International Seminar on: The family: a resource for overcoming the crisis

(Palazzo San Calisto, 18 Setem!er "#1$%

The impact of the fnancial, economic and social crisis on families:
a world perspective
Car&' (scar )n&r*s +o&r,guez -ara&iaga
.ear frien&s,
/elcome to +ome, in the heart of Trastevere 0here Saint 1rancis staye& in 1"#2, over
8## years ago3
It is a goo& sign that the Saint of the 4a&y Poverty, an& our !elove& Poe 0ho !ears his
name, have given us the oortunity to meet here to&ay'
It is only a fe0 &ays !efore the Thir& 56traor&inary 7eneral )ssem!ly of the Syno& of
8ishos, 0hich has as its theme The Pastoral Challenges for the family in the conte6t of
evangelisation'
This is a rohetic event 9 the first, or !etter, the secon& ste along a ath'
The first 0as ta:en !y Poe 1rancis 0hen he &esire& to hear the voice of families an&
communities !y means of e6tremely 0i&esrea& consultation 0ith local Churches' /ith our
astoral reflections 0e, too, 0ish to articiate in this e6change of i&eas an& ro;ects 0hich
ma:es us all feel art of the Church, a community on the ;ourney' )n& since 0e are all gathere&
here together in the name of <esus Christ, he 0ill !e the e6ert 0ho shall ta:e us !y the han&
an& hel us enter into the very heart of the &eeest feelings an& hoes of the families of to&ay,
an& esecially of oor families an& of all of the families 0ho are suffering'
1
The family can !e &iscusse& from many &ifferent ersectives angles an& oints of vie0'
To&ay 0e have ma&e a clear choice: 0e &o not 0ant to tal: a!out the family in the a!stract, or of
the erfect family, !ut of all those real families to&ay 0hich, each in its o0n 0ay, is struggling in
truly &ifficult situations an& 0hich, nonetheless, still manages to hoe an& to lan for the future'
These are the families that, together 0ith our 4or&, reresent our true hoe an& can hel us
overcome the crises of this thir& millennium'
1amilies to&ay fin& themselves at the centre of enormous ara&o6es' 7lo!alisation has
entere& their homes, their &aily lives' )s +enato +uggiero sai& in 122=, 0hen he 0as .irector
7eneral of the /orl& Tra&e >rganisation, 0e 0a:e u in the morning to the soun& of a <aanese
ra&io ma&e in -alaysia' >ur clothes are ro!a!ly ma&e of )ustralian 0ool an& the coffee 0e
&rin: as 0e 0atch C?? on the television, is ro!a!ly Colom!ian (''''%' The glo!al mar:et &oes
not !egin at our !or&ers, !ut in our homes'
1
@es, it is true that glo!alization has entere& into our families an& can reresent an
oortunity, if its use is temere& !y values' 8ut it is also a ris:, if it !enefits only the fe0,
0i&ening the ga !et0een rich an& oor' To&ay 0e fin& ourselves in the gri of an unrece&ente&
economic crisis that e6lo&e& in "##8' This crisis reveals all of the contra&iction of the economic
system an& i&eology that glo!alization ha& srea& throughout the 0orl&' The gro0th of
ineAuality, the countless lives ushe& to the margins of the so9calle& glo!al mar:et, force us to
as: ourselves 0hether this system has, in fact, rotecte& the &ignity of the in&ivi&ual or imrove&
the lives of families, an& 0hether or not 0e have ena!le& those oulations on the fringes to
firmly lin: themselves u to this locomotive of integral &eveloment'
8ecause no economy can call itself mo&ern if it concentrates all of the 0ealth on one
si&e, an& all of the overty on the other' It cannot consi&er itself mo&ern is it ro&uces
unemloyment an& &issiates values or eliminates cultural &iversity, nor can it call itself
glo!alize& if it &ivi&es humanity into the inclu&e& an& the e6clu&e&'
In the last "= years, er caita consumtion in the in&ustrialize& nation has increase& at a
rate of "'=B er annum, 0hilst in )frican nations, family consumtion has &ecrease& !y "#B'
