OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Solidarity today is the road to take toward a post-pandemic world, toward the healing of our interpersonal and social sicknesses. There is no other way.” (Pope France, gerneral papal audience, Sept. 2)
In his first in-person public papal audience since COVID-19 restrictions began in March, Pope Francis expressed his joy in being able to gather once again face-to-face. Our Holy Father addressed a limited crowd while practicing safe distancing. A papal audience is one way the pope can “talk story” with the world and share his catechesis or teachings. In his current “Heal the World” lessons, he urges us to practice the fundamental virtues of faith, hope and love, which are vital resources in transforming our vulnerability into the strength of solidarity during this coronavirus crisis.
Pope Francis said that the pandemic has shown us that “we are all linked together for better or worse,” and that our inter-connectedness and solidarity are key to building a better and healthier world. Our Holy Father asks us to create “a new mindset, which thinks in terms of community. … Solidarity, guided by faith, enables us to translate the love of God in our globalized culture by interweaving communities and sustaining processes of growth that are truly human and solid.”
This solidarity is full of diversity. The pope proposes that this “diversity in solidarity possesses ‘antibodies’ which ensure that the singularity of each person [does] not sicken with individualism, with selfishness. Diversity in solidarity also possesses antibodies that heal social structures and processes that have degenerated into systems of injustice and oppression.”
Around the world, and here in Hawaii, the coronavirus pandemic is impacting diverse but connected members of our human family: extremely vulnerable homeless persons in shelters; elders in nursing homes and multi-generational families in crowded housing; men and women in prison and their ohana outside; unemployed workers from closed hotels, restaurants and local businesses; and students from grade school to college falling behind in their studies.
Pope Francis reminds us “we are all on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”
Solidarity rooted in our connectedness and diversity is desperately needed now as we still go through various levels of lockdown. While some residents may be struggling to follow “stay at home” orders across the state, there are many others who are fighting just to stay in the homes they already have. However, there is real hope as public and non-profit sectors work together to address the challenges of this crisis.
Catholic Charities Hawaii, for example, in partnership with the state’s Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, is working to distribute $30 million of CARES Act Funds for rent relief and mortgage assistance throughout the state. To apply, call the Catholic Charities hotline at 808-521-HELP. For those in need on Hawaii island, HOPE Services Hawaii is also offering similar help at hopeserviceshawaii.org.
For more information on resources for food, housing, keiki and kupuna care during the COVID-19 crisis, please visit the Office for Social Ministry website officeforsocialministry.org/covid-19. These are some of the ways that “God makes himself present and inspires the faith of the community united in diversity and in solidarity.”
May the creativity and compassion of the Holy Spirit inspire new and diverse forms of solidarity among us providing a path for all to build a better future together as One Ohana. Please share these links with others in need as we come together to heal the world through the practice of faith, hope and love.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
