THE TABLET
THE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY
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BENEFITS OF THE BIG SOCIETY
T
hat Britain has a coalition rather than a majority Government suggests that the Conservatives’ mani- festo idea of the “big society” failed to grab the attention of the voters in the recent election. Indeed, it was
mocked by the Tories’ coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. Yet the idea has not fallen victim to the policy compromises of the coalition Government; instead, Prime Minister David Cameron and his Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, joined forces this week to unveil plans for a “big society” pro- gramme, which includes setting up a bank to fund activities by neighbourhood groups, social enterprises and charities, and the creation of a National Citizen Service for young people. The programme, outlined in the document “Building the Big Society”, adds a little flesh to the bones of a somewhat nebu - lous concept. It suggests ideals familiar to Conservatism: a rejection of the big state and a rolling back of its powers to give people the chance to bid to take over state-run services; and another typical of the Liberal Democrats – an emphasis on grass-roots action. Of the Thatcherite view that there is no such thing as society, only men and women, there is no evidence at all. “Building the Big Society” recognises the value of people cooperating and developing a much stronger commitment to their neighbourhoods. For that it is very welcome. But there are drawbacks, too. The idea of the “big society”
has yet to be accurately delineated. It is being proposed at a time when the Government will be making tough decisions about cuts in services, given the hole in Britain’s finances, and
there is the fear that poor voluntary provision will fail to fill the gaps. It could be a recipe for chaos that would inevitably harm the vulnerable, including the sick, the elderly and children. The plans also require people to be willing to get involved in local organisations. While that builds on Britain’s long trad - ition of volunteering – a tradition so strong that Nye Bevan accepted there must be a place for voluntary groups in hos- pitals when he founded the NHS – a long-working-hours culture today restricts many people’s participation in local organisa- tions. The danger – and it can sometimes be seen in church activities – is that the few, not the many, dominate. Nevertheless, the coalition Government is right to high- light, as did the Bishops of England and Wales in their pre- election document, “Choosing the Common Good”, that solving social problems is not entirely the province of the state. “Government on its own cannot fix every problem,” says the “big society” document, emphasising instead the small and the local. This chimes remarkably with the idea of subsidiar- ity or the civil-society principle of Catholic Social Teaching. Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Annoencyclical of 1931 identified the way in which unfettered capitalism can break up society, leav- ing the state to deal with the damage. The alternative is a vigorous civil society where decisions are taken at the lowest level, leav- ing the state with a more subsidiary function. These are ideas which run through Pope Benedict’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate. It now looks as if his September visit to Britain will take him to a country putting them into practice.
INTO UNKNOWN TERRITORY
A
t last weekend’s Kirchentag event in Munich, where Pope Benedict was once archbishop, there was disappointment that he did not attend. The mas- sive interchurch gathering, for the second time in
its history involving Catholics as well as Protestants, was a strik- ing sign that ecumenism can still warm the blood in the land of Martin Luther, even if the impression is given that the Vatican has gone cold on the subject. The Pope was in Portugal, attend- ing a big celebration at the shrine of Fátima. But it would be misleading to interpret this as a retrograde retreat into sim- plistic pieties. The Catholic Church in Portugal, as elsewhere in Europe, is struggling to come to terms with a pervasive spirit of secularism. The Pope had new things to say about what is arguably a more important topic to the twenty-first-century Church even than ecumenism. His ideas should have resonance in Britain, when he visits in September. His startling admission at Fátima that the major persecution facing the Church today came from within, through the sinful actions of its members, marked the abandonment of all conspiracy theories, all efforts to blame others or to shoot the (secular mass media) messenger, which some in the Vatican have been using to deny the reality of the clerical sex-abuse scandal. But the Church’s relations with secularism, which he construed positively, do have connections with the ecumen - ical process. The challenge of secularism to the Church is a larger version of the pluralism that already characterises the ecumenical scene – how to work towards shared objectives with those with whom one does not totally agree. There was
2 | THE TABLET | 22 May 2010
no call here for a return to the Catholic ascendancy, nor even for the laws of the state to comply with the moral teaching of the Church. His remarks on abortion could almost have been an endorsement of the policy adopted by President Barack Obama in the United States: he praised “all those social and pastoral initiatives aimed at combating the socio-economic and cultural mechanisms which lead to abortion …” The encounter between faith and secularism had shown a
prevailing tendency towards “opposition and mutual exclu- sion”, he said. But this not inevitable. “The presence of secularism is something normal, but the separation and the opposition between secularism and a culture of faith is something anom- alous and must be transcended. The great challenge of the present moment is for the two to come together, and in this way to discover their true identity.” He cautioned against “an excessive trust in ecclesial structures and programmes” and over-reliance on “simply proclaiming the message”. Even more surprising, given Pope Benedict’s opposition to relativism, was his telling the Cultural Centre at Belém, Lisbon, that the Church “is in the process of learning how to live with respect for other ‘truths’ and for the truth of others … Dialogue, without ambi- guity and marked by respect for those taking part, is a priority in today’s world.” He is in effect applying the ecumenical method to the Church’s engagement with secular culture. This is not quite the Joseph Ratzinger we are familiar with. This is more an open-minded man on a journey into unknown territory, a journey from confrontation to dialogue. Nobody can be sure of the destination, but it is certainly not back to the past.
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