Pope Benedict XVI continues to drive home points made previously in his encyclical, “Caritas in veritate”: “technology” is good, but it is not an end in itself! The perfection of man lies in Charity – as St. John of the cross wrote, “In the evening of life we will be judged on our love”. How we need God’s Grace to know and understand the meaning of “Charity in truth!” (Caritas in veritate)!
This deviation from solid humanistic principles that a technical mindset can produce is seen today in certain technological applications in the fields of development and peace. Often the development of peoples is considered a matter of financial engineering, the freeing up of markets, the removal of tariffs, investment in production, and institutional reforms — in other words, a purely technical matter. All these factors are of great importance, but we have to ask why technical choices made thus far have yielded rather mixed results. We need to think hard about the cause. Development will never be fully guaranteed through automatic or impersonal forces, whether they derive from the market or from international politics. Development is impossible without upright men and women, without financiers and politicians whose consciences are finely attuned to the requirements of the common good. Both professional competence and moral consistency are necessary. When technology is allowed to take over, the result is confusion between ends and means, such that the sole criterion for action in business is thought to be the maximization of profit, in politics the consolidation of power, and in science the findings of research. Often, underneath the intricacies of economic, financial and political interconnections, there remain misunderstandings, hardships and injustice. The flow of technological know-how increases, but it is those in possession of it who benefit, while the situation on the ground for the peoples who live in its shadow remains unchanged: for them there is little chance of emancipation.
Mother of Fair Love, pray for us.
Jesus, we trust in You! Enable us to love one another as you have loved us.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful; kindle in us, the Fire of Your Love.
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