By Chiaretto Yan Kin-sheung, a Catholic Chinese theologian and author of My Chinese Dream
As reported in a Catholic News Agency article on January 12, 2024, Pope Francis met with representatives of DIALOP (Transversal Dialogue Project), an association of European leftist politicians, academics, and members of the Focolare Movement, of which I am a member. One of DIALOP's main goals is to bridge Catholic social teaching and Marxist theory.
DIALOP promotes and supports dialogue between people of goodwill and secular and religious backgrounds, particularly between Socialists/Marxists and Christians -- in cooperation with universities and other formal or informal educational institutions, DIALOP.
In his audience with members of DIALOP, the Pope emphasized the need for SOLIDARITY, especially toward socially disadvantaged people, through an integral approach, with radical changes of perspective in the sharing of challenges and resources among individuals and peoples. Politics at the service of humanity cannot be dictated only by finance and market mechanisms. He called for DIALOGUE, discussion, and listening, encouraging their commitment to solidarity and dialogue.
At the end of the audience, Pope Francis encouraged DIALOP to launch a transversal dialogue capable of involving the broadest strata of society and, above all, the youth.
Right after this private audience with the Pope, DIALOP held a three-day conference at the Sophia University Institute, the Institute at which I wrote my dissertation, the basis of my book My Chinese Dream. The conference was a moment of rich confrontation, open and full of very stimulating perspectives.
The DIALOP Conference points to what I mentioned in My Chinese Dream, Pope Francis’ commitment to the culture of dialogue and encounter with China. I think involving a broad strata of society in such dialogues would greatly benefit from having exchanges and open dialogue with the people of China.
Can we all agree with Pope Francis?
“Don’t back off, don’t give up, and don’t stop dreaming of a better world. For it is in imagination, the ability to dream, that intelligence, intuition, experience, and historical memory come together to make us creative, take chances, and run risks.”
GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO MEMBERS OF THE DIALOP (TRANSVERSAL DIALOGUE PROJECT) ASSOCIATION Room adjacent to the Paul VI HallWednesday, 10 January 2024
[note: Chiaretto Yan Kin-sheung is a good friend of Tom McGuire, USCCA Board member; we are pleased to feature his writing on the USCCA blog]
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Pope Francis calls for greater dialogue and cooperation between Christians, Marxists
Rome Newsroom, Catholic News Agency, Jan 12, 2024 / 10:30 am
Pope Francis this week called for cooperation between Christians and Marxists as a way to achieve greater “dialogue” and help in the search for the “common good.”
“I thank you for your commitment to dialogue,” the pope said in a private meeting on Jan. 10 with 15 representatives of DIALOP (Transversal Dialogue Project), an association of European leftist politicians and academics that seeks to bridge Catholic social teaching and Marxist theory. “There is always a great need for dialogue, so do not be afraid,” the pope said during the event at the Paul VI Audience Hall.
Highlighting the nexus between social, economic, and ecological issues, the pope said that “politics that is truly at the service of humanity cannot let itself be dictated to by finance and market mechanisms.” The pope buttressed his call for a more inclusive participation in economic and political decision-making by suggesting that “instead of rigid approaches that divide, let us cultivate, with open hearts, discussion and listening.”
“And not exclude anyone at the political, social, or religious level, so that the contribution of each can, in its concrete distinctiveness, receive a positive reception in the processes of change to which our future is linked,” the Holy Father added.
“Don’t back off, don’t give up, and don’t stop dreaming of a better world. For it is in imagination, the ability to dream, that intelligence, intuition, experience, and historical memory come together to make us be creative, take chances, and run risks.”
The pope argued that “solidarity is not only a moral virtue but also a requirement of justice, which calls for correcting the distortions and purifying the intentions of unjust systems, not least through radical changes of perspective in the sharing of challenges and resources among individuals and among peoples.”
The pope closed his speech with a reflection on the importance of the rule of law, saying: “It is only in honesty and integrity that healthy relationships can be established and that we can cooperate confidently and effectively in building a better future.”
Pope Francis has made critique of the market economy one of the defining themes of his pontificate. In his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the pope wrote: “We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market.”
“Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: It requires decisions, programs, mechanisms, and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment, and an integral promotion of the poor, which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.”
Vatican News noted that the Jan. 10 audience was “not a short greeting but an interview that lasted with spontaneous questions and answers for about 40 minutes.”
DIALOP was founded in 2014 after a meeting between Pope Francis, the Vienese leftist politician Walter Baier, former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, and Franz Kronreif of the Focolare Movement, a spiritual and social renewal founded in 1943 — and approved by the Church in 1962 — to promote universal brotherhood and to foster dialogue between different religious groups.
Both Baier and Kronreif were present at the Jan. 10 meeting. In an interview with Vatican News following the audience, Baier noted that during the speech the pope highlighted “the need for solidarity” especially “toward socially disadvantaged people.”
“He called for a dialogue that goes beyond historical patterns, a dialogue that deals primarily with the excluded and vulnerable and that respects the principles of the rule of law.”
Kronreif said to Vatican News that following the pope’s call from the meeting, the association is “preparing a two-year project that should start in the autumn on peace, on how to build peace ... a project to involve especially the young generations in how to make peace grow from below, so that everyone feels called upon to create peace around themselves, to help the victims of war to realize what the roots of war may be and what are the tools to prevent it.”
Matthew Santucci is a CNA Rome correspondent based in EWTN's Vatican bureau. He grew up in Connecticut and has been living in Rome since 2020. He has a B.A. in History from Fordham and an M.A. in International Relations from Luiss Guido Carli.
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