By Dr Tiju Thomas –
The Second Vatican Council declaration ‘Nostra aetate’ which was published in 1965 states:
One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth. One also is their final goal, God. His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all men, until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light.(1 i, 2)
Given this conviction the Church has, it is understandable why she takes it upon herself to work towards “…promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations”.(1 i) This commitment to work towards love among all people comes from the Church’s firm conviction regarding the substance that human beings share in common, and the fundamental reasons why human beings are drawn to fellowship. The Church encourages us to contemplate “whence do we come, and where are we going?” This reflective stance determines that place from where we examine our role with respect to God and others.
Nostra Aetate ends by clearly stating that we cannot – in good conscience – call God as the Father of all, if we refuse to treat all human beings as those who are created in the image and likeness of God himself.(Gen 1:26–28) Hence there is no room for unjust discrimination. In fact the document clearly states that such discrimination is entirely foreign to the ‘mind of Christ’.(1 ii)
The Church teaches that fraternal love and a firm belief in the equality of all are in keeping with the order of the human heart. The human person is properly ordered to love and is created for communion. This communion-orientation of the human person is so since it so also, in all perfection, for the creator God. The human person is willed by God to be his image. Hence the human person is created in the image of Triune God – who is perfect unity – one God in three persons. It is in mirroring this most fundamental unity, that the human person is impelled towards fraternity and communion – with others and with God. This is reminiscent of the greatest of the Ten Commandments – love of God and love of neighbour –by Christ. (Matthew 22: 37-39)
The importance of such communion-orientation, fraternity and love is relayed by St. John, who writes “He who does not love does not know God!” (1 John 4:8). (1 ii) This is remarkable since this implies that even among the faithful; those who do not love unfortunately end up keeping God at a distance! This is why among the three great virtues the New Testament calls for in Christians – Faith, Hope and Love – Love is considered the greatest.(1 Corinthians 13:13)
Nostra Aetate, which was originally intended to clarify the Church’s relationship to world religions, allowed great many strides – within the Church and beyond – towards inter-religious dialogue, mutual understanding, and harmony. A remarkable step in building upon the teachings of Nostra Aetate has been taken by Pope Francis through his recent, dense and profoundly thoughtful encyclical Fratelli Tutti. The encyclical is named after the words with which St. Francis of Assisi addressed his brothers and sisters in faith; proposing to them a way of life marked by the Gospel. The encyclical aims at reflections on fraternal love and social friendship, and without mincing words, calls for a movement towards a world without borders! This is a radical call, but we can place hope in God, and work towards it.
Nonetheless it is clear to all discerning people that the destination of a unified and complete world, where social friendship and fraternal love thrives and defines inter-personal relationships is still at a certain distance. Pope Francis identifies certain trends in the modern world that presents challenges to universal fraternity. The factors and trends that he identifies as threats to universal fraternity include: (i) wars, shattered dreams, conflicts and fear and inability to meet the other, (ii) border disputes and aggression, (iii) economic ‘divide and conquer’, (iv) push for a homogenous culture, (v) lack of a historical consciousness, (vi) lack of human dignity given to certain sections of the society (objectification of the human person), (vii) globalization and rapid progress without concern for the ‘shared human family’, (viii) pandemics, (ix) information without wisdom, (x) lack of self-esteem (at all levels – individual, community and national levels).(3)
Pope Francis reminds us that the Christian call to love may be easily misunderstood. He clarifies that the call to love is a call to walk with God and to walk with the other – even those who are most unlike us, even those who are most disenfranchised – weak, meek, humble, poor. He points to St. Paul’s exhortation wherein he urged his disciples to abound in love “for one another and for all” (1 Thess 3:12)”. Likewise he also reminds us that Saint Thomas Aquinas said – quoting Saint Augustine – “that the temperance of a greedy person is in no way virtuous”.(3 ii) He then talks of the parable of the Good Samaritan, and reminds us of the basic decision we have to make when we encounter the wounded world. We cannot afford to be indifferent bystanders. The Pope then asks us, fully aware of an extremely divided work; if we could be neighbours without borders!!(3 iii)
We may now turn to the Indian context, and think about the relevance of lessons we learnt here by putting Nostra Aetate and Fratelli Tutti together. We find a vision for a radical new world. We now have a renewed awareness concerning human fraternity, and the many challenges we ought to overcome to get to a world without borders and narrow divisions! It also requires us to engender a whole new world order, with an openness to listen, respect, contemplate, persist, engage and heal.
