CARF Foundation

20 July, 20

Expert Articles

A courageous diagnosis

When you reach a certain age, there is a procedure that becomes more and more unavoidable, but that is usually postponed "for when you have time". I am referring to medical check-ups. As long as the body holds out, more or less limping, you go ahead.

Theology and secularization in Spain

If there is a minor setback, such as the flu or a cold, we try to get over it as best we can, with a glass of warm milk and symptomatic treatment.

But when pains appear here and there, and the energy of the twenties is missing, it is necessary to break the inertia, to charge oneself with courage and spend a few days to have a check-up. And one of the hardest moments, when you have to be ready for anything, is when you receive the report. physician.

The study of the pastoral instruction "Theology and Secularization in Spain," approved by the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, generates a tension analogous to that produced by the reading of the detailed medical report that follows an exhaustive review of the state of health. It generates a certain startle on confirming on paper what one already felt was happening, but immediately the peace of mind to know that the ailments that afflict us are precisely localized and can be treated. In the end, it is a respite.

Storms and winds are not hidden to any attentive observer. doctrinal that the last decades since the end of the Second Vatican Council have shaken thinking and customs, to the point of shaking the foundations of the lovereason and human life. Ideological currents and fashions of thought which have raised waves capable of shattering the mental and vital schemes of many Christians.

In his homily prior to the last conclave, the then Cardinal Josef Ratzinger warned of the dangers posed by the "dictatorship of relativism that recognizes nothing that is definitive and leaves as the ultimate measure only the self and its desires."

However, in the face of this tyranny that ends up enslaving the human being, Christians have a clear reference in Jesus Christ: the Son of God, the true man.

 

PopeJohnXXIIIAnuncioVatican II CARF 1

On January 25, 1959, Pope St. John XXIII announced in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls before some 20 Cardinals gathered in Consistory the convocation of the First Vatican Council II.

Christians Today

In view of the great panorama of work that opens up for the Church today's world, jaded by deception and hungry for the only thing that can fulfill the desires of happinessThis document is located in the Bible, which is none other than the only God who has manifested Himself to us in Jesus Christ.

It was born, therefore, in a context of hope and an optimistic and joyful vision for the future. The intention of the bishops is "to promote the full proclamation of the Gospel in the midst of a society that is tempted to silently apostatize from God".

If nothing else, this statement demands respect and attention.

Because in a world like ours, where throwaway convictions abound, we can only those who deserve real interest are those who that, with a thinking solid and bold. Those full of inner energy, refuse to let themselves be swept away by the currents prevailing at any given time.

And of that they offer an excellent testimony the Spanish bishops, aware that an adult faith is not one that allows itself to be carried away by the waves of fashion and media temptations, but rather one that is rooted in Jesus Christ and obtains from there all the energies it needs to maintain its vitality.

Theology in Spain

The etiology of the most notable fractures that can be diagnosed at the origin of the current secularization are well detected:

  • A rationalist conception of the faith and Revelation,
  • An immanentist humanism applied to Jesus Christ,
  • A purely sociological interpretation of the Church,
  • A relativistic subjectivism that imposes its tyranny in the field of morality.

A detailed analysis of the issues and assessment of the various proposals would require a lengthy analysis.

In any case, anyone who is familiar with the theological Spanish will be able to perceive that the document does not invent rag figures to be beaten. Rather, it ponderously exposes real theological proposals that disfigure the faith professed by the Church and have had serious and grave consequences, but without passing judgment on the concrete persons from whom they originate.

It offers, instead, an excellent scheme of great usefulness pastoral. It lists, in fact, the main lines along which the Christian faith about Jesus Christ, Son of God, moves. God living and fullness of Revelation; of the Church, sacramento of Christ; and of the life morale as life in Christ. With particular attention to issues related to the dignity of the person, to the dignity of sexuality and human life, and to the responsibility of the faithful in public and political activity.

Is the diagnosis made in this document of the situation of theology in Spain, and its influence on the life of the Church, annoying or hurtful for a theologian? Church and in our society?

It is as upsetting as it is for cancer cells to have an accurate medical opinion made, or as soothing for healthy cells to have a path to healing opened up for the person.

A courageous document

That does not crumple in the face of fears of what will be said by those who build a culture in which there is no room for truth, but only for occasional opinions.

It is born of the certainty that "the proclamation of the Gospel will be mediocre as long as teachings that damage the unity and integrity of the faith, the communion of the Church, and project doubts and ambiguities regarding the Christian life survive and are propagated." And it arises also from the conviction that "the new evangelization cannot be carried out without the help of a healthy and deep theology, in which the spirit of faith and ecclesial belonging shine forth."

A few years ago, the spontaneous reaction of millions of truly moved people who, upon hearing the news of the passing of John Paul IIThe fact that many of those who came to pray at the Vatican or in any neighborhood church was more than eloquent. As Benedict XVI pointed out a few days later, in the mass the beginning of his pontificate, the experience of his pontificate shows that the Church is alive and young.

That vitality and youthfulness of the Church was manifested soon after, with evidence in the eyes of all, even the most skeptical, at World Youth Day. And this torrent of youthful creativity still has much to contribute to the construction of the society of the future.

The instruction pastoral "Theology and secularization in Spain." is at the service of this great task of the Church for the benefit of the whole of humanity. humanity. Our bishops can well say with San Pablo that "not that we pretend to dominate your faith, but we contribute to your joy, because you stand firm in the faith (2 Cor 1:24)."

Mr. Francisco Varo Pineda
Research Director
University of Navarra
Faculty of Theology
Professor of Sacred Scripture

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