Solidarity

This past summer I decided that I wanted to rename our annual Unity Week to Solidarity Week because I felt that most students felt that there was no issue with our unity. After all, aren't we the "Friar Family?" Yet not everyone feels that way and recent events from last semester and in the past week has proven this to be the case. As such I was struck how renaming Unity Week to Solidarity Week was rather timely.

However we may stand regarding the cancellation of Dr. Corvino's lecture on gay marriage, I share the same hope as Fr. Cuddy who wrote in last week's The Cowl, "...So many of our brothers and sisters on campus are wounded. And those injuries are not limited to any one issue. Many experience the scourge of being misundersttod and unloved. many feel marginalized and dismissed by members of the community or by the College itself. Their suffering is real, and their need for authentic communion and companionship is pressing..."


II. HUMAN SOLIDARITY
1939 The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of "friendship" or "social charity," is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.
IN BRIEF
1943 Society ensures social justice by providing the conditions that allow associations and individuals to obtain their due.
1944 Respect for the human person considers the other "another self." It presupposes respect for the fundamental rights that flow from the dignity intrinsic of the person.
1945 The equality of men concerns their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it.
1946 The differences among persons belong to God's plan, who wills that we should need one another. These differences should encourage charity.
1947 The equal dignity of human persons requires the effort to reduce excessive social and economic inequalities. It gives urgency to the elimination of sinful inequalities.
1948 Solidarity is an eminently Christian virtue. It practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.

Definition:

sol·i·dar·i·ty,
ˌsäləˈde(ə)ritē/
noun
noun: solidarity; singular proper noun: Solidarity; noun: Solidarity
1.
unity or agreement of feeling or action, esp. among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

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