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Pastoral Work
Augustinian presence in the United Nations
Introduction
There is much to be explored and various angles from which one may view the nature and significance of the church and state relationship. This section of the website focuses on the unique relationship of the Augustinian Order with the early Christian community of the Acts of the Apostles and with the church of subsequent centuries. It explores some aspects of the life and ministry of the early Christian community as described in the New Testament, its implications for the church’s existence in modern times and the dynamics of the constitution of our Order to explain this relationship. It takes for granted our shared discernment that our call as Augustinians necessarily entails some socio-political concerns and actions.
In its formation and movement to Rome, the early church community presents a significant background to the understanding of the relationship that exists and needs to exist, between the Augustinians and the United Nations. Understood from the Augustinian perspective of empire and community, the formation of the first Christian community in Acts 2:42ff presents the principles and qualities that are contra empire, namely fellowship, service and witness, as opposed to the accumulation, domination and self-centeredness, which characterize empire. The movement of the church from Jerusalem to Rome in the latest two chapters of the Acts of the Apostles presents a church committed to the salvation of the entire world. The early Christians knew that their mission included some aspect of renewing the face of the earth. They somehow knew too that this task entailed permeating society with these qualities. Confronting the authority of the time was a constitutive part of the church’s mission, a mandate that could not be neglected. As implied in the divine commission (Mt 28: 19), they were convinced that the church, the new movement, could not be confined within the four walls of Jerusalem. Thus this movement to Rome, then the centre of power, signified the church’s determination to confront the empire and challenge its structures of accumulation, domination and self-centeredness.
As people of the Acts of the Apostles, our relationship with the United Nations indicates in strong terms that we cannot emphasize our identity with the structure of the first Christian community without also identifying with its movement to Rome, where the empire is confronted with this structure. In this relationship, Augustinians on the one hand, challenge some elements of empire in the United Nations’ system and on the other, by challenging the unjust structures of power in the world, cooperate with the United Nations in the undivided mission of making the kingdom of God come to earth.
From another perspective, the diversity and newness the modern world experiences with the emergence of science and technology, brings along with it a complexity of challenges that only an international body can address. All this, of necessity, gave birth to the United Nations. The church is also faced with the complexity of these modern challenges. With the emergence of the modern world, the church’s milieu shifted from Christendom (a Christian world) to a Diaspora church (characterised by continual threats from the outside, necessitated by this existence within a plurality of competing cultures, worldviews and truth claims). With this shift, the church lost the power to control it once had in the era of Christendom. Yet the church is called to remain effective in its response to the challenge of the time or lose its relevance. Theologically, in its present existence, the church is called to relationship with adequate agencies in responding to the problems and challenges of the modern time.
Take for instance the issue of labour which, according to John Paul II, is at the centre of the social justice question. To effectively respond to the labour issue, the church depends on organisations such as International Labour Organisation for data and updated reports on the condition of labour and labourers, viz. exploitation, poor working conditions, loss of personal dignity, etc. Absent a relationship with such a body, it would be difficult to respond adequately to the issues. This does not in any way undermine the irrefutable role of experience, praxis. This relationship of reflective collaboration can also stimulate a spiritual renewal within the Church. For instance, such a relationship radically challenges any act of domination and control in the church that will hinder a personal and dialogical relationship.
The Augustinian Order vis-à-vis the United Nations
Our own existence as an Order is equally defined by the same phenomenon, hence the inevitability of such a relation if we are to fulfil the social dimensions of our religious life. First, as a religious community whose very foundation directed its activity especially toward the service of the universal Church, we are bound, almost imperatively, to be present where the Church is present. Second, the internality of the Order equally demands that we identify with such global efforts towards solving the global issues our time presents.
It is in line with this reality that the Dublin document of 1974 (the intermediate general chapter of the Order held in Dublin, Ireland in 1974) opened up the reflection on the socio-political dimensions of the nature and mission of our religious life as Augustinians. In Chapter IV, 83, the document states, “We can never stray from the way in which the world is going, nor become mere spectators, since we experience in our own person the hopes and anxieties that belong to humanity”. Moreover the document on Augustinian lay fraternities, On the Way with St. Augustine, reminds us that “the field of spirituality does not only extend to the realities, associated with God but also stretches out to all that which is human.”
By April of 1997 the Order took a bold and noble step towards this irreducible global solidarity and fully registered as an non-governmental organisation (NGO) with a permanent representative with the Department of Public Information (DPI) in the United Nations. In the UN, Augustinians are identified with three priorities, viz. education, social development and human rights. Our representatives attend DPI/NGOs functions such as conferences, workshops and fieldwork within and outside UN headquarters. They in turn pass on this knowledge to the Order through all our Justice and Peace commission.
The NGOs are special allies of the United Nations at every level of its work. They work with the UN to mobilise public opinion; they partake in the process of deliberation and policy formulation and often take a leading role in the execution of policies on the ground. For instance, in the 59th conference of DPI/NGOs held in September 2006, at UN HQs, New York, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, suggested and believed strongly that there was no way the Millennium Development Goals could be achieved without the unflinching collaboration and dedication of the NGOs. He lamented bitterly that, with barely eight years to the deadline, none of the goals were anywhere near being achieved. Thus the conference called all NGOs, civil societies and governments to a great and effective partnership to ensure that the MDGs, human security and sustainable development, would be achieved and achieved in time. Allegorically, the NGOs play the role of “hand” and “voice” in this relationship. They are the hands of the UN in carrying down to the grassroots the goodwill of the body and on the other hand, they are the voice of the voiceless at the grassroots in bringing their genuine concerns to the UN body.
The Order has, since the inception of its relationship with the United Nations, entered into partnership with other NGOs such as Pax Christi, Pax Romana, UNESCO and other religious bodies associated with the UN in promoting the policies of the United Nations. Seven events of the UN have been adopted into the liturgical calendar of the Order. As well, there have been other programs and projects based on the policies of the United Nations formulated and executed by the Order, such as the Hunger Awareness programme and the jubilee project in Baba Dogo, Kenya, for the needs of HIV/AIDS patients. There have been a host of other achievements accomplished through the justice and peace outlets of the various provinces of the Order.
Conclusion
Nevertheless, the enormity and complexity of the sufferings of today demand that more effort be channelled towards challenging the sources that cause and perpetuate the evils that bedevil humanity and creation. There should be a total shift in paradigm. We are used to charity and alms giving, which in themselves are not out of place. But, as St. Augustine says, “you give bread to a hungry person; but it would be better were no one hungry, and you could give it to no one. You clothe a naked person. Would that all were clothed and necessity did not exist.” ASPnet (Association of Schools Program Network), an education program of UNESCO based culture of peace to which we Augustinians are deeply committed, believes and teaches that to stop war is good but it is better to prevent it. This is the thrust of the Augustinian involvement with the United Nations: to be part of the decision-making, most times, in order to prevent rather than cure the many plagues that affect humanity whom we serve. Unfortunately, our present status in the UN does not allow us to contribute much. It offers us only limited responsibilities and opportunities. We can make significant contributions that effect policies when we have a consultative status by climbing to the next stage, affiliation with Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC). To ascent to this stage, it takes the decision and determination of us all.
Thus, as Augustinians, the people of Acts of the Apostles, we are called to commit ourselves, in every way demanded of us, to the decisions and programs of the Order toward realising this second aspect of the first community of believers, upon which we structure our charism. And to be united in mind and heart to the mission of the church to which we pledge our obedience. We are to participate in and initiate action groups within our communities and neighbourhoods in partnership with our stakeholders for the cause of peace, justice and development of the whole creation.
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