Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1453707
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 FEBRUARY 2022 OPINION 12 MALTA'S recent history has, in more ways than one, been a suc- cess story. And yet, the price which has been paid for this success is in- deed high. Apart from those who have paid with their lives, divi- sions and lack of peace abound on this little island nation of ours. As we prepare to elect a new govern- ment in the next few months, we can expect partisan pique and polarisation, ever-present in our society, to reach fever pitch, despite the several calls along the years for a process of national rec- onciliation and unity Last month, the Jus- tice & Peace Com- mission within the Archdiocese of Malta launched a document called Yahad, a term in Hebrew which conveys the sense of togetherness and community and which represents the Commission's vision for Mal- tese society. It is a document on what has been, where we are, and where we want to go as a country. The Commission be- lieves that, before our society gets caught up in the election frenzy, it is important to stop for a moment and reflect on how we can act con- structively to build peace within our nation. This document is therefore being offered in the hope that it serves as an aid for our nation on this path of national growth and reconcil- iation, so that the divisions be- tween us are bridged, the scars are healed, and we truly become one. Yahad starts off by presenting a Polyptych of Victims – a symbol of those who paid the highest price and who are, in more ways than one, the victims of our own suc- cess. The names and memory of, Daphne Caruana Galizia, Lassana Cisse and Miriam Pace shed light on those broken relationships which need to be renewed and reconciled. The fourth cry which serves as a companion on this journey is that of the Faceless Vic- tim, who represents all those who are trying their best to live a vir- tuous life, when, more often than not, it is much easier to go with the flow and engage in behaviours and practices which create even more victims of injustice. Howev- er, the memory of these victims is not meant to lead us to despair or hopelessness. We believe that as a country and as a com- munity of faith, we have the nec- essary resources in our toolbox to continue building together a better society which promotes the common good and enhances the integral human development and wellbeing of everyone, especial- ly of the most vulnerable: Truth, Creative Courage, Temperance and Merciful Patience are there- fore proposed as virtues and attitudes which we cannot afford to ignore if – each in his/her own way - we want to engage in the urgent and messy work of "politics", which as Pope Francis re- minds us, is one of the highest forms of charity. All this leads to the fi- nal part of the document, which proposes a dis- cerned call for action as a response to the urgent needs identified. Faced with numerous centrif- ugal forces which drive us further from each other, through Yahad, the Justice and Peace Commission, dares to propose a path which brings us to- gether. Besides tend- ing to the wounds of the victims, we – Church members, politicians, and all people of good will – are called to listen to their voices and learn from their story to seek concrete and creative ways to put spokes in the wheels of the underlying injustice in every cir- cumstance. Only by listening at- tentively to these voices can our hearts and minds be moved. True listening allows us to be authen- tic seekers of that truth without which justice and reconciliation will remain forever an illusion. Genuine listening will allow us to meet others as fellow brothers and sisters. If we dare to do so, our lives will become, in the words of Pope Francis, "wonderfully com- plicated" as we experience in- tensely what it means to be agents of reconciliation and hope in this beloved country of ours. The document is available online: www. yahad.mt Messy but urgent work Daniel Darmanin Daniel Darmanin is President of the Justice & Peace Commission Archdiocese of Malta WHEN I come across stories of hatred, the kind of stories that bring to light patently racist conduct, the kind that speak of vendetta or report contentious ac- cusations, the kind, in fact, that may also illus- trate how society plays the blame game time and again, I imagine the person who has been sit- ting pretty all this time, sipping tea behind the window on a rainy day, enjoying every little bit of comfort whilst ob- serving the daily grind from a distance. I am not at all comfort- able with this person's modus operandi. It is as if this person lacks much of what a human being is, a deficit that is un- settlingly evident in the individual's cold-eyed detachment from the predicament of others. While this person de- vours stories and news reports, it bears con- sidering why these nar- ratives are deemed so compelling. It is often the case that they depict human beings and their stories in a stereotypical fashion. These tidy nar- ratives are shorn of their complexity and unique- ness. The end result is a parody of sorts, one that panders to a black-and- white vision of perceiv- ing the world, as well as, perhaps, an underlying streak of schadenfreude. The time has come to re-think the self and others in a deeper light, to choose our discourse and actions with care. By closing in on appall- ing discourse and be- haviour that propagates hate, we become human. We become, in other words, loving humans. The reader may find all this a bit naïve or baf- flingly innocent. But this is not the case. On the contrary, this is precise- ly about not being naïve or innocent. It is about becoming human; it is about ridding ourselves of the metanarrative of bitterness and repulsive- ness that characterises our social exchanges. This all-encompassing way of interpreting the world has, unfortunate- ly, made us numb to the plight of others, numb to the extent that we in- variably construct, con- sume and reconstruct narratives of negativity. Most of the time we are made to think (courtesy of another metanarra- tive that has constructed the self) that philosophy is the kind of subject only suitable for a few. This, in my view, betrays a frustratingly shallow grasp of the subject's concerns. Philosophy is for one and all: its pri- ority is to ponder the nature of that elusive essence which makes us human. We should be aware that we are all philosophers. Great philosophers tried to do away with dogmas and introduced rationality, rationality being a key trait of what it is to be Dominic Garcia As a country and as a community of faith, we have the necessary resources in our toolbox to continue building together a better society which promotes the common good and enhances the integral human development and wellbeing of everyone The philosophy friendship: a social