Text: Philip McDonagh at NJPN Conference 2022

Philip McDonagh - Image: NJPN

As a serving Irish diplomat, as Political Counsellor in London, Philip played a part in the Northern Ireland peace process in the build-up to the Good Friday Agreement. He later served as Head of Mission in India, the Holy See, Finland, Russia, and the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe). He spoke at the annual national conference of the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales on 22 July 2022. Text follows:

In his new book The Power of Reconciliation, Archbishop Justin Welby focuses on the "moral imagination." His thesis, if I understand it correctly, is that we can cultivate the moral imagination as a common good in the service of truth. Last year, with three friends, I published a book on the global future, On the Significance of Religion for Global Diplomacy. This book can be seen as an exercise in "nurturing the moral imagination as a common good."

In particular, we focus on the development of our historical imagination. We start from current realities: pandemic, climate change and environmental degradation, the impact of digital technologies, widening social disparities, and of course conflict. The future is invisible, indeterminate, and full of risk. It often seems that history is accelerating. What is to be done? Is there a guiding principle? How does change happen? Is there a next step?

My talk this evening falls into two parts and will lead, I hope, to some dialogue and interaction.

First, I will explore the meaning of hope, drawing on Pope Benedict's encyclical Spe Salvi, especially the statement that "all serious and upright conduct is hope in action."

Second, I will briefly outline the thesis of our book. We argue that a better methodology and a clearer orientation can prepare the way for addressing particular problems. We must find the courage to believe, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed during the darkest days of the 20th century, that "something new can be born that is not discernible in the alternatives of the present." Through developing a culture of dialogue or encounter in national, regional, and global politics we can transform our understanding of effective action and create the conditions for a different kind of civilisation.

All serious and upright conduct is hope in action

The first part of my presentation begins from Pope Benedict's powerful statement that "all serious and upright conduct is hope in action." I notice three very striking ideas in Spe Salvi - not so much "ideas" as "interconnected meditations."

The first meditation arises from the sequencing of Benedict's three principal encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est, Spe Salvi, and Caritas in Veritate. To come to believe in God's love, the theme of Deus Caritas Est, leads on to faith and hope. In Spe Salvi, faith and hope are almost indistinguishable. At one point, "faith-hope" appears as a hyphenated word. Love and "faith-hope", taken together, have an operative power or outward-looking essence which leads to action in the world, as described in Caritas in Veritate. I would suggest that Pope Benedict has reshaped the triad "faith, hope, and charity" as "love, hope, and action." This new triad implies relationship, movement, and change. It places action-in-hope at the centre of our lives. A similar emphasis is implicit in the title "Caritas in Veritate." Caritas comes first. In following our hearts, we discover the truth of situations.

The second meditation that I find in Pope Benedict concerns the inner nature of hope. Earlier theologians analyse hope as the mean between presumption and despair. Hope is then a virtue, the virtue of man or woman as pilgrim. Spe Salvi offers a different perspective. Concrete examples of human suffering are interwoven in the narrative, from the worlds of ancient slavery and modern concentration camps. The focus has switched from inner equilibrium to outer reality. For Pope Benedict, the main point about hope is that it represents "the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word."

Here is Vaclav Havel on hope:

… a state of mind, not a state of the world ... an orientation of the spirit, of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons ... It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

That "something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out," and "the impossibility that the injustice of history should be the final word," are dynamic assertions; they imply a readiness to act, even in the face of steep odds.

An important part of this second meditation on hope as a sign of contradiction and a fount of energy in concrete situations is the use that Pope Benedict makes of the Letter to the Hebrews. For Aristotle, a virtue is a disposition that can be developed by repeated actions having a certain character. I think I am right that habitus is the word St. Thomas would use to describe such a disposition or virtue. The Letter to the Hebrews takes a different approach, using two striking images to capture the mystery of faith-hope. The first of these images is "substance", an image drawn from the sphere of economics. The second is "argument" or "proof", an image drawn from the sphere of law. In other words, "faith-hope" is not primarily a virtue or acquired disposition. Nor is it primarily a subjective conviction. It is more like an inner resource that is, in part, gift.

