CT PHOTOS/AARON HAMPEL

LaSalle students and faculty gathered with the cardinal after presenting him with a school shirt.

‘The best "wall" would be development’

Honduran cardinal speaks to local Catholic high school students about faith, justice

By Tricia Hempel

ST. MARGARET MARY DEANERY — Last July, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of the international Catholic umbrella group Caritas Internationalis, met with 400,000 young Catholics in attendance at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. On Sept. 17 he spoke to an audience of fewer than 60 young people in Cincinnati, but his message was no less enthusiastic and encouraging.

"You are blessed to have an education," he told the youth. "Through your studies you can develop as human beings."

And while he was sure that they do not like to take exams, on the true final exam, he said, "The only question will be, ‘Did you love your neighbor?’"

The Mass of Human Dignity hosted by LaSalle High School for students from Moeller, Elder, Seton, McAuley, Mother of Mercy, Ursuline, Roger Bacon and St. Xavier students was originally expected to fill a gym. Power outages and school closings in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike necessitated moving the event from LaSalle to nearby Little Flower Church. Sponsored by the Catholic Social Teaching Action Team (CSTAT), the morning Mass and discussion gave the students in attendance an opportunity for a very up-close and personal exchange with the cardinal.

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez spent time with students after Mass discussing faith and social justice.

With his country’s economy kept solvent by some $2 billion sent home every year by emigrants to North America and Europe, Cardinal Rodriguez has displayed a special sensitivity to the problems of migrants, and this was the topic students seemed most eager to discuss with him.

"No one migrates for pleasure," he told the group. "Everyone wants to live and die in the country where he or she was born."

But "I live in a country, Honduras, where every hour nine of our young men and women have to leave the country to survive. There are so many difficulties, a lot of exploitations, injustices," he explained.

The cardinal told the young people that what Americans call poverty "is nothing compared to what we see in Latin America and Africa."

"Poverty is an evil. It can be overcome with work, labor, health, communications, by meeting basic needs," he said. "We need development in every nation so that people can live where they were born. In the meantime, every Christian knows he has to share what he knows and has with the poor."

One young man asked Cardinal Rodriguez what would be required to create a sustainable economy in Honduras. The cardinal referred to Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Popularum Progresum, which stated that "the new name of peace is development."

"The industrial revolution was not big in Latin America, only agricultural development occurred," he explained to students. "Development is needed in Latin American and in Africa, where development is two centuries back."

Through the media, Hondurans have been made aware of the social development in other nations, "and dream of going there," he said.

"Young people want easy money, and easy money in Honduras comes from crime and drugs. These are destroying our youth. If we had development, it would stop the drugs."

The cardinal frequently requires bodyguards in his homeland of Honduras; in recent years he has grown more critical of the way corruption has undermined Latin America’s halting progress toward democracy.

One student asked the cardinal how the United States can balance the need for national security with immigration.

"You’re right, that is very important," Cardinal Rodriguez nodded to the young man. "But it’s necessary to have laws to allow to people to come legally. There is a lot of work here that people don’t want — cleaning, washing dishes, picking vegetables. It’s necessary work, and who will perform it? There is a workforce that will do it to support their families. The laws must allow people to develop themselves with dignity. They may only spend five years here, but they may earn enough to go home and start a business."

And ultimately, he added, building walls to keep immigrants out is not a solution. "No wall will stop people when they have no future," Cardinal Rodriguez said. "The best ‘wall’ would be development."

The cardinal was scheduled to address the United Nations this week and has been clear, when speaking to international financial and economic leaders, that there are moral aspects of trade and commerce that have been pushed aside in favor of monetary gain and power.

He gave local students a short economics lesson to show how foreign debt became so massive in many poor nations. With the "petrol wars" in the 1970s, banks were full of money and eager to give out loans, he explained. "It was easy money for nations," he said, and "the corruption of some Latin American military governments meant the money was taken and not used for development purposes. The debt grew."

During his tenure as president of CELAM, the Latin American bishops’ conference, Cardinal Rodriguez was asked by Pope John Paul to spearhead the church’s support for the cancellation of massive foreign debts that cripple many Third World nations.

"The only reason I can afford this jacket I’m wearing is because labor where it was made is cheap. Don’t we need to change our lifestyles?" Moeller senior Matt Almaio asked the cardinal, who nodded fervently at the question.

"Have you ever thought how dependent you are on so many things? We think we must consume in order to be happy," Cardinal Rodriguez said.

While some of the students present have made mission trips, some have not and the cardinal encouraged them to do so if possible.

Cardinal Rodriguez is an avid supporter of Christian base communities and told The Catholic Telegraph that "we need to promote discussions like the one here today," particularly in an election year when immigration is an issue on many people’s minds.

"The key to developing a clear political view is faith formation," he said, recalling an experience in Honduras where the church waged a parish-based campaign to inform Catholics about issues. A presidential candidate who was believed to be very corrupt was in the running, but after 12 weeks of education about issues in 32,000 base communities, the candidate lost.

"This is missing here in the United States, no one gives popular education on simple things," he said. And "the interests of the communications corporations prevail when it comes to reporting. We need to start civic education in parishes and schools."

"If people were well informed, migration would not be an issue," he concluded.

During his visit, the cardinal also celebrated Mass at the annual Hispanic Festival in Cincinnati, spoke to a gathering of more than 400 at Xavier University Sept. 17 and celebrated Mass at St. Julie Billiart Parish in Hamilton.