society

To Serve Development by the Unity of the People
September 19-21, 2003: The first meeting of the Company of Works in Latin America was held. From Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, the protagonists were various figures from every sector of society. All are united by the desire for a freer and more just humanity

by Alver Metalli

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since a handful of young Italians disembarked in Latin America in the long-ago 1962. After a brief stop in Rio, they headed north, to Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais. The pages could easily start filling up with memories, but this is not the right moment. We have to start there, at least in an ideal sense, start from the water of its rivers and the bridges with picturesque names to trace a sort of genealogy that leads to the Rio de Janeiro, the “River of January,” in late September of this year. And we must start from the loving–even impetuous–reminder from Fr Giussani that accompanied the bold expedition of that date: “Don’t forget what you are running for; do not substitute the mirage of an affirmation of your personality, a ‘work’ of yours, a result of yours, a satisfaction of yours, a viewpoint of yours, a determination of yours, for love for the Cross of Christ, i.e., for love for the Kingdom of God.”
At the gathering in Rio de Janeiro, a few steps from the most famous beaches in the world, there were some to whom those words were addressed forty years ago, side by side with those who came later, disembarking at the foot of the Corcovado from more comfortable airplane cabins. And there were–above all–many, many others who were born and grew up in this land, united to it by ties of blood and of a good and desired destiny. In Rio, there were those who greeted each other like old friends meeting again, and there were those who, catapulted into the capital of exotic tourism by a friendly–and yet enigmatic–invitation, looked around timidly, trying to understand more fully and quickly what was passing in front of their eyes and entering their ears. The milestones of these forty years, even listed synthetically, would fill numerous pages. Here, we limit ourselves to the background of the meeting in Rio.

The works, fruit of an obedience
The meeting in Rio was the first conference of its kind, but it was not a founding meeting. This was made clear at the beginning, with a reference that was fleeting only in its brevity. It was more a chance to pull things together, or to listen to each other, if you will; or, to cite the words of welcome, “a simple recognition of what is already there, has emerged and is emerging.” “Pulling together,” “listening to,” “recognizing” a variegated spectrum of attempts to make life more human, that in recent years has seen an impressive flourishing. Dozens of educational enterprises have arisen in practically every country, from Mexico to the far south of Argentina, in situations where marginalization and violence humiliate the dignity of the youngest and weakest. Structures have been created with a distinctly social vocation; charity institutions have grown out of the industrious faith of lay people and missionaries; businesses have grown up in the most diverse urban contexts. All these are “works,” to use one word–the one accepted and used by all the participants as a keyword to synthesize rapidly the union of motive, purpose, and meaning. I could not help registering the surprise of even the promoters of the gathering in Rio, who saw expanding uncontrollably the adherence to their invitation, an appeal launched only a few months earlier and with no publicity other than the channels of friendship. “The expectation that grew as we went along, the enthusiasm with which this meeting took shape, is the proof that we were obeying what had come forth,” Mario Molteni explains–and which may have been following its own solitary path.
This is the case of some of the works present in Rio that told their own story with great dignity: the beginnings, the founding fathers, whether living or not, the inspirations, the history of charity they have followed, all the way to the comfort, hope, and renewed courage they found when, by unexpected paths, their roads intersected with those of other works, which were in turn connected to a greater company. The mind goes to the heroic Salesian in Argentine Patagonia and his 54 years of indomitable devotion to his people, and to the various Food Banks, which need in its most aggressive aspect has caused to be set up in so many cities on this continent…