>n a 0orl& scale, the inha!itants of 0ealthier nations reserve 8CB of e6en&itures for rivate
consumtion, as comare& to !arely 1'DB in oor nations'
1 +' +E77I5+>, Seech at conference 5conomics: 0hat futureF, +ome, .ecem!er 122=, ' D'
"
The great &efect of the mar:et economy is that it is e6clusive' )n& it is for this reason
that the great challenge facing us is calle& inclusion' The mar:et economy is efficient insofar as
it is a!le to create 0ealth, an& e6clusive insofar as it is incaa!le of &istri!uting this eAua!ly'
The financial mar:et, 0hich has gro0n out of all roortion over the last fe0 &eca&es,
has create& a self9centre& o0er 0hich reson&s neither to ro&uction nor to the authority of any
international control, !ut only to itself'
>n /all Street, 0hen ne0s of goo& emloyment figures arrives, the stoc: mar:et crashes,
the e6act oosite of 0hat haene& in the ast' Those investing in the stoc: mar:et are no
longer intereste& in :no0ing that a !usiness is in goo& health, since the imortant things are
rai& rofits an& seculation, laying on the &ifferences !et0een international currencies' The
financial asects of &ecisions ta:e riority over economic an& human consi&erations' In this 0ay,
many eole, families, !usinesses an& even nations fin& that they are no longer the masters of
their o0n &estinies'
>ur Caritas organizations fin& themselves face& 0ith an aarent contra&iction' >fficial
estimates !y governments an& international economic organizations have, over the last fe0
&eca&es, registere& mar:e& rates of economic gro0th in various countries of the 0orl&,
esecially the so9calle& emerging economies'
In 4atin )merican an& the Cari!!ean, Caritas often have hear& tal: of a anorama of
roserity, an increase in 7.P er erson, high e6ort rates (roughly =9CB%, &esite the glo!al
economic crisis' )t the same time, ho0ever, our hel centers an& emergency facilities have seen
the long cues of the oor !ecome even longer, an& esecially cues of entire families' 1amilies
see:ing initial, emergency assistance, !ut also 0or:, accommo&ation, legal rights, the chance to
enter once again the active community an& to fully en;oy their rights as citizens'
The first Auestion that 0e, as Caritas, must as: ourselves regar&ing the otimistic tren&s
of economic in&icators is the follo0ing: &o these statistics reflect the real situation in 0hich the
families of 4atin )merica an& the Cari!!ean are livingF Is the eAual &istri!ution of these
economic in&icators realF If it is true that certain factors are e6eriencing gro0th (e6orts, for
e6amle% to the oint that 0e can tal: of emerging economies an& of a certain &ecrease in
overty, then it is also true, on the contrary, that overty continues to afflict roughly 1CG millions
eole, that is, a!out "8'8B of the inha!itants'
"
" Cfr' Contri!ution !y the regional Caritas of 4atin )merica an& the Cari!!ean'
D
)lso in )frica, !efore the crisis, all of the reorts of the international financial institutions (/orl&
8an:, International -onetary 1un&, )frican .eveloment 8an:% in&icate& a mar:e& gro0th in
some of the continentHs economies' Then the crisis struc:, 0ith unfavora!le short9term rosects,
lea&ing to collase in the rice of ra0 materials an& of rofits from e6orts (0hilst increasing the
costs of !asic necessities for the local oulations%' )n& so )frican families, alrea&y on the very
margins of &eveloment, sli& further an& further into overty an& recariousness'
)n anec&ote reorte& !y a ne0saer in Iinshasa, in the .emocratic +eu!lic of the Congo,
hels us un&erstan& the &egree of &isillusion an& &issatisfaction of )frican families, 0hose
overty has not lessene& at all, Auite the oosite3
D
The ;ournalist comments that, &esite sta!ility
on the macro9economic level, the Congolese eole confuse& an& &isenchante&, is increasingly
