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Stewards, not owners
Archbishop Renato Raffaele Martino, permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations in New York and head of the Vatican delegation at the WSSD, was interviewed by Martin Maier SJ (Germany). Anticipating the intervention he will make in the plenary next week, Abp Martino underlined the eradication of poverty as the main issue at Johannesburg. This is the pre-requisite for any development. Then in particular, the problem of water, the vital element for everybody but to which 3bn in the world have very limited access -- and how much water goes wasted in the developed world! A third point will focus on agriculture and rural areas, since rural workers without future perspectives leave in their millions for the cities -- thus the phenomenon of the megalopolis with their shanty-towns all around. Small initiatives to promote rural workers and rural areas would mean a lot. The Catholic Church is in effect the biggest development agency: Christians, sisters, priests working in the developing countries make a contribution worth billions, even if it goes unaccounted: hospitals, schools, social action centres. So the Church is an expert and very good partner in sustainable development. In January the Holy Father spoke with Abp Martino about the WSSD and put stress on ecological conversion, which is very Christian and reflected in the first principle of the Rio Declaration: “Man is at the centre of all reflections on development efforts.” At the centre of Creation, we are the stewards, not the owners, we take the great gift of God on loan to keep it safe and pass it on intact to future generations. This is why we need ecological conversion. At the U.N., the Holy See is not just Catholic, we don’t defend Catholic things exclusively but the moral principles that are common and valid for all human beings: defence of life, defence of the family, integral development. The International Jesuit Network for Development presented the first of three workshops at Nasrec. “Good Governance: As If People Matter” was led by Prakash Louis SJ (India) with contributions from Muhigirwa Ferdinand SJ (D.R. Congo) and Bernard Lestienne SJ (Brazil). “Good governance” was introduced by the World Bank in the 80s for the benefit of the market system. Its goals of keeping order, assuring distribution and providing infrastructure are good in themselves, but do not necessarily benefit the people. The majority need good governance based on participation, decentralisation, transparency as opposed to corruption and accountability of various stakeholders (community, government, civil society and the corporate sector). Such good governance leads to social justice, requires sustainable development and ensures cultural identity. But the stakeholders should interact on bases of equality and respect -- values apparently lacking in the WSSD process.Wednesday may prove to be a low point of the Summit. Governmental negotiations behind closed doors until 3 a.m. left everyone else in the dark, powerless to offer input and rightly worried about concessions and regression. The NGO tone seemed heavier and more strident, caucus meetings more harried, strategizing more desperate. Meeting after meeting pull the Summit along in its all too mundane progression, and the hearts of those who long for more are left disappointed, worried, tempted to rebel. At the same time, the Nasrec Exposition Centre was filled with music and dance, rather than with discourse, and many spontaneous interactions across barriers of language, culture, and nationality. “Don’t you get discouraged?” a young delegate was asked, but she replied “Until the midnight when the Summit is over, I’ll be knocking on doors.” [HL20828]
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