Iglesia Descalza

An Attempt to Define Sustainability

2012-01-27T17:55:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
1/27/2012

There is a conflict today between different understandings of sustainability. The definition in the UN's Brundtland Report (1987) is classic: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and aspirations." This concept is correct but it has two limitations: it's anthropocentric (it only considers the human being) and it says nothing about the community of life (the other living things that also need a sustainable biosphere). I'm going to try to make a formulation that is as inclusive as possible:

Sustainability is any action to maintain the energy, informational, physical-chemical conditions that make all beings sustainable, especially the living Earth, the community of life and human life, seeking their continuity, and also meeting the needs of the present generation and future generations, so that natural capital is maintained and its capacity for regeneration, reproduction and eco-evolution is enriched.

Let us quickly explain the terms of this holistic vision:

Making all the necessary conditions for the generation of beings sustainable: the latter only exist from the set of energy, physical, chemical and informational elements that, combined, give rise to everything.

Making all beings sustainable: here we're talking about radically overcoming anthropocentrism. All beings emerge from the evolutionary process and enjoy intrinsic value, regardless of human use.

Making the living Earth sustainable especially: the Earth is more than a "thing" (res extensa), without intelligence, or a mere means of production. She doesn't contain life, but is alive, self-regulating; she regenerates and evolves. If we do not guarantee the sustainability of the living Earth, called Gaia, we remove the basis for all other forms of sustainability.

Making the community of life sustainable too: the environment doesn't exist as something secondary or peripheral. We don't exist; we coexist and we are all interdependent. All living things carry the same basic genetic alphabet. We form the web of life, including microorganisms. This web creates biomass and biodiversity and is necessary for the survival of life on this planet.

Making human life sustainable: We are a unique link in the web of life, the most complex being of our solar system and the advanced tip of the evolutionary process known to us, as we are bearers of consciousness, sensitivity and intelligence. We feel we are called to care for and save Mother Earth, to ensure the continuity of civilization and to monitor our destructive capacity.

Make the continuity of the evolutionary process sustainable: Beings are preserved and supported by the background energy or the original source of all being. The universe has an end in itself, simply because it exists, continues to expand and create itself.

Making attention to human needs sustainable: We do it through rational and careful use of goods and services that the cosmos and the Earth offer us and without which we would succumb.

Making our generation and those that follow ours sustainable: The Earth is sufficient for each generation as long as it establishes a relationship of synergy and cooperation with her and distributes goods and services fairly. The use of these goods should be governed by generational solidarity. Future generations have the right to inherit a conserved Earth and nature.

Sustainability is measured by the ability to preserve natural capital, allowing it to remake itself and, even through human genius, be enriched for future generations. This expanded concept that integrates sustainability must serve as a criterion to evaluate how far we have progressed or not along the path of sustainability and should also serve as an inspiration or idea-generator to make sustainability a reality in different fields of human activity. Without this, sustainability is pure rhetoric without fruits.

The Healer

2012-01-26T15:11:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
1/25/2012

Mark 1:21-28

According to Mark, Jesus' first public act was the healing of a man possessed by an evil spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum. It's a breathtaking scene, one told so that, from the beginning, the readers discover the healing and liberating force of Jesus.

It's the sabbath and the people are gathered in the synagogue to listen to the commentary on the Law explained by the scribes. For the first time, Jesus will proclaim the Good News of God precisely in the place where the religious traditions of Israel are taught to the people officially.

The people are surprised when they hear Him. They have the impression that up until now they had been listening to old news, spoken without authority. Jesus is different. He doesn't repeat what He has heard from others. He speaks with authority. He proclaims a Good God freely and fearlessly.

Suddenly a man "starts to scream 'Have you come to destroy us?'." Listening to Jesus' message, he feels threatened. His religious world is crumbling. We are told that he is possessed by an "evil spirit", hostile to God. What strange forces keep him from continuing to listen to Jesus? What harmful and perverse experiences are blocking his path to the Good God that He is proclaiming?

Jesus doesn't flinch. He sees the poor man oppressed by evil and cries out "Be quiet and come out of him!" He orders those evil voices that don't let him encounter God or himself to be still so that he can regain the silence that heals the deepest part of human beings.

The narrator describes the healing in a dramatic way. In one last effort to destroy him, the spirit "convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him." Jesus has managed to liberate the man from his inner violence. He has put an end to the darkness and fear of God. From now on, he will be able to hear the Good News of Jesus.

Many people have false images of God inside them that make them live without dignity or truth. They don't feel Him to be a friendly presence who invites them to live creatively, but a menacing shadow that controls their existence. Jesus always begins to heal by freeing people from an oppressor God.

His words encourage trust and dispel fear. His parables draw people to loving God, not to blind submission to the Law. His presence makes freedom grow, not enslavements; He stirs up love for life, not resentment. Jesus heals because He teaches us to live only out of goodness, forgiveness and a love that excludes nobody. He heals because He frees us from the power of things, self-deception and idolatry of the ego.

Saint Macrina's influence on her brother Saint Basil

2012-01-26T12:09:00.003-05:00

By Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
1/13/2012

NOTE: These current columns by Sr. Teresa, which we will be gradually translating into English, are extracts from her most recent book, published in Catalan in 2011 by the Abadía de Montserrat, Ser persona, avui: estudi del concepte de ‘persona’ en la teologia trinitària clàssica i de la seva relació amb la noció moderna de llibertat ["Being a person today: a study in the concept of 'person' in classic Trinitarian theology and its relationship to the modern notion of freedom"].

At the end of this study of the Trinitarian theology of Basil, I will go into some aspects of life relevant to this issue such as the influence of Saint Macrina the Younger (327-379). In recent years there have been several studies that examine the extent to which the conversion of Basil and his love for the Scriptures were the result of the example and influence of his older sister, Macrina, founder of the dual monastery (women and men) of Annisa and abbess of the same until her death, and how we must recognize the responsibility of St. Macrina for the monastic rule called the Rule of St. Basil.

Saint Macrina was the oldest of what was perhaps the most notable family in the history of Christianity. Her paternal grandmother was Saint Macrina the Elder, disciple of the disciples of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, evangelist of Cappadocia, whose master was the great Origen. Her parents were Saint Basil of Pontus and Saint Emmelia of Caesarea, and among her siblings we find Saint Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, Naucratis the ascetic, Saint Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, and the monk Peter, bishop of Sebaste. The parents of this family belonged to the first generation of Christians in the Constantine era, but Macrina the Younger was raised by her grandmother Macrina the Elder, who still belonged to the generation of pre-Constantinian Christians, a generation of martyrs and confessors, accustomed to suffering persecution as members of an illegal religion.

When Macrina the Younger was twelve years old she was engaged to a young lawyer working in the office of her father, but her intended died soon after. Surprising and even scandalizing her family, Macrina then flatly refused to consider any other proposal of marriage and decided to devote herself to God as a virgin widow, starting in the family home a life dedicated to prayer, study of the Scriptures, and works of charity.

From age ten to seventeen, Basil lived in the family home with his ascetic sister, who was only two years older than him. From seventeen to twenty-seven, Basil studied in Caesarea, Constantinople and Athens. During these ten years, the family home, under the guidance and inspiration of Macrina, gradually transformed itself into one of the earliest Christian monasteries that - unlike the groups of ascetics in the Thebaid desert - included women, men and children and was structured as a real alternative society, as a steady prophetic sign in the world, in full communion with the bishop and the local Church. Macrina's monastery held properties and administered them for the benefit of the poor. It also had animals and craft workshops. Everyone took part in the manual labor and functions that were necessary for the maintenance of the house. They lived with simplicity and order and a life of faith structured around the recitation of psalms, which they chanted together several times a day.

Photo: Icon of St. Macrina with her brothers St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa and Peter, bishop of Sebaste.

The Misa Campesina at 30

2012-01-25T17:57:00.004-05:00

by Marta Leonor González (English translation by Rebel Girl)
La Prensa
1/25/2012

On his 87th birthday, the poet Ernesto Cardenal travels to Solentiname to reinaugurate the community he founded. The Misa Campesina was born there 30 years ago.

Ernesto Cardenal has called his friends together to celebrate one more year of life, the reconstruction of the church at Solentiname and the celebration of the Misa Campesina.

The journey is long, 290 kilometers from Managua to San Carlos, and then 30 kilometers by boat across Lake Cocibolca in "El Solentiname" where, in addition to Cardenal, Sergio Ramírez, novelist and winner of the Premio Alfaguara, Vidaluz Meneses, poet and president of the Nicaraguan Writers Center and winner of the Premio Neustadt, and other intellectuals and friends of the poet who worked with him in the 1980s in the Ministry of Culture when he was minister, are sailing too.

There are other guests, those who live abroad (diplomats, rectors and academics) who are coming with admiration to share the priest's 87th birthday and attend the reinauguration of Nuestra Señora de Solentiname Church.

In the other boat, brothers Carlos and Luis Mejía Godoy are coming to sing the Misa Campesina in the place where Carlos's verses were born 30 years ago.

"El Solentiname" is a boat that has been rebuilt three times, says Elvis, the sailor who is taking the guests through the Solentiname archipelago to Mancarrón Island where Cardenal in 1959, four years after being ordained a priest in Managua, bought some property from Julio Centeno, father of Nicaragua's attorney general, lawyer Julio Centeno Gómez, and poet Pablo Centeno Gómez.

On these lands, he founded the Christian -- almost monastic -- community of Solentiname under orders from his mentor and spiritual guide Thomas Merton when he was in the Trappist community, studying for the priesthood at the monastery of Gethsemane in Kentucky.

In this place, the poet wrote the famous book The Gospel in Solentiname, fruit of the community's reflections and where he takes up the ideas of liberation theology which attempts to respond to the situation of Christians in Latin America and which raises the question of how to be a Christian on an oppressed continent.

Cardenal brought these ideas to the peasants on the island. They were related to the preferential option for the poor, to how Christian salvation can't happen without economic, political, social and ideological liberation and the elimination of exploitation, the lack of opportunities and injustice of this world -- they would be his ideas that he would mix with the gospel.

The poet and priest also promoted poetry in the community and his workshops among the peasants, the development of handicrafts in balsa wood and primitivist painting are world famous today.

The Gospel

Out of his work as the community's guide would come The Gospel in Solentiname, of which Cardenal says in the second book that "it isn't surprising that the comments of the peasants are usually more profound than those of many theologians but simple as the Gospel itself. The Gospel or "Good News" (good news to the poor) was written for them, and by people like them."

The guests arrive at the country church with its tiled roof and earthen floor. It's a feast day in the town. The musicians have settled in -- Carlos with his accordeon, Luis with his guitar, Los de Palacagüina with their instruments and among revelry, they begin the ceremony with the entrance hymn:

Vos sos el Dios de los pobres
el Dios humano y sencillo
el Dios que suda en la calle
el Dios de rostro curtido
por eso es que te hablo yo
así como habla mi pueblo
porque sos el Dios obrero
el Cristo trabajador...

You are the God of the poor
the human and simple God
the God who sweats in the street
The God with a tanned face
This is why I speak to you
as my people speak
Because you are God the Worker,
the laboring Christ...

Here is Fernando Cardenal, the Jesuit priest who's the brother of the birthday boy. He takes the floor and talks about the importance of the date. "The Misa Campesina was born here and sung by Carlos 30 years ago, the hymn of the poor but later, the hymn of a people that struggled."

