Following is the text
the Vatican document:

THE PASTORAL CARE OF ROAD USERS

By the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers

I. The phenomenon of human mobility 

Moving from place to place, and transporting goods using different means, have characterised human behaviour since the beginning of history. Mobility and wandering are therefore expressions of human nature and of our cultural development. 

The transportation of goods and people is increasing at a dizzy pace, sometimes taking place under difficult conditions and even putting life at risk. Our lives are conditioned by the car, as mobility has become an idol, which the car symbolises. 

Roads and railways should be at the service of the human person, as tools for facilitating life and the integral development of society. They should constitute a communication bridge between peoples, thereby creating new economic and human spaces. Indeed, it is true that “a great deal of a country’s lifeblood moves along its roads”[4]. 

A modern phenomenon, full of consequences, which is part of this mobility, and the progress that derives from it, is traffic in general, and especially road traffic. Traffic has gradually increased, as a requirement of a society that is continually developing, and also due to the ever faster and bigger means of locomotion used for transporting people and goods. 

Road traffic and human progress

Roads are no longer just communication routes; they have become places where we spend a great deal of our lives, also in developing countries. We only need to consider the many uneven roads travelled on by unsafe and overloaded means of transport, which constitute a grave danger for everyone, especially at night.

In addition to traffic congestion, people are directly exposed to dangers deriving from other related problems, such as noise, air pollution and intensive use of raw materials. We must tackle these issues and not just passively put up with them, partly in order to limit the costs of modernisation that are becoming unsustainable. In this context, it is a good idea to call for a commitment to avoid unnecessary car use. 

Undoubtedly, road vehicles give us many advantages. They provide a rapid means of transport for people (getting to places of work and study, weekend outings with the family, going away on holiday, meetings with friends and relatives). The same goes for the transport of goods. Vehicle use benefits social life and economic development and gives many people an opportunity to earn an honest living. 

Another positive aspect is the possibility for self-improvement deriving from getting to know other cultures and people with different religions, ethnicities and customs[5]. Transportation unites peoples, facilitates dialogue and gives rise to socialisation and personal enrichment via new discoveries and encounters. 

Means of transport are particularly useful when they enable sick and injured people to be rescued, thus making urgent treatment easier and more accessible. They may also promote the exercise of Christian virtues – prudence, patience, charity and helping one’s fellow men and women – in both a spiritual and corporal level. Finally, they may also provide an opportunity to come closer to God, as they facilitate discovery of the beauties of creation, the sign of his boundless love for us. 

Travellers’ spirits may also be uplifted by contemplating the various religious symbols to be seen along a road or railway. These include churches, bell towers, chapels, column tops, crosses and statues, as well as places of pilgrimage which may now be reached more easily by using modern means of transport.

Therefore, road and rail transport are a good thing, as well as being indispensable requirements of contemporary life. If we make good use of means of transport, accepting them as gifts granted to us by God, which are also fruits of the work of his industrious hands and intelligence, we may take advantage of them for our own human and Christian development.

II. The Word of God illuminates the road

From Christian commitment in places of road and rail transport, which we call Pastoral Care of the Road, also arises the duty to draw up and promote a fitting and corresponding expression of “spirituality”, rooted in the Word of God. Such spirituality sheds the necessary light to give meaning to the whole of life, stemming precisely from the experience of road and rail transport. The contemporary phenomenon of mobility should be experienced by Christians, by exercising the theological and cardinal virtues. For the faithful, the road also becomes a path to holiness.       

Notes from the Old Testament

The Bible contains continuous migrations and wanderings. The Patriarchs, Abraham (cf. Genesis 12:4-10), Isaac (cf. Genesis 26:1,17,22), Jacob (cf. Genesis 29:1; 31:21; 46:1-7)) and Joseph (cf. Genesis 37:28) led a wandering existence. When their descendants had become a numerous people, Moses led them out of Egypt (cf. Exodus 12:41), crossing the Red Sea (cf. Exodus 14) and wandering in the desert (see Exodus 15:22).  

In the experience of mobility, full of risks and tragedies, the People of God are always assisted by the special protection of Yahweh (see Exodus 13:21). The repeated unfaithfulness of the Israelites to the Covenant would later lead to a far more distressing journey, the deportation to Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 24:15). After long years of exile, God’s faithfulness was manifested in the proclamation of Cyrus, which gave the opportunity of the joyful return journey to the Promised Land (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Psalms 126 [125]. 

The psalmist (cf. Psalms 107 [106]:7) indicates the “straight way” on which the Lord leads, whilst the prophet Isaiah calls for preparation of the highway of the Lord (cf. Isaiah 40:3). The importance given by the Bible to the theme of wandering – of travelling – also clearly emerges from the fact that the term “way” is used as a metaphor to indicate all kinds of human behaviour. The Scriptures insistently exhort the choice of “straight ways”, and not “to stand in the way of sinners” (Psalms 1:1), and to walk in the ways of the Lord (cf. Deuteronomy 8:6; 10:12; 19:9).

