Neither right nor left: the better times that Pope Francis points to by José María Di Paola-Padre Pepe

 Neither right nor left: the better times that Pope Francis points to

                                         by José María Di Paola-Padre Pepe

From the beginning of history, there have always existed powerful groups that built great empires, subjugating diverse peoples at the pace of their conquering pace. They invaded foreign territories, reached their splendor and declined until they disappeared. At the same time, leaders emerged who knew how to confront them, put them in crisis and -even- defeat them.

Humanity, in spite of the scientific-technological development achieved, seems not to have learned that cycles repeat themselves with different forms and methodologies, but following the same historical course. Today we are suffering from what Pope Pius XI called "the international imperialism of money".The slogan is to destroy any value system, any religion, philosophical thought or ethic of life. It is necessary to achieve "anything goes" and to shed light on the anomie of the peoples of the planet as a whole. That is to say: to level down, to establish the law of the jungle and to facilitate the path of the irrational hoarding of wealth without any sense. And we already know that every process of accumulation implies another process of impoverishment of the rest that was left out. Then life is worthless, values and customs are despised, our young people are poisoned and killed by drugs, thought is proscribed in order to ensure the safe abortion of leadership, solidarity and the common good. In the slums and working class neighborhoods where I have lived and traveled for many years, there is still knowledge intrinsic to the spirit of our Argentine people. The "gauchada", the outstretched hand, the conviction that where two eat, three eat, and the certainty -proven in the flesh and even more after the pandemic- that no one can save himself. That is to say: to improve their condition and defend the little they have, the slums know that it is necessary to organize the community by putting the common good ahead almost with a natural instinct. Argentina and our world have lived through better times -and they will live through better times again- but today we are in a moment of moral and material fall. An old song told a Martian arriving on Earth that "a majority died of hunger and a minority died of indigestion" and that was the end of the human race. The description was correct; the conclusion we trust was not.

However, a man from the peripheries and armed only with solid truths expressed in words is able to confront the powerful of today and says since March 13, 2013 enough is enough! Enough of destroying the planet, enough of wars killing millions of men and women, enough of an "economy that kills". This man is Argentinean. He is our beloved Pope Francis.The concrete and decisive action of Pope Francis in favor of peace, care for the environment, social justice and against arms and drug trafficking has a cost. And we are paying for it in full view of everyone. In our country, Mr. Milei and some others who have less impact because they are not candidates for president, have attacked, denigrated and insulted the most respected global leader on the planet and most loved by our people. And, although Milei's words and insults are not important in themselves, what is serious is that even the powerful of this time do not realize that in order to survive on this planet -which is the only one we have, although it sounds obvious- we need to restore coexistence and world peace, distributing wealth among the peoples with justice. How the search for justice has annoyed and bothers us, hasn't it? The social thought of the Church goes back to the first books of the Old Testament, continued in the New Testament and was reaffirmed again and again by the Fathers of the Church and also by many of her outstanding thinkers. Let us look at the people, the humble of the earth, those who make ends meet and those who do not. It is not a question of being "right" or "left". The question is to start building a better world based on the common good.  The call that we, the priests of the slums and popular neighborhoods, made to the Mass in atonement to the Pope and that we celebrated this week, received the support of men and women of thought, culture, sports, arts, workers and small and medium-sized businessmen and multiple organizations. There are many of us who think that the way out of this crisis will only be found if we unite and respect each other, and not by shouting at each other, while some of us dare to make dangerous nods to violence and lack of control. We already know in Argentina what happens when violence chooses to stay. And that is where we never want to go back. This little part of the Old Testament is very useful to understand "where things are going" among Christians. It is clear that the Lord was angry and said: "You have laid waste the vineyard, you have in your house what you have taken from the poor! By what right do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?" (Isaiah, Chapter 3).

José María Di Paola-Padre Pepe: Argentine Catholic priest, president of the Big Family Hogar de Cristo, coordinator of the Team of priests of slums and popular neighborhoods of CABA and GBA.

In La Nación of Sunday September 10, 2023

PS I thank Alver Metalli for giving me the opportunity to publish this valuable article. After listening to Carlson Tucker's interview (Twitter, 9/14/23) with Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei, I felt the need to hear another voice on the subject. This man's (Milei's) view is easy to summarize: socialists are murderers, no trade is done with them, and those who support them make a policy of complacency with murderers (e.g., Pope Francis). Rarely have I heard such clear brazenness. Not even from Matteo Salvini.Unfortunately, a certain traditionalist audience will take great pleasure in the position of the "liberal" Milei, who radically condemns abortion...RG