The Carving

—a short experience—

I am a parish priest in a city in Brazil. A very rich man in the area called me one day and told me he had asked an artist to carve out a beautiful crucifix as a gift for the parish. The carving was from the trunk of an enormous tree and a very special type of wood. My first reaction was one of delight at the gift. I thought to myself: "It would go well at the back wall behind the main altar". The man invited me to come over and see what I thought of it while the wood-carver was putting the finishing touches to it. "It is really beautiful — I said to him with great enthusiasm —, "it expresses the suffering of the one who was abandoned by God and by the world". I was delighted with it and I thanked him by promising that as soon as the artist would have finished the work, we would have a big celebration in the parish church.

That same evening I told the members of the parish council about this gift. But to my surprise, I noticed they did not share my enthusiasm. They had serious reservations. "This crucifix" — they told me — "could end up being a source of much dissension in the parish; above all the workers in the textile industry will not be pleased with it". And they explained why. So what was I now to do since I had already given my word and everything was almost ready?

I decided to take the bull by the horns and so I went to visit the man who wanted to present the gift. He was the owner of the only textile industry in the town. Undoubtedly the richest man in the area, he was a good man, a practising catholic, but in his industry there were many structures which caused a lot of suffering to the workers not only on account of the targets set for the international trade-balance for which he was responsible but also on account of the lack of dialogue within the company.

I felt I could not deceive him by my silence, but I also felt I should not humiliate him by my words. It seemed, however, that God was giving me an opportunity to start to dialogue with him about these matters. I told him that the parish council wanted to make his gift an occasion of joy and evangelisation but that we ran the risk of creating disharmony. I tried to explain as best I could: "If we now have a good celebration and put this crucifix in the church as your gift, do you know what kind of comments will be passed? Many will say that the priest gave his suggestions, the artist his talent and work, you some money and the workers in the industry their blood, but the overall honour will be given to the owner... So we have to clear things up a bit and say that in putting this crucifix in the church, it represents the sweat of the workers, the concerns of the business people and the talent of the artist. All the community will have to take part in the celebration".

I spoke to the man with a great freedom and explained a lot of things that had been said to me. He knew I was no demagogue and I knew that he could listen to these things when they were put to him in a calm way. He was very surprised, deeply moved and speechless. No one had every spoken the truth to him like that. I heard afterwards that he did not sleep that night and the following day he came to chat with me: "Father, please tell me all that you see as unjust in my industry, because I want to improve my relationships with the workers". Since I knew that the shop stewards were seen as subversives and that it was not easy for the workers to say anything, I answered with great honesty by saying: "Since I myself do not live within the industry, it is difficult for me to know the problems. From time to time, however, people come to me and maybe I could send them on to you, but it really is necessary that your workers feel free to have the courage and come to tell you the truth themselves and that you trust them". I suggested some names to him, leaving him free to discover others. I heard afterwards that he started up a dialogue with the workers which is proving to be quite fruitful.

My impression from this and other experiences is that it is important to feel free with everyone. I feel a freedom with the poor, because I am one of them; I have just enough to live on, with nothing I can say is my own. But I want the poor to have what is necessary just as I have. I feel free with the rich, because their wealth is not theirs but a gift from God to be used to the benefit of all.