Notes from the New Testament

The New Testament contains numerous references to travelling and journeys, such as those carried out by Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus, and the continuous travelling of Christ during his public life and the journeys of the apostles. The evangelists present the life of Christ as a continuous journey. He went through towns and villages proclaiming the Gospel and healing “every disease and sickness” (cf. Matthew 9:35), whilst a lengthy section of Luke’s Gospel (9:51-19:41) tells us of the Lord on his way to Jerusalem, where he was to bring his “exodus” to fulfilment (cf. Luke 9:31)[6].

The parables also contain ways and journeys, such as the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is immediately applicable to the Pastoral Care of the Road (cf. Luke 10:29-37), and the parable of the prodigal son who set off “for a distant country” (Luke 15:13) and then returned to his father (cf. Luke 15:13-20). We also recall the man who “went on a journey” and entrusted his property to his servants (cf. Matthew 25:14-30). 

Jesus also sent his disciples out onto the road. Indeed, he sent them out, two by two, to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (cf. Mark 6:6-13), while in Luke’s Gospel the mission of the seventy-two disciples (cf. Luke 10:1-20) suggests a universal extension of the subsequent one, made explicit when the Risen Christ sends out the apostles, saying: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19; and Luke 24:47).Indeed, they would be witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This universal mission would entail countless journeys, as attested by the Acts of the Apostles, undertaken by Peter (cf. Acts 9:32-11:2) and Paul (cf. Acts 13:4-14:28; 15:36-28:16). 

Overall, the Bible thus presents us the situation of human mobility, with its risks, satisfactions, and troubles, and affirms its link with God’s redeeming plan. Thus we may see travelling not only as physical movement from one place to another, but also in its spiritual dimension, due to the fact that it puts people in touch with each other, thereby contributing to the realisation of God’s plan of love.

Christ is the Way, He is the Road

John’s Gospel presents some particularly important expressions regarding the spirituality of the road, in the realisation of God’s plan. Lord Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). By presenting himself as the “way”, Christ shows us that everything should be directed towards the Father. The statement, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8,12:), confirms that Jesus and his message are the luminous way to direct our lives towards the Father. Whoever follows the Lord, and fulfils his Word, will go forward along the way of life. 

Those who know Jesus Christ are careful on the roads. They don’t only think about themselves, and are not always worried about getting to their destination in a great hurry. They see the people who “accompany” them on the road, each of whom has their own life, their own desire to reach a destination and their own problems. They see everyone as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God. This is the attitude that characterises a Christian driver. 

It has been shown that one of the roots of many problems relating to traffic is spiritual. For believers a solution to these problems may be found in a vision of faith, in the relationship with God, and in a generous option in favour of life, which is also borne out by behaviour that respects the lives of others, and the rules established to protect them, on the road. 

“Indeed, the inspired pages of both Testaments could be drawn upon, but especially the Gospels and the Apostolic Letters, an anthology of precepts, which might well form a corpus of moral criteria and even a manual of etiquette and good manners for road use. This would support and strengthen the regulations of the Highway Code and give it inspiration, which the purely negative and preventive statement of its rules cannot have. Until road users are led to consider their responsibilities in this positive and encouraging light, which find their true justification in the superior and indefeasible values of conscience, it will be impossible to achieve desirable moralisation”[7]. 

III. Human aspects

The particular psychology of drivers

A vehicle is a means of transport that may be used in a prudent and ethical way, for “coexistence”, solidarity and serving others, or it may also be abused. 

Escape from everyday reality and the pleasure of driving

When driving a car some people start up the engine to join a race, in order to escape from the troubling pace of everyday life. The pleasure of driving becomes a way of enjoying the freedom and independence that normally we do not have. This also leads to the practice of road sports, cycling, motorcycling and motor racing, in a healthy spirit of competition, even though risks are entailed. 

Sometimes the prohibitions imposed by road signs may be perceived as restrictions of freedom. Especially when unobserved and unmonitored, some people are tempted to infringe such limitations, which are in fact designed to protect them and other people. Some drivers thus consider the duty to respect certain prudent regulations that reduce traffic risks and dangers as humiliating. Others deem it intolerable – almost a curtailment of their “rights” – to be obliged to follow patiently another vehicle that is travelling slowly, because, for example, road signs prohibit overtaking.

The fact that a driver’s personality is different from a pedestrian’s personality should be taken into account. When driving a vehicle, special circumstances may lead us to behave in an unsatisfactory and even barely human manner. Let’s now consider the principal psychological factors that influence drivers’ behaviour. 

The domination instinct

The domination instinct, or the feeling of arrogance, impels people to seek power in order to assert themselves[8]. Driving a car provides an easy opportunity to dominate others. Indeed, by identifying themselves with their car, drivers enormously increase their own power. This is expressed through speed and gives rise to the pleasure of driving. This makes drivers wish to experience the thrill of speed, a typical manifestation of their increased power. 

The free availability of speed, being able to accelerate at will, setting out to conquer time and space, overtaking, and almost “subjugating” other drivers, turn into sources of satisfaction that derive from domination.

