This book studies the Franciscan roots of the universal fraternity proposed by the encyclical Fratelli tutti. The Pope states that “it was the evangelical witness of St. Francis, with his school of thought, that gave this term [fraternity] the meaning it then preserved over the centuries.”
The pandemic of Covid-19 has uncovered “once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters.” “Everything is connected.” The ties that unite us to all creatures are so strong that we can only survive if we promote fraternal relations at all levels to meet global challenges. This study offers some clues to that end.
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(Tau editorial)
Versions: Es, En, En2, It, Pl, Pt, Fr
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El Papa actual reconoce que San Francisco le inspiró a escribir la encíclica Fratelli tutti sobre la fraternidad y la amistad social. Afirma, además, que “fue el testimonio evangélico de san Francisco, con su escuela de pensamiento, el que dio al término fraternidad el significado que ha conservado a lo largo de los siglos". Este libro muestra esas raíces franciscanas del concepto cristiano de fraternidad y de la encíclica Fratelli tutti.
La pandemia del Covid-19 ha dejado "al descubierto, una vez más, esa (bendita) pertenencia de hermanos". “Todo está conectado”. Los lazos que nos unen son tan fuertes que sólo podemos sobrevivir si promovemos las relaciones fraternas a todos los niveles para hacer frente a los desafíos globales. El presente estudio ofrece pistas para ello.
Index:
ABBREVIATIONS 5
INTRODUCTION 11
Covid-19 and universal fraternity 13
The need to overcome the dialectic of perennial conflict 15
The Franciscan response during the Black Death 15
Distribution and content 16
1. FRATERNITY: A COMPLEX AND DEMANDING CONCEPT 21
1.1. French Revolution and Marxism 22
1.2. Characteristics of the Franciscan fraternity 23
1.2.1. Longing and challenge 24
1.2.2. Joy: “Be joyful in the Lord” 26
1.2.3. Equality: “What a person is before God, that he is and no more” 27
1.2.4. Individuality instead of individualism 28
1.2.5. Reciprocity: “Love one another” 30
1.2.6. Gratuitousness and self-donation 30
1.2.7. Merciful acceptance 31
1.3. The concept of fraternity in Fratelli tutti 32
1.4. Gift and task 33
2. FROM AMORIS LAETITIA TO FRATELLI TUTTI: THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS 35
2.1. The concept of family and its four levels 37
2.1.1. Trinitarian and family communion 37
2.1.2. Humans are family beings 38
a) We need to overcome the current negative anthropology 39
b) The family is the natural habitat of human beings 40
c) Assisting in the discernment 41
2.1.3. A universal family 42
2.1.4. A cosmic family 43
2.2. The family, the first school of fraternity 43
2.2.1. Primary right to education 44
2.2.2. The crisis of the family leads to a crisis of fraternity 45
2.3. Family love and social love 46
2.3.1. The desire for true love 46
2.3.2. Social love 48
2.4. Family and ecology 49
2.5. Summarizing 49
3. TRANSCENDENT DIMENSION OF FRATERNITY 51
3.1. Trinitarian and Christological perspective 51
3.1.1. Children of the same Father 52
3.1.2. Brothers and sisters in Christ 53
3.1.3. Moved by the Spirit 54
3.2. A theological concept: everything is grace 55
3.2.1. “Without cost you have received; without cost you are
to give” 56
3.2.2. “Love exudes compassion and dignity” 56
3.2.3. The gratuitousness of love 58
3.2.4. Contemplation and the way of beauty 59
3.3. The transcendent dimension of fraternity in Fratelli tutti 61
3.4. Summarizing 62
4. BASES OF FRANCISCAN FRATERNITY 65
4.1. The person at the center 65
4.1.1. “The Lord gave me brothers” 66
4.1.2. Fraternity as an interpersonal reality 66
4.2. A fraternity rather than a community 67
4.2.1. A maternal way of understanding authority and relationships 68
4.2.2. Forgiveness and mercy 69
4.3. Encountering diversity; overcoming walls and frontiers 70
4.3.1. Poor and minor to be brother 70
4.3.2. Overcoming barriers and prejudices 72
4.4. Fratelli tutti: The person is intrinsically social and fraternal 73
4.4.1. We need to become neighbors 73
4.4.2. Unity in diversity 74
4.5. Summarizing 75
5. RESPECT FOR PRIVACY AS THE BASIS OF THE FRATERNAL ENCOUNTER 77
5.1. The rich human interiority 78
5.1.1. Privacy makes free and fraternal encounters possible 80
5.1.2. Veneration of the person’s mystery 81
5.1.3. The necessary balance in revealing/concealing oneself 83
5.1.4. The need to be respectfully informed about other people’s lives 86
