By Stanislaus Alla
New Delhi, Feb 5, 2024: Fraternity is very close to the heart of Pope Francis. Historians will employ ‘fraternity’ as an important key to unlock, understand and interpret the ministry of Pope Francis. Personally, he embodies the virtue of fraternity even as he regularly refers to it in his formal and informal writings. During international travels, he challenges the host countries and their leaders to build their stories and histories on the principle of fraternity.
The General Assembly of the United Nations established the International Day of Human Fraternity in 2020 and suggested that it be celebrated every year on February 4. From 2021 it is being held and the world’s civil and religious leaders are invited to have programs around this theme. The goal is to bring the forgotten or ignored virtue of fraternity into peoples discussions and deliberations and action plans.
It was on February 4, 2019, Pope Francis met Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi to deliberate on the crucial role of fraternity, and how it can heal the broken world that is in need of peace and reconciliation. The Pope and Grand Imam on that day signed and published ‘Document for Human Fraternity for Peace and Living Together.’
Known as the Abu Dhabi Declaration, this document ushered in a new era in the Christian-Muslim relations, giving a new orientation and direction for working inter-religiously for peace. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that this document inspired and eventually paved the way for declaring International Day of Human Fraternity.
Introducing his Encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti,’ Pope Francis clearly mentions that he ‘felt particularly encouraged’ by the Grand Imam and the conversation they had together, and that it convinced him to explore and expand the theme of fraternity more. In Fratelli Tutti Pope invites us to foster fraternal bonds: “Let us dream, then, as a single family, as fellow travellers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the riches of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his our her own voice, brothers and sisters all” (FT# 8).
Behind and beyond simple words we use like ‘we’ and ‘they,’ there is a mindset that defines some as strangers, aka, the others. This ‘othering’ has been going on for millennia, and it is on the increase now, but spiritualities of all major religions have been trying to help their adherents to overcome this mentality and treat others as fellow travellers, sojourners on the earth, reminding that we are united by our origins and destinies.
Jewish spirituality challenged the Israelites to treat the unknown and the strangers as brothers and sisters. Breaking all kinds of barriers of his time, Jesus exhorts the disciples to reach out to the others, the known and unknown, like the Good Samaritan. His teaching and example on forgiveness, and the way he forgave those who tortured and killed him, reminds the disciples of the distances that they are yet to travel.
Othering processes are going on at various levels, in the country and the world, in the church and outside, and, simultaneously, all of us are perpetrators and victims of this mentality. Differences based on region and religion, caste and ethnicity, status and language can make us strangers to others. Walls, instead of bridges, are being built by us all, all the time -walls that are constructed in our minds and hearts.
‘Othering’ constantly nurtures fear, and, paralyzed by the idea of the other, people tend to take shelter in false-narratives and violence. Bonds of fraternity, if cultivated and promoted, can successfully help people overcome the otherness and grow as members of one family. When fraternity permeates our thoughts, as co-pilgrims we will all find space in God’s tent -a home of abundance and joy and peace.
(Jesuit Father Stanislaus Alla teaches moral theology at Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College of Theology.)