The common good: not for a few, but the duty of all

By Fr Stephan Alexander

General Manager, CCSJ and AMMR

On May 17, 1961, United States President John F Kennedy addressed the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa in the context of the Cold War. President Kennedy’s address sought to emphasize the collective responsibility of “free” nations to fight against “common enemies” like tyranny, poverty, and war, in the pursuit of global freedom. Early in his address the President sought to affirm his call for collective action by invoking Biblical sentiment as he stated, ‘Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.”

The powerful sentiment conveyed by that statement might sufficiently have brought to consciousness the undertone in the President’s speech that both the natural and supernatural order have coincided to persuade the United States and Canada to act in accordance with the common good.

However, any ambiguity as to his intent would have been extinguished by his closing remarks. President Kennedy concluded his address to the Canadian Parliament stating, “as the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’.” He would also insist that his visit to Canada was an act of faith. Friends, “Evil prevails when good people do nothing”. If good people don’t stand against injustice, oppression, cruelty and all the other evils prevalent in our society and our world we will be overcome.

Yet the greater danger is often more subtle. It is not always that we consciously choose evil; rather, we grow accustomed to it. We learn to live alongside injustice, to rationalise it and even support it, to distance ourselves from its consequences, or worse, to convince ourselves that it is not our responsibility.

In this way, evil rarely prevails by its own power. It prevails when good people fail to act against it; advancing quietly, strengthened by our silence, sustained by our indifference, and normalised by our inaction.

This is precisely why the call to act is not merely political; it is profoundly moral and, for us as Christians, deeply spiritual. The struggle against injustice is not first about systems and structures, though it certainly involves them. It is about the formation of conscience. It is about whether we still possess the moral clarity to recognise wrong, and the courage to oppose it, even when doing so is inconvenient, unpopular, or costly.

Our region today presents us with uncomfortable but necessary examples. The humanitarian crisis in Cuba continues to unfold in ways that cannot be ignored without consequence to our own moral integrity.

Daily there are reports of people dying due to power outages in hospitals, shortages of basic medical supplies and essential services due to disproportionate and unjust foreign sanctions. To acknowledge this is not partisan; it is to affirm a simple truth: no political objective can justify the sustained suffering of a people.

Our silence and indifference to the Cuban reality is particularly devastating. Cuban medical professionals have served commendably within our healthcare system, particularly in underserved communities for many years. Also, many of our own doctors were trained in Cuba through scholarships.

Friends, gratitude, if it is genuine, must move beyond sentiment into solidarity, into a willingness to speak and act when it matters.

We must similarly confront injustices within our own borders. The rising cost of living continues to place an increasing burden on ordinary families, forcing many to make difficult choices between necessities.

Employment practices in certain sectors remain exploitative, with workers experiencing insecurity, inadequate compensation, and limited protection. These realities do not always dominate headlines, but they shape the daily lives of our people.

When such conditions persist without challenge, they reveal not only structural weaknesses but also a collective failure to insist on what is just.

The temptation, of course, is to believe that these issues are beyond us, that meaningful change belongs to governments, institutions, or those with greater influence.

But this is precisely the illusion that allows injustice to endure. The common good, as the Church teaches, is not the responsibility of a few—it is the duty of all. Each of us participates in shaping the moral character of our society through the choices we make, the voices we raise, and the actions we are willing to take.

It is here that the witness of the Church becomes essential. In moments such as these, we are reminded that faith is not passive. It is not confined to private devotion or limited to the sanctuary.

Faith, when authentic, compels engagement. It calls us to see clearly, to judge rightly, and to act decisively—the very rhythm of the Church’s social mission. Belief in the dignity of the human person is to defend it wherever it is threatened. To affirm solidarity is to stand with those who suffer, not from a distance, but in a manner that seeks to transform their condition.

In this regard, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, stands as a beacon of hope and inspiration. The Pope has regularly spoken out against the evils of war and continues to call leaders to seek a “better way”. He has been unmoved by criticisms and openly stated his commitment to proclaim the truth of the Gospel in the face of those who seek to abuse it.

His courage continues to redirect attention to what truly matters, the dignity of the human person and the responsibility to uphold it.

The Pope’s example is one of conviction and principled action. It reminds us that the pursuit of justice demands courage and requires that we refuse to accept injustice as inevitable. Let us follow and ensure that evil never prevails.

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