| Don Pedro Cassadaglia |
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APPENDIX A
Don Pedro Cassadaglia's presentation March 25 Don Pedro is bishop in northern Brazil, a poet and something of a hero of the liberation theology that so threatens Rome's ideological control of church life. The last words of Romero- we believe in the victory of the resurrection....
Romero is the paradigm of solidarity and of hope and he's been globalized as world-wide he has evoked so much attention and has given all nations hope. He has taught us, what is solidarity, we know and feel the experience. We know the liberal globalization - is becoming less triumphant, and its proponents are theologians of the devil.
Never has the world been so unequal with its people, especially the people of this region been more deprived. McDonalds, the diabolic big M of Maccas has arrived in Nicaragua. We have passed from poor to impoverished.
There are those who are structurally impoverished - Rutilio Grande used to say we will never be able to fit into the world if some of us don't give up what we regard as private property. Private property is the greatest sin of the church and the results this continues to have. Private property continues to lead to neo-liberalism, so that there might be 1 billion people who eat from about $1/day.All it needs is 1% of the wealth of the world to eradicate radical poverty - isn't that absurd. There's a good modernism and post-modernism but there is also a narcissistic post-modernism. The marriage of this with neo liberalism represents a structural crisis. There are good bishops in the world even though you may not believe it.....!!!
The crisis of our values - we are privatizing social services, values, feelings - this post modernity which is focused on its own navel. In Brazil there are 1.6m unemployed people but our biggest problem there is the politicians.The people of Salvador seemed to have someone to vote for in the recent elections. It seems that people prefer to be consumers rather than citizens.....consumers and heir lives are on tv and in the shopping centres.
This reinforces the domination of the elites.....and we call to mind the words of Romero about the oligarchy - I wonder what he would say today about the new elite.....the hierarchy of the church has spoken very little about the new liberalism - it is more than classic capitalism - it is capitalism carried out to its extreme - globalization is an ice-pick of death and a renouncement of the God of life and the feeling of humanity.
We see that in Latin America and all of the third world the oligarchies are the right hand of the successive emperors, today it is the same structural sign made more worldwide. Because of this...Globalization is now an ugly word....I excommunicate that word - The spiritual, and pastoral stance which all of us should assume is to give a world-wide response to globalisation.....World-wide-isation..the Word of God is always the last word. We are called to imprint the face of humanity in the world......as Christians we shouldn't be afraid of globalization.....the globalization proclaimed by Christ who said "Go out into the whole world and preach the gospel to all nations. This is the globalization that we want.Who knows if we should include the other world-side-isation.....this link that each person has with the God of life - believe in the alternative world-side-isation... In the Latin American agenda, 2001 should be committed to this world-wide-isation to be developed as a habit, as a virtue perceived in the same way as the other world-wide-isation is seen. We see this movement as a response to the signs of our times....we will try to carry with us the other world-wide-isation.... Because of the power of money, and politics which are designed to meet the needs and wants of a few only, most people are excluded.
We must join together as a continent or we will die. we/must love each other on a world wide basis or we all go under - we cannot build a fence and settle for that.... these great waves of migration, the Palestinian displacement - We must not support the neo-globalization - it is a sign of the times backwards which doesn't mean as the world keeps going to the right. Rather than going to the right we have to put things right as in correct.The need for prayer....has confirmed for me the validity of the left regardless of all the sins that might be there - the possibility of a human socialism......it's a confidential sharing I'll give you...
There's a third way we've got to find but we don't know what it will be....we've got to find a new way - we have to make a choice between egoism or solidarity...without this there is no peace possible....the use of the land, education, communication, Humanity is made of many human beings but only one humanity - the Christian mission is to erupt against anything that threatens the great cause of humanity. We can learn from the word of Jesus re the kingdom - the great causes of humanity are divine interests -it's incredible how the church has often turned its back on human rights and in so doing has violated divine rights. The poor will always be with you - it would be good if the hurricanes happened not only in the fields where the poor live. We must continue to insist on equality..... We have three martyred bishops. Other regions have lists of holy mystical political bishops......
Utopia is our hope - a fraternal humanity that will be equal in our plurality. The true efficacious solidarity - is the definitive mark of human survival - the movement towards equality. If all of us can't fit in, then no one can fit in - we need a solidarity for equality. Solidarity is the new name of charity....Solidarity of attitudes values actions can lead to this equality.... Structural mercy needs solidarity..... Hope - the focus is the person...liberty, solidarity and hope.......will lead to a movement from the structural loneliness that is the lot of so many peoples......
Hope needs to be built on an authentic experience, authentic structures and the revolution of unjust structures. This is our hope for the earth. When we have all we want - we have nothing to hope for - how miserable!We have to change our paradigm- the kingdom must be our only paradigm - There is no hope without solidarity..... We don't wait for the hour to happen. We make it happen now. With San Romero and others, we can take charge with a certain realism, with our life based on reality, and we can develop a hope for the dignity of all, the hope against death and for life... Hope is given to us for those who have no hope. Ask yourself questions like this: 1.Have you done something concrete for Africa, Colombia, children of the streets - etc
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