POPE FRANCIS’ RECENT encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, reminds all of us, especially in this time of Covid-19, to be a neighbour to those around us and to journey through the hard times together.
In Hong Kong, the latest unemployment rate has reached 6.4 per cent, hitting a record, near-16-year high. This difficult situation has prompted the Church to undertake more welfare work to help alleviate the hardships of those who hardly have three meals a day.
Although the pandemic has hindered the liturgical life of the parishes and the feast days of several patron saints in recent months have been delayed or shelved, this has not prevented Catholics sharing blessings with the local community. Meanwhile, many parishes have allocated resources intended for feast day celebrations to charitable services.
Recently, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Wanchai, consolidated its charity work on the occasion of its 70th anniversary. Responding to the example of service to orphans and the disadvantaged set by missionaries 175 years ago, parishioners regularly distribute facemasks, sanitisers, and meal coupons to anyone who is in need. At Sacred Heart Church in Sai Kung, parishioners personally give out lucky bags stocked with facemasks and sanitisers to those who are not easily accesible and are desperate for assistance.
In view of the pandemic, faith groups can take on an important charity role. For example, the number of cases in need of support received by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is increasing. The society and 11 parishes jointly participated in the Serve in the Hope project, regularly giving out pandemic prevention kits to the needy and even foodstuffs to those whose livelihood has been affected.
In Fratelli Tutti, the pope encourages us to build bridges with love. While sharing love and kits is an easy way to start, it is challenging to build permanent bridges because the shortcomings in the social system and the economy have restricted social mobility and the sharing of resources.
Thus, the encyclical points out that true charity, which unites both the abstract and the institutional dimensions, is capable of incorporating a sound legal system, technology and other elements in caring for others. In particular, this enables the poor to live in a fairer environment and allows those with resources to easily share with the poor (cf. nos. 164–165).
Although the faithful have strived to share their resources, social care work is apparently far from adequate in the face of current economic and housing problems. In terms of housing, according to the by the Rating and Valuation Department, an 18 sq. ft. bedspace cost HK$91.60 per square foot per month last year. This year it has reached HK$105.60. This is in the extreme. Making a living is already very difficult and now the livelihood of the poor has worsened.
In recent years, Caritas issued many surveys on the situation of households living in sub-divided units and made suggestions to the authorities on how to improve the system. This is indeed one form of concrete action to help society to improve.
While we continue to pray for the needy, we can also commit ourselves to helping our brothers and sister by engaging in concrete action through charity work in parishes or Church organisations. SE
