against sickness, injustice or depression. Justice is the virtue by which we strive to give what is due to others by respecting their rights and fulfilling our duties towards them. It expands our notion of self by strengthening the ties between us all. Through justice we discover in practice that those who suffer are bound to us; they are our brothers and sisters. So a just person is one who is alive to the demands of social and international justice, especially towards the poor. A just person will recognise their duties towards the truth, avoid dishonesty and obey just laws. In this way, the virtue of justice is an essential component of democracy. As Augustine said, a society without true justice is just a gang of thieves. Finally, temperance helps to moderate our
appetites and our use of the world’s created goods. It is the opposite of consumerism and the uninhibited pursuit of pleasure. Temperance can govern our use of the fragile goods of the created world which increasingly need the exercise of this virtue if they are not to be ruinously exploited.
which lies at the heart of human relationships. This is the pathway down which institutions also have to travel in order to restore trust. I don’t doubt that this is what the vast majority of ordinary British people instinctively want, to belong to a world in which people care for one another. At a profound level, they care more for quality of life than for the value of property. Yet the structures and values built into the way society works often frustrate that better instinct. We need to find ways of releas- ing this instinctive generosity, often seen in times of extreme emergency. How can we motivate each other to have these wider horizons? Can we build up a true and lasting sense of service between us all, not because it serves our individual advance- ment but because it is a genuine value, a vital search for the good of all, from which alone all can truly benefit? This will have to happen locally, just as the acquisition of virtue begins best within the family. The years ahead will make clear our need for that new culture. Our financial institutions may just be beginning to recognise it and acknowledge the vital importance of their social role and responsibilities. Only time will tell if we can translate these aspirations into practice in daily life. And the narrative of the development of mutual social responsibility can readily employ the language of the virtues. More important than the language, it will be the practice of those virtues that will mark us out as a worthy people, capable of seeing each other through and marking us with the dignity and endurance that some previous generations have borne with pride.
A
■This article is an edited version of a lecture given by Archbishop Vincent Nichols,“Living the Virtues in a Time of Austerity”, delivered at Leicester University on 28 October. For the full text, see
www.thetablet.co.uk
6 November 2010 | THE TABLET | 9
n important part of our recovery as a society will be achieved through the practice of these virtues. Then we will build the trust
This is an historic moment. This is a moment of change.
Sudan will never be the same again. SUDANESE BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE
In 2005, after 21 years of brutal war between North and South Sudan, the leaders and people of Sudan embraced peace.
On 9 January 2011, the people of the South will vote whether to become a separate nation. It’s a moment of hope – and of fear that violence could break out again.
Please act and pray for peace in Sudan in your parish this autumn.
Prayers, pictures, stories and actions:
cafod.org.uk/sudanpeace
R28843
R28838
Registered charity no. 285776
Photo: Annie Bungeroth/CAFOD
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