Page 7 - Michael Journal — 2019 October

“Economic Democracy Is Magnificent!”

Fr. Henri Boulad attended our Week of Study in
Rougemont, Canada in September (see his sermon
on page 5 of this issue of MICHAEL). Here are some
of his introductory remarks offered on the first day of
the study session on September 22 followed by his
comments at its end on September 27.
by Father Henri Boulad, SJ
First a big thank you for your invitation [to this
study session]. I am an Egyptian Jesuit priest, involved
with Caritas for 50 years. I have a dream; an ideal; a
goal; a mission: to change the world. Just that!
Development and social justice are very good,
but behind these ideals there is the problem of global
finance, which the Pilgrims of St. Michael have rec-
ognized. Two things characterize your group: you
have identified that social justice is not only a tem-
poral matter but also a spiritual one.
Today there is a trend in the Catholic Church
that makes people who engage in social justice be- God created the earth overflowing with natural
come social workers and community developers; and human resources. It is rich and amply supplied.
the spiritual dimension can be forgotten. However, In the very notion of creation we see abundance and
if we do not change the heart of man, we have done fullness. Look at the forests and the oceans, see the
nothing! For me, I am a Jesuit priest, engaged in the solar energy pouring from the sun onto the earth - bil-
social realm, not only as an advocate for economic lions of billions of kilowatts every moment. All these
and social development, but to change hearts. resources are more than we can use. This is not to say
Enough of this two-speed world, enough of this that we must not have some concerns but the Earth is
exploitation! I learned that Rockefeller, one of the capable of feeding not only 7 billion people, but 70 bil-
richest men in history, had a daily income of $3.6 lion. I have proofs and figures that this is true.
billion. Daily! If he gave me only one percent, I A Problem of Distribution
would be happy! As Louis Even said, it is a matter of distribution,
We must work to correct this situation. When and not a question of a lack of resources or produc-
I recently learned about the antics of Freemasonry tion. When in the 18th century, Thomas Malthus pre-
and money through a Trinitarian priest, the late Fr. dicted widespread famine in the world, using calcula-
John Paul Regimbald, whom some of you must tions pertaining to the demographics of the planet, he
have known, I was terrorized. I knew that Free- did not foresee one simple factor: that technological
masonry had infiltrated finance, but not to the extent growth from the application of scientific technique
described. He painted such a bleak picture of the progresses 50 times more than the growth of the
situation that one interviewer asked Fr. John Paul: population! 50 times more! To talk about population
“With all that, do you still have hope?” The answer growth without taking other factors into account is
was: “Absolutely! Christ has conquered; He has de- to panic unnecessarily. When we talk now about the
feated the dragon, He will have the last word”. need to limit growth, births, etc., we ignore the reality
Here are excerpts from Father Boulad’s con- that there are huge surpluses everywhere.
cluding reflections at the end of our study session So, the problem identified by Louis Even is quite
on September 27: relevant: it is not about production or resources, it is a
Your book, “Economic Democracy” is magnifi- problem of distribution. Mankind has tried to settle the
cent! Magnificent because when the French Revolu- discussion by organizing a system of thievery: a hand-
tion proclaimed political democracy with the slogan ful of multibillionaires rule the world and pocket huge
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!”, it existed on paper revenues without doing anything; without producing
but not in reality. What is wonderful in this study anything at all.
is how you have translated political democracy in a The Centrality of the Human Person
concrete way. Take for example the word “liberty”
or “freedom”: can I have liberty or freedom if I have An immense benefit of Christianity is that the hu-
nothing to eat? man person is situated at the centre of the system. No

8 MICHAEL October/November/December 2019 www.michaeljournal.org