Wednesday 30 January 2013

AMECEA: Civic Education Series 2



NB: This continues an overview on Civic Education Vol. 1 on “Democracy and Elections for Everyone, General Editor: Patrick Harrington, Published by Pauline Publications, Nairobi.
CHAPTER TWO
Principles for a Successful Democracy
“The common good consists of three essential elements: respect for all, and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person; prosperity, or the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of society; the peace and security of the group and its members” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1925)
In Chapter Two the Civic Education 1 on Democracy and Elections for Everyone, the general editor Right Rev Patrick Harrington SMA, Bishop Emeritus of Lodwar Diocese, Kenya, looks at three main principles which can help to create a culture of democracy.  looks at the following topics:
1.       The Principle of Subsidiarity
2.      The Principles of Solidarity
3.      The Principle of Responsibility
1.                  The Principle of Subsidiarity.
Bishop Harrington explains that the Principle of Subsidiarity refers to “the right of every citizen to play an active part in the social and political administration of public affairs”. In the order of governance, there ought to be consideration for decisions to be made at the local level and not the larger or centralized body/authority of governance to made all decisions for the local level.
The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies”
In a democracy, this is important in the sense that it promotes local and individual responsibility in the manner of executing authority. In the language of today, this principle of subsidiarity has to do with decentralization or devolution of powers or control. This promotes sharing of responsibilities, ownerships of tasks and empowers individual responsibility.
2.                 The Principle of Solidarity.
Bishop Harrington defines solidarity as “unanimity of attitude or purpose”. That is, a firm and steadfast commitment to the common good of all. The Principle of Solidarity highlights the following:
-         A human being is social by nature.
-         Awareness that individual and peoples are interdependent.
-         The need and willingness to recognize the strong ties that unite people and social groups among themselves.
It is from this understanding that “a commitment to concrete action for the good of all” comes from. This is the basis for unity, sharing of needs, recognizing the dignity of others and commitment to defending the fundamental rights of all.
In this regard, all citizens of the land and especially leaders of any society, must ensure that food, justice, education, health care and fundamental rights are available to all and are respect. In this way ensure peace, unity, development and happiness for all.
3.                 The Principle of Responsibility.
The author looks at the Principle of Responsibility by stating that in a democracy, “Citizens must consciously take upon themselves to act or not to act, and to be answerable for their decisions. … Citizen must remember their personal and social responsibilities”.  They must have regard for the rights of others, do their duties in relation to others and seek the common good of all.
The public authorities are supposed to establish structures of governance,  a judicial system and cultural environment that can help citizens to fulfill their responsibilities without undue suppression of their rights and duties.
It is on these three Principles and pillars of governing a society that a culture of democracy at various levels of governance can be founded. It applied together in a reasonable and regular manner; they can help to build a society wherein all citizens will feel valued, appreciated, happy and free.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion:
  1. Are clear principles necessary for a true democracy?
  2. It is true that higher authorities, the more removed they are from people, the person just becomes just a number?
  3. How can “the authorities” defend and promote the common good of the citizens?
 Source: AMECEA Pastoral Department.
Original Text: Pauline Publications Africa.

