Cardinal Mark for Chile: Take care of the weak, cultivate hope, recover dialogue

Cardinal Fernando Chomali, Archbishop of Santiago and Primado de Chile, offered on Monday the conference “Take care of life, a great challenge for society”, within the framework of a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Villarrica, where activities of the Project Project of the Guadalupe Commission are carried out.

There, the Cardinal held meetings with ecclesial and educational communities, including the College of Humanities of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Villarrica and the Campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he serves as Chancellor.

In a context where the Chilean Government promotes bills such as abortion and euthanasia, the purple headed the conference “Take care of life, great challenge for society”organized by the diocese together with the Guadalupe Commission.

The activity was attended by the Bishop of Villarrica, Mons. Francisco Javier Stegmeier, as well as academics, priests, religious, students and representatives of the community.

A kind of goodness

Cardinal Chomali’s reflection focused on the cultural and social challenges facing the country, and in particular the Church. Within that framework, he clarified that its purpose is not that the Church appears “claiming everything”, but showing how “collaborates with an adequate vision of men, women, marriage, life, and helps build a better society.”

Within the core of the Church, he especially valued the advances of youth and university pastoral compared to past decades. Today, he said, there is “a current of goodness that is walking”, with young people who mission, families that volunteer and groups that welcome women with complex pregnancies. “We have many reasons to be optimistic,” he said.

The Archbishop also highlighted a greater business commitment to social responsibility, ecology and conciliation between work and family. “They are realizing that they are not an island, but what they do has an impact on society,” he warned, underlining the need to join efforts for shared prosperity.

Recover dialogue

However, he warned about a deficit in philosophical and ethical reflection, in contrast to technological advancement. “The question of how it is asked has been much more important than the question of what,” he lamented, warning about the risk of reducing human life to the logic of technique or consumption.

In that line, he questioned a culture marked by subjectivity and cancellation, and called to recover the dialogue: “No one is right, but no one is totally wrong,” he said.

The cardinal also warned about the risk of a society without forgiveness or mercy. “Practically (forgiveness) is understood as a sign of weakness. And that is very complex. A society that has no forgiveness, which is not able to have clemency, is a society that will hardly prosper.”

The cardinal insisted that the greatness of a society is measured in how the weakest treats. Within that framework, he pointed out that “in Europe of every 100 prenatal diagnoses of Down syndrome only two are born,” and warned about a culture that rules out life in the name of efficiency. “Our vocation in the end is not to be intelligent, our vocation is to love and be loved,” he said, inviting to recognize the unique value of each person, especially those who live with disabilities or vulnerability.

The look at the weakest: elderly, sick and children

“Today, the keyst, in my opinion, is how to get on the ship to the people who are shipwrecked. And there are many. Who are the most who are most shipwrecked? The weakest: the elderly, the sick and the children, who are in the maternal uterus,” he said, inviting to make an effort “to focus on what is really going to mark the course.”

Finally, he called to cultivate hope in the midst of a context marked by loneliness and violence. “Young people today feel tremendously alone … A society that does not print hope is a dead society. I am convinced that the best service we can do to the Church is to promote the family, to promote marriage, promote life, because I am convinced that the future of humanity is forged in the family,” he said.

The day concluded with an open dialogue space with the attendees and a message of gratitude to the diocese and the organizing institutions for their commitment in the defense and promotion of life.