Work as a sign of unity
What is the secret of the unusual, multiform Company of Works that landed in Rio? What is the secret of a unity–to be more precise–in which what is different is welcomed with exuberant fellow-feeling, in which the latest arrival enjoys the same esteem as the more familiar first-comers? What holds together favelados of São Paulo who are fighting for decent housing, Indios of various ethnic groups who are studying agricultural techniques in a school in Manaus in order to improve life in their villages, entrepreneurs working with wood, livestock breeders working with cattle, artisans, and teachers who are starting kindergartens, schools, and houses for street children? What is the secret that causes a prominent political leader to collaborate with a new university founded in a Lima slum at a bishop’s initiative, or professionals to come from Italy at their own expense to put their skills and money on the line 12,000 km away in order to help friends? What is the secret that causes mulattos, Blacks, Chinese, natives, and caboclos to get excited about the same things, things that are called life, works, and labor? Labor, yes, precisely labor, on a continent where the Anglo-Saxon Liberal Protestant culture has been able to link together Catholicism and underdevelopment tightly and with impunity, viewing the former as responsible for the latter, and toward which Europe, above and beyond rhetoric about the common Latin roots, exercises a colonial-type protectionism that competes with and surpasses in harshness that of North America.

Love for one’s own humanity
Someone, one of the speakers, said the word “positivist;” another said “solidarity.” A good response to this came from a Peruvian teacher who spoke of discovering a love for his own humanity that opens to an interest in the destiny and humanity of others. There is in this answer the intelligence–completely Catholic–of someone who does not define need, but uncovers it and puts himself at its service, in whatever situation, whatever context.
There is no doubt that the context of Latin America has changed profoundly. For the first time in the history of the continent–observed Luis Solari de la Fuente, a Peruvian holding high government office–no country is the result of a coup d’état or violent overturning of its institutional order. Whoever had not noticed this can run mentally over the geography of South America and see that it is the case. But, as soon as this new fact is registered, it is equally true–and documented, if simple observation were not enough–that poverty has grown everywhere and that, with few exceptions, with poverty there has been an increase in inequality and, with inequality, injustice. Synthesizing the perverse essence of this historical moment with an effective expression, Solari spoke of “accepted, unquestioned supremacy of utilitarianism over solidarity.” It is a situation in which the utilitarians are selfish, autocratic, and formally uninterested in others. For Latin America, today more than ever, the alternative that the Colombian D’Avila outlined fifty years ago applies: “Either skeptical or Catholic; the rest will perish with time.”

The relationship with the establishment
After a full decade of more or less orthodox neo-liberal policies, the establishment has changed political color in virtually all of Latin America; leftist coalitions with varying degrees of moderation govern in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, which means two-thirds of the continent. Lula, President of the country where the Rio conference was held, would have appreciated, if he had been there, the passion for justice of many of the participants, as well as the work that some of his fellow countrymen are doing in favor of the progress of his people. It may well be that in a not-too-distant future he will attend. After noting the change in the overall political scene, it remains to be said that the relationship with the political powers of those present in Rio is devoid of submissiveness or preconceived hostility. “Our works, in that they are aimed at creating a freer and more just humanity, are useful to anyone in power who takes to heart the life of his people.” What those in Rio fear is political fundamentalism, a type of power that perhaps even the Church herself loads with Messianism, sublimating in this way its lack of a historical method in the dialogue with man. “We have nothing to fear from a truly secular, realistic political power, that makes projects, discusses them with the interested parties, and subjects them to verification,” Giorgio Vittadini pointed out in this regard.

A fascinating prospect
There is something untidy, impetuous, in the Rio conference, in what was expressed and in the works that remained silent; something that went beyond the predictions of its originators, and that the immediate continuation, far from moderating, intends to serve. “The most fascinating prospect that opened up in Rio is that of serving the works, putting ourselves at the service of a positivity that has in faith its human passion rather than a remote premise.” In Rio, there was more than even the best-informed could foresee. This is why the structure of continuity that was outlined at the end of the session will be directly aimed at taking care of what already exists: a “light” structure of assistance with local, national, and international referents, an annual meeting (the next will be in Buenos Aires), and days expressly devoted to Latin America at the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples in Rimini, Italy, in August. In this sober conclusion, too, we hear the echo of Fr Giussani’s words pronounced forty years ago: “Do not get used to what you have created along your path. Constantly reopen the wound.”