5. SOLIDARITY AND BROTHERHOOD

5.1. Participation and Freedom

52. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights exhorts all human beings to act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.⁴⁸ In this statement, the document is in harmony with Christian social thought and its defense of human solidarity. As fully entitled members of the human family, every man and every woman has the right and responsibility to participate in social, political and cultural life locally, nationally and internationally. The human person participates in the human family by his very nature. Our humanity is shared and the fact that we are persons binds us to the rest of the human community in an immediate and irrevocable way. By virtue of the bonds of solidarity and brotherhood, we can speak about a human family, the family of peoples.

53. For participation to achieve its full meaning, it must be consciously practiced and chosen. The social virtue of solidarity is the will to participate in the search for social justice. It should not be forgotten that "the exercise of solidarity within each society is valid when its members recognize one another as persons". This implies that "those who are more influential, because they have a greater share of goods and common services, should feel responsible for the weaker and be ready to share with them all they possess. Those who are weaker, for their part, in the same spirit of solidarity, should not adopt a purely passive attitude or one that is destructive of the social fabric, but, while claiming their legitimate rights, should do what they can for the good of all".⁴⁹ Solidarity therefore means accepting our social nature and affirming the bonds we share with all our brothers and sisters. Solidarity creates a context in which mutual service is favored. Solidarity creates the social conditions for the respect and support of human rights. The ability to recognize and accept the whole range of rights and corresponding obligations that are based on our social nature can only be exercised in an atmosphere enlivened by solidarity. This also holds in the light of the growing interdependence which "must be transformed into solidarity, based upon the principle that the goods of creation are meant for all".⁵⁰