Vanity and personal glorification

Cars particularly lend themselves to being used by their owners to show off, and as a means for outshining other people and arousing a feeling of envy. People thus identify themselves with their cars and project assertion of their egos onto them. When we praise our cars we are, in fact, praising ourselves, because they belong to us and, above all, we drive them. Many motorists, including the not so young, boast with great pleasure of records broken and high speeds achieved, and it is easy to see that they cannot stand being considered as bad drivers, even though they may acknowledge that they are.    

Unbalanced behaviour and related consequences

Various manifestations

Unbalanced behaviour varies according to individuals and circumstances, and may include impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility, or deliberate infringement of the Highway Code. For some drivers, the unbalanced behaviour is expressed in insignificant ways, whilst in others it may produce serious excesses that depend on character, level of education, an incapacity for self-control and the lack of a sense of responsibility.

A non-pathological phenomenon

Such excesses may occur in a large number of normal people. Such unbalanced behaviour, which may have serious consequences, nevertheless comes within the scope of psychological normality.

Driving brings inclinations to the surface from the unconscious that usually, when we are not on the roads, are “controlled”. When driving, however, imbalances emerge and encourage regression to more primitive forms of behaviour. Driving should be considered by the same standards as any other social activity, which presupposes a commitment to mediate between one’s own requirements and the limits imposed by the rights of others. 

Cars tend to bring out the “primitive” side of human beings, thereby producing rather unpleasant results. We need to take these dynamics into account and react by appealing to the noble tendencies of the human spirit, to a sense of responsibility and self-control, in order to prevent manifestations of the psychological regression that is often connected to driving a means of transport.

IV. Moral aspects of driving 

Driving means coexisting

Coexistence is a fundamental aspect of human beings and roads should therefore be more human. Motorists are never alone when they are driving, even when no one is sitting beside them. Driving a vehicle is basically a way of relating with and getting closer to other people, and of integrating within a community of people. This capacity for coexistence, of entering into relations with others, presupposes certain specific qualities in a driver: namely self-mastery, prudence, courtesy, a fitting spirit of service and knowledge of the Highway Code. Selfless assistance should also be provided to those who need it, by giving an example of charity and hospitality. 

Driving means controlling oneself

A person’s behaviour is characterised by the capacity to control and master oneself, and not be carried away by impulses. The responsibility for cultivating this capacity for self-control and mastery is important, both in terms of a driver’s psychology and the serious damage that may be caused to the life and wellbeing of persons and goods in case of accident.

 Ethical aspects

In its evolution as a social factor, driving behaviour has sometimes developed on the fringes of ethical regulations, thereby – we note – generating a sharp contrast between the constant state of progress of transport and the continual and chaotic increase in road traffic, which has negative consequences for drivers and pedestrians.

In order to lay the foundations for ethical principles that should govern all aspects of road users’ “professionalism”, consideration must above all be given to the dangers to persons and goods deriving from road traffic. Such dangers exist for drivers and their passengers, as well as for drivers of other vehicles. Failure to comply with basic ethical rules prevents road users from enjoying their own personal rights and also puts their property at risk.

The duty to protect goods may be compromised not only by careless driving, but also by not maintaining a vehicle or means of transport in safe mechanical order, by neglecting periodic technical check-ups. The duty to have vehicles serviced should be respected.

There are also cases of driving when physically or mentally incapacitated, under the influence of alcohol and other stimulants or drugs, or in a state of exhaustion or somnolence. Danger also derives from citycars, which are driven by youngsters and adults who do not have driving licences, and the reckless use of motorbikes and motorcycles.  

Taking all this into account, public authorities lay down a series of criminal laws in order to safeguard rights and prevent damage caused by accidents. Unfortunately, in practice, the obligatory nature of such regulations goes unnoticed. All too easily, drivers are barely aware or even ignorant of this fact, precisely because these regulations come within the scope of criminal law, thus relating to events that are deemed extraordinary rather than ordinary. This more easily puts drivers in a position of acting against the law, in the hope of not being apprehended by the authorities responsible for enforcement.

It is obvious in this respect that education in favour of a culture of life, in defence of the “thou shalt not kill” commandment, is increasingly necessary. Likewise, the following initiatives are highly beneficial: the various road safety campaigns; improvement of public transport; road routes that are designed to be safe; adequate road signs and paving; elimination of unmanned level crossing; and creation of a public sense of responsibility via specific associations and the collaboration of road service personnel with road users. 

Driving a vehicle and the risks entailed

Drivers on the road should be fully aware, without dreading such a situation, that an accident may occur at any time. Despite the generally high quality of today’s roads in developed countries, it is foolish to drive “thoughtlessly” as if such dangers did not exist. Our attitude when driving should be the same as if we were using dangerous tools, and therefore being very careful. 