"It's also a symbol of change and of the God who is present in all of us, in the poor, the song of the oppressed that supports liberation theology and for which we have gathered 30 years later."

The introduction is brief and one can see emotion in the faces of the guests. The poet Ernesto presides at the Mass and he reads the first reading, in which the commitment to the poor is reiterated. Then Luz Marina Acosta, his assistant since July 1979, follows with another Biblical reading.

Acosta is the one responsible for staging the Misa Campesina again and gathering the priest's old friends on the day of his birth, January 20th, who sang the mañanitas to him at breakfast.

"This is a special and never to be repeated occasion, singing the Mass again where it was born and where the people know what the poet Cardenal has done," says Acosta, who has been the writer's right hand woman for 33 years.

The Mass ends after Communion and the songs that make it unique. The people embrace each other, while emotion seizes those who remember dreams and lives lost in the Revolution, amid the music: "No hay cosa más linda que mirar a un pueblo reunido... que lucha cuando quiere mejorar porque está decidido..." ["Nothing is more beautiful than to see a people gathered...who fight when they want to get ahead because they are determined..."]

Pbotos: 1) Ernesto Cardenal, assisted by his brother Fernando Cardenal, SJ, celebrate Mass. 2) Carlos and Luis Mejia Godoy, composers of the "Misa Campesina Nicaragüense". Note: If you click on the newspaper website link above for the original article in Spanish, there is also a wonderful video of the occasion.

"My God, where are you? You don't hear me on a remedy for Your poor": a tribute to Gustavo Gutiérrez

2012-01-25T11:50:00.002-05:00

by José Ignacio González Faus (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Periodista Digital
1/15/2012

Without much ado I wish, in this tribute, to point out four features that could summarize the theological contribution of Gustavo Gutiérrez.

1. There is no salvation without working for liberation

The first feature is that he raised from the beginning the problem of the relationship between historical liberation and ultra-historical salvation.

A disfigured Christianity had reduced faith to hope in the afterlife, where what was nearmost in our history only served to earn or buy the ticket to what was beyond. Such Christianity clashed with Gustavo's main question: "How do you speak of a father God to someone who isn't even a man?", making the evangelization of the poor that is distinctive of the mission of Jesus (Mt 11:5; Lk 4:18) almost impossible. Moreover, it disfigured and devalued the Resurrection of Jesus whose teaching is that eschatological salvation must go on being gestated and anticipated in history now.

From this issue that Gustavo raised in his first A Theology of Liberation then flowed the theme so widespread in a Latin America ravaged by injustice: "Without insurrection there's no resurrection."

2. From "the power of the poor in history" to "the poor of Jesus Christ"

The first expression is the title of another of the early works of Gustavo. The finding of a historical force of the poor could be a fact of the situation of those times. But it is evident that the historical force vanished shortly after because of the reaction of the empire of the Money God. Gustavo then went on to speak of "the poor of Jesus Christ" in the title of his splendid work (perhaps the better one) on Bartolome de Las Casas. The theological strength of the poor compensated for their loss of historical power.

It highlighted another of the most crucial arguments of liberation theology: that the problem of the poor and the elimination of poverty is not merely an ethical problem; it is primarily a Christological issue and therefore also a theological issue on which we stake God's truth or idolatry. So later when, taking advantage of the fall of the East, the tricky question "what's left of liberation theology?" was raised, Bishop Casaldáliga could answer simply that the poor and the God of the poor are left. That is, everything is left.

On this point, perhaps Guaman Poma's influence on some of Gustavo's formulations will be studied someday. I suspect that the study would be worthwhile. I merely suggest a comparison between two "church" songs: a) the final hymn of the Salvadoran Mass says, “cuando el pobre crea en el pobre… construiremos la fraternidad” ("when the poor believe in the poor ... we will build fraternity") and "podremos cantar libertad" ("we will be able to sing freedom"), etc. b) However, another well-known song of the era ("Pequeñas aclaraciones" - "Small clarifications") starts from a similar presupposition ("cuando el pobre nada tiene y aún reparte, cuando un hombre pasa sed y agua nos da…" -- "when the poor person has nothing and still gives, when a man is thirsty and give us water..."), but doesn't deduce any historical forecast from this, rather a theological judgment -- it doesn't say that we will then build anything but “va Dios mismo en nuestro mismo caminar” ("God Himself goes along in our steps"). With this, again, the theology and praxis of liberation become a spiritual experience.

That is the theological strength of the poor. Since we have cited Las Casas, let's complete it by saying that the great Dominican is not only an example for his prophetic defense of the rights of the oppressed (and more so if they are oppressed in the name of God), but also for his concept of evangelism (that one really was "new") -- because "Christ only gave the apostles license and authority to preach the gospel to those who wanted to hear it, but not to force or inflict any discomfort or displeasure on those who didn't want to listen." And, in turn, "the Church has no more power on earth than what Christ had."

3. "Speaking of God from the suffering of the innocent"

This theological strength of the poor is displayed in the title of what is perhaps Gustavo's best-known work ["On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent"]. It is a brief commentary on the Book of Job, which evokes the splendid verse of César Vallejo (“Dios mío estoy llorando el ser que vivo” -- "My God, I cry for the being that I am"), a great Peruvian poet often quoted in this work. Gustavo highlights how any theology that seeks to talk and speculate about God apart from the pain of this world (especially unjust pain) becomes comparable in language to the friends of Job, "inopportune consolers" and irreproachable "orthodox" worshippers of a false god, whom they think they can defend at the expense of their friend's suffering.

But with this they do nothing but offend God, speaking falsely of Him and changing their alleged orthodoxy into blasphemy, even being disowned by God at the end of the book. On the other hand, Job, protesting the injustice committed against him, is a more truthful witness of God than all who "get used" to that injustice. That injustice will help him get out of himself and his grief at the tragedy of the unjust suffering in the world, to understand that there is nothing that justifies the unjust suffering of a human being.

I think such a serious warning has rarely been given delicately and in good words to all this merely academic theology that is trying to be revive itself among us due to the involution of the Church and that, under the guise of orthodoxy, is developing an idolatry or reflection on a false god. And it raises the most crucial of its questions for the Church: the identity of God, so often distorted by believers and the cause (according to Vatican II) of much of modern atheism.

Latin American theologians have often said that to know Jesus is to follow Jesus. And speaking of God implies "practicing God" in Gustavo's words. Job is brought to an experience of gratuity that leaves him baffled by his own pain, but moves him prophetically to work against all the world's pain. Theology and holiness (like justice and peace) kiss, according to Gustavo.

4. Faithfulness to the Church

Unfortunately, as one would expect, Gustavo was reviled and persecuted by an increasingly blind Roman Curia aimed at expressing confirmation of its blindness throughout the worldwide Church. He hasn't been the only one in our day or our past -- keeping to the Spanish speaking arena, do we have to evoke the saints and doctors of the Church, such as John of Avila, Teresa of Avila, Luis de Granada or Archbishop Carranza, some of whose works were placed on the Index of prohibited books and who endured difficulties with the Inquisition?

But what deserves to be highlighted here is Gustavo's fidelity and exemplary reaction, in the midst of absurd pain that he alone knew. I have evoked other times, such as in Madrid, at a conference on theology when, in response to capcious questions that sought to pose a choice between the Church and the poor, Gustavo refused to accept the dilemma and confessed that he loved this sinful church "with a love that dates before the war."

A good point of reference for many today who have shared his same crucified fate. And good history lesson on the fecundity of the crucified following of Jesus of Nazareth, that confirms what happened to Lagrange, Rahner, Congar, de Lubac ... and other theological martyrs of the pre-Vatican II era, vindicated later during the Council.

The ups and downs and twists and turns of this fidelity (which also required the cunning of serpents without losing the simplicity of doves) are not to be evoked here and are sufficiently known. Just a word of gratitude for the sons of Saint Dominic who saved this little gem for the Church and allowed Gustavo to become a brother of his beloved Bartolomé de Las Casas.

"Dom Fragoso": New film tells the story of a bishop devoted to Brazil's rural poor

2012-01-23T17:02:00.003-05:00

by Ana Cecília Soares (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Diario do Nordeste
1/19/2012

The life of Dom Fragoso (1920-2006) has been made into a documentary through the eyes of Francis Vale.

A simple man, educated and with a big heart, these are some of the qualities for which Dom Antonio Batista de Fragoso (1920-2006) was known. The priest, who was bishop of the Diocese of Crateús (Ceará, Brazil) for 34 years, from 1964 to 1998, supported the principles of liberation theology and stood out for his pastoral work among the poorest and rural workers.

During the military dictatorship, he fought courageously against its atrocities, denouncing abroad the crimes committed against those who opposed the political regime and because of that, often being threatened with prison or branded by the military as "persona non grata."

Dom Fragoso gained international fame for his pioneering work in establishing a new syle of Church that served as a model in Latin America. He broke with the rigid hierarchical Catholic structure that differentiated between bishops and faithful. After he left the Diocese of Crateús in the late 1990s, he retired and went to live with his family in João Pessoa (PB).

The film

The journey of struggle, linked to the pastoral mission of Dom Fragoso has become a documentary, produced by filmmaker Francis Vale. The film was screened for the first time in November 2011 in Crateús. A second version, with subtitles in Spanish, English, Portuguese and Italian is due to come out in March of this year.

Francis Vale has long been interested in the story of this priest. According to the filmmaker, his family is from Crateús and when he was on vacation from law school he would go to visit his parents, saying he had contact with some people who lived closely with the cleric. "Dom Fragoso's devotion to popular causes was his greatest legacy. There weren't any rural unions; it was the priest who helped to create them. Today, we find rural workers' organizations in all the municipalities of Ceará, most of them well structured and productive," he says.

To Francis Vale, Dom Fragoso was a man who was bold for his time, developing an organized project of great humanitarian import. "He confronted the military dictatorship to defend his cause. In the documentary, Dom Hélder Câmara, then archbishop of Olinda and Recife, tells about how he acted in defense of the priest when he knew he was going to be arrested. I think that's why they backed off and Dom Fragoso wasn't jailed," says Francis.

The 71-minute long documentary, which bears the name of the priest, presents the struggle of Dom Fragoso, based on testimonies of people who worked with him, images of the Ceará interior, and his own recollections. The latter were filmed shortly before his death in August 2006.

Francis Vale explains that the goal of the documentary is to portray the example of Dom Fragoso. "Just from conversing with him, we had more than two hours worth of taped material. The film also features photos, documents, newspapers and pictures of him." As far as showing "Dom Fragroso", he notes that it's not going to circulate in the movie theatres. "The big cinemas are very closed. The film is being made into a DVD. The first version can be bought for R$ 20 from the Instituto Dom Fragoso - (88) 9679.7467 -in Crateús. The documentary is aimed at film clubs, communities, settlements, ultimately, wherever the people are," he concludes.

