Searching for ‘Big Society’ in government thinking gives the Church opportunity to shape society
Posted on October 24th 2010 in Weekly messages
The visit of Pope Benedict XVI, coming as it did with a change of government, has seen a shift in the perception of faith groups, whether as institutional churches, individual charities, or simply faithful people. No longer are they considered a problem to be legislated away, or neatly packaged to fit the demands of the moment. It seems another age the continuous attacks on the admissions to, ethos of, and teaching within Catholic schools.
The current talk of the ‘Big Society’ looks in another direction. At the farewell ceremony at Birmingham Airport, the Prime Minister mentioned the new culture of social responsibility, and how the 30,000 faith-based charities could become the architects of this new culture. The recognition that faith is a spur to charitable action is something that should be celebrated in our society, according to David Cameron. Even without sharing a religious faith, one can see the benefit of asking the searching questions about society and how we treat ourselves and each other.
In the light of these positive statements, Archbishop Nichols has been inviting the priests of different deaneries (a group of neighbouring parishes based on the boroughs) to ask how the ‘Big Society’ is already at work at Parish level, and how the government could facilitate this work. The Archbishop has recognised that though talk of the ‘Big Society’ sounds impressive on the broadest scale, it remains a mystery to any government department as to how the ‘Big Society’ might be achieved at the lower, more local levels. The former top-down approach has lamentably failed to eradicate widespread poverty in all its forms, social, educational, and environmental.
The Church has an unique opportunity to offer some help to the government in its legitimate aims of cultivating what it calls the ‘Big Society’, or what Catholics would call the ‘common good’. The starting point has to be what is already happening at the base since too many past initiatives, whether by government or even by the Church, are top-down and prescriptive while failing to see the immense efforts of small groups of people. It is at this level that we find real action taking place, in teaching the faith, feeding the poor, visiting the housebound and much more besides. The St Vincent de Paul Society, unknown to most people, made one million house visits in this country last year, an incredible testimony to the power of faith to animate charitable action.
How the government could assist such organisations in nurturing and expanding their work is a moot point. It is not simply a matter of giving grants since, at the moment, all public money, if available at all, would come with a heavy legislative and bureaucratic burden. Accountability is necessary but money given by government can have the deadening effect of crushing the volunteer spirit, and the sense that the individual is making a difference. In terms of systematic charitable endeavour how this relationship is established will be key.
The Church as a whole can provide a lead in doing well that for which it is truly responsible. An ancient definition of conscience is ‘taking care of the whole (all creation) by taking care of the part for which one is responsible’ (one’s life, one’s family, one’s faith). For the clergy, this involves the renewal of our commitment to our parishes, to make them a place of meeting with Christ, in the Liturgy, in the teaching of the faith, and in charitable actions, all of which expands beyond the confines of the four walls of each Church building.