“Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.” — Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti
In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis teaches us the way of St. Francis of Assisi, who called all people his brothers and sisters and was a “saint of fraternal love, simplicity and joy.”
Just as St. Francis sought to live in harmony with all, Pope Francis calls us to value fraternity and friendship across all boundaries and division, as he and the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb demonstrated when they signed the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” in Abu Dhabi in 2019.
Also in Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis gives a thorough description of the darkness he sees in the world today. First, political systems are regressing and the profit-based economic model “does not hesitate to exploit, discard and even kill human beings.” Second, that there is a culture of indifference. By employing a strategy of ridicule, suspicion and relentless criticism, one group can dominate and exclude another, creating a permanent state of disagreement, confrontation and even violence.
The pope wants to strengthen the idea of social friendship and social peace in the face of an all-pervasive social violence, which he sees running through the economy, politics and even through social media. I see it especially through social media. We need to stand up against social violence and disrespect; however, our responses need to be appropriate.
I missed the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics. Two days later when I tried to find it, all the videos were gone reportedly because of the “Last Supper” display. In searching to more insight, I was shocked at how quickly commentators on 24-hour chat shows and YouTube channels were responding with “Oh well, oh yeah!” responses that have become all too familiar. There were palatable gleeful conversations as another potential ratings-grabbing cultural war had landed in their laps. I almost immediately wondered, where is their righteous indignation when it comes to more legitimate experiences of Christian persecution?
Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List – an in-depth investigative report focusing on global Christian persecution – reveals that worldwide, more than 365 million (up from 360 million last year) Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.
According to Open Doors’ report,
— North Korea continues to track illegal house churches and condemn Christians to “hard labor.”
— China increased its crackdown on house churches through a set of “old and new authoritarian measures.” Thousands of churches closed in the past year, and 83 percent of closures documented in the report happened in China and India.
— There is a degrading climate for Christians in Nicaragua due to President Daniel Ortega’s anti-clergy policies. Last August, his government confiscated the University of Central America, a Jesuit-run institution, accusing it of being a “center for terrorism.”
— Open Doors also raised the alarm on the situation for Indian Christians and reports a rise in Christian killings and attacks on Christian schools and hospitals in that country.
— Last May’s ethnic violence in northeastern India between the Kuki Christian minority and the Meitei, Manipur’s biggest and largely Hindu ethnic group, led to the death of 160 Christians and forced thousands more out of their homes.
American Catholics still are basking in the amazing experience of our National Eucharistic Congress. The next International Eucharistic Congress will be held Sept. 8-15 in Quito, Ecuador. The Eucharist is at and in the heart of every Catholic. It is our direct connection with Christ. Any denigration of what Jesus did at the Last Supper is wrong. And we are right to point that out. However, our indignation must not exude or provoke hatred.
Jesus said, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me,” (Matthew 5:10-11). Even if denigrated, we must react as Christ taught. We must pray for better and not be ugly criticizing what is ugly or offensive to us.
The Olympics remain a hopeful global vision of unity worth defending, but it is not an accurate depiction of the world we all know. There are plenty of reasons to be outraged when it comes to real, not tongue-in-cheek persecution of Christians. We should attend to those outrages and pass up the offenses that get prioritized on TikTok, Instagram, social media anger-generators, and ratings-seeking pundits.
Let us reserve the global strategic outrage for those issues and moments that can lead to actual mitigation of real suffering.
God bless all people of faith and be glad that you live in the USA, USA, USA!