Trailer for "Dom Fragoso"

MORE INFORMATION:

Antônio Batista Fragoso - Wikipedia
Francis Vale: “Dom Fragoso, um exemplo de dedicação ao povo”, Vermelho, 8/2/2011
"Dom fragoso: um profeta em tensão entre o profetismo e as estruturas institucionais de igreja", por Frei Hugo Fragoso, OFM, Blog do Júnior Bonfim, 12/10/2011
Profeta dos Pobres -- Dom Fragoso nos fala (3 partes o PDF):
- Parte 1
- Parte 2
- Parte 3

José Comblin books online

2012-01-23T16:09:00.004-05:00

For those who read Portuguese and are interested in the work of the late Brazilian theologian José Comblin, we're pleased to let you know that Kairós-Nós também Somos Igreja has made several of his out-of-print titles available in PDF on a file sharing site. They include:

Everything started in Greece. Will it all end in Greece?

2012-01-23T14:00:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
1/20/2012

Our Western civilization, now globalized, has its historical origins in Greece in the 6th century BC. The world of myth and religion, which had been the organizing axis of society, collapsed. To bring order in that critical moment, one of the greatest intellectual creations of mankind took place over a span of just over 50 years. The era of critical reason emerged, which was expressed through philosophy, democracy, theater, poetry and aesthetics. Some paradigmatic figures were Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the Sophists, who developed the architecture of knowledge underlying our paradigm of civilization, Pericles, a ruler on the front of democracy, Phidias, in elegant aesthetics, the great dramatists such as Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus, the Olympic Games and other cultural events not included here.

The new paradigm is characterized by the predominance of reason that leaves behind the perception of the whole, the sense of the unity of reality that characterized the so-called pre-Socratic thinkers, the bearers of original thought. At that moment, the famous dualisms emerge: world-God, man-nature, reason-sensitivity, theory-practice. Reason created metaphysics which, in Heidegger's understanding, makes everything an object and sets itself as a holder of power over that object. The human being stops feeling part of nature to stand against it and submit it to his will.

That paradigm reached its fullest expression a thousand years later, in the 16th century, with the founders of the modern paradigm, Descartes, Newton, Bacon and others. With them the mechanistic and dualistic world view was consecrated -- nature on the one hand, and the human being on the other, against and above it as its "master and owner" (Descartes), the crown of creation according to which everything exists. The ideal of unlimited progress was developed, which means the domination of nature, on the assumption that progress could go on infinitely into the future. In recent decades the greed of accumulation has transformed everything into a commodity to be traded and consumed. We have forgotten that the goods and services of nature are for everyone and can not be appropriated for some only.

After four centuries of this metaphysics, i.e. this way of being and seeing, being in effect, we are finding that nature has had to pay a high price for this model of growth/development. Now we are reaching the limits of its possibilities. The scientific-technical civilization has reached a point where it could cause its own end, deeply degrade nature, eliminate much of the life-system and eventually eradicate the human species. It would be the fulfillment of an eco-social Armageddon.
It all started in Greece millenia ago. And now it seems like everything will end in Greece, one of the first victims of the economic horror, whose bankers, to save their profits, have led an entire society to despair. It has come to Ireland, Portugal, Italy, and might extend to Spain and France, and perhaps to the entire world system.

We are witnessing the death throes of a millennial paradigm that is apparently coming to the end of its historical course. It might take dozens of years yet, like a dying man who resists, but the end is predictable. With its internal resources, it cannot reproduce itself. We have to find another kind of relationship with nature, another way to produce and consume, developing a general sense of dependence upon the community of life and collective responsibility for our common future. By not starting this conversion, we are sentencing ourselves to extinction. Either we transform or we will disappear.

I endorse the words of the economist and thinker Celso Furtado: "People of my generation have shown that it is within the scope of human ingenuity to lead humanity to suicide. I hope the new generation will show that it is also within the reach of the human being to open the access road to a world where compassion, happiness, beauty and solidarity prevail." As long as we shift the paradigm.

Archbishop Nienstedt to Priests: Your First Amendment rights are suspended...or your priestly faculties will be...

2012-01-20T17:40:00.004-05:00

Remember Minneapolis-St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt? He's the one who, with the Knights of Columbus, blew $1 million on sending anti-gay marriage DVDs out to Catholic households throughout his archdiocese back in 2010. He's also the dude who denied communion to some gay students just 'cause they were wearing rainbow pins. Here's the latest outrage from Nienstedt who, unfortunately, is about a decade too young to retire...

Lest his clergy, God forbid, actually think that there's room for discussion on this issue anywhere in the the state of Minnesota, Nienstedt has issued a public warning in a letter to the priests under him that there should "be no 'open dissension' of the church's strong backing of a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would define marriage as a union only between a man and woman." The Archbishop will be sending teams of priests and married couples into Catholic high schools to talk about marriage and he has also directed parishes to form committees to work for passage of the amendment. Even wanting to be apolitical doesn't seem to be an option this prelate is willing to entertain. Writing to his priests, the Archbishop said: "It is my expectation that all the priests and deacons in this Archdiocese will support this venture and cooperate with us in the important efforts that lie ahead. The gravity of this struggle and the radical consequences of inaction propels me to place a solemn charge upon you all -- on your ordination day you made a promise to promote and defend all the Church teaches. I call upon that promise in this effort to defend marriage. There ought not to be open dissenssion. If any have personal reservations, I do not wish that they be shared publically..."

Nienstedt also sent a separate letter to one priest, Rev. Mike Tegeder, who has spoken against the amendment, warning him that if he did not end his public opposition, his "faculties to exercise ministry" would be suspended and he would be removed from his "ministerial assignments."

Tegeder thinks the Church has become too political on this issue. "That's not the way to support marriage," the pastor at both St. Frances Cabrini and Gichitwaa Kateri churches, opined. "If we want to support marriage, there are wonderful things we can do as Catholic churches and ministers. We should not be focused on beating up a small number of people who have this desire to have committed relationships."

A Different World Is Possible

2012-01-19T17:48:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
1/18/2012

Mark 1:14-20

We don't know for certain how the disciples of John the Baptist reacted when Herod Antipas jailed him in the fortress of Machaerus. We know Jesus' reaction. He didn't hide in the desert. Nor did He take refuge among His relatives in Nazareth. He began to travel to the villages of Galilee preaching an original and surprising message.

The evangelist Mark sums it up by saying He "went forth to Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God." Jesus doesn't repeat the preaching of John the Baptist, nor does He talk about His baptism in the Jordan. He proclaims God as something new and good. That is His message.

"This is the time of fulfillment." Israel's waiting period is over. The time of John the Baptist has also come to an end. With Jesus, a new era begins. God doesn't want to leave us alone with our problems, suffering, and challenges. He wants to build a more humane world with us.

"The Kingdom of God is near." With unknown boldness, Jesus surprises everyone by proclaiming something that no prophet had dared to declare: "God is now here, with His creative force for justice, trying to reign among us." Jesus experiences God as a good and friendly Presence who is seeking to open the way among us to make our lives more human.

Therefore, Jesus' whole life is a call to hope. There's an alternative. It isn't true that history must ramble along the ways of injustice that the powerful of the earth have traced for it. A more just and fraternal world is possible. We can modify the course of history.

"Convert." It's no longer possible to live as if nothing were happening. God asks collaboration from His sons and daughters. So Jesus cries out: "Change your way of thinking and acting." We ourselves must change first. God doesn't impose on anyone by force, but he is always drawing our consciences towards a more humane life.

"Believe in this Good News." Take it seriously. Wake up from indifference. Mobilize your energies. Believe that it is possible to make the world more humane. Believe in the liberating strength of the Gospel. Believe that change is possible. Introduce trust into the world.

What have we done with Jesus' captivating message? How could we have forgotten it? What have we substituted for it? What are we trifling with, if the first thing is to "seek the Kingdom of God and His justice"? How can we live in tranquility, seeing that God's creative plan for an earth filled with peace and justice is being annihilated by man?

"Only a god can save us"

2012-01-18T17:26:00.001-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
1/13/2012

This phrase doesn't come from any pope. It's from Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), one of the deepest German philosophers of the twentieth century, in an interview granted to the weekly Der Spiegel on September 23, 1966, but only published on May 31, 1976, a week after his death. Heidegger has always been a close observer of the threatening destinies of our technological civilization. For him, technology as an intervention in the natural dynamics of the world for human benefit has so permeated our way of being that it has become a second nature.

Today we can not imagine ourselves without the vast scientific and technical apparatus on which our civilization is established, but it is dominated by an opportunistic compulsion that translates to the formula: if we can do it, we're also allowed to do it without any other ethical consideration. Weapons of mass destruction emerged from this attitude. If they exist, why not use them?

For the philosopher, such a technique, without consciousness, is the clearest expression of our paradigm and our mentality, born at the dawn of modernity in the 16th century, but whose roots are already found in classical Greek metaphysics. This mentality is driven by exploitation, calculation, mechanization and efficiency applied in all areas, but mainly with regard to nature. This understanding has so penetrated us that we consider technology to be the panacea for all our problems. Unconsciously we define ourselves against nature which is to be dominated and exploited. We make ourselves the object of science, by manipulating our organs and even our genes.

A divorce has been established between man and nature that is revealed by the increasing environmental and social degradation. The maintenance and acceleration of this technological process, according to the philosopher, could lead us to eventual destruction. The death machine was build decades ago.

To get out of this situation ethical and religious appeals are not enough, much less simple good will. It's a metaphysical problem, that is, a way of seeing and thinking about reality. We are on a train that is running fast on two rails. It's going to meet an abyss that lies further ahead and we don't know how to stop it. What to do? That is the question.

If we wanted, we could find a different mentality in our cultural tradition, in the Presocratics such as Heraclitus among others, who still saw the organic connection between man and nature, between the divine and the earthly, and nourished a sense of belonging to a greater whole. Knowledge wasn't at the service of power but of life and the contemplation of the mystery of being. Or in any contemporary reflection on the new eco-cosmological paradigm, which sees the unity and complexity of the one great process of evolution, from which all beings emerge and are interdependent. But this path is forbidden to us by the excess of technoscience, calculative rationality and the huge economic interests of big consortiums that live on this status quo.

Where are we going? It was in this context of inquiry that Heidegger famously uttered this prophetic statement: "Philosophy will be unable to effect any immediate change in the current state of the world. This is true not only of philosophy but of all purely human reflection and endeavor. Only a god can save us. (Nur noch ein Gott Retten kann uns). The only possibility available to us is that by thinking and poetizing we prepare a readiness for the appearance of a god, or for the absence of a god in [our] decline (Untergrund), insofar as we, in view of the absent god, are going to disappear."

What Heidegger stated is also being shouted by notable thinkers, scientists and ecologists. Either we change course or our civilization puts its future at risk. Our attitude is one of openness to a coming of God, that powerful and loving Energy that sustains each being and the whole universe. He can save us. This attitude is well represented by the free nature of poetry and free thought. And as God, according to Scripture, is "the supreme lover of life" (Wisdom 11:24), we hope that He will not allow a tragic end for human beings. The latter exist to shine, to live together, and be happy.

Challenges and tasks of theology in the Andean region from the perspective of indigenous theology

2012-01-13T13:50:00.002-05:00

by Sofía Chipana Quispe
Adital

Text of Bolivian indigenous theologian Sofía Chipana Quispe's presentation at the Jornadas Teológicas Andinas in Bogotá, Colombia, October 21, 2011.

Introduction

In this sharing, I want to evoke the memory of the ancestors who lived in our Andean region, who left us a legacy: wisdom, spirituality, personal experiences, art, rituals, sacred and ancient myths that help us to see ourselves as descendants of cultures thousands of years old.

