drugs, war, violence".
The community
On the other hand, he recalled the Gospel passage in which Jesus says that one cannot serve God and money at the same time (Lk 16:13), and stressed the importance of community.
"To think and act in terms of community is, therefore, to leave space for others, it is to imagine and work for a future in which everyone can find their place and have their space in the world. A community that knows how to give voice to the voiceless is what we all need.
The valuable work of the Centesimus Annus Foundation can also be this: to contribute to thought and action that foster the growth of a community in which we can walk together on the path of peace," the Holy Father concluded.
