“Do we accept the idea, strongly supported by fact, that the individual man cannot achieve his wholeness….except in solidarity with all other men, present, past and future? If we do, the awareness aroused in us of being a responsible element in a rebounding course of Evolution must, at the same time as it gives rise to a desire and reason for action, inspire us with a fundamental sense of obligation and a precise system of moral tendencies.” (Teilhard)
“This document is proposed also to the brethren of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, to the followers of other religions, as well as to all people of good will who are committed to serving the common good…..It is a sign of hope in the fact that religions and cultures today show openness to dialogue and sense the urgent need to join forces in promoting justice, fraternity, peace, and the growth of the human person”. (Compendium on Social Doctrine)
Both of these quotations demonstrate how the growing solidarity among the world’s people is an expression of hope. The first is from “The Future of Man” written in the 1940s by the Jesuit paleontologist, Teilhard de Chardin. The second is from the introduction of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in 2004. Though always a treasure of the Church, Catholic Social Teaching was eloquently refined during the past century through various papal documents beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum”. Is it providential that much of this compelling corpus was produced contemporaneously with the life of Teilhard? Future historians – ecclesial and lay – will determine.
Readers of both documents cannot help but consider the role philanthropy has in the future of ‘man’ and the choices ‘man’ must make. Elsewhere in Teilhard’s writing, he warns that ‘man’ must choose one of two ineluctable futures: one where freedom is rejected for the sake of security, the other where freedom is embraced for the sake of creativity; in short, universal totalitarianism or universal charity.
Philanthropy encourages the latter course. As the world grows smaller, we recognize more perceptively our interdependence with ‘brothers’ and ‘neighbors’ near and far. This interdependence is fruitful when voluntarily (charitably) we honor the ‘family of man’ and promote each other’s human dignity. It is stultifying when we abdicate the responsibility of charity (‘am I my brother’s keeper?’) and surrender our liberty to the default of systemic totalitarianism. Just as the nuclear family is the training ground for individual charity, the ‘family of man’ is the training ground for universal charity.
The trustees of the National Catholic Community Foundation regard their service as a manifestation of the teachings encapsulated in the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”. We also dare to believe that in facilitating their philanthropic exchange of our donors and the individuals and organizations they support we are in some way ‘rebounding the course of Evolution’ and advancing the Kingdom.