Statistics bear this out. In 2001, global output of motor vehicles amounted to 57 million, compared with 10 million in 1950. During the 20th century approximately 35 million people lost their lives in road accidents, whilst around one and a half billion were injured. In 2000 alone, deaths amounted to 1,260,000, and it is also noteworthy that around 90% of accidents were due to human error. The harm caused to the families of those involved in accidents, as well as the protracted consequences for the injured, who all too often are permanently disabled, should also be borne in mind. In addition to harm to persons, the enormous damage to material goods should also be taken into account.

This all adds up to a real disaster, and poses a serious challenge to society and the Church. It is not surprising that the UN General Assembly seriously tackled this issue at a plenary session in April 2004, which was specifically aimed at raising public awareness regarding the extent of the problem with a view to making precise recommendations on road safety[9].

Pope Paul VI said: “Too much blood is spilt every day in an absurd competition with speed and time. Whilst international organisations willingly devote themselves to reconciling painful rivalries, magnificent progress is being made in conquering space and adequate means are being sought to tackle the scourges of hunger, ignorance and disease, it is distressing to think that all over the world countless lives continue to be sacrificed every year to this unjustifiable fate. Public awareness should awake and consider this problem in the same light as the most determined, who arouse the enthusiasm and interest of the whole world”[10].

The obligatory nature of road regulations

When drivers endanger their own and other people’s lives, and the physical and mental wellbeing of persons, as well as considerable material goods, they are guilty of a serious shortcoming, even when such behaviour does not cause accidents, because, in any case, it entails serious risks. It should also be pointed out that the majority of accidents are precisely caused by such carelessness.

The Church’s teaching on these issues is very clear: “The often tragic consequences of infringements of the Highway Code give them an intrinsically obligatory nature that is far more serious than is generally thought. Motorists cannot merely rely on their own vigilance and ability to prevent accidents, but should rather maintain an appropriate margin of safety, if they wish to be free of carelessness and avoid unforeseeable difficulties”[11]. Indeed, “rightly, civil laws regarding human coexistence support the great law of Non occides, thou shalt not kill, which stands out in the timeless Ten Commandments, and is a holy precept of the Lord for everyone”[12].

Therefore, “through strict observance of the Highway Code, everyone should be committed to creating a ‘road culture’ based on widespread understanding of everyone’s rights and duties and behaviour consistent with its implications”[13].

Theological, ethical, legal and technological principles support the moralisation of road use. “Such principles are based on the respect due to human life, to the human person, which is inculcated from the very first pages of Holy Scripture. The human person is sacred: it is created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Genesis 1:26), and redeemed through the immeasurable price of Christ’s blood (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19), and has been introduced within the Church and the Communion of Saints, with the right and the duty of mutual, effective and sincere charity towards one’s brothers and sisters, according to the command of the Apostle Paul: ‘Love must be sincere ... Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves’ (Romans 12:9-10)”[14].

The moral responsibility of road users 

Obviously, careless motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians do not wish for the fatal consequences of an accident they cause, nor do they intend to harm the life and property of others. However, as these consequences are the product of a conscious action, we may rightly speak of moral responsibility.

“For a bad effect to be imputable it must be foreseeable and the agent must have the possibility of avoiding it, as in the case of manslaughter caused by a drunken driver”[15].When driving without the requisite conditions (for example, carelessly, or lacking the necessary capacities), one endangers life and goods, which presupposes infringement of moral law, due to the voluntary nature of the act. 

The moral responsibility of road users, both drivers and pedestrians, derives from the obligation to respect the Fifth and Seventh Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not steal”. The gravest sins against human life, deriving from the Fifth Commandment, are suicide and murder, but this commandment also requires respect for one’s own and other people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Careless absent-mindedness and negligence are acts that go against such commandments, and their degree of moral seriousness is measured in terms of how foreseeable, or to some extent intentional, they are. This means that, beyond the prohibition of directly killing, wounding or maiming, the Lord’s commandment forbids any act that might bring about such harm indirectly. The same goes for any damage caused to one’s neighbour’s goods. 

Moral law prohibits exposing anyone to grave danger, without serious grounds, as well as refusing assistance to a person in danger. In addition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and other’s safety on the road, at sea, or in the air”[16]. 

V. The Christian virtue of drivers and their “Ten Commandments”

Charity and serving one’s neighbour

Back in 1956 Pope Pius XII exhorted motorists: “Do not forget to respect other road users, be courteous and fair with other drivers and pedestrians and show them your obliging nature. Pride yourselves in being able to master an often natural impatience, in sometimes sacrificing a little of your sense of honour so that the courteousness that is a sign of true charity may prevail. Not only will you thus be able to avoid unpleasant accidents, but you will also help to make the car a more useful tool for yourselves and others that is capable of giving you a more genuine pleasure”[17]. 

This pontifical exhortation is echoed much later by the Belgian bishops who requested drivers to show “proof of courtesy and charity, by giving way with an understanding attitude to the awkward manoeuvres of learner drivers, paying attention to the elderly, children, cyclists and pedestrians and controlling themselves in the case of infractions committed by other people. Christian solidarity encourages all road users to exercise greater sensitivity, and to help the injured and the elderly, with particular care given to children and the disabled. And attention to the body should also be accompanied by spiritual assistance, which is no less urgent in many cases”18].

