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In 1995, fifty-one of the largest one-hundred economies in the world were corporations. The combined sales of the top Japanese corporations alone were almost equivalent to the combined Gross Domestic Product of all South America.
Published in July, Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth), Benedict XVI’s first social encyclical, was widely acclaimed by its deep insight on a world affected by a global recession and still ruled by a soulless system that deprives millions from their fundamental rights. Four months have passed, and it is time for an accurate reflection over its obvious strengths and its not so obvious omissions. Because humankind is facing one of the most critical periods in history, marked not only by an almost unprecedented economic and financial crisis, but also by an ecological mayhem that can endanger the future of life on Earth.
Christianity and kindness go hand-in-hand. One may even add that the unkind person betrays the Christian faith, which is essentially the practice of the love of God and neighbor. This is the good news that the missionaries brought to the Philippines, and we still can learn from it today.
Kindness and mercy is at the heart of the Christian message. Jesus said: “You received without pay, give without pay.” The Church must, therefore, seek to put mercy into practice and to proclaim it to the men and women of today.
In the fifth century, before envy was listed by the Church as one of the seven deadly sins, the virtue, able to fight its deleterious effects, was coined. This virtue is kindness. And, if one looks attentively at the world’s social and spiritual history, one will find
that it is still able to help us in our struggle to live better in a kinder world.
Kindness is a virtue that needs to be cherished and cultivated. Regular practices become habits which, in turn, become deeply ingrained and shape our identity. Our actions determine us as much as we determine our actions. Indeed, kindness begets kindness. We are made kind by being kind.
Silsilah farmers are practicing an organic and biodynamic agriculture that helps them to regain dignity and make a living, keeps the integrity of creation and preserves the earth for future generations. Mary Josephine “Jojo” E. Cagurangan is their leading technician.
Naked, alone, just with the aid of an arch and a bunch of arrows, Karapiru walked for ten years. All started with the murder of his wife by hired gunmen; all ended after wandering over 1,300 kilometers, with the find of his lost son and the start of a new family. This almost incredible survival story was only possible because Karapiru is a Brazilian Indian, used to living in communion with Nature. And tells us a lot about many other Indians, culturally and spiritually deeply attached to Mother Earth.
Whereas plantations, logging and dams were the main culprits that displaced Filipino indigenous communities from their ancestral domains and wrought havoc in their way of life in the 70s and 80s, the specter since the 1990s until today is large-scale mining and energy-generation projects. That, ironically, are strongly supported by the government of the Philippines.
Indigenous peoples, who usually see their ancestral lands as sacred and not as a profitable commodity, are being threatened by the oil, gas and mineral wealth that hides beneath their soil. That is coveted by powerful nations and big corporations.