To address the challenges and tasks of indigenous theology, I will use the method of Latin American Theology: SEE, JUDGE, ACT AND CELEBRATE, a method that somewhat reflects the indigenous perspective, that goes to the source, to rethink how we are today, and to lead to an inspired, dreamed and desired future. Moreover we are regaining the celebratory dimension that is very strong in indigenous spirituality, but there's no celebration as long as there's no reason to, which is why it's important to look inward, to measure the extent to which one has passed through the Qapac Ñan, the path of wisdom that enables Sumaj Kausay, Suma Qamaña .

I. The emergence of indigenous peoples

"We realize that we are a massive force and we are increasingly more aware, and the awakening of the sleeping giant is inevitable after being under centuries of oppression and humiliation."

Political Declaration. VIII ampliado de la CSUTCB (1). Sucre, February 27, 1986

It seems appropriate to use the metaphor of the giant to express the significant presence of indigenous peoples. It's not a recent awakening, but it's the experience of people who didn't cave in in their daily fight for survival, silent and anonymous struggles that kept alive the hope and strength of many generations who passed on to us the dream of a land without evil.

In these times, we can not deny that we are witnessing the emergence of many indigenous peoples who have been marginalized and exploited for centuries, and today their voices and presence are felt strongly because they are demanding their collective rights, the right to be themselves, to preserve the polyphony of their languages and cultures, to care for and defend their lands and territories, to preserve their self-determination, to fight for quality education, to look out for the recognition of their own spirituality and religious practices. And, as Xavier Albó asks, "should their awakening be a cause for panic or hope?" (2)

However, the awakening of the indigenous peoples doesn't happen the same way, so it is important to remember what is stated in the introduction of the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples: "situation of indigenous peoples varies from region to region and from country to country and that the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical and cultural backgrounds should be taken into consideration."(3)

Therefore, one shouldn't limit oneself to looking at the large indigenous populations, but at the significant presence of indigenous communities throughout the world who are demanding their rights within society and are demanding a theological reflection within the faiths that takes their spirituality into account.

In turn, we can not ignore the resistance of many indigenous peoples in recent times against the threat posed by transnational companies, hydroelectric projects, the mining, agro-forestry, oil and other companies supported by the nation states on behalf of an alleged "development" for a few at the expense of the life of indigenous communities.

And another reality that can not be overlooked is migration and the search for a decent life, since the presence of indigenous people bearing their cultures has burst into various urban areas. While enriching these spaces, they run the risk of experiencing being uprooted from their native lands and the loss of ancestral values.

II. The challenge of the Church in the face of the indigenous presence

The process of opening and change for the Catholic world was undoubtedly the Second Vatican Council (1965) which proposed opening the windows of the Church to let in fresh air that would revitalize the life of the faithful and that encouraged the re-creation of church life of the Western world, in the Asian, African and Latin American worlds.

Moreover, liberation theology put the poor as a subject of theology on the screen of theological tasks. In this theological process, we indigenous men and women were classified as poor, so that our cultural and spiritual situation wasn't considered. However, the identification process as historical subjects became evident as the indigenous analyzed their social and pastoral situation after a process of reflection within the various churches, concluding that their cultural oppression was crying out for liberation.

Although an effort was made, because of recognizing the cultural differences of indigenous peoples, a much greater challenge has emerged -- moving from an acknowledgment of multiculturalism that tolerates and harmonizes differences to an intercultural dialogue that enriches our life together, without there being a dominant culture but a symmetrical relationship in which there is an appreciation of and sensitivity to indigenous spirituality, which was long regarded as popular religiosity, syncretism, or in some cases "idolatry." But because of what our peoples are experiencing, we dare to suggest that it isn't religious syncretism in the Andes, but a shared religion. Many of the indigenous could not reject the prevailing religious values that were critical to the structure of colonial society that excluded them more and more, so they accepted the official religion, but their hearts were still firmly attached to their spirituality, and they lived it out in secret. And over time some Christian practices acquired their space and importance, just as indigenous spirituality has its times and its spaces.

III. Weaving indigenous spirituality with broken and burnt threads

So far we have seen that indigenous theology made a process, which is evident in the diverse experiences in various regions of Abya Yala , strengthened in some regions by the emergence of indigenous movements that have taken stands and questioned the political, economic and religious system. But there are many outstanding tasks to take on and challenges to face.

The Tasks of Indigenous Theology:

- Moving beyond a valuation of what is indigenous that is linked to the rural area, because migratory movements from country to city, a very frequent situation, are causing the need to approach the indigenous spirituality that is being re-created in urban areas, where we find second and third generation migrants looking to value our Andean identity and seeking to experience a reconciliation process with our identity.

- A big task we, the new generations of indigenous theologians, have is, as the Mayan wise woman Ernestina López says, is "rescuing the ancient broken and burnt threads and creatively weaving our indigenous spirituality"(4), in dialogue with Christian spirituality.

- In the process of reflection about Indigenous Theology, one task which we are invited to take on is to dive into the depths of our own wells, to drink the wisdom of our ancestors as expressed in the myths and legends, the still told stories, the songs that are still being sung, folklore, dance expressions, proverbs, taboos, laments, ethical codes, symbols, allegories, metaphors, imagery, maps, and codes that reflect a new vision of life.

- Delving further into indigenous world views and spiritualities, perhaps by borrowing the tools of the Phenomenology of Religion, to be able to sketch out indigenous theology.

The Challenges of Indigenous Theology

- From the perspective of Indigenous Theology, we are challenged to confront the modern individualistic world view that, from a patriarchal, androcentric and anthropocentric way of thinking that is often grounded in the theological discourses of a logic of dominance, has separated human beings from nature and legitimated colonization and the repression of indigenous peoples. Therefore the challenge is for us, from the perspective of indigenous spirituality, to share our world views that perceive the reality of life in an inter-connected and inter-related way. This gives a holistic view that is pluralistic, centered on the life and earth, and that leads to a commitment to the deconstruction of theological constructs that seek to present themselves as the only way to think theologically.

- Recognizing that ancient spirituality challenges us, starting from different cosmocentric world views and wisdom, to rebuild a theology that overcomes dualism -- spirit/matter, black/white, inside/outside, heaven/earth -- through the strong sense of the inter-relationship with the land and the lives of other beings, which gives a holistic view, focusing on life and on the earth.

- Taking on the challenge of rethinking inter-religious dialogue with the spirituality of indigenous peoples in Latin America.

- Initiating a process of mutual understanding and interaction between the indigenous spirituality and wisdom of various areas of our region, which has long acquired an Andean hue and excludes the Amazonian, with the support of indigenous leaders, indigenous theologians and wise men and women.

- Discuss the common characteristics of the different expressions of indigenous spirituality.

- Explore a theological reflection that goes beyond a streamlined theological discourse and creatively interprets indigenous wisdom and spirituality.

IV. We welcome the emergence of indigenous men and women as subjects and not objects

- Celebrate that despite various official pressures from the Church, the encounter between the brothers and sisters of southern Peru and the Aymara and Quechua area of Bolivia is growing stronger, and thanks to that resistance, the XXI Andean Theological and Pastoral Encounter was held this week, meeting in Puno, thinking about the images of God in the Andean context.

- We celebrate the tasty fruits of spirituality that are being gestated by our indigenous brothers and sisters who travel through the various areas of Mother Earth guided by the dream of a decent little house, good food for their families, training of their children, and the many other dreams that fuel their journey.

- We celebrate that on our journey, we found that the ancestral tree had been cut and the branches damaged, but the roots could not be eliminated, which is why the peoples and their plans to revitalize their identity and become alternatives to a globalized world are re-emerging.

- We celebrate the memory of our ancestors who are with us, because we are conscious of drinking constantly from the depths of our own wells the wisdom to teach the new generations, which are now the present and needing to feed on the flavorful fruits of our ancient cultures to weave their dreams and projects of hope.

- We celebrate the hope against hope, of our indigenous peoples who enable the Qapac Ñan to take the path towards the experience of Sumaj Kausay, the Suma Qamaña, in the inter-relationship with our great common home, Earth conceived as Pachamama, Mother Earth who seeks to be nurtured and re-created.

- We celebrate the presence of a God of Life who crosses all religious barriers and can be named individually in different languages.

NOTES:

(1) Acronym for the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia.

(2) Xavier Albó. El gigante despierta. Cuarto Intermedio 77 (2005), 25 – 26.

(3) United Nations. UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 2008, p.1

(4) Encuentro de Teólogas Indígenas de Abya Yala. Berlín – El Salvador. November 29, 2009

Fellow servants

2012-01-12T17:43:00.002-05:00

By Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
1/6/2012

NOTE: These current columns by Sr. Teresa, which we will be gradually translating into English, are extracts from her most recent book, published in Catalan in 2011 by the Abadía de Montserrat, Ser persona, avui: estudi del concepte de ‘persona’ en la teologia trinitària clàssica i de la seva relació amb la noció moderna de llibertat ["Being a person today: a study in the concept of 'person' in classic Trinitarian theology and its relationship to the modern notion of freedom"].

Basil recognizes that master-slave relationships are a given among men and he doesn't condemn or reject them in principle. In some cases he even justifies them, understanding then that the "master" isn't the one who exploits the subject for his own benefit, but the one who decides for him for the benefit of all:

"Some, oppressed by the power of others, have been reduced to the yoke of slavery, like captives of war, or others, because of their poverty, as the Egyptians [it seems like he should have said Hebrews instead of Egyptians] under Pharaoh, or, according to a wise and arcane provision, disadvantaged children have been sentenced to serve the more clever and gifted ones, something an impartial observer would not consider a condemnation, but a benefit. Since the one who, through lack of understanding, does not have rule over himself by nature, it is more useful for him to make himself the property of another so that, led by the reason of the owner, he ressembles the chariot that receives the charioteer or the ship that has the captain at the helm." (20:51)

However, in light of what has been said of the concept of 'communion' in Basil, isn't this definition of 'relationality' contradictory? Doesn't Basil argue precisely that 'communion' excludes 'subordination', and that nor is subordination benevolent and, in principle, beneficial to both sides? Indeed, we find on this point in my opinion an example of the necessary transformation of human relations in the light of divine ones:

"They [those who claim that the Spirit is neither slave nor master, but free] insult the dogmas of theology with human examples and try to fit the custom of the world, which maintains sharp differences in dignity, to the ineffable divine nature, not perceiving that, among humans, no one is a slave by nature." (20:51)

In this short paragraph, we distinguish the following three statements: 1. that the customs of the world are not criteria for assessing divine realities, 2. that differences in dignity don't fit into the ineffable divine nature, and 3. that among human beings no one is a slave [meaning 'slave of another man'] by nature. Precisely because God is Lord (the one Lord), all master-slave relationships between men are ultimately delegitimized (here we find the seeds of modern consciousness of equality in dignity and human rights, and their ultimate foundation):

"So, therefore, while one is called master and the other slave, both due to the equal respect we owe each other and the fact that we are like possessions of the One who created us, we are fellow servants. If this is so, who could be excluded from servitude? Because of the fact itself of being created, one is made a servant. Creatures don't really rule over each other (...)." (20.51)

Learning to live

2012-01-12T11:11:00.003-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
1/11/2012

John 1:35-42

John the Evangelist narrates the humble beginnings of Jesus' small group of followers. His tale begins mysteriously. We are told that Jesus "was walking by." We don't know where He is coming from or where He is going to. He doesn't linger with John the Baptist. He goes beyond his religious world of the desert. Therefore, he tells his disciples to pay attention to Him: "This is the Lamb of God."

