Geneva: New Humanity’s contribution to the conference “Hope or Utopia? The Civilization of Love”

On 30th  October last, in the Library of the Palais des Nations  in Geneva, the conference “Hope or Utopia? The Civilization of  Love” took place. The event marked the celebration of the figure of Pope Paul VI at the UN, through the presentation of the book “The civilization of love according to Paul VI” and the participation of important authorities and academics. Also present was Dr. Jorge M. Dias Ferreira, chief representative of New Humanity in Geneva, who, on behalf of his NGO, gave the closing speech.

Dr. Ferreira’s intervention (at 1.35.40, French)

The conference was organized by the Catholic Study Centre of Geneva (CCEG) and by the International Association for Christian Social Instruction (AIESC), in collaboration with the Holy See and the Forum of Geneva Catholic inspired NGOs, of which New Humanity is a member. Among others also present was Dr. Jean Ziegler, member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council.

Here below we publish the English translation of the speech  of Dr. Jorge M. Dias Ferreira, New Humanity’s main representative in Geneva.

“I believe that in the nineteen-sixties Pope Paul VI warned us against certain philosophical movements which advocated the death of God, asserting that this would have had its inevitable consequence in the death of man. I believe that we are right back there once more. This is what you too have expressed and I thank you for having spoken in these terms. Instead of an integral vision of the human person, in which every dimension – including the spiritual one – is respected, we witness today the “objectification” of the human being. We now have the person seen as an object.
A sexual object – as is evident – an object used for commercial gain, an object which serves as a launchpad for the oppression of others and also, and worst of all, as a weapon. A weapon  which is also used in specific instances,  for example in cases of divorce. Only the other day, for instance, I was with a child who was saying to his father: ‘Daddy, you say one thing, and Mummy says the opposite,..how can I tell who is telling the truth?’ We are speaking of a child of five years of age who was faced with such a dilemma. The children and the youth of today have to deal, therefore, with models and pseudo-values that they propose: to have everything, immediately, exercising the least effort to obtatin the greatest pleasure. I believe that this is no longer a question of religion, but that it is a question of the survival of humanity which regards all parties in society. My question then, is this: how to react? Can we continue to stand by with our arms folded and watch this spectacle, without acting  with profound unity, while, at the same time, respecting  different schools of thought and the diversity of each individual? Thank you.”

Video and image taken from: www.cceg.ch