The exercise of charity by drivers has a dual dimension. The first regards looking after one’s vehicle, which means making sure that it is safe from a technical point of view, so as not to knowingly put one’s own or other people’s lives at risk. Taking care of one’s vehicle also means not expecting more from it than it is able to give.

The second dimension regards love of travellers whose lives should not be endangered by incorrect and careless manoeuvres that may cause harm to both passengers and pedestrians. The word “love” is used here to mean the many forms taken by genuine charity, namely respect, courtesy, consideration, etc. Good drivers courteously give way to pedestrians, are not offended when overtaken, allow someone who wishes to drive faster to pass and do not seek revenge.

The virtue of Prudence

This virtue has always been presented as one of the most necessary and important with regard to road traffic, as stated in the following text: “Another virtue that may not be overlooked is prudence. This calls for a suitable margin of precaution to deal with the unforeseen events that may occur at any time”[19]. Obviously, someone who allows their attention to be diverted whilst driving by a mobile phone or television is not behaving in accordance with prudence.

Still on the theme of prudence: “Road users should not drive too fast, and should calculate a wide margin of time, which is theoretically and psychologically necessary to brake. They should not overestimate their own abilities and quickness, and should constantly monitor their attention and conversation. In this regard, travelling companions should also be aware of their responsibility”[20].

The virtue of Justice

Undoubtedly, any human relationship should be governed by justice, even more so if life is at stake. Ever since it became interested in the traffic issue, the Church has referred to this virtue. In this regard, the following exhortation said: “Justice requires that drivers have a full and precise knowledge of the Highway Code. Indeed, those who use the roads should know the regulations and take them into account. Furthermore, drivers are obliged to demonstrate that they are in a suitable physical and psychological condition. If they are inebriated, they should never get behind the wheel of a car nor be authorised to do so. Like anyone else, they are obliged to be sober: in fact, alcohol creates a state of euphoria and reduces mental capacity to the extent of giving rise to fatal accidents”[21].

In respecting justice, “road users should provide reparations for any damage caused to others. If, according to their conscience, they are responsible for such damage, they should do their best until the victim, or close relatives, have been adequately compensated. If the harm is produced completely unintentionally, they should still feel obliged, in accordance with their conscience, to compensate the victim in compliance with the law, and in case of dispute and trial, they should respect the sentence”[22]. 

Furthermore, we should also encourage the families of victims to forgive their aggressors, as a sign, albeit difficult, of human and Christian maturity. In this process of forgiveness, it is useful, even necessary, to have spiritual support from a chaplain or pastoral agent and to celebrate an appropriate “Day of Pardon”[23].

The virtue of Hope

Hope is another virtue that should characterise drivers and travellers. Indeed, whoever undertakes a journey always sets out with the hope of arriving safely at their destination to carry out business, enjoy the countryside, visit famous or nostalgic places or return to the embrace of loved ones. For believers, the reason for such hope, whilst taking account of the problems and dangers of the road, lies in the certainty that, in our journey towards a goal, God accompanies us and keeps us from danger. Due to God’s company, and thanks to the collaboration of other people, we reach our destination.

Whilst God is the rock of Christian hope, Catholic devotion has found many intercessors before Him, His and our true friends, the Angels and Saints of God, to whom we entrust ourselves to surpass the dangers of the journey, by divine grace. We recall Saint Christopher (Christ’s Bearer), the presence of the Guardian Angel, and the Archangel Raphael who accompanied Tobias (Tobias 5:1 ff.), whom the Church regards as the protector of travellers. Also significant are the titles given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to travelling. Indeed, we invoke her as the Madonna of the Way, the Pilgrim Virgin, icon of the migrant woman[24].

Resorting to our Heavenly Intercessors should not make us forget the importance of the sign of the cross, to be made before setting out on a journey. With this sign we put ourselves directly under the protection of the Holy Trinity. Indeed, this directs us above all to the Father, as origin and destination. In this regard, we recall the words of the psalm: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalms 91 [90]:11).  

The sign of the cross thus entrusts us to our guide, Jesus Christ (cf. John 8:12). The Emmaus encounter (cf. Luke 24:13-35) reassures us that the Lord meets everyone along the road, lodges in the houses of those who invite him, travels with us and sits beside us.

Finally, the sign of the cross takes us back to “the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and gives Life”[25]. To those who call on him, he illuminates the mind and grants the gift of prudence to reach one’s destination. This is confirmed by the hymn, Veni Creator: “Ductore sic te praevio, vitemus omne noxium” (“If you are the one who guides us, we will avoid anything that might harm us”).

During a journey it is also beneficial to pray vocally, especially taking turns with our fellow travellers in reciting the prayers, as when reciting the Rosary[26] which, due to its rhythm and gentle repetition, does not distract the driver’s attention. This will help to feel immersed in the presence of God, to stay under his protection, and may also give rise to a desire for communal or liturgical celebration, if possible at “spiritually strategic” points along the road or railway (shrines, churches and chapels, including mobile ones).

