Participation in times of social crisis

Refugees from crisis countries as a case study

Abstract

Wojtyla's philosophical treatment of the virtue of participation is correlated with Mühlen’s Trinitarian theology. Use is then made of the I-Thou and "We" dynamics, neighbor-love, and other ideas associated with participation to theologically analyze selected cases of refugee support and advocacy. The focus is largely, but not exclusively, on the European context. Two stories are included from other cultural contexts. The dynamics they reveal are universal in application; they certainly speak to the European experience. Issues touched on include a crisis of solidarity, liturgical truth-telling, hospitality as open friendship vs hospitality as power, and a care of person-care of social world paradigm.