Jesus comes from God, not with power and glory, but as a defenseless and unarmed lamb. He will never impose Himself by force; He will not compel anyone to believe in Him. One day He will be sacrificed on a cross. Those who want to follow Him will have to accept Him freely.

The two disciples who have listened to John the Baptist begin to follow Jesus without saying a word. There's something in Him that attracts them although they still don't know who He is nor where He is taking them. Nonetheless, to follow Jesus it's not enough to listen to what others say about Him. A personal experience is needed.

So Jesus turns around and asks them a very important question: "What are you looking for?" These are Jesus' first words to those who follow Him. We can't walk in His footsteps any old way. What are we expecting from Him? Why do we follow Him? What are we looking for?

Those men don't know where the adventure of following Jesus can take them, but they sense that He can teach them something they don't yet know: "Rabbi, where do you live?" They don't look for great doctrines from Him. They want Him to show them where He lives, how He lives, and for what. They want Him to teach them to live. Jesus says to them: "Come and you will see."
In and out of the Church, there are many today who live lost in the labyrinth of life, without a path or direction. Some start to strongly feel the need to learn to live differently, more humanely, in a healthier and more worthy manner. Meeting Jesus can be great news for them.

It's difficult to approach this Jesus as described by the evangelists without feeling attracted to Him. Jesus opens a new horizon for our lives. He teaches us to live starting with a God who wants the best for us. Little by little, He frees us from the deception, fear, and selfishness that are blocking us.

Anyone who starts to walk behind Him begins to regain joy and sensitivity towards those who suffer. He begins to live more truthfully and generously, with more meaning and hope. When one meets Jesus, one has the feeling of finally beginning to live life starting from the roots, since one starts to live based on a Good God, one who is more humane, friendly and salvific than all our theories. Everything begins to be different.

Italian "priests from the border" call for women and married priests

2012-01-11T17:07:00.003-05:00

by Alessia Pilotto (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Il Gazzettino
12/21/2012

They want a Church that opens its doors to women priests and married priests, a poor Church, without titles, without trappings and free from the constraints of power, a Church that pays taxes and asks homosexuals and victims of pedophilia for forgiveness, a more democratic Church, a Church as a place of forgiveness that welcomes everyone. Except that those who are asking are not just anybody, but a group of priests.

The "requests" are contained in the now traditional Christmas Letter (the ninth one) presented yesterday at the Centro Balducci in Zugliano, in the municipality of Pozzuolo del Friuli (Udine), and signed by ten priests, those who have been called "the priests from the border", from lives in contact with the marginalized and who often land in the news for heterodox positions with respect to the Church: Pierluigi Di Piazza (Centro Balducci), Franco Saccavini (Udine, San Domenico), Mario Vatta (Comunità di San Martino al Campo, Trieste); Giacomo Tolot (Vallenoncello, Pordenone), Piergiorgio Rigolo (prison chaplain in Pordenone), Alberto De Nadai (Comunità Arcobaleno, Gorizia), Andrea Bellavite (former pastor and former director of Voce Isontina, Gorizia), Luigi Fontanot (Fiumicello, Gorizia), Albino Bizzotto (Beati i costruttori di pace, Padova -- photo), Antonio Santini (Vicenza).

"It's a letter inspired by the Second Vatican Council," explained Don Di Piazza. "We have written to communicate what the people are communicating to us, a way to re-express the demands and continue the dialogue." This year's missive is entirely centered on the Church, "for which we are deeply grateful" the text reads. "It is this gratitude that sustains us in considering the shadows and the betrayals of the Gospel. When the Church receives power, it loses the strength to denounce illegality, injustice, immorality, racism, as happens in our region at the political and legislative level."

Among the topics raised, reconsidering the hour of religion [religious ed in the schools] (which should become a study of religious phenomenon) and the issue of military chaplains ("because the question of the relationship between the Gospel and weapons is still open"). But also the crisis and the relationship between Church and politics: "A Church that is silent in the face of the tragedies of the world is light years away from Jesus. The current crisis is ethical and cultural more than economic. Christians must work for a new world, but a Catholic political party is unthinkable."

TEXT OF THE LETTER:

Lettera di Natale 2011

La Chiesa del Vangelo e del Concilio Vaticano II con le porte sempre aperte

Anche quest’anno, in prossimità del Natale, vi scriviamo. Sappiamo che diversi di voi, amiche ed amici, aspettano; crediamo che altri possano esserne interessati o incuriositi. È comunque nostra intenzione offrire un’opportunità di dialogo e di confronto con quanti lo vorranno.

Dopo la lettera di Natale del 2009 riguardo al Dio in cui non crediamo e al Dio in cui crediamo, dopo quella del 2010 su Gesù di Nazareth, avvertiamo il desiderio di comunicare le nostre esperienze e sofferenze, le nostre convinzioni e speranze riguardo alla Chiesa, guidata dallo Spirito di verità e libertà.

Siamo preti convinti e desiderosi sempre più di testimoniare il Vangelo in questa Chiesa cattolica; ad essa siamo profondamente grati per la fede ricevuta e nutrita; per le testimonianze di fedeltà e coerenza al Vangelo di tante donne e tanti uomini, a cominciare dalle nostre famiglie; per la Parola che continuamente ci provoca e consola; per i sacramenti celebrati con le comunità che serviamo, soprattutto per l’Eucaristia; per la ricchezza spirituale, culturale, umana sperimentata; per lo straordinario patrimonio di profeti e martiri a cui attingiamo luce e sostegno nel nostro cammino.

È questa profonda gratitudine che ci sostiene fortemente nel considerare le ombre e i tradimenti al Vangelo di cui la cronaca è cruda testimone e nell’affrontare la complessità della situazione presente.

Chiedendo coerenza prima di tutto a noi stessi, spesso ci interroghiamo sul rapporto fra la storia in generale, le storie delle persone che incontriamo e la dottrina della Chiesa, che spesso avvertiamo come un mondo lontano, a se stante.

La Chiesa di Gesù di Nazareth, sacramento di salvezza

Ci riconosciamo preti nella Chiesa comunità di fede, che fa scaturire e motivare la sua presenza e la sua azione nella storia da Gesù di Nazareth ucciso-risorto e dal suo Vangelo. Troviamo conferme importanti per questa appartenenza nella tradizione viva dei martiri, dei profeti e dei santi e delle sante e, ultimamente, nella Chiesa del Concilio ecumenico Vaticano II, a nostro giudizio troppe volte ignorato o male interpretato.

Quando si parla della Chiesa, comunemente ci si riferisce alla gerarchia: papa, cardinali, vescovi, preti, diaconi... Sono solo una parte di essa, che invece è composta da tutti coloro che – grazie al Battesimo che hanno ricevuto – sono diventati in Cristo “sacerdoti, re e profeti”, segno visibile dell’amore di Dio che fa di tutti gli esseri umani il “popolo di Dio”.

La Chiesa vissuta, quindi, nel suo insieme non come fine, ma segno, “sacramento
di salvezza” nella storia, nella misura in cui, guidata dalla forza dello Spirito, riesce ad essere fedele al Dio di Gesù e al Vangelo.

Il fine è il Regno di Dio, ‘il sogno’ di Dio sull’umanità: la giustizia, l’uguaglianza, l’accoglienza, il perdono, la pace, il bene... Un sogno che troverà compimento nel mistero di Dio e sarà realizzato nella forza del suo Spirito, ma che riguarda pienamente la storia dell’umanità, senza alcun alibi e rimando; perché esso si realizzi, chiede a tutti impegno, fedeltà e perseveranza.

Spesso risuonano in noi, anche perché suggerite da incontri con le storie di tante persone, le parole con cui inizia il documento Gaudium et Spes del Concilio ecumenico Vaticano II: “Le gioie e le speranze, le tristezze e le angosce degli uomini di oggi, dei poveri soprattutto e di tutti coloro che soffrono, sono pure le gioie e le speranze, le tristezze e le angosce dei discepoli di Cristo e nulla vi è di genuinamente umano che non trovi eco nel loro cuore”.

La Chiesa è nello stesso tempo “santa e peccatrice”, sempre da “convertire”, perché formata da uomini e donne con le loro fragilità, perché istituzione storica segnata da condizionamenti, parzialità, errori. Il suo fondamento costitutivo è il Vangelo di Gesù Cristo. Quando da esso si allontana al punto di smentirlo o tradirlo in maniera sistematica, diventa una istituzione di potere fra le altre, con l’aggravante e la copertura di pretendere il suggello divino di custode della verità.

Crediamo la Chiesa profetica, coraggiosa nell’annuncio del Vangelo, fedele e coerente nella testimonianza, con scelte chiare, da tutti leggibili, che sa dire: “ sì, sì; no, no”.

Contro ogni privilegio

Quando la Chiesa riceve dal potere - economico, politico e militare- finanziamenti, vantaggi, privilegi e onori perde la forza profetica di denunciare con libertà la corruzione, l’illegalità, l’ingiustizia, l’immoralità, le guerre, il razzismo, nella nostra Regione manifestato anche a livello politico e legislativo.

Così è avvenuto e continua ad avvenire in ogni parte del mondo, con la drammatica conseguenza che il potere si sente in questo modo legittimato, difeso, compiaciuto, incoraggiato e sostenuto. Possiamo esemplificare con due situazioni:

L’insegnamento della religione cattolica nella scuola

Sarebbe, a nostro avviso, importante che Stato e Chiesa riconsiderassero l’ora di religione cattolica nella scuola. In una società sempre più multietnica, multiculturale e plurireligiosa l’insegnamento della religione dovrebbe essere concepito e proposto come insegnamento del fenomeno religioso sotto tutti i suoi aspetti, come conoscenza, obbligatoria per tutti, delle diverse religioni. Risulterebbe conseguente che la scelta degli insegnanti e la loro formazione dovrebbero seguire le modalità comuni a tutti gli altri, con titoli di studio e abilitazioni professionali di competenza dello Stato, senza la necessità di “idoneità” da parte di un’autorità religiosa. Non quindi un’ora di religione cattolica che esclude e separa, ma un’ora di insegnamento delle religioni che unisce e arricchisce.

I Cappellani militari

Avvertiamo inoltre l’urgenza grave di ripensare la presenza dei Cappellani militari nell’esercito, e la loro collocazione come graduati con stipendio corrispondente e privilegi annessi e connessi. Presenza sempre più discutibile in un esercito ora professionale, ma che, al massimo, potrebbe avere un senso come servizio di vicinanza umile e disinteressata alle persone, senza assumere una funzione strutturale e gerarchica all’interno dell’esercito. Rimane infatti aperta la grave questione del rapporto fra il Vangelo e le armi e su questo, in modo particolare, la nostra Chiesa dovrebbe dire una parola inequivocabilmente chiara, seguendo il Vangelo della non violenza e della costruzione della pace.

La Chiesa dei diversi ministeri e carismi

Nella Chiesa ci sono varietà di presenze, compiti, ministeri.