losing any hoe of imroving their &aily lives' The in&ications are ositive: gro0th stan&s at
G'"B, international reserves are increasing, the rate of e6change if sta!le, !ut there is still
immense recariousness' @ou canHt eat economic sta!ility3 e6claime& a state official
commenting on a recent stri:e !y mem!ers of the civil service an& in reaction to the cynicism of
the 8u&get -inister, accor&ing to 0hom, economic sta!ility ha& !enefitte& all of the Congolese
eo le3
In reality, the ma;ority of )frican families 9 !ut the situation is the same in many )sian
countries an& else0here in the 0orl& 9 are force& to fight to survive an& concentrate all of their
energies on this struggle'
/e have not move& to0ar&s a more ;ust system, even though this is 0hat 0as suggeste&
!y the mar:eting of the single thought' 7lo!alization is highly selective' Suffice it to note the
increasing num!er of &eserate ;ourneys un&erta:en !y refugees an& migrants that all too often
finish in the graveyar&s of the seas an& the lan&s that they attemt to cross'
In a system that has lace& the in&ivi&ual a!ove all other values, an& a financial system
an& mar:et 0ithout rules, the real an& rofoun& nee&s of families are ignore& an& the net0or: of
relations an& values that families al0ays have create& an& en;oye& ris:s collasing li:e a house
of car&s' Jo0ever, as note& in the reflections of Caritas Italiana, 1amiglie Sosese (Susen&e&
1amilies%: if in Italy the rate of overty has remaine& sta!le for some time no0, not0ithstan&ing
the 0orst economic crisis since 12"2, this is than:s to the social arachute 0hich the Italian
D Cfr' K L Aui rofite la sta!ilit* &u ca&re macro*conomiAue F M in Le Potentiel (#CN#2N"#1"%'
$
family has al0ays reresente&, saving those 0ho have !een afflicte& !y the long 0ave of
recession'
$
8ut 0hat is haening to&ayF 1or the first time ever, even in the comforta!le /est, not
only are the young utterly una!le to fin& a ermanent ;o!, !ut their arents are losing theirs an&
family life, sli&ing into crisis' This !ecomes recarious for t0o generations, those at "# as 0ell as
those at =# years of age' 4ife is increasingly a !alancing act !et0een o&&9;o!s an&
unemloyments, 0ith no fi6e& income an& 0ith the young incaa!le of lanning their futures'
The Caritas of the Enite& States has tol& us that, &esite the myth of )merica as the lan&
of oortunity, many )merican families ris: overty, esecially those 0ith single mothers an&
young chil&ren, 0hose num!er has increase& !y over =#B in recent &eca&es' )ccor&ing to the
Population Reference Bureau, "$B of the G= million chil&ren un&er 18 in the Enite&
States live in single9arents families, 0ith their mothers an&, in "#1#, the rate of overty
amongst these families stoo& at $"'"B' The severe recession has ma&e 1 out of G )mericans oor
an& the rate of unemloyment has risen to over 2B' 5ven amongst those fortunate enough to
have a ;o!, D million fin& it har& to reach the en& of the month' Immigrant families are amongst
the har&est hit'
The imact of overty is intensifie& an& ma:es itself felt 0here crisis enters into the lives
of the 0oun&e& families, 0ith straine& relationshis an& !rea:9us an&, often, a re9shaing of
the nuclear family along &ifferent lines' In this case economic overty, social vulnera!ility, an&
emotional frailty create a siral that ris:s &estroying the family an& isolating eole, esecially
the youngest, from the rest of the community' If a coule is in &ifficulty, their entire system of
relationshis can enter into a crisis as 0ell' The recarious nature of life an& values has ren&ere&
eoleHs sentiments an& emotions of eole more fragile an& ma:es in&ivi&uals more lonely,
esecially the el&erly an& chil&ren' )s sho0n !y the contri!utions !y the Portuguese an& 1rench
Caritas, chil&ren are the first to suffer the effects of overty an& lac: of affection'
