Reflections on COVID-19 from a Christian Perspective of Justice and Peace

Authors

  • Flaminia Giovanelli former Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.71.07

Keywords:

COVID-19, pandemic, hope, humility, prudence, fortitude, relationship, justice, mercy, social justice, poverty, solidarity, subsidiarity, health, common good, creation, culture of care

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic has provoked many reflections. Here we present some of them formulated from a Christian perspective of justice and peace, that is, from the point of view of a Christian committed to building a world of justice and peace following the Social Teaching of the Church. The first group of reflections has to do with being a Christian per se, and therefore the virtues that used to be neglected and those that are currently exercised in the time of pandemic are taken into consideration: hope, humility, prudence, fortitude. The second group of reflections deals directly with the issues of justice and peace. During the pandemic, these issues manifested as closely related: “everything is related, everything is connected.” After a consideration of an existential nature on justice, follow others: on the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, health as a global public good and on the crucial issues of work and respect for creation. Finally, the Christian proposal is indicated, which is that of the “culture of care” proposed in terms of integral ecology.

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Author Biography

Flaminia Giovanelli, former Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

Former Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (from 2010 to 2016) and of the Dicastery for Promoting Human Integral Development (from 2016 to the retirement in 2018). Since June 2019 she has been a member of the Niwano Peace Prize Committee and since November of the same year a member of the International Council on Human Trafficking of the John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy at St. Thomas University School of Law. Since 2010 she has been the President of the Associazione O Viveiro Onlus, an association engaged in educating and supporting orphaned little girls and girls in Mozambique (www.oviveiroroma. org).

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Published

2021-04-05

How to Cite

Giovanelli, Flaminia. 2021. “Reflections on COVID-19 from a Christian Perspective of Justice and Peace”. Politeja 18 (2(71):139-48. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.18.2021.71.07.