Con evidenza vanno riconosciuti i diversi ruoli e ministeri, tra essi anche quelli specifici del magistero e dei teologi. Il primo svolge il servizio di custodire e annunciare la fede, di testimoniarla con fedeltà e coerenza, attento costantemente al “sensus fidei” del popolo. È importante anche il compito dei teologi che devono favorire l’approfondimento delle grandi questioni nel rapporto tra fede, ragione e storia; è tanto più significativo tale compito quanto più la riflessione parte dalla realtà, non quando si svolge solo in modo teorico; quando è libero nell’approfondimento e nella proposta. La teologia della liberazione resta un esempio eloquente.

Avvertiamo con particolare urgenza la necessità di privilegiare la testimonianza e la coerenza rispetto all’ortodossia e alla disciplina: sempre e prima di tutto obbedienti al Vangelo.

Alla richiesta di una maggiore democrazia nella Chiesa, si risponde solitamente che la Chiesa è molto di più della democrazia, è comunione. In realtà, per esserlo, la Chiesa dovrebbe promuovere partecipazione e corresponsabilità. Di fatto la rinuncia alla prassi democratica nel confronto, nelle decisioni, nelle scelte e nell’obbedienza, riduce e spesso vanifica la comunione; essa infatti, non può essere invocata per coprire la mancanza di democrazia.

Riteniamo che si debba aprire un dialogo sereno su quelli che vengono chiamati, ormai in maniera sempre più stanca e rituale, “valori non negoziabili”: famiglia, matrimonio, concepimento, conclusione della vita...

Siamo convinti che tali problemi sempre più in grado di coinvolgere profondamente la coscienza e la sensibilità delle persone non debbano mai diventare oggetto di trattativa ideologico-politica. Non si dovrà certo percorrere la strada del relativismo etico, bensì riaffermare l’opzione etica di fondo, che accoglie le sofferenze e le speranze di tutti, che si lascia provocare dalla complessità della vita, con il fine costante di contribuire all’accoglienza, al sostegno, all’incoraggiamento, alla serenità e al bene delle persone.

Crediamo la Chiesa come luogo del perdono, dedita a prendersi cura delle situazioni di difficoltà, fragilità, smarrimento, in cui ogni servizio all’uomo possa essere riconosciuto come servizio evangelico. Tra essi c’è anche il ministero sacerdotale che riteniamo possa essere svolto - con pari dignità - da uomini celibi e sposati e da donne prete; la riconsiderazione della legge del celibato potrà finalmente affermare la libertà e con una speciale attenzione valutare positivamente la disponibilità al servizio dei preti sposati che, per l’attuale disciplina, sono stati costretti a lasciare il ministero. Crediamo si debba ripensare il ruolo della donna, simile e complementare a quello dell’uomo, anche riguardo ai ministeri ordinati. Per quanto riguarda questa questione siamo convinti che non sussistano motivi biblici e teologici decisivi di contrarietà; del resto non si tratterebbe di una scontata rivendicazione di parità dei diritti, ma molto più profondamente, di coinvolgere la ricchezza e la diversità di genere, liberando così la Chiesa da un maschilismo di fatto che ha conseguenze non di poco conto nelle decisioni dottrinali ed etiche.

Riteniamo che nell’ambito della riflessione sui ministeri sia necessario considerare con particolare attenzione le dimensioni dell’affettività, dell’amore, della sessualità, anche attraverso la convocazione di un Sinodo mondiale e allo stesso tempo di incontri nelle comunità parrocchiali e nelle Diocesi, per ricostruire una vera e propria teologia dell’affettività e della sessualità, esaminando serenamente alla luce del Vangelo, e con il contributo delle donne e degli uomini di scienza e di esperienza, le diverse situazioni e implicanze. Questa riflessione induce a chiedere perdono a tutte le vittime della pedofilia, per la violenza e le sofferenze inflitte, per i silenzi e le coperture; e ancora alle persone omosessuali per l’esclusione nei loro confronti.

Una Chiesa povera

Riteniamo che la Chiesa debba farsi carico con maggiore limpidezza e credibilità, di una più autentica e forte testimonianza del Vangelo riguardo al denaro, ai beni, alle strutture, e in genere allo stile di vita.

Crediamo la Chiesa povera, umile, sobria, essenziale, libera da ogni avidità riguardo al possesso dei beni. Ricordiamo che proprio Gesù di Nazareth ci ha consegnato il vero modello di povertà evangelica quando “da ricco che era si fece povero per arricchirci con la sua povertà” (2Cor.8,9). La Chiesa utilizzi quindi sempre con trasparenza il denaro, i beni, le strutture, rendendo conto pubblicamente di tutto. Sia sempre chiaro il fine a servizio delle comunità e della promozione della persona con una reale opzione dei poveri vicini e solo geograficamente lontani. Non ci si preoccupi, quindi, di diventare più ricchi per aiutare di più, ma ci sia l’impegno ad imparare, sull’esempio di Cristo, a stare accanto ai più piccoli anche con la propria povertà. La Chiesa quindi, paghi doverosamente le tasse riguardo a quei beni che non sono in modo chiaro ed evidente finalizzati alla solidarietà, alla promozione culturale, al bene comune.

Le donne e gli uomini che osano chiamarsi cristiani, vivano in modo dignitoso, semplice e sobrio, senza accumulare e ostentare, a cominciare dal Papa, dai vescovi, dai preti, dagli ordini religiosi maschili e femminili.

Siamo convinti che la Chiesa debba scegliere una volta per sempre di liberarsi dai ridicoli titoli nobiliari e onorifici quali Sua Santità. Eminenza, Eccellenza, Monsignore, Reverendo..., perché a questo ci richiama espressamente il Vangelo oltre che il buon senso. Anche a chi svolge perciò i doverosi compiti di guida e di responsabilità ci si possa, quindi, rivolgere in modo semplice, fraterno, filiale.

Riteniamo anche che la Chiesa debba fare uno sforzo decisivo per liberarsi dai vestiti e paludamenti clericali che appartengono ad altri tempi e mentalità. Essi tendono a sottolineare distanze e dipendenze di cui non troviamo traccia nel Vangelo.

Crediamo la Chiesa dell’accoglienza, delle porte aperte, senza pregiudizio o giudizio, tanto meno rifiuto: prima l’accoglienza, l’ascolto, la comprensione, l’attenzione poi il dialogo, il confronto, il sostegno. Crediamo la Chiesa, che accompagna negli interrogativi e nella ricerca di risposte, che sa ascoltare e imparare prima di esprimersi ed insegnare.

Crediamo la Chiesa che si apre all’incontro, al dialogo, alla conoscenza, alla preghiera, e condivide, con donne e uomini di altre fedi religiose, con tutte le donne e tutti gli uomini di buona volontà, la responsabilità per la giustizia, la pace, la salvaguardia del creato.

Ricordiamo che “la regola d’oro” “Fai agli altri ciò che vuoi gli altri facciano a te”, è egualmente presente, solo con qualche piccola varietà verbale, in tutte le più grandi tradizioni religiose dell’umanità.

Una Chiesa che può ispirare l’impegno politico, ma mai compromessa con il potere

In questo periodo la Chiesa Italiana ripropone un rinnovato impegno politico dei cattolici e ribadisce che la fede non può essere rinchiusa in una dimensione individuale, privatistica. Riteniamo che si debba particolarmente avvertire questa urgenza nell’attuale momento storico. Nella crisi epocale in corso, che sempre più vede l’aumento endemico delle disuguaglianze, lo scandalo della fame con il crescente numero di poveri, l’insostenibilità dell’attuale modello di sviluppo con ricorrenti crisi finanziarie di vaste proporzioni, conflitti tra culture, religioni e identità diverse, la Chiesa è impegnata a richiamare i cristiani alla loro responsabilità di collaborare alla gestazione di un mondo più giusto e fraterno. Una Chiesa che tace o rimane insensibile di fronte alle tragedie del mondo contemporaneo è distante anni luce dall’eredità di Gesù e dal suo annuncio di liberazione. Sono quindi doverose la riflessione e la proposta continua di una società e di un mondo riconoscibili per la giustizia, l’uguaglianza, i diritti umani uguali per tutti; e questo nella nostra società e nell’intero pianeta sempre più interdipendente. La crisi attuale è etica e culturale, ancor prima che economica.

Ribadiamo l’importanza della laicità della politica.

Se è vero che le donne e gli uomini credenti devono cercare nella loro fede ispirazione e forza per dare il proprio contributo alla costruzione della società degli uomini, è anche vero che tale contributo non può prescindere da un confronto anche dialettico che tenga realisticamente conto del possibile più che di salvaguardare affermazioni di principio.

Nell’aula dei Consigli di rappresentanza (comunali, provinciali, regionali, nazionali o sovranazionali), nel partecipare ad una commissione, nel preparare una legge, nel votare una scelta, ciascuno esprimerà il suo patrimonio spirituale ed etico. Non servono dichiarazioni preventive facendone un blocco di ideologia religiosa o specularmente laicista, Non è pensabile quindi un partito di cattolici. Essi si esprimano nella laicità della politica e delle istituzioni. Ci si chiede: le persone impegnate in politica e che si dichiarano cattoliche partecipano a una comunità, alla celebrazione dell’eucarestia? Da dove traggono l’ispirazione?

La Chiesa dell’accoglienza, della condivisione e della festa

Crediamo la Chiesa che vive la liturgia, la celebrazione dell’Eucaristia e degli altri sacramenti con intensità e semplicità, in modo responsabile, partecipato e diretto, celebrando per vivere l’incontro fra noi e Dio, fra storia e trascendenza, fra concretezza e mistero, fra spiritualità e materialità, fra memoria, presente e futuro: fra il già e il non ancora. Sentiamo disagio per le liturgie contrassegnate dal protagonismo del clero, a cui il popolo assiste con distacco.

Crediamo la liturgia che celebra la benevolenza di Dio e la nostra vita che a Lui si ricollega nelle esperienze più diverse: la nascita, la morte, l’amore, il lavoro, le scelte più importanti, il dolore, la speranza.

Se l’accoglienza è decisiva, come crediamo, per la nostra testimonianza di fede, ci permettiamo di indicare una possibilità: che ogni comunità cristiana accolga una persona, o una famiglia, con particolare attenzione a chi vive nel territorio: la disponibilità di una stanza o un appartamento per l’accoglienza di un italiano o di uno straniero, di un malato o di un ex carcerato... e questo come comunità.

Emergono spesso dal nostro profondo le parole di Bonhoeffer, grande teologo martire del nazismo: “Viene un tempo nel quale ci restano due scelte: pregare e operare per la giustizia”.

Una Chiesa che preghi e operi per la giustizia. Da qui ripartiamo e qui ritorniamo.

Sottoscrivono i preti:

Pierluigi Di Piazza (Udine); Franco Saccavini (Udine); Mario Vatta (Trieste); Giacomo Tolot (Pordenone); Piergiorgio Rigolo (Pordenone); Alberto De Nadai (Gorizia); Andrea Bellavite (Gorizia); Luigi Fontanot (Gorizia); Albino Bizzotto (Padova); Antonio Santini (Vicenza)

Sister Eugenia Russián, Missionary of Christ: "God speaks through the community, from the sweeper to the Pope"

2012-01-10T15:32:00.009-05:00

by Clodovaldo Hernández (English translation and additional information by Rebel Girl)
Redes Cristianas
12/26/2011

She is a nun, a human rights advocate, and simply and quietly leads Mass in her small community in Caracas, without even seeking ordination. Sr. Eugenia "Sister Jenny" Russián is currently president of the Fundación Latinoamericana por los Derechos Humanos y el Desarrollo Social ("Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development" - Fundalatin) and has been a Missionaries of Christ nun for 20 years. She also directs the Instituto de Desarrollo Humano y Economía Social (IDHES) which works in various working class areas of Caracas and in the interior of the country in community organizing.

