Editorial
There was more to 2001 than 9/11
Thinking back on the year that’s just expired, the immediate challenge is seeing beyond that black Tuesday in September. But even the evil of Sept. 11 can’t engulf in its plume of pulverized buildings all the good of the 2001.
2001 was a year in which the term "solidarity" emerged into prominence in Catholic circles. One of the seven principles of Catholic social teaching, solidarity refers to that connectedness that binds all members of the human race, calling individuals to support their brothers and sisters in pursuit of the common good.
Pope John Paul II preaches and lives solidarity. In his document "Centesimus Annus," he wrote, "Sacred Scripture continually speaks to us of an active commitment to our neighbor and demands of us a shared responsibility for all of humanity. This duty is not limited to one’s own family, nation or state, but extends progressively to all… so no one can consider himself extraneous or indifferent to the lot of another member of the human family."
In relation to the terrorist attacks on America, Catholic leaders from Pope John Paul II to parish CCD teachers called for solidarity with victims of the tragedy, with Islamic people, with Arab people, and with Afghans who have borne the brunt of human armies and natural disasters for more than a decade.
The Holy Father called for a church-wide fast last month in solidarity with Muslims who were nearing the end of their monthlong fast, Ramadan. Catholics responded to his request to combine the fast with acts of generosity by donating $650,000 to Vatican relief efforts in Afghanistan. That is solidarity in action.
The pope also lived out solidarity when he reached out to Muslim and Orthodox people, traveling to such un-Catholic places as Kazakhstan and Greece. He prayed at a mosque, the first pope to do so, and issued a strong apology for past wrongs done to Orthodox Christians.
The U.S. bishops acted out of solidarity at their November meeting, producing an important document on the African crisis. Their document, "A Call to Solidarity With Africa," urged greater commitment from American Catholics to Africa, where 25 million people contracted AIDS last year. The church is one of the main providers of health care, food, shelter and education on the continent.
Alaska saw its own versions of solidarity in action in 2001. The state’s bishops took a strong and courageous step into the subsistence fray last month when they held a listening session and announced plans to produce a pastoral statement on the topic. If people can put themselves in the shoes of the most vulnerable and needy, the question of who should be given a subsistence preference, as well as other social questions, are easier to answer. That is solidarity.
The Anchorage archdiocese, through Catholic Social Services, the Department of Justice and Peace (launched early in 2001) and the Alaska Catholic Conference, practiced solidarity this past year on other fronts as well, speaking out on behalf of the voiceless victims of abortion and the often compromised targets of assisted suicide, families affected by a rash of mobile home community closures in Anchorage, and the homeless, jobless, and working poor who turn to Catholic Social Services for help.
All this good work provides reason to hope for the future in spite of the deep sorrow and anxiety and anger that flow from Sept. 11. We still have the power, through the teachings of Christ and the church, to produce good.