Mutual assistance between countries proves enriching for each. A country that moves forward while remaining solidly grounded in its original cultural substratum is a treasure for the whole of humanity. We need to develop the awareness that nowadays we are either all saved together or no one is saved. Poverty, decadence and suffering in one part of the earth are a silent breeding ground for problems that will end up affecting the entire planet. If we are troubled by the extinction of certain species, we should be all the more troubled that in some parts of our world individuals or peoples are prevented from developing their potential and beauty by poverty or other structural limitations. In the end, this will impoverish us all.
Although this has always been true, never has it been more evident than in our own day, when the world is interconnected by globalization. We need to attain a global juridical, political and economic order “which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity”. 120BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 67: AAS 101 (2009), 700. Ultimately, this will benefit the entire world, since “development aid for poor countries” implies “creating wealth for all”. 121Ibid., 60: AAS 101 (2009), 695. From the standpoint of integral development, this presupposes “giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making” 122Ibid., 67: AAS 101 (2009), 700. and the capacity to “facilitate access to the international market on the part of countries suffering from poverty and underdevelopment”. 123PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 447.