Each year for over seventy years, the Catholic Bishops have issued statements on one of the dominant public issues of the day. They have offered the Catholic community some analysis, theological reflection, and encouragement to respond to it. They have also been a treasure for anyone studying changing Catholic attitudes.
This year’s Statement, Truth and Peace in a Violent World, is ambitious in its scope. It traces the links between the wars and violence in the world and the distrust and disinformation that characterises public conversation. In doing so, it draws on Scripture and the writing of Pope John XXIII and Pope Francis.
The Statement introduces the theme by surveying the many current wars in the world and their catastrophic effects on human lives. It links this violence to the ideologies that characterised the totalitarian regimes of the previous century, notably those Fascist and Marxist in inspiration. At their heart was the denial of the truth of the existence of God and of the dignity and value of each human being. This denial echoed the temptation in the Garden of Eden, in which freedom was sought and fraudulently offered, but from which only slavery was found. In totalitarian rule, too, the State becomes God and human beings become slaves.
Against this background the Statement traces the erosion of truth in contemporary culture, listing competing truth claims supported by fake information and images, algorithms, social distrust, the lack of respected authorities and the emphasis on individual choice. These developments foster polarisation and weaken trust in democratic institutions. They also weaken respect for the rule of law and disguise war making as acts of peace making.
The erosion of truth also erodes the trust necessary for reconciling division. Trust, which begins with speaking truth, is necessary for making peace. The effects of the absence of trust can be seen in the competitive development of increasingly destructive weapons in order to deter enemies from using them. The result is a more dangerous world.
In the face of these trends, Pope Francis insists on the truth that all human beings are brothers and sisters, each with high dignity that commands respect. If this conviction is to guide public life, we must build structures of peace – the rule of law between nations, and dialogue between human beings at all levels based on searching for truth. Schools and other institutions also need to be configured to encourage encounter as the basis of peace. This is grounded in Christian faith in God as the source of truth, Christ as the Word of God in the sense of reason and dialogue, and in peace as the gift of God. It concludes with an array of small practical ways in which we can be makers and encouragers of peace.
The Statement has much to commend it. It tackles questions that are of central concern to all Australians regardless of their religious beliefs. They will not slip into the background as the public conversation moves on. The forces that militate against peace and respect for truth are still developing, as are efforts to counter them.
The detailed examples of the extent of wars throughout the world and of their human cost are also helpful. They recognise the death and injury caused by war and the legacy of homelessness, anxiety and physical and mental illness that it leaves. The huge expenditure on the arms race, too, both limits opportunities for nations to develop education, health and equality, and leaves them more vulnerable.
'The Statement makes the compelling central argument that both the violence of war, and the polarisation in public conversation stem from a common root: the failure to respect the fundamental truth that every human being has inherent value and cannot be treated as disposable.'
In attending to the multiple factors and interests involved in eroding respect for truth in society, too, the Statement recognises the interaction of technological development and of cultural attitudes.
The Statement makes the compelling central argument that both the violence of war, and the polarisation in public conversation stem from a common root: the failure to respect the fundamental truth that every human being has inherent value and cannot be treated as disposable. When people are valued only for their usefulness, their race, gender or opinions, they can be discriminated against and treated as ciphers in government policy and in political and economic calculation.
The corresponding emphasis on encounter as the antidote to devaluation of human beings is also persuasive. It models relationships based on mutual trust and respect on which a healthy society and international order must be built, and provides a link for readers to link their apparently small attitudes and actions of to the large considerations of truth and peace.
My only reservation about the Statement concerns its address to its audience. Written in the first instance for Catholics, it rightly draws on Scripture and Papal teaching. I wonder, however, whether its initial reflection on truth might be misunderstood by non-Catholics and indeed by many Catholics. Catholic preaching has often identified the embracing of truth with accepting doctrine – the truth that God exists, for example, or the truth that human beings have an immortal soul. Many readers brought up on this narrow understanding of truth may baulk at the priority the document appears to give to it. They will point to many Catholics who insist on Catholic doctrines but enthusiastically support wars and have a whole range of enemies whom they consider to be beyond the pale.
The argument of the Statement for the importance of truth, however, refers not primarily to such intellectual belief, important though this may be for the full understanding of truth, but to the life shaping conviction that each human being, including the most unattractive and unbelieving, is precious and must be treated as a brother or sister. In my experience of non-government organisations many people from a variety of religions, philosophies, doubts and beliefs, share this conviction and commitment. It would be a pity if they felt excluded from this rich conversation about truth and peace.
Andrew Hamilton is consulting editor of Eureka Street, and writer at Jesuit Social Services.