Drivers’ “Ten Commandments” 

In any case, with the request for motorists to exercise virtue, we have drawn up a special “decalogue” for them, in analogy with the Lord’s Ten Commandments. These are stated here below, as indications, considering that they may also be formulated differently. 

VI. The Church’s mission                                             

Prophecy in a serious and alarming situation

Condemnation of serious and unjust situations, such as those caused by traffic, is part of the Church’s mission, and therefore realisation of its prophetic mission. The number of accidents in which pedestrians bear a grave responsibility is also worrying. The danger of certain car races, and illegal racing on city streets, which create serious risk, should also be condemned. 

It is quite common when accidents occur to blame the state of the road surface, a mechanical problem or environmental conditions. However, it should be underlined that the vast majority of car accidents are the result of serious and unwarranted carelessness – if not downright stupid and arrogant behaviour by drivers or pedestrians – and are therefore due to the human factor.

Road safety education

Faced with such a serious problem, both the Church and the state – each in their own area of responsibility – should go beyond condemnation and seek to raise overall public awareness regarding road safety and promote corresponding and appropriate education of drivers, as well as other travellers and pedestrians, with all possible means. 

In broader terms, it should be borne in mind that three elements are needed to carry out an action well: knowing what is to be done; having the desire to carry it out; and, finally, having sufficiently developed a series of reflexes and habits needed to carry it out precisely, accurately and swiftly. This also applies to road safety education, which should involve intelligence, willingness and habitual behaviour. 

In this regard, the Church should concern itself with raising awareness and promoting road safety education that takes account of the three elements mentioned: knowing what is to be done, in awareness of the danger, responsibility and obligations deriving from it for drivers and pedestrians; wishing to carry out the action with care and dedication; and, finally, developing sufficient reflexes and habits for precise action that does not entail risk or carelessness. 

To achieve such ends, in addition to family commitment, the educational potential of parishes, lay associations and ecclesial movements, especially for children and youngsters, should not be neglected. 

All this means calling attention to and encouraging what might be called “road ethics”, which is not different from ethics in general, but is its application.

Target audiences

An important matter is determining to whom such road safety education should be addressed, taking into account primarily those who are “actively” concerned. As traffic is an issue relating to the common good, the solution to the problem of training motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians involves a whole series of actors and social organisations, as well as individuals and the family, society in general and public authorities.

Individuals have an ethical obligation to respect traffic regulations and, therefore, they should have knowledge, gained from training aimed at deepening their sense of responsibility. The role of the family in road safety education is clear and vital, and is part of the experience that must be conveyed to children for a good general education. 

For its part, society has the obligation and the right to deal with this issue, because it concerns the common good. The term society is used in its wider and diversified meaning, as it encompasses, for example, schools, private companies, clubs, institutions and the press. The term society also means public authorities and civic administration, whose intervention in this field, as in any others, should be governed by the principle of subsidiarity[27]. 

Among those “passively” concerned by education, children come first. From a very early age they should be prepared to deal with traffic, an environment where they will spend part of their lives, for two fundamental reasons. 

Above all, because teaching children how to move in the midst of traffic means giving them the best means for protecting their own lives. Indeed, many children die on the roads each year, and many others, without losing their lives, are left disabled and physically and/or mentally marked for ever. Moreover, road safety education for children is the best way of guaranteeing a safer and more upright future generation.

Stress should also be placed on the irreplaceable role of school, which trains and informs. Above all at school children can achieve a lasting grasp of the ethical foundations of traffic problems and the reasons behind traffic regulations. School is where they learn that traffic issues are part of the wider field of the problems of human coexistence, of which the most urgent regards respect for other people. School teaches aware self-restraint in the use and enjoyment of common goods, and is where courtesy and nobility of spirit in human relations should be learnt. 

School is the institution to which both the family and the State entrust a very important part of their educational duties. This makes it one of the most powerful and irreplaceable instruments for comprehensive training of the person, and failure to fulfil this duty to provide road safety education would create a dangerous training gap that would be hard to fill.

An important road safety education opportunity is offered to driving licence candidates. This is a specific training phase, of obvious importance, especially if the person concerned has not received any previous road safety education. Driving schools have a great responsibility, as do the public authorities that are responsible for regulating driving tests.

Finally, the large number of road users need training, not only drivers, but also non-driver pedestrians, most of whom have not received adequate road safety education. As many of them are elderly people, they have slower reflexes to deal safely with traffic. Therefore, they are at greater risk of having an accident.