The perception that the deepest truth about reality is always in some way given is not unique to the Judaeo-Christian tradition. In his Theogony, one of the first works of Western literature, Hesiod claims a relationship with a source of truth that is both personal and of divine origin - namely the Muses encountered in the mists of Mount Helicon. Without this initial encounter, which is entirely "given," Hesiod would be just another "hungry shepherd."

Here I enter a caveat. To say that hope is given does not mean that it is detached from reason. In the Hebrew prophets, genuine hope comes with an ethical dimension and a certain kind of realism. Jeremiah opposes the wishful thinking, false optimism, and empty hope of his rival Hananiah. A crucial aspect of the prophetic tradition is that hope can go against the current of events and yet remain reasonable. The object of our love or hope is never a matter of indifference. When divorced from good intentions and good judgment, hope becomes morally dangerous.

One further point that needs to be made about the inner nature of hope is that it goes against the current. Greek philosophers associate the virtues of hope and courage. In political decision-making, we are drawn towards one or other of two standards: the self-interested option or the more generous option. The second option is the option of hope. Compared to the first option, it often requires exceptional courage, especially the moral courage of embarking on a journey towards an unknown destination, or a journey that will only be completed by others after our time. The American author Jonathan Lear studies the response of indigenous peoples in America to the disappearance of all the main coordinates of their lives. The point is, they continue to hope. This is a quotation from Lear's work: "radical hope anticipates a good for which those who have the hope as yet lack the appropriate concepts with which to understand it."

I turn now to our third meditation. In Spe Salvi, we find the following beautiful and profound statement about human agency: "we can uncover the sources of creation and keep them unsullied." In the first letter to the Corinthians, we are described as "co-workers of God" (synergoi). We are the farmers and construction workers in a project which has an overall design and logic. From this, a number of things follow.

First, our actions have an intrinsic or objective value. They are true in themselves.

Second, if we are co-workers of God, we do not need to determine the ultimate significance of our actions and are not, and do not need to be, fully masters of cause and effect.

Third, it follows from this that there is a convergence between action, suffering, and prayer. Appraising the truth of a situation, which requires discernment, and acting or suffering in consequence of this, are bound up together and depend on the inner life that we call prayer.

My fourth and main observation on "uncovering the sources of creation" is that we can tell from experience that actions that conform with hope will be in harmony with other similar actions, including other people's actions, even if there is no direct connection. Our enabling role implies the consistency, compatibility, and coherence of good actions. Hope provides a common criterion of measurement from one situation to another. The National Peace and Justice Network is living proof that individual interventions in the name of justice and mercy reinforce one another and can support wider social objectives as well. This is not just about shaping coalitions. That can happen, certainly. But the point is deeper. A common criterion of evaluation - let us call it the "standard of hope" - links one situation to another and enables us to give the future a certain shape or character, even before the detailed picture becomes clear.

In the 21st century, planetary ecology and the need for a just transition depend on numerous individual decisions linked together by a common criterion of evaluation. This common criterion cannot be the standard of self-interest, which pushes us in different directions. Any common criterion of evaluation at the global level will resemble our "standard of hope." Hope, if restored to its full meaning in our culture, can inspire and bring together all those who face the future determined to be "part of the solution"- all those willing to serve under the banner of justice to bring consolation and healing to an ailing society.

Understanding the nature of politics

I turn now to my second theme, which concerns the nature of politics. The state of global politics - conflicts, the pandemic, climate change - invites us to re-think the economy and the nature of international security - an epochal challenge. In our book, we argue for intermediate steps in the realm of methodology and orientation as a prelude to concrete negotiations.

