The Papal Visit : ‘Dignity, Rights’ Called Key Farm Issues

Following are excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s homily at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey .

. . . The land is God’s gift. From the beginning, God has entrusted it to the whole human race as a means of sustaining the life of all those whom he creates in his own image and likeness. We must use the land to sustain every human being in life and dignity. Against the background of the immense beauty of this region and the fertility of its soil, let us proclaim together our gratitude for this gift, with the words of the responsorial psalm: “The earth has yielded its fruit, the Lord our God has blessed us.” (Psalms 67:7).

As we read in Genesis, human beings earn their bread by the sweat of their brows (Genesis 3:17). We toil long hours and grow weary at our tasks. Yet work is good for us. “Through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed in a sense becomes ‘more a human being’ ” (Laborem Exercens, 9).

The value of work does not end with the individual. The full meaning of work can only be understood in relation to the family and society as well. Work supports and gives stability to the family. In each community and in the nation as a whole, work has a fundamental social meaning. It can, moreover, either join people in the solidarity of a shared commitment or set them at odds through exaggerated competition, exploitation and social conflict. Work is a key to the whole social question, when that “question” is understood to be concerned with making life more human (Laborem Exercens, 3).

Agricultural Work a Vocation

Agricultural work exemplifies all these principles. . . . God has blessed the United States with some of the richest farmland in the world. The productivity of American agriculture is a major success story. Clearly, it is a history of hard and wearying work, of courage and enterprise, and it involves the interaction of many people: growers, workers, processors, distributors and finally consumers.

I know too that recently thousands of American farmers have been introduced to poverty and indebtedness. Many have lost their homes and their way of life. Your bishops and the whole church in your country are deeply concerned; and they are listening to the voices of so many farmers and farm workers as they express their anxieties over the costs and the risks of farming, the difficult working conditions, the need for a just wage and decent housing, and the question of a fair price for products. On an even wider scale is heard the voice of the poor, who are bewildered in a land of plenty and still experience the pangs of hunger.

All agree that the situation of the farming community in the United States and in other parts of the world is highly complex, and that simple remedies are not at hand. The church, on her part, while she can offer no specific technical solutions, does present a social teaching based on the primacy of the human person in every economic and social activity. At every level of the agricultural process, the dignity, rights and well-being of people must be the central issue. No one person in this process--grower, worker, packer, shipper, retailer or consumer--is greater than the other in the eyes of God.

Need for Reconciliation

Giving voice therefore to the sufferings of many, I appeal to all involved to work together to find appropriate solutions to all farm questions. This can only be done in a community marked by a sincere and effective solidarity and, where still necessary, reconciliation among all parties to the agricultural productive process.

And what of our responsibility to future generations? The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations. I urge you to be sensitive to the many issues affecting the land and the whole environment, and to unite with each other to seek the best solutions to these pressing problems.

Each one of us is called to fulfill his or her respective duties before God and before society. Since the church is constrained by her very nature to focus her attention most strongly on those least able to defend their own legitimate interests, I appeal to landowners, growers and others in positions of power to respect the just claims of their brothers and sisters who work the land. These claims include the right to share in decisions concerning their services and the right to free association with a view to social, cultural and economic advancement (Laborem Exercens, 21). I also appeal to all workers to be mindful of their own obligations of justice and to make every effort to fulfill a worthy service to mankind.

Respect Human Dignity

New legislation in your country has made it possible for many people, especially migrant farm workers, to become citizens rather than remain strangers among you. Many of these people have worked here with the same dream that your ancestors had when they first came. I ask you to welcome these new citizens into your society and to respect the human dignity of every man, woman and child.

Two hundred years after the Constitution confirmed the United States as a land of opportunity and freedom, it is right to hope that there may be a general and renewed commitment to those policies needed to ensure that within these borders equity and justice will be preserved and fostered. This is an ever present requirement of America’s historical destiny . . .

Excerpts from John Paul’s address at the grave of Father Junipero Serra in Carmel:

. . . Very often, at crucial moments in human affairs, God raises up men and women whom he thrusts into roles of decisive importance for the future development of both society and the church. Although their story unfolds within the ordinary circumstances of daily life, they become larger than life within the perspective of history. We rejoice all the more when their achievement is coupled with a holiness of life that can truly be called heroic. So it is with Junipero Serra, who in the providence of God was destined to be the Apostle of California, and to have a permanent influence over the spiritual patrimony of this land and its people, whatever their religion might be. This apostolic awareness is captured in the words ascribed to him: “In California is my life and there, God willing, I hope to die.”

Father Serra was a man convinced of the church’s mission, conferred upon her by Christ himself, to evangelize the world, to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in

Defender and Champion

He not only brought the gospel to the native Americans, but as one who lived the gospel he also became their defender and champion. At the age of 60 he journeyed from Carmel to Mexico City to intervene with the viceroy on their behalf--a journey which twice brought him close to death--and presented his now famous Representacion with its “bill of rights,” which had as their aim the betterment of every phase of missionary activity in California, particularly the spiritual and physical well-being of its native Americans. . . .

Excerpts from Pope John Paul II’s address at Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco :

San Francisco! Both in name and by history you are linked to the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. And thus, as I come to your city on this pastoral visit, I think of all that St. Francis means, not only to yourselves but to people all around the world. . . .

St. Francis was a man of peace and gentleness, a poet and lover of beauty. He was a man of poverty and simplicity, a man in tune with the bird and animals, enchanted by all of God’s creation. Above all, Francis was a man of prayer whose whole life was shaped by the love of Jesus Christ. And he wished to live in a way that spoke in the clearest terms of the everlasting love of God.

. . . Accordingly, I wish to speak to you about the all-embracing love of God. . . . God’s love for us is freely given and unearned, surpassing all we could ever hope for or imagine. He does not love us because we have merited it or are worthy of it. God loves us, rather, because he is true to his own nature. . . .

The greatest proof of God’s love is shown in the fact that he loves us in our human condition, with our weaknesses and our needs. Nothing else can explain the mystery of the cross.

. . . The love of God is so great that it goes beyond the limits of human language, beyond the grasp of artistic expression, beyond human understanding.

God loves you all, without distinction, without limit. . . . He loves those of you who are sick, those who are suffering from AIDS and from AIDS-related complex. He loves the relatives and friends of the sick and those who care for them. He loves us all with an unconditional and everlasting love.

In the spirit of St. Francis, then, I urge you all to open your hearts to God’s love. . . .

THE POPE’S DAY: BAY AREA/DETROIT Friday, Sept. 18: All times are local to the area. SAN FRANCISCO 8:15 a.m. Meeting with representatives of U.S. laity, St. Mary’s Cathedral.

10:15 a.m. Celebrates Mass, Candlestick Park.

1:45 p.m. Departs airport for Detroit.

ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT Established: 1833, now the fifth-largest see in the United States. Archbishop: Edmund C. Szoka (installed 1981). Catholic Population: 1,466,000 (35% of total archdiocese population). Parishes: 331 covering a six-county area. Priests: 820. Nuns: 2,500.

DETROIT

9 p.m. Arrives Detroit Metro Airport.

9:45 p.m. Visits Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, greeting by Archbishop Edmund C. Szoka.