Appeal by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council 

As the aggiornamento of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council took place, preceding Church teaching resounded. Realizing the social changes of the 20th century and warning against pure individualism, the Council also drew attention to the traffic issue, in these terms: “Profound and rapid changes make it more necessary that no one ignoring the trend of events or drugged by laziness, content himself with a merely individualistic morality. It grows increasingly true that the obligations of justice and love are fulfilled only if each person, contributing to the common good, according to his own abilities and the needs of others, also promotes and assists the public and private institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions of human life… [However] many in various places even make light of social laws and precepts, and do not hesitate to resort to various frauds and deceptions in avoiding just taxes or other debts due to society. Others think little of certain norms of social life, for example those designed for the protection of health, or laws establishing speed limits; they do not even avert to the fact that by such indifference they imperil their own life and that of others”[28]. 

In seeking to respond in an adequate and pastoral fashion to the challenges of the contemporary world, we catch sight here of what is in some ways a vast and renewed field of apostolate, which requires duly trained and active pastoral agents. We are referring, for example, to the expression of pastoral care towards lorry drivers, who transport goods over long distances; car and bus drivers; tourists travelling by road or on trains; those responsible for traffic safety; and filling station attendants and motorway restaurant staff.

This is also a field of new evangelisation, so dear to the heart of Pope John Paul II. This sector also gives rise to an urgent appeal to seek new paths to bring the Gospel onto the routes of the world – road and rail networks – which are new Areopagi for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ the Saviour.  

VII. Pastoral Care of the Road

Faced with this urgent evangelising commitment in industrial and technologically advanced society, and also taking developing countries into account, the Church wishes to arouse a renewed awareness of obligations concerning the pastoral care of the road and moral responsibility regarding infringement of highway regulations, in order to prevent as far as possible the fatal consequences that derive from it. The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council requests bishops to have “a special concern for those among the faithful who, on account of their way of life, cannot sufficiently make use of the common and ordinary pastoral care of parish priests or a quite cut off from it”[29]. 

Evangelisation within the context of the road

Evangelisation within the context of the road addresses this special area, by facilitating everywhere the advance of the Joyful Proclamation and the administration of the sacraments, spiritual direction, counselling and the religious formation of motorists, road transport professionals, passengers and everyone who is in some way connected to roads and railways. 

Joint efforts should be made to raise awareness of the ethical requirements that derive from traffic and support initiatives and commitments aimed at promoting ethical and human values regarding roads and railways, so that mobility may be an element of communion amongst people. 

The Gospel message of love applied to the road issue should be spread within society, thereby strengthening travellers’ awareness of their moral obligations, as well as fostering a sense of responsibility in order to ensure compliance with legislation, thus avoiding offences and damages to third parties.

This pastoral care is addressed, in varying degrees, to everyone connected with roads and railways, including not only road users but also people who make their living in this sector. This pastoral care aims to come close to people in their specific environment, to help them coexist in peace, exercise mutual solidarity and unite them with God, thus contributing to bringing this sector more closely in line with the Christian message, and thereby make it more human.  

This entails rediscovering and putting into practice the virtues of road use, above all charity, prudence and justice. The media could be very useful in this task, especially radio which also provides good company to travellers. 

Catholic Radio Stations should play a more active role in this field, including through songs and non-superficial content, and by taking advantage of its personal training potential. 

Regarding such specific pastoral care, several initiatives already exist in various countries, some of which are truly creative and capable of achieving good concrete results. Such initiatives include chapels (fixed and mobile) along motorways, and periodic celebration of liturgies at major road hubs, motorway restaurants and lorry parks. Other initiatives regard retail outlets for religious items and Christian information centres for travellers and workers at railway and bus stations; meeting places in parishes, on motorways and at borders; and activities arranged by priests and religious and even lay pastoral agents. 

Also included are the spiritual care of road transport workers and their families; motorcycle clubs; rallies and similar gatherings, the blessing of vehicles, the European Car Free Day; national, diocesan and parochial celebrations of the Day of those injured on the roads, or of forgiveness; and collaboration with the pastoral care of tourism and of pilgrimages and other human mobility sectors, and with traffic police chaplains, driving schools and so on.

Appropriate response to these pastoral challenges also comes under the responsibility of Bishops’ Conferences and the corresponding Structures of Oriental Catholic Churches. Such an apostolate requires a minimum amount of organisation, or at least a national, diocesan/eparchial or local reference point that provides institutional references to the work of this incipient specific pastoral care. It might also be a appropriate to appoint a National Promoter for this pastoral care, and maybe to start, some Diocesan Delegate, entrusting the responsibility of the relative pastoral activity to a priest or a deacon, even if not on a full-time basis. 

In any case, this also requires a more missionary ecclesial awareness on the part of the pastoral structures linked to the territory, which is able to imagine and carry out a “pastoral care on the move”, a pastoral care also of mobility, with a view to achieving real and effective integrated pastoral care. Indeed, “the mobility of the pastoral charity of the Church should be corresponding to the mobility of the modern world”[30]. It would be a good idea to hold meetings at various levels of pastoral agents engaged in this specific apostolate of the road, in order to exchange information and experiences that would help to maximise benefits in this field of new evangelisation[31].