Monday 28 January 2013

AMECEA: Year of Faith Catechesis

THE CATECHESIS OF THE YEAR OF FAITH

On Abraham's Faith
"Saying 'I believe in God' means founding my life on Him"
On 23rd January 2013, Pope Benedict XVI, in his Catechesis of the Year of Faith, reflected on the theme “I Believe in God”. This declaration opens our profession of our faith as it is enshrined in the Apostle’s Creed. To believe in God “implies adherence to Him, the welcoming of his Word and joyful obedience to His revelation”. Faith is “the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself". By divine revelation, God makes himself known to us, he comes to meet us where are. In an experience of this dialogue with God, we come to commit ourselves in total trust so that we enter into communion with Him.
The Holy Father gives reference to Letter to the Hebrews by stating that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen" (11:1). He presents the faith of Abraham as the model of what it means to believe in God (Rom 4:18). I here highlight the main sub themes that his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has emphasizes in this week’s Catechesis of the Year of Faith.
  1. Faith is total trust in God’s promises: The Pope reminds us that Abraham trusted that God’s promises would be fulfilled and for this reason he set out on a journey from his land and went to the unknown. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you” (Gen 12:1). It is a journey that calls for a radical obedience and trust, accessible only through faith. This darkness of the unknown – where Abraham must go – is illuminated by the light of a promise. "I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you, and make your name great... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 12:2-3).
  2. Faith that God’s Promises are fulfilled unconditionally: The Holy Father explains that because of this radical act of the faith of Abraham, God promised to bless him abundantly. Through this act of faith, God assures Abraham that he will be a great nation, his descendants would multiply and the blessings will pass from generation to generation. So Abraham, in the divine plan, is destined to become the "father of a multitude of nations" (Gen 17:5; cf. Rom 4:17-18) and to enter into a new land in which to live.
  3. Faith that God fulfills his Promise in His own time: The Pope goes further to emphasize that faith does not offer instant and magical solutions to our situation.
Abraham treaded a paradoxical path. God promises abundant blessings, but without the visible signs of blessings; he was promised to become a great nation yet his life was marked by the barrenness of his wife Sarah; he is brought to a new homeland but he will have to live there as a foreigner, and the only possession of the land that will be granted him will be that of a plot to bury Sarah” (cf. Gen 23:1-20).
This situation did not make Abraham waver in faith concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised"(Rom 4:18-21). Our faith in God should not be conditioned by the visible signs alone, but more by realizing the presence of God in our day to day life. Like Abraham, our faith must go beyond the appearances, material results or miracles, but opens to an appreciation of the level of our friendship with God.
  1. Faith is comes through sincere friendship with God: The Holy Father challenges us to look at our faith in God beyond the material accomplishments. He says, “When we affirm: "I believe in God," we say, like Abraham: "I trust You; I entrust myself to You, Lord," but not as Someone to run to only in times of difficulty or to whom to dedicate a few moments of the day or of the week.” To say “I believe in God” means:  Founding my life on Him, letting his Word orient me each day, in the concrete choices, without fear of losing something of myself.
  2. Faith challenges us to go beyond conformity: The Pope explains that our faith is lived within the context of our world and the unfolding history of our time. To believe in God makes us bearers of values that often do not coincide with the fashionable thinking of our time. Therefore, Christians should not be afraid “to go against the grain in order to live their faith and resist the temptation to conformity”. We are living in a society where man wants to live as though God was absent from life. A society where positive advancements in science and technology have led man to think he/she is self-sufficient and has no need for God. It is a time for witnessing to our faith through the life of those men and women who have a sincere thirst for God and for whom the Gospel message continue to give sense of purpose in their lives.
The Holy Father concludes his catechesis saying:
To say "I believe in God" leads us, then, to set off, to go out of ourselves continually, just like Abraham, to bring into the daily reality in which we live the certainty that comes to us from faith: the certainty, that is, of the presence of God in history, even today; a presence that brings life and salvation, and opens us to a future with Him for a fullness of life that will never diminish.” 

Please, you are invited to read the original text by the Holy Father Benedict XVI on the YEAR OF FAITH CATECHESIS web page of the Pastoral Department Blog