Caritas 1rance (Secours CatholiAue% remin&s us of ho0 much loneliness an& feelings of
hellessness are en&ure& !y families living on the fringe, for one reason or another'
1amilies living in overty 9 0rites Caritas 1rance 9 feel isolate& ''' -any arents tell us that they
have no9one to tal: to aart from their chil&ren''' To&ay, a recarious situation forces an
$ Cr' Presentation !y .on 1rancesco So&&u, .irector of Caritas Italiana, in Famiglie sospese : quaderno di
riessione teologico!pastorale sulla famiglia in di"colt# nell$%talia delle false parten&e,
8ologna, Centro e&itoriale &ehoniano, "#1$, ' ='
=
in&ivi&ual into a system of &een&ency an& negative recognition'''0hich !rings 0ith it a sense of
uselessness an& of their 0orth not !eing recognize& in the eyes of others an& of society'
=
?o0a&ays there is much tal: of the Auality of life, !ut I &o not !elieve that the resent
economic system or 0ay of thin:ing is heling this' 4iving is not merely e6isting, !ut e6isting in
a certain wa'' Oi:tor 1ran:l sai&: 4ife is not something, !ut the chance to &o something'
>nly an i&ea of the meaning of life, a life live& fully an& 0ith &ignity !y every one of us, no!o&y
e6clu&e&, can give rise to hoe for the 0orl&'
Therefore, 0e cannot intervene only in relation to the negative effects of the current
economic system 0ithout see:ing to alter their causes' The great challenge that 0e face to&ay
lies in our 0illingness to change the &ominant 0ay of thin:ing an& the institutions 0hich
eretuate it' It lies in our a!ility, together 0ith families an& on the !asis of evangelical values,
to recreate an economy an& society truly orientate& to0ar&s the common goo&'
)n& thus, 0e come to ourselves' /e Christians, families, ecclesial communities,
ourselves as the Church'
8ecause it is to us that the 4or& sea:3
7ustavo 7uti*rrez as: himself an& the Church this crucial Auestion:
In the 0orl& of technological revolution an& comuters, of the glo!alization of the economy,
of neo9li!eralism an& the so9calle& ost9mo&ern, is there sace for those 0ho are oor an&
marginalize& an& 0ho see: to free themselves from an inhuman con&ition that stams out their
&ignity as human !eings an& chil&ren of 7o&F /hat role &o the 7osels lay an& the faith of the
oor in a time that seems allergic to certainties an& to human soli&arityF'
C
)n& to&ay 0e may a&&:
/hat &o the 7osels have to say to the families of to&ay, to those 0ho live in uncertainty
an& to those 0ho live comforta!ly, to those 0hose lives are 0oun&e& an& those 0ho lives are
not, an& 0hat &oes our 4or& say in articular to 0e 0ho try to live !y the light of his /or&F
/hat sace is foun& in our Church for families 0oun&e& !y an economic system that e6clu&es
them, afflicte& !y 0ar an& violence, 0ea:ene& !y the glo!alization of in&ifference or in;ure&
!y the frailty of their sentiments an& valuesF
= Contri!ution !y Secours CatholiAue (Caritas 1rancia%, ' "'
C 7' 7ETI5++5P, )nalisi critica &ella teologia &ella li!erazione in %l Regno ?' 1# (122G% : ag' D#$'
C
The %nstrumentum La(oris of the Syno& )ssem!ly notes that some o!servations (&ra0n
from consultations 0ith the local churches, n'&'r'% &eman& strong an& rohetic 0or&s from the
Church in relation to overty 0hich is utting family life so harshly to the test' ) Church that is
oor an& for the oor, it states, shoul& not fail to ma:e its voice hear& in this conte6t'
G

)fter all, the 7o& >f life, in !ecoming one of us, e6erience& the life of a hum!le family, simle,
migrant, an& in real life family he learnt to 0or: 0ith his han&s, to earn his &aily !rea& !y the
s0eat of his !ro0, to sho0 soli&arity an& to hel an& cure the 0oun&s of the eole of his time'
<esus &i& not avoi& eole or families in &ifficulty !ut reache out to them, live& 0ith them, ate