5.1.5. Personal privacy and the common good 88
5.2. New context for privacy in the Information Society 90
5.2.1. Information turned into entertainment 91
5.2.2. Too much data and not enough communication 92
5.3. The need for a new balance in revealing/hiding our interiority 93
5.3.1. The oscillation between exhibitionism and self-enclosure 95
5.3.2. Virtual communication or narcissistic self-absorption 97
5.4. The need for a new balance in reporting on other people’s privacy 98
5.4.1. The valuable personal data 99
5.4.2. Historical roots of the interest in the private realm 100
5.4.3. The media commercialization of personal privacy 102
5.5. Summarizing 103
6.- THE CULTURE OF ENCOUNTER AND SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP 105
6.1. The encounter with the leper and the parable of the Good Samaritan 106
6.1.1. The Good Samaritan 107
6.1.2. The healing power of the encounter with weakness 108
6.1.3. Overcoming globalized indifference 108
6.2. The encounter of St. Francis with the Sultan 109
6.2.1. Fraternal and unconditional hospitality 112
6.2.2. The Franciscan Tradition and dialogue 113
6.3. Pope Francis’ fraternal meeting with the Gran Imam 115
6.4. Friendship and love as social categories 115
6.4.1. Social love 116
6.4.2. From “dominus” to “frater” 117
6.4.3. Dialogue and collaboration 118
6.5. Summarizing 119
7. POPULAR POLITICS AND FRATERNAL ECONOMY 121
7.1. Popular, populist, and liberal politics 122
7.1.1. Populism 123
7.1.2. Liberalism 124
7.1.3. Fraternal politics 125
7.2. The fraternal economy 126
7.2.1. The Franciscan vision of the economy 127
7.2.2. Avoiding paternalist assistance 129
7.2.3. The Mounts of Piety 130
7.2.4. The market as a relational space 131
7.2.5. Benefit in a community perspective 132
7.2.6. Source of inspiration for a free and fraternal economy 133
7.3. Summarizing 134
8. UNITY IN DIVERSITY AND POLAR OPPOSITION 137
8.1. Polyhedral fraternity 139
8.2. Polar opposition 140
8.2.1. Four oppositional principles 141
8.2.2. Unity in diversity 142
8.2.3. The image of the polyhedron 143
8.3. Transcendence and immanence 144
8.3.1. Spiritualism and activism 144
8.3.2. Theology and pastoral care 145
8.3.3. Vocation and Mission 146
8.4. Petrine primacy and synodality 147
8.4.1. A synodal people 148
8.4.2. A people walking together 149
8.5. Individual freedom and community 150
8.5.1. Identity and sociability 151
8.5.2. Care for others and care for oneself 152
8.5.3. Normativity and personal conscience 152
8.6. Collective identity and openness to universality 154
8.6.1. Global and local 154
8.6.2. Public and private 156
8.6.3. The man-nature polarity 157
8.7. Summarizing 159
9. AUTONOMOUS DRONE WARFARE AND OTHER TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES 161
9.1. The broken dream of fraternity: “killer robots” 163
9.1.1. The difficult task of programming these drones 165
9.1.2. The dangers of robotic warfare 166
9.1.3. Throwing the stone and hiding the hand 167
9.2. Basis for overcoming the new arms race 168
9.2.1. Overcoming the negative anthropological conception 169
9.2.2. The Just War theory is no longer valid 171
9.2.3. Fostering the culture of encounter 173
9.3. Francis of Assisi, a model of forgiveness and reconciliation 175
9.4. Another technological challenge: Autonomous vehicles 177
9.4.1. Towards fully autonomous driving 178
9.4.2. The difficult programming 179
9.4.3. Accidents and liability 180
9.5. Summarizing 181
10. COSMIC FRATERNITY AND EDUCATION 183
10.1. Our sister creatures 184
10.1.1. Cosmic fraternity is an essential part of the Franciscan charism. 185
10.1.2. Everything is related and interdependent 186
10.1.3. Reciprocity 187
10.1.4. Equality and sobriety 189
10.2. The importance of education 191
10.2.1. An interactive, dynamic, and inclusive process 192
10.2.2. An education inductive and open to transcendence 193
10.3. Spirituality and mysticism in the educational path 194
10.3.1. The path of beauty and the integral approach 195
10.3.2. Francis of Assisi, mystic and brother 197
10.4. University and cosmic fraternity 198
10.4.1. Family relations in the university 199
10.4.2. Social service to the community 200
10.4.3. A polyhedral education, because “everything is connected.” 201
10.5. Summarizing 202
GENERAL CONCLUSION 205
BIBLIOGRAPHY 211
Bible 211
Magisterium 211
St. Francis: his writings and early documents on him 217
Franciscanism: Reference works 218
Books 219
Articles in books 228
Articles 231
NAME INDEX 235
SUBJECT INDEX 241
GENERAL INDEX 247
