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M. Gusmão: Address to World Summit 2020
Written by Msgr. Martinho Germano da Silva Gusmão, Catholic Bishop of Dili, Timor Leste
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Address to World Summit 2020, Seoul, Korea, February 3-8, 2020
In my humble opinion, we are called to work for justice, peace and integrity of creation. Let me begin by quoting a phrase from the Bible:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6, 8)
Three points should be highlighted here.
1.) To do justice.
In Roman Catholic social teaching, justice is a fundamental virtue of society and of institutions. It is a call for political conversion from powership to leadership, taking the rights of people seriously.
2.) To love kindness.
In modern language, we talk about a fundamental relationship of humans: fraternity, solidarity and participation in peaceful coexistence. In a word, it’s a cornerstone of peace building. Here we are called for moral conversion.
3.) To walk humbly with your God.
Here we are invited to move from “outsider” to “insider,” to our interiority, living in quality time. The role of religions here is to promote a spiritual conversion.
Let me finish by quoting another passage from the Bible:
Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven. (Psalm 85, 10–11)
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