an& 0et 0ith them, too: care of them, li:e the 7oo& Samaritan' Je searche& for an& love& the
lost shee' Je oenly &enounce& in;ustices in or&er to &efen& the 0ea:est' )n& he never
resigne& himself to the status quo, !ut has al0ays effecte& those changes that only love can
!ring a!out'
)s haene& throughout the history of Israel, also the first Christian communities 0ere al0ays
calle& uon to care for the smallest an& the 0ea:est, so that none 0oul& !e lost, none left alone
to succum! to the oressive situations in life'
.ear 1rien&s,
/e too, Christians of to&ay, (an&, a!ove all, 0e sheher&s an& astoral agents3%, nee& to learn
from the teachings of <esus' /e nee& to learn ane0 the alha!et of love, 0hich !uil&s
relationshis, frien&shi an& soli&arity 0ith all the families of our times, 0ithout e6cetion' >nly
in this 0ay can !e transmit the !eauty of the 7osels to the family'
1amilies 0oun&e& !y life &o not all come into our communitiesQ often through a sense of
shame or !ecause they feel themselves ;u&ge& an& re;ecte&, or !ecause they have other i&eas an&
religions, they remain outsi&e the circuit of our local churches'
It is for this reason that Poe 1rancis never tires of saying: set out on your ath, !e the outgoing
Church, a Church 0ith oen &oors caa!le of healing 0oun&s an& 0arming the hearts of the
G %nstrumentum La(oris of the Dr& 56traor&inary 7eneral )ssem!ly of the Syno& of 8isho on The Pastoral
Challenges of the family in the conte6t of evangelisation, Oatican City, "#1$, "#1$, ?' GD'
G
faithful, an& 0hen necessary, of slo0ing &o0n to loo: eole in the eyes an& listen an&
accomany those 0ho have !een left !y the roa&si&e'
8
/e must not resign ourselves to saying itHs al0ays !een li:e this !ut must see: out ne0s aths,
set off 0ith our affective creativity, heal the 0oun&s of so many faces an& so many stories an&
&enounce in;ustices'
)!ove all, 0e must learn to listen to the families 0ho are, first an& foremost, a great resource
an& source of hoe an& love for the Church' If families feel that they are !eing listene& to an&
accomanie& !y the community, if they feel that they are su!;ects an& not merely users, o!;ects
of our assistance, they 0ill :no0 ho0 to e6erience love an& evangelical hoe 0ith courage an&
al0ays have faith in man an& in his a!ility to create frien&shi an& soli&arity,
2
as .on 7ino
+igol&i 0rite in his !oo:'
To&ay the most 0i&esrea& sentiment amongst families in &ifficulty is one of o0erlessness in
the face of an over!earing socio9economic reality 0hich often crushes them' 1or this reason, 0e
Christians cannot limit ourselves to treating their 0oun&s, !ut must have the evangelical courage
an& civil commitment to change this reality, to free these 0oun&e& families from the oression
!earing &o0n on them, an& to &o this together 0ith them'
The strong call launche& !y the Church surs us to commit ourselves in the name of the 7osels:
/ith the evangelical message, the Church offers a force for free&om an& &eveloment,
recisely !ecause it can !ring conversion to hearts an& min&s, recognise the &ignity of each
in&ivi&ual, rovi&e soli&arity an& &e&ication to the service of our fello0s, insert man into 7o&Hs
&esign, 0hich is the creation of the :ing&om of eace an& ;ustice, starting in this life'
1#
The greatest test for the family in our time is that of the solitu&e 0hich !oth isolates an&
&estroys' >nly love, learnt, live& an& share& &ay after &ay, !et0een families an& the community,
0ill result in no!o&y ever again feeling that she or he is alone'
'




8 Poe 1rancis, )vangelii *audium, ?' $C'
2 Cfr' .on 7ino +I7>4.I, Ricostruire la speran&a, 0ith Pierfilio Pozzi, 5&izioni 4aterza, "#1$'
1# 7iovanni Paolo II, 4ettera 5nciclica Redemptoris +issio (G .ecem!er 122#%, ?' =2'
8

2