Q: Archbishop J, why “exaggerated responsibility for the common good”?
Every civilisation has its unconscious assumptions, driving forces that motivate and at the same time act as the unseen glue holding the civilisation together. Here we find both the genius of a society and its deepest pain, crying out for redemption.
In the social sciences, this might be called a ‘social structure’. It exerts energy and even exerts force on all social actors. To understand these social structures is to understand the society. It is to understand the actors who make up society’s institutions. It is to understand ultimately our cry for redemption.