Sister Jenny has worked in the peasant communities in the state of Sucre, Venezuela, in the Yaruro indigenous community in Apure, and she currently works as vicar ("vicaria") of the Santa Ana parish in a poor area of Caracas with groups of families, youth and children of the area. She leads Christian base communities and gives workshops on ethics and human rights to the Caracas police. She has a program on Saturdays called "Llegó La Hora Hacia una Cultura de la Solidaridad" ["The Time Has Come: Towards a Culture of Solidarity"] on Radio Comunitaria Senderos de Antimano.

Hernández: We are in the Christmas season and in revolution, but the values of capitalism, selfishness, consumerism seem to be getting worse, don't they?

Russián: The birth of Jesus was the emergence of a new human project against the imperialism of those days. This project was justice, solidarity, peace, and making the poor visible. In times of revolution, Christmas should remind us that we have a commitment to peace, solidarity, love, justice, and family unity.

But capitalism has put into our heads, through its media, that Christmas is spending money and consuming. We suffer from the "Sambil* effect". It's amazing to see the masses waiting for the malls to open to go in to shop like desperate people. Even in our Metro, the ads are about consumerism, such and such clothing line, this and that brand. How interesting it would be if it were to have messages of solidarity, that Christmas is sharing.

Hernández: And, beyond Christmas, as a grassroots Christian living in a barrio emblematic of Caracas (Santa Ana, Carapita), how do you see the population's response to this change in values? Are we moving forward or are welfare, patronage, and waiting for handouts predominant?

Russián: We're moving forward in the economic sphere, in access to health care, education, housing, with all the weaknesses that can be noted. But some symptoms worry me. For example, when RCTV's license ended, in a month everybody in the barrio had cable TV. I asked why and they told me, "it's that we have to watch the soaps." That persuaded me that we need to work harder at formation because we have placed emphasis on money and a revolution that can't be sustained through oil revenues. The first mission I would create would be the Family Mission, because when you produce change in the family, you achieve change in society. For example, it seems to me very dangerous that the good life means to equip your home with a plasma TV, an air conditioner, a refrigerator and a stove. As long as the idea that the good life is materialism grows stronger, we will continue to have capitalism.

Hernández: How is that change achieved?

Russián: By walking with people. It's useless for me, from an office, to make an analysis and try to explain how a neighborhood is, as the officials at the Ministerio de las Comunas ["Ministry of the Popular Power for the Communal Economy"] do.

Hernández: Speaking of which, is there a popular Church and a corporate Church or is this an invention to divide Catholics?

Russián: Jesus' movement wasn't born as a formal church, but as a reaction against an empire that used God. The apostles began to organize themselves into communities and were the first to speak of communism in Acts 2:42, when they said that they held everything in common. Then, when Constantine legalized Christianity and ordered everyone to be baptized, we were screwed because the empire got mixed up with the salvific plan of Jesus. Today there is still a conservative Church that makes arrangements with the empire, that sells the sacraments, and there is another, committed to the poor, that calls us to solidarity. The Venezuelan Church is one hundred percent hierarchical, sexist and conservative. They're upset that the nuns are living in the barrios and going around dressed as civilians. The hierarchs love to be in the cathedral; they want nothing to do with the barrios.

Hernández: Aren't there any exceptions?

Russián: Well, we have Monseñor (Arnulfo) Romero in El Salvador, Monseñor (Leonidas) Proaño in Ecuador, Monseñor (Pedro) Casaldáliga in Brazil, who are at the grassroots, with the people.

Hernández: And in Venezuela?

Russián: There are no bishops in Venezuela committed to the people. There are bishops settled in the archiepiscopal palaces, committed to the powerful.

Hernández: Have you gotten into any conflicts over such opinions?

Russián: What I may be looking to get is that they'll excommunicate me, not just for my opinions, but because I support the right of women to be priests. I believe in a church where women are not just for performing services and being quiet. It's not easy because they are values that are very established in everyone's mind. For example, the Ministry of Women called to ask me for a priest for the Women's Day Mass. I said the few priests committed to the project were very busy, but I would be at their disposal to do a religious service. And in the ministry that should be ensuring gender equality, they responded, "No, sister, what we need is a priest." Damn, what can you expect from the rest of society?

Hernández: You don't seem to fear excommunication, but other priests and nuns have yielded...

Russián: They excommunicated Father Roy Bourgeois (USA), who has fought all his life for the closing of the School of the Americas, for ordaining five nuns as priests [sic]. He took a chance and broke the fear and so must we. I don't go on and on about offering my Masses.** I offer Mass. I don't know if the cardinal has heard, but I don't care. How long are we going to go on thinking that God speaks only through the priest? Who said so? God speaks through the community, from the sweeper to the Pope.

Hernández: In the chapel, you have the image of our frustrated national saint, Jose Gregorio Hernandez, something the hierarchy also doesn't accept. Haven't they reprimanded you?

Russián: Carapita is the only church that has an image of him. Why? Because the community wanted it that way, because he is a saint of the people, even though the Vatican doesn't recognize him. The bishop once came for some confirmations and asked me what that image was doing there. I told him the people put it there and that if I took it out, they'd lynch me.

Defending Julián Conrado

Eugenia Russián, Sister Jenny, is the successor to Father Juan Vives Suria and therefore president of the Fundación Latinoamericana por los Derechos Humanos y el Desarrollo Social ("Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development" - Fundalatin). This entity is responsible for defending Guillermo Enrique Torres Cuéter, known as Julián Conrado, the singer/songwriter of the FARC.

"In a revolution we don't have the luxury of handing this citizen over to a government like that of Colombia, which is the true sponsor of terrorism in that country. Venezuela has the right to not grant him asylum, but it could make it easier for another country to give it to him. Handing him over to Colombia would mean his death," says Russián, who was born in Puerto Ordaz and has been a Missionaries of Christ nun for 20 years.

Russián has spent this time with peasant communities, indigenous people and in the barrios of Caracas. Therefore, she has a very clear vision of reality. "We must strengthen the communal councils, but it can't be that people attend the meetings because they are going to be given money," she says.

She has other criticisms of factors in the process. "We see people screaming 'out with the empire', who then go eat at McDonald's. Damn, if you're against the empire, reject this gringa culture!"

The Caracas experience has moments when the hand of God helps a lot. "I have to go to pray at the funerals of crooks. Of course, I tell them to give me a helmet because they start shooting in the air and I have yet many things to do on this earth."

Julián Conrado's Song

To pay back her efforts to get political asylum for him, Julián Conrado, who has been called Colombia's answer to Alí Primera (the revolutionary Venezuelan folk singer), composed a song for Sister Jenny from jail:

Canción a Eugenia

Viviendo con amor
No sé cómo son tus ojos pero sé
que son limpias tus miradas, a quien ves
sólo puede ser feliz con tu mirar

No he sentido latir tu corazón
pero puedo asegurar en mi canción
que más dulce no se puede palpitar

Coro:
No son cosas de adivinación
no tengo el poder de adivinar
pero es de muy fácil deducción
que así se debe manifestar
quién vive viviendo con amor:
Hermana Eugenia Russian

No he escuchado el sonido de tu voz
pero quién sinceramente sirve a Dios
dá la más hermosa nota musical

Y aunque nunca te he mirado sonreír
al hacerlo en tu alma se puede medir
el tamaño exacto que tiene la paz

Coro:
No son cosas de adivinación
no tengo el poder de adivinar
pero es de muy fácil deducción
que así se debe manifestar
quien vive viviendo con amor:
Hermana Eugenia Russian

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:

* Sambil is a shopping center chain in Venezuela and its Caracas mall is the fourth largest in Latin America.

** The term Sister Jenny uses in this interview is "doy misa". It isn't clear whether this means she is actually celebrating the Eucharist or simply leading a Catholic liturgy in the absence of a priest and distributing pre-consecrated hosts. The brief biography of her on the SOAW website calls her a "vicar", though her role may be more akin to what would be called a "parish administrator" in the United States. This still begs the question as to why a woman with so much faith, initiative, and commitment to meeting the spiritual needs of the faithful in her poor community cannot be considered for ordination as a priest simply because of antiquated, sexist and man-made rules.

A different paradigm: listening to nature

2012-01-09T17:55:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
1/6/2012

Now that heavy rains, floods, storms, hurricanes and landslides are approaching, we have to relearn how to listen to nature.

All of our Western culture, of Greek origin, is based on seeing. Not without reason the central category - idea (eidos in Greek) - means vision. Tele-vision is its greatest expression. We have developed our vision to the utmost limits. With powerful telescopes we have penetrated even the depths of the universe to see the most distant galaxies. We have descended to the elementary particles and the inner mystery of life. Seeing is everything for us. But we must be aware that this is the way of being of the West and not of everyone.

Other cultures around us -- the Andean one of the Quechua, Aymara and others -- are structured around listening. Logically they also see, but their pecularity is listening to the message of what they see. A peasant from the Bolivian Altiplano told me, "I listen to nature and know what the mountain is saying to me." And a shaman I was talking to told me: "I listen to the Pachamama and I know what she is communicating."

Everything speaks: the stars, sun, moon, the magnificent mountains, serene lakes, deep valleys, fleeting clouds, the rain, birds and animals. These people learn to listen carefully to these voices. Books are not important to them because they are mute, while nature is full of voices. And they have specialized in this listening so that, by seeing the clouds, listening to the wind, watching the flames or the movements of the ants, they know what will happen in nature. This reminds me of an ancient theological tradition developed by St. Augustine and systematized by St. Bonaventure in the Middle Ages: the first divine revelation is the voice of nature, the real book speaking of God. But as we have lost our ability to hear, God, out of mercy, gave us a second book, which is the Bible so that by listening to its contents, we could hear again what nature is telling us.

When Francisco Pizarro in Cajamarca in 1532, through a treacherous ambush, took the Inca chief Atahualpa prisoner, he ordered the Dominican friar Vicente Valverde with his interpreter Felipillo to read him the requirement, a Latin text through which they let themselves be baptized and submitted to the Spanish sovereigns, as the Pope had ordered. If they didn't, they could be enslaved for disobedience. Atahualpa asked him where his authority came from. Valverde gave him the book of the Bible. Atahualpa put it up to his ear. Hearing nothing, he threw the Bible to the floor. It was the signal for Pizarro to slaughter the whole royal guard and imprison the Inca ruler. Thus we see that listening was everything to Atahualpa. The book of the Bible did not speak at all.

For Andean culture everything is structured within a web of vital relationships, full of meaning and messages. They see the thread that penetrates, unifies and gives meaning to everything. We Westerners see the trees but do not perceive the forest. Things are isolated from each other. They are silent. Talking is just for us. We grasp things outside the set of relationships, so our language is formal and cold. In it we have developed philosophies, theologies, doctrines, science and dogma. But this is our way of perceiving the world, not the way of all people.

