On Monday, July 12th, Chief Rabbi Isaac Sacca participated in the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2021. Along with other religious representatives and UN officials, he shared his vision for the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Latin American society and the role of faith in coping with the problem.
This meeting takes place every year since 2014, the year in which the Interfaith Alliance for the 2030 Agenda was founded as a network of faith-based organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean. They work together to promote efforts to foment inequality and exclusion in the implementation, monitoring and review of the SDGs in the region. It is based on the shared ethical values of faith communities, the human rights-based approach (HRBA) and the vision of an “inclusive, sustainable and people-centered development model”.
This year’s subject was “The role of the faith communities of Latin America and the Caribbean in the incidence of the sustainable and resilient recovery of the Covid-19 pandemic on the path towards achieving the SDGs”. Chief Rabbi Isaac Sacca pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean show certain weaknesses in social, political and economic fields that the pandemic worsened. The role of communities of faith in these countries is doubly important, firstly because communities of faith are essential in assisting citizens, since official structures are insufficient, and, secondly, because that part of the world is more receptive. Therefore, these communities need the word of God even more.
However, he clarified that it is not only the word of a religious person that counts , but also his actions. “In the religious task, my spiritual elevation consists of the material elevation of others: looking for their comfort, food, education,” he stressed.
Far from the image that many people have of an old and outdated religion, the Chief Rabbi mentioned four bases of religion that could mark a growth path for societies.
–Ecology: God presents Himself in the sacred scriptures (Genesis 4) through the account of the six days of Creation. Because our bond with God is through the care of nature. He put women and men into the world to take care of it.
– The world is supported by help (Psalms 89-3). Sacca gave examples: with young people as protagonists, the Menora Organization carries out permanent solidarity actions: blood donation campaigns, distribution of food, clothing and school supplies, hair collection to accompany cancer patients, home repair for indigent families.
– The pandemic also presents emotional problems. Faith helps to alleviate these problems. Religious leaders must work to prevent people from deteriorating their mental and spiritual well-being.
–Religion (Deuteronomy 4: 9) promotes caring of health: “And you will take great care of your souls.” A balance between physical and emotional health must be created .
Before the presentation of the panelists and after the opening by Elías Szczytnicki, General Regional Secretary of Religions for Peace for Latin America and the Caribbean, Luis Flores-Mímica, Liaison Officer for Stakeholder Participation of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations (ECLAC), explained the importance of the participation of non-governmental actors in actions of the United Nations for humanity and of the participation of faith communities in the different spaces of ECLAC.
The panelists were the Hon. Monsignor Jorge Lozano, archbishop of San Juan, Argentina, and general secretary of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), Bishop Victoria Cortez, bishop of the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua “Faith and Hope”, Rev. Harold Segura, director of Faith and Development from World Vision Latin America and the Caribbean, Sheikh Mohamad Al Bukai, Director of Religious Affairs of the National Islamic Union of Brazil (UNI) and Luis Maldonado, member of the Intercultural Indigenous Chair (CII).
Speakers agreed on the urgency of addressing inequalities through governments that implement public policies that guarantee rights for everyone.
Perhaps the secret to achieving the sustainable development goals is in the prayer quoted by Rabbi Sacca: “On Yom Kippur , the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year for the Hebrew calendar, the main prayer states: “There will come a day when all nations, peoples and religions will make an Aguda Achad, a single group” .-
