Pope to Italian theologians:
‘Creative fidelity needed to confront modern challenges’
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| Pope Francis in the Sala Clementina. |
In remarks to the Italian Theological Association, Pope
Francis said theological reflection requires creative fidelity, communion, and
the eyes of faith in order to confront the challenges facing humanity today.
By Devin Watkins
Pope Francis told the Italian Theological Association (ATI)
on Friday the world needs a theology capable of helping Christians to proclaim
“the salvific Face of the Merciful God”.
The audience took place during the Octave of Christmas,
which, the Pope said, should provide the basis for “every Christian,
theological thought”.
Incarnation as basis for theology
“In these days,” he said, “we are immersed in the joyous
contemplation of the mystery of our God, who so involved and compromised
Himself in our poor humanity as to send His Son and to take on, in Him, our
fragile flesh.”
The Incarnation, he said, is the starting point for
theological reflection.
He said theology “will never exhaust the living Fount of
divine Love, which allowed Himself to be touched, looked upon, and savored in
the manger at Bethlehem.”
Theological reflection and the Second Vatican Council
The Association is celebrating 50 years since its founding,
and Pope Francis thanked the theologians for their research at the heart of the
Church in Italy.
The Holy Father invited them to “creative fidelity” in their
reflections, since the ATI was founded “in the spirit of service and communion
indicated by the Second Vatican Council”.
“I ask you to continue to be faithful and anchored in your
theological efforts to the Council and to the capacity shown there by the
Church to allow herself to be inspired by the perennial newness of the Gospel”.
‘Do theology together’
Pope Francis said the Association’s efforts to “do theology
together… already expresses an essential element of Truth, at whose service
theology is placed.”
“It is unthinkable, in fact, to serve the Truth of God – who
is Love and eternal communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and whose
salvific plan is precisely that of communion of humanity with Him and amongst
themselves – in an individualistic or particularistic manner, or, worse yet,
within a logic of competitiveness.”
The Pope said theological research is certainly personal but
done by “persons immersed in a theological community.”
‘Eyes of faith’
While being a believer does not require theological
training, Pope Francis said there is a “sense of the realities of faith, which
pertains to the entire people of God”.
These are the “eyes of faith”, he said.
“It is in this living faith of the holy, faithful people of
God which every theologian must be immersed and by which they must be
supported, transported, and embraced.”
Modern challenges for theology
He said the challenges facing theology today include the
ecological crisis, genetic modification of human DNA, social inequality, mass
migration, and theoretical and practical relativism.
A theology is needed to confront these modern realities,
Pope Francis said, which “is done by Christians who do not seek to speak only
amongst themselves but who are aware of being at the service of different
churches and of the Church”.
The Italian Theological Association, the Pope concluded, is
responding to these challenges.
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