CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 29, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI’s response to the phenomenon of globalization is to issue a vibrant call for “genuine solidarity” in the world.
It is, in a word, the same proposal articulated by Pope John Paul II, when he called for the “globalization of solidarity,” given the rise of the “global village” that followed the fall of the Soviet Communist bloc and the rise of new communication technologies.
Today, when receiving the new ambassador of Ecuador to the Holy See, Benedict XVI addressed the “problems of the economic, social and political order” of that country and, after emphasizing the need for dialogue and the collaboration of all “political and socioeconomic entities,” he framed these challenges in their international context.
“Urgent, then, is this union of intentions and wills to make possible the continuous action of government leaders in the face of the challenges of a globalized world, which must be addressed with genuine solidarity,” the Holy Father said.
“This virtue, as my predecessor John Paul II of venerated memory said, must inspire the action of individuals, governments, international organizations and institutions and all members of civil society, committing themselves to work for a just growth of peoples and nations, having as the objective the good of each and all,” affirmed Benedict XVI.
’87 encyclical
By late 1987, John Paul II had foreseen the process of globalization — at the time he used the term “interdependence” — when publishing the encyclical “Sollicitudo Rei Socialis.”
In No. 40 of the encyclical, quoted in part by his successor today, John Paul II wrote that “world peace is inconceivable unless the world’s leaders come to recognize that interdependence in itself demands the abandonment of the politics of blocs, the sacrifice of all forms of economic, military or political imperialism, and the transformation of mutual distrust into collaboration. This is precisely the act proper to solidarity among individuals and nations.”
