Wilfredo Cornier

Pope Leo XIV at UNESCO asks “what does it mean to be human?” Watch and listen to the Pope’s magnificent reflection: “What does it mean to be human? Every culture is challenged by this question, which lies at the heart of every form of knowledge, every art and every religion. Even in the twenty-first century, after all, we cannot take for granted that we know who the human person is or what it means to live as a human being. Indeed, every generation is called to grapple with this question, especially in the face of tragedies that, regrettably, occur even today. Before all else, the human person is someone who is conceived and born.  Thus, first of all, to be human means to be a child. None of us chose to be so. None of us decided from whom, when or where to be born. This evident truth sheds light on something that is not merely biological but ethical: as children, we are all brothers and sisters. From the outset, our humanity is a gift and a trial, a promise and a responsibility. For every human being, birth establishes a primordial bond — a communion of life that has its source, and its first educational setting, in the family. Secondly, we are all born naked and in need. We are poor by birth, in need of bread and words, of care and affection — that is, of all that nourishes body and spirit. We know this well, and yet, as we become adults, we risk forgetting it. It is precisely those in need who suffer the greatest consequences of this forgetfulness, whenever their humanity is betrayed or cast aside, exploited or deceived. Forgetting the circumstances of our birth obscures the very idea of human life, because it detaches life from the history common to us all. Thus, life is no longer understood as a gift, but as a commodity. It is no longer viewed as a summons to care and responsibility, but as a product to be exploited. Indeed, this tragic alternative reminds us that to be human is to be free by nature. Since all of us have been children, our freedom begins with our response to the freedom of the one who first turns to us — whether with gestures of affection or rejection, of loving welcome or neglect and cruelty. Thirdly, to keep alive the memory of our common humanity is to recognize its grandeur — that is, its immense potential — even though it is diminished by many forms of evil and injustice. Those engaged in the fields of education, science and culture are called all the more to care for every person, so that the beauty of our freedom may shine forth. This beauty has a name: justice. Freedom is indeed beautiful when it is oriented toward goodness and truth; it is disfigured when it descends into arbitrariness, violence or the thirst for power. To be human, then, implies a responsibility before history: the human being is one who grows, learns and works with both hands and mind. By that labor, we may cultivate the earth or disfigure it, create works of art or destroy them. At this particular juncture, we must recognize that the most terrible of “human works” is war, for then science itself is placed at the service of an inhumane will to destroy and to kill.”