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VATICAN CITY, December 14th – Ten days after the opening of the Holy Door, the Synodal Jubilee Journeys concluded with a speech by Romano Prodi. In the Synod’s New Hall, the former premier addressed issues related to geopolitics. Starting with Europe, which is experiencing a very difficult moment. “European democracy,” Prodi said, ”is committing suicide because it shows itself as a closed caste. If it does not give itself a real structure starting with the end of the right of veto, it really risks running out of answers.”
Answers, Prodi intends, to nationalism, to leaderism, to the absence of dialogue from which wars arise. “The Encyclical Fratelli Tutti offers the concrete tool of fraternity and dialogue, words undermined by divisions, by fragmentation. By now, every opportunity is good for war.” What about leaders? “A political class is born only from intermediate bodies, instruments where fraternity is composed. Without this passage there are only splits and everyone says long live the leader because at least he saves us from fragmentation.”

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fratelli tutti Foundation and Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, the two organizations promoting the Ways introduced Prodi’s speech. “Today is not a time for nostalgic politics that allows us to remain in a comfort zone,” Gambetti noted, ”there is no need to build monuments to our fathers, it is enough to have a grateful memory and to look ahead not to watch what so-called politicians are doing now. If anything, it is the time for nostalgia for politics, a return to the original spirit of democratic politics. It is the time to take care of each other, it is the time of fraternity on which to base politics, what we are proposing wants to be the passage to political love.”

Father Francesco Occhetta, Secretary General of the Fratelli tutti Foundation, finally took stock of the 9 meetings of the Paths. The one yesterday was attended by representatives of 160 associations, movements, businesses, institutions, foundations, NGOs. And he wanted to explain the Foundation’s role in society.

“The Foundation which is of Vatican law is first and foremost an inclusive relational place, the boundaries go beyond those of Italy, the heart on which we work is the search for what says we are human today, in this world, to stem words, violent gestures, forms of revenge and war,” Occhetta explained. That is why our invitation is to ask everyone to take a step back with respect to the defense of one’s own belonging sometimes defended as ideological and to take two steps forward together so that on the great issues we can promote the human and the principle of fraternity as the 20th century taught us, through the reworking of the Charters of Rights, Constitutions and great social reforms.”

Article by Goffredo de Marchis