Pope: Mariology helps foster
dialogue and fraternity among cultures
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| Pope Francis before the Salut Populi Romani icon in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome |
Pope Francis sends a message to the XXIV public session of
the Pontifical Academies where the annual Award was presented to Dr. Carme
López Calderón and to the Reverend Ionuț-Cătălin Blidar for their commitment to
theological research.
By Vatican News
As an introduction to his message, Pope Francis described
the Pontifical Academies as places where knowledge becomes
service, because - he noted - without knowledge that comes from collaboration
and leads to cooperation there is no genuine and integral human development.
An Academy, he said, is a model of synodality and a force
for evangelization.
The Pope’s message was addressed to participants in the XXIV
Public Session of the seven Pontifical Academies, whose Coordinating Council is
presided over by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.
This year’s edition, on the theme “Mary, way to peace among
cultures”, was organized by the Pontifical International Marian Academy, which
is marking the 60th anniversary of its establishment by Pope Saint John XXIII,
on 8 December 1959.
Mary, a teacher of humanity
The Pope reflected on the Marian theme chosen for the
edition and reflected briefly on how different popes expressed veneration for
Our Lady.
He recalled the dramatic experience of the two world wars
that led Pope Pius XII to uphold Mary as a beacon of peace for a frightened
humanity.
The Second Vatican Council, he continued, pointed to her as
a “teacher of humanity” and a model for the Church in its mission to serve the
“deepest aspirations of the human heart”.
Victory of hope over anguish
Pope Saint Paul VI, the Holy Father said, highlighted the
bond between the Blessed Virgin and the faithful and said she offers
contemporary humanity, oppressed by anguish and loneliness, a serene and
reassuring vision: the victory of hope over anguish, of peace over uneasiness.
“She represents the victory of hope over anguish, of
communion over loneliness, of peace over upheaval, of joy and beauty over
tedium and nausea, of eternal perspectives over temporal ones, of life over
death”, he said.
Bringing Mary into the crucial issues of our time
Pope Saint John Paul II, the Pope continued, was firm in his
desire that Mariology be acknowledged and upheld in theological formation and
in dialogue so it could play its due role in the crucial questions of our time.
Mariology and theology of the Word
Finally, the Pope mentioned the many instances in which Pope
Benedict XVI urged scholars to investigate the relationship between Mariology
and theology of the Word. In fact, he said, the Pontifical Marian Academy has
always accompanied the universal Magisterium of the Church with Mariological
input and contribution.
“These commitments are a clear testimony of how Mariology is
a necessary presence for dialogue between cultures, and is capable of
nourishing fraternity and peace,” he said.
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