Source: AMECEA Pastoral Department

Wednesday 23 January 2013

AMECEA: Civic Education Series 1



TOPIC: DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS
This is an overview of the booklet Democracy and Elections, General Editor: Right Rev Patrick Harrington, Bishop Emeritus of Lodwar Diocese, Kenya.  This is the first of the booklets on Civic Education with particular reference to the Social Teachings of the Church published by the Pauline Publications Africa, Nairobi. Bishop Harrington begins by quoting the teachings of Pope John Paul II that:
“An authentic democracy is not merely the result of a formal observation of a set of rules but the fruit of a convinced acceptance of the values that inspire democratic procedures: the dignity of every human person, the respect of human rights, commitment to the common good as the purpose and guiding criterion for political life. If there is no general consensus on these values, the deepest meaning of democracy is lost and its stability is compromised” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 407)
In this booklet of 48 pages, the author looks at the following topics:
1.      Meaning of Democracy.
2.     The Principles for a Successful Democracy.
3.     Freedom of Association: Political Parties.
4.     The Universal Vote and Elections.
5.     Checks and Balances in a Democratic Society.
6.     The Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
The booklet does not give answers to all the questions we may ask about Democracy and Elections, but provokes to think about it and helps us to have a basic knowledge of what the Social Teaching of the Church says about the same topic.
To make a review of this booklet, I begin by looking at what the General Editor, Bishop Harrington, writes in Chapter One. We are going to look at the Second Chapter in the coming week.
 CHAPTER ONE
THE MEANING OF DEMOCRACY
In Chapter One of the Volume 1 on Democracy and Elections for Everyone, the general editor Right Rev Patrick Harrington SMA, Bishop Emeritus of Lodwar Diocese, Kenya looks at the following topics:
1.       Evolution of Democracy.
2.      Meaning of a “Democrat”.
3.      Conclusion.
1.                  Evolution of Democracy.
Bishop Harrington begins by stating that “The search for the best and most equitable form of government has always preoccupied the minds and hearts of human beings, as it touches on essential elements of life and living”. As such we can say that as a theory and in its actual practice, democracy has undergone a series of developments from earliest time. Democracy is defined as
“a form of government based upon self-rule of the people and in modern times, upon freely elected representative institutions and an executive responsible to the people. … It is a way of life based upon the fundamental assumption of the equality of all individuals and of their right to life, liberty (including the liberty of thought and expression) and the pursuit of happiness”
In the democratic theory, civic authority resides in the people. Through an act of elections, the people transfer, for a time, the exercise of this authority.
God created human beings to live in society in order to fulfill their destiny and to be assured of their welfare. At the same time, the common good of a society needs some kind of authority and this is supposed to be designated by the people. The author refers to what is enshrined in the Universal declaration of Human Rights,
“The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government; this will shall be expressed in the periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”
However, it is not enough to be elected democratically, but the issue is the exercise of this authority in the manner of governance. It must be able to guarantee the welfare the peace and the exercise of fundamental rights of those who have elected them. In this way, representative democracy is balanced and enhanced by the social involvement of the people from all levels of society.
2.                 Meaning of a “Democrat”
The author describes a “democrat” as:
-         One who is firmly convinced of the dignity of each and every human person and acts without discrimination. He is able to recognize that each person has been created in the image and likeness of God.
-         One who holds that the human person has been created to live in society whose happiness and prosperity is linked with that of others, interdependent.
-         One who upholds the observance of the law. Every person is free. He/she understand that personal freedom must be respect the law that guarantees the freedom of others. “If you are free, your neighbour is also free.”
-         One who will cooperate in the peaceful coexistence and development of all members in society. He will never use violence and will participate in making suitable choices for the administration of public affairs.
3.                 Conclusion
Bishop Harrington concludes this chapter on Democracy by referring to the teachings of Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 1991, 45, 46.
“Authentic democracy is possible only in a State that is ruled by law and has the correct conception of the human person … The heart of the society is the human person with his full dignity …
A true democratic regime is one where the principle of the “Rule of Law” is supreme … The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when appropriate. She cannot encourage the formation of narrow ruling groups which usurp the power of the State for individual interests or ideology.”
The author makes the following important Biblical reference in his presentation:
a.      Dignity and Freedom of the human person: Gen 1:26-27; 2:7, 22; Mt 25:15-16; Lk 18:9-14; 1 Jn 2:9; Gal 3:28.
b.      The meaning of a Democrat: Mt 22:15-16; Lk 20:21-26; Mk 12:13-17; Acts 24:10-21; 26:4-11; Gal 1:13-14.
Chapter Two will be posted on this blog in seven day from today 23rd January and will look at “Principles of a Successful Democracy”.
Questions for Reflection/Discussion:
1.      What do you understand by “Democracy”?
2.      From where do “leaders” get their authority?
3.      For you, what is “an appropriate” level of participation?
4.      Are you a democrat?”