Mobility and its problems – a true sign of the times – which are characteristic of contemporary society throughout the world, today pose an important and pressing challenge for institutions and individuals, as well as for the Church which has a mission in this respect. Believers in the Son of God who became man to save humanity cannot remain indifferent before this new horizon that is opening up for evangelisation, including the integral promotion of each and every person in the name of Jesus Christ.

[1] Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Gypsies, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2005.

[2] Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Tourism, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2001.

[3] Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People,The Pilgrimage in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000,Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 1998.

[4] Pope Pius XII, Speech to the “Fédération Routière Internationale”: Speeches and Radio Messages of Pope Pius XII, vol. XVII (1955) p. 275.

[5]Cf. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Pontifical Message for World Day of Tourism 2005: L’Osservatore Romano,  21 July 2005, p. 5. 

[6] Cf. Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi, no. 15, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 2004.

[7]  Pope Paul VI, Speech on the moralisation of road use: Teachings of Pope Paul VI, vol. III (1965) p. 499 .

[8] In a Pastoral Exhortation on road safety, the Social Commission of the French Bishops’ Conference stated: “According to psychologists, drivers often use their vehicles in an irresponsible, and therefore dangerous, way. Cars, lorries and motorcycles thus become an expression of power, intolerence, display and sometimes even violence. Drivers may manifest feelings and attitudes that they do not adopt in normal life... Therefore, such lack of road safety constitutes a scandal that should give rise to reflection by all drivers of vehicles and urge them to change their behaviour”: French Bishops’ Conference, Sécurité routière: un défi évangélique, 24 October 2002: www.cef.fr/catho/actus/communiques/2002/commu20021029securiteroutiere.php.  

[9] Cf. General Assembly Plenary Meeting and expert Consultation on the Global Road Safety Crisis, 14 -15 April 2004.

[10] Pope Paul VI, Speech to participants at the “International dialogue for the moralisation of road use”: Teachings of Pope Paul VI, vol. III (1965) p. 500, cf. also Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Domini of Sunday, 20 November 2005: L’Osservatore Romano 21-22 November 2005, p. 6.

[11] Pope Pius XII, Speech to the “Fédération Routière Internationale”: Speeches and Radio Messages of Pope Pius XII, vol. 17 (1955) p. 275 and Belgian Bishops, pastoral Letter, Morale de la circulation routière, Malines, 15 January 1966 : Pastoralia, no. 8, 21 February 1966, sheet 1, back page, col. II.  

[12] Pope John XXIII, The respect of life as the foundation of effective road discipline: Speeches, Messages and Talks of Pope John XXIII, vol. III (1961) p. 383.

[13] Pope John Paul II, A road culture. Against the too many accidents: Teachings of Pope John Paul II, vol. X, 3 (1987) p. 22.

[14] Pope Paul VI, Speech to participants at the “International dialogue for the moralisation of road use”: Teachings of Pope Paul VI, vol. III (1965) p. 499.

[15 Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1737, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City 1999.

[16] Ibid. no. 2290.

[17] Pope Pius XII,To the members of the Rome Automobile Club: Speeches and Radio Messages of Pope Pius XII, vol. XVIII (1956) p. 89.

[18] Belgian Bishops: l. c., sheet 2, front page, col II.

[19] Spanish Episcopate, Pastoral Exhortation Espiritu cristiano y tráfico, no. 7: Ecclesia, no. 1481, 21 July 1968.

[20] Belgian Bishops: l.c. 

[21] Ibid., column I

[22] Ibid.

[23] Cf. “The Day of Pardon”: L’Osservatore Romano  13-14 March 2000, pp. 8-9. 

[24] Cf. Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People Instruction Erga Migrantes Caritas Christi, no. 15: 1.c.

[25] Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 485: 1. c.; Pope John Paul ii, Encyclical Letter Dominum et vivificantem, no. 66: AAS LXXVIII (1986) p. 896.

[26] Cf. Pope John Paul II, Homily at Rome’s “Leonardo da Vinci” Airport: Teachings of Pope John Paul II, vol. XIV, 2 (1991) p. 1351; cf. also Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People Il Rosario dei Migranti, Vatican Publishing House, Vatican City 2004.

[27] Cf. Pope Paul VI, To participants at the 7th Congress of the National Association of Welfare Bodies: Teachings of Pope Paul VI, vol. II (1964) p. 333.

[28] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 30: AAS LVIII (1966) pp. 1049-1050. 

[29] Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Pastoral Mission of Bishops in the Church Christus Dominus, 18: AAS LVIII (1966) p. 682.

[30] Pope Paul VI, Allocutio: aas lxv (1973) 591.

[31] Cf. Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, 1st European Meeting of National Directors of the Pastoral Care of the Road, Final document: www.vatican.va/roman_curia/ pontifical_councils/migrants/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20021209_road_leur_pressrelease_it.shtml: idem, 1st International Meeting on the Pastoral Care of Street Children, Final document: People on the Move XXXVII (2005) Suppl. 98, 97 and Idem,1st International Meeting on the Pastoral Care for the Liberation of Street Women, Final document: People on the Move XXXVIII (2006) Suppl. 102, 119.