There is something very unique to this call, and it requires us to reflect on the nature of virtue, which is a habit indeed (since they are acquired). Our habits are to be rightly directed to foster openness to others and openness to God. Thus directed, we humans can work towards a universal communion, which integrates everyone as a child of God. Hence transcending borders and barriers of all stripes are essential to the universal pilgrimage of humanity. This universal communion would fundamentally promote the human person and value fruitfulness over mere productivity. This would hence prevent the human person from ever becoming an object.
In India and in several parts of the world; now more than ever before, a vision such as this is essential and required. It is beholden on us to carry forward this project of fraternal love and social friendship, so as to heal our society, and bring about peace and harmony. As immediate concerns, we may turn to pressing issues – hunger, globalization of human rights, elimination of human trafficking, fundamentalism and extremism. He calls for leaders to have a ‘political charity’ (3 iv)– an attitude of openness to all. Leaders are asked to have the courage to make sacrifices essential to make true inter-personal encounters possible. He requests them to develop patience in the pursuit of this essential endeavour.
Fratelli Tutti teaches that politics can in fact be used to make room for tenderness – which is defined as ‘love that draws near and becomes real’.(3 v) It is also clear that it is time to wake up and ensure that a ‘throwaway culture’ – associated with neglect of human dignity and exploitation of nature is to be brought to an end.(3 vi) For those of us who are reading this and find themselves in positions of diplomatic power; we may seek to restore international and national ties, and draw out paths that aid peace, justice, and foster an authentic sense of fraternity. We may even initiate dialogues that are founded on human dignity and respect for nature (in keeping with Laudato Si).
We are now called to be peacemakers, listeners, and physicians of the soul! We are called to restore balance and stand guard to prevent abuse – of persons and of nature. We are called to work towards the betterment of those who are truly the ‘other’. We ought to pause here, and ask ourselves sincerely – who is the ‘other’ we know and meet? Can we engage in an authentic encounter and welcome the other? To Christ, who said ‘Blessed are the peacemakers…’,(4) can we say ‘amen’? Let us recall, when we say ‘amen’, that it means – ‘so be it’ (in Latin, Greek, Arabic and even Aramaic – language Jesus spoke). Do we mean ‘amen’ when we say it?
As we continue reflecting on Nostra Aetate and Fratelli Tutti, may we remember that we are members of the human family, and the family needs us to bring forth the fruits of our spirit-filled labour. We are called to use our earnest labour to build bridges and foster a communion-oriented world, with humility and trust in him who is the source of us all. May God, who is the source of all good, give us the strength, courage, wisdom and patience to be Good Samaritans, and to be true neighbours.
Dr. Tiju Thomas is an interdisciplinary engineering faculty at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M). In addition to his current scientific/technical engagements, he has an abiding interest in catechesis, and human formation of young students and professionals. He enjoys devoting time to work with people and families who wish for some assistance in gaining a meaningful life direction. He believes that his Christian vocation includes both human formation and availability
to those who wish to see hope even through suffering. Dr. Thomas can be reached at [email protected]
This reflection is not a complete survey of either ‘Nostra Aetata’ or ‘Fratelli Tutti’. This article is written to encourage readers to pursue social friendship and harmony, in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, as encouraged by Pope Francis. This article is meant to place both these documents as being of relevance at all levels – individual, social and international contexts. This article is also vocational in nature – if we decide to listen to the call of Christ, and walk in the radical path of universal fraternity and fraternal love; we would organically find ourselves on the path of humble prayer and sanctity. This would aid life in God (who is love) – not just of ourselves, but also for our neighbour (and hence the world).
- Declaration on relation of the Church to non-Christian religions ‘Nostra Aetate’ proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI (1965). para (i) 1, (ii) 5 http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html
- Cf. Acts 17:26, Wis. 8:1; Acts 14:17, Rom. 2:6-7; 1 Tim. 2:4
- Encyclical letter Fratteli Tutti of the Holy Father Francis on Fraternity and Social Friendship, paras (i) 10-54, (ii) 91, (iii) 79-80, (iv) 190, (v) 194, (vi) 188 http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html
- Cf. Matthew 5:9