Before and during World War Two, a number of British writers and thinkers, including J.H. Oldham of the Church of Scotland, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkien began exploring the concept of "middle axioms" as a possible bridge between theology and politics. In Germany, at roughly the same time, the Kreisau Circle explored new approaches to economics, politics, and European cooperation, for implementation after the war. Good examples of "middle axioms" or unifying principles, as developed by these thinkers, would be the need for social solidarity and European cooperation. The welfare state, today's European Union, and even the ecumenical movement owe a great deal to the philosophical groundwork undertaken during the war. The concept of middle axioms is the initial spark that led to the approach we take in our book.

Our recommendations can be summarised as follows:

We can develop "axioms of the historical imagination" - a 21st century version of "middle axioms" - to provide a common criterion of evaluation across cultures and from one situation to another. Acting in the light of common axioms creates community even among people and groups who never interact directly.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) already constitute, in embryo, a medium-term common plan for humanity. Our second recommendation is that international organisations should use their convening power to bring about new, multi-layered consultative processes, inclusive of the representatives of religion, to underpin the implementation of the SDGs and complement the day-to-day negotiations that currently take place in a range of diplomatic settings.

New consultative processes will require a new style of negotiating mandate aimed at a distinctive diplomatic "product." This "product" will be a combination of (i) the gradual definition of new criteria or points of agreement to govern the conduct of international relations; and (ii) confidence-building measures (CBMs) with demonstration value in the perspective of a future 'age of sharing' at the global level.

Our axioms point towards an "anthropological" development over the coming decades - a global humanism founded on a broad understanding of the scope of reason. Steps we take now - in other words, human agency - can open a pathway to positive political changes that are not yet within reach.

In our book we examine criteria for the effective interaction of policymakers with religious actors. The major occupational hazard of politics is losing touch with essential values that cannot be constituted by the process of politics itself. You can't legislate for trust. We always need a standpoint from which to critique the status quo. At the same time, churches and faith communities can become more themselves through the dialogue with public authorities and other actors. They - we - can start new discussions and develop new forms of leadership.

In other words, the approach we take in our book can help both politics and theology. In the sphere of politics, we know that freedom of religion or belief is a core human right. "Religious literacy" is widely acknowledged as a necessary diplomatic skill, for example in conflict situations in the Middle East. We argue for something more than freedom of belief and religious literacy. Our thesis is that in the interests of the global common good, politics and diplomacy need to return to the roots of our culture and access a deeper level of thought that remains true to the best instincts of ordinary people. One way of doing this is for public authorities to engage with religious and philosophical perspectives.

For the theological implications of this approach, I turn to Pope Benedict on hope. Benedict argues in Spe Salvi that the church must "go beyond herself." She must not allow herself to be understood simply as an institution satisfying the personal needs of some; she must engage with Western secular rationality and the religious traditions of India and elsewhere and play an active part in helping to shape the future. Writing when he was still a cardinal, Pope Benedict put this very bluntly: "One might go so far as to say the Church will survive only if she is in a position to help mankind overcome this hour of trial."

I am coming towards a conclusion, but first let me briefly set out our axioms, which are as follows:

we should examine the patterns of our behaviour in the light of all that we ought to know and can know
we should 'image' or visualise peace as the rightful possession of the human community as a whole
we should identify and explore the factors that accompany healing in a wounded social structure
we should recognise that the starting position for political deliberation is inevitably non-ideal
discernment in the midst of opacity in accordance with a common standard should become a core value in the conduct of international relations
we should give expression to a changing diplomatic culture through new frameworks of engagement

Our central thesis is that new forms of historical literacy, allied to new frameworks of engagement, can enable a more creative politics and diplomacy. The orientation and methodology that we promote through our six axioms aim to achieve a balance between the interweaving of different countries' interests, an interweaving which is tangible and on-going, and the interaction of consciences, which seems to take place only at the margins of international politics. We need new methods, better-thought out agendas, and longer time-frames if politics and diplomacy are to catch up with current trends.

All talks from NJPN Conference 2022, 'Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up' can be seen at:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4HAuivOZMEVt5GE-gSBfoVQbZ4PtE_av