The Andeans help us to relativize our supposed "universalism." We can express the messages using other relational and inclusive forms and not those mute and objective ones we are accustomed to. They challenge us to listen to the messages that come to us from all sides. These days we should listen to what the black clouds, the forests on the mountainsides, the rivers that rise and break barriers, the steep slopes and loose rocks are warning us about. The natural sciences help us in this listening. But it isn't our cultural habit to grasp warnings from what we see and then our deafness makes us victims of regretable disasters. We only master nature by obeying her, that is, by listening to what she wants to teach us. Deafness will give us bitter lessons.

New Voices in the Church: Sofía Chipana Quispe

2012-01-06T19:10:00.003-05:00

We have been periodically highlighting new, interesting and, especially, female theological voices in the Church. Bolivian indigenous theologian Sofia Chipana's voice was heard loud and clear during the Andean region preparatory conference for this year's Continental Theology Congress to be held in October in São Leopoldo, Brazil. Ms. Chipana, who completed a degree in Biblical Studies with a thesis on women in the Old Testament, is a member of the Comunidad Religiosas Terciarias Trinitarias and is on the faculty of the Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología (ISEAT). Back on October 20, 2011, Ermanno Allegri, director of Adital, conducted an interview with her. We are pleased to bring it to you now in English. -- RG.

"I'm Aymara and I think of myself as an urban indigenous woman because my parents emigrated to the city, and it is from this identity that I begin to express my theological and Biblical thoughts." This is how Sofía Chipana, an indigenous theologian from Bolivia who is leading the workshop on indigenous theology during the 3-day Andean Theological Conference taking place in Bogota, Colombia, introduces herself.

In an interview with Adital, she talks about the quirks, riches and contributions of indigenous theology.

ADITAL: All the peoples have always done theology, but when did the more systematized indigenous theology begin? How wide is the network that indigenous theology has established with other countries and other theologies today?

Sofía Chipana: Well, indigenous theology emerged in the 1970s, perhaps not under that name but as an initiative to be able to articulate theological thought from the indigenous perspective. In the first instance, that theology began to be articulated by missionaries and priests in the Catholic environment, out of pastoral concern, with an interest in systematizing indigenous theology as such. Then from there the articulation starts to take shape in various areas of Latin America, for example, we have had the theology in part of Mesoamerica, it is also beginning in the Amazon area, but it is being developed much more strongly in the Andean region of Latin America.

There's a whole process that each region has been carrying out. I'm more part of the Andean region and the theology has been articulated and systematized there. In the first place, it was preached by priests and missionaries and then, secondly, we indigenous people began to be protagonists of indigenous theology. We start with our own reflection from our perspective, from our being and our identity.

Currently we theologians are trying to articulate and systematize indigenous theological thought. Maybe there isn't a specific expression of what would be constant reflection or a constant systematization of indigenous theology, but rather it's more a sharing of experiences, because I think that the process of indigenous theology is done in a different way, or rather, that it's not necessarily through written systematization, but that for us, the indigenous people, experience, experiences, sharing are very important because we come from cultures where oral tradition is very strong, and not just that, but also the use of other elements, the use of symbols, for example.

Through symbols we are able to express our thoughts, our experiences. Perhaps it's hard for us to fit into an academic framework because, of course, our systematization is not like that kind of theology that begins to articulate scripture and reflect and capture its thoughts in writing. We, on the other hand, since it's an experience... then often it's hard for us to systematize these kinds of experiences and really there are elements that are hard for us to put into words.

I think that now we are in the process of sharing, of continuing to bring up our experiences and what we have lived, that in some way are also framing our theological reflection in the various areas where we are.

ADITAL: Are there any points that you perceive as basic in this theology and which frame the direction of this reflection, which is always in process?

Sofía Chipana: Yes, there are various elements and I call them key nuclei, like strong knots that hold up indigenous theology. For example, the theme of narration. Narration is very important to us and it's part of our culture, so spirituality, experiences, norms and the ethical codes of the culture have been passed on through narration.

Another aspect that is also important is what we now call "feeling-thinking", that is to say that our reflection is not based only in reason but also recaptures much of the issue of subjectivism as opposed to a theology and tradition where objectivism is valued, the use of reason; but, on the other hand, not in our experience. There is a mixture of feelings, subjectivity and that has to do with the ritualism of the various spaces. It has to do with the celebrations, the festive character, what is communal. This "feeling-thinking" core is very important.

ADITAL: And how can a more lively liturgy be created, in the sense of expressing the culture and personal feelings and those of the specific groups?

Sofía Chipana: I was saying to you that for the Andean context, ritualism, festivity, the communal act are very important. Well, that isn't very accepted in Christian or Catholic liturgy. With inculturation, some of the symbols were accepted but more from a folk perspective and not from the perspective of the background content of these symbols. Hence a certain break has been created in the link between the Andean and Christian experience. As people have become accustomed to seeing a more established type of liturgy, they are shy to incorporate some elements of our own culture.

ADITAL: But some elements blend in...

Sofia Chipana: What we see here, for me, is not syncretism, because syncretism occurs when you start doing that mix of things. In contrast, in the Andean context, I wouldn't call it syncretism but rather I would say that everything has its space, everything has its place. So that's why I once dared to suggest that it would be more of a shared religion, that indigenous peoples began to formulate this -- a dialogue with Christianity. In our rituals, it's true that there are Christian elements that are valued. I think that starting from this Andean context other types of expressions are being created that do not fall within the formal framework, but that are other types of re-creation that are not syncretism but are different re-creations that are the beginning of a different kind of dialogue.

ADITAL: Within this indigenous theology, also, of course, a new face of God is appearing. What does that face look like?

Sofía Chipana: The face of God that is perceived is more than a face; it's the presence of God among the people, because for many indigenous peoples in their spirituality, God is not outside of reality. That is to say that the divinity we talk about is immersed in reality, it's immanent, present in various elements so that sometimes indigenous peoples are classified as pantheists because they believe that everything is sacred and that this is God, and it isn't taken into account that the spirituality of indigenous peoples has to do with the immanence of God, with seeing that He is present at all times, and that this makes nature itself sacred all the time and in all situations. This contrasts completely with Christianity.

And on the other hand, this God is seen who is transcendent because, for example, in Andean culture, the Pachamama is the image of the divinity that is present and materialized in nature and is in direct contact with humans and with other beings, but also has this other transcendent dimension that is the whole, that's a divinity that encompasses all other realities and that transcends the more mundane realities. From there I see that really in indigenous theology, we break the image of God as static, supreme, almighty. It's more the image of a living, warm God whom one can talk to, whom one can go to through ritual, experience, through communal life, through the ethical life of the peoples.

So I feel it's a very broad image of God. S/he is like the mother who shelters us.

ADITAL: A God who is closer to the Father of Jesus Christ than the God of the catechism...

Sofia Chipana: Yes, yes. The Gospel presents that image of God as Father, which corresponded well to its context, to the culture, to present an image of a God who is very near. I think that that's the figure of Jesus, representing the nearness of God. Obviously, the Andean or indigenous cultures have to do with this and what we are trying to find is this -- the image of a God or God's presence in the midst of it all, and it's not that God who is outside, not that God who is in the temples, not that God who requires mediators to relate to us, but it's this God who is even breaking through borders. It really is this God who is in favor of life and, well, sometimes in indigenous theology we don't show the other side of God, who is a deity who also reacts to some human ethical attitudes that aren't right -- but in the sense of guidance rather than punishment.

MORE INFORMATION

Desafíos y tareas de la teología en la región andina. Desafíos y tareas desde la Teología India -- Sofia Chipana Quispe's presentation at the Jornadas Teológicas Andinas in Bogotá, Colombia, October 21, 2011 (in Spanish)

Bolivian shares indigenous theology of “sacredness with the earth”, World Council of Churches, 5/20/2011 (article is also available en español)

Manual de la Lectura Intercultural de la Biblia, Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología (ISEAT), Bolivia (in Spanish)

"El Renacer de Un Nuevo Tiempo", by Sofia Chipana, Aire de Dios, Servicio Bíblico Permanente, Bolivia, No. 1, 2007 (in Spanish)

"¿Qué está permitido hacer en sábado: el bien o el mal? Marcos 3:4", by Sofia Chipana, Aire de Dios, Servicio Bíblico Permanente, Bolivia, Año 2, No. 5, 2008 (in Spanish)

"Voces y cuerpos que emergen de la memoria clandestina", by Sofia Chipana Quispe, Revista Clar: revista trimestral de vida religiosa, Vol. 48, No. 2, 2010 (full text not online)

Sofia Chipana also contributed to Teologia Andina, el tejido diverso de la fe indígena, edited by Josef Estermann, ISEAT, Bolivia, 2006 (summary of the 2 volume book's contents in Spanish from EATWOT)

SAVE THE DATE: Faith Advocates for Jobs MLK Day Service - Jan. 16, 2012

2012-01-06T16:28:00.004-05:00

Faith Advocates for Jobs will sponsor a national interfaith service to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to rededicate ourselves to the struggle for worker justice, which he championed until his death.

When:
January 16, 2012, 3:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m.

Where:
Shiloh Baptist Church
1500 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
(Metro: Shaw/Howard University)

The Rev. Dr. James Forbes (right), senior pastor emeritus of Riverside Church in New York City, will deliver the sermon. He will be joined in the pulpit by unemployed workers, the Rev. Paul Sherry, former president of the United Church of Christ and national coordinator of Faith Advocates for Jobs and Dr. Wallace Smith, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church.

The famed Shiloh Baptist Church Choir, directed by Thomas Tyler, will provide the music for the service. It will feature Buddhist drummers and a litany from an array of interfaith leaders. A goodwill offering will be taken during the service.

As Dr. King said: “Our emphasis must turn…to putting people to work...When they are placed in this position, they can then examine how to use their creative energies for the social good.”

For more information about the service, contact James Parks at (773)456-9739.

Catholic bishops in Japan call for an end to nuclear power

2012-01-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

Following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, that nation's Roman Catholic bishops have issued a statement encouraging an end to the use of nuclear power (Note: The Japanese bishops have also published this particular statement en español):

To all residents in Japan,

The accident in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant triggered by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake contaminated the ocean and land by radiation, and tragically disrupted the daily life of an enormous number of people. Even now, almost one hundred thousand people are evacuated from the neighboring area of the nuclear plant, and numerous people are forced to live in fear and anxiety.

With regard to the pros and cons of nuclear plants, we, Japanese bishops, expressed in our message “Reverence for Life –A Message for the Twenty-First Century from the Catholic Bishops of Japan” as follows:

“It has provided a totally new source of energy for humanity, but as we can see in the destruction of human life in a moment in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the disaster at Chernobyl and the life-threatening criticality accident at Tokaimura, it also has the potential to pass huge problems on to future generations. To use it effectively, we need the wisdom to know our limits and exercise the greatest care. In order to avoid tragedy, we must develop safe alternative means of producing energy.”(1)

The “tragedy” in this message was brought about by nothing less than the accident in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. This nuclear disaster wiped out the “safety myth”, which was created because people put too much trust in science and technology without having “the wisdom to know our limits”.

In the message “Reverence for Life”, we, Japanese bishops could not go so far as to urge the immediate abolishment of nuclear plants. However, after facing the tragic nuclear disaster in Fukushima, we regretted and reconsidered such attitude. And now, we would like to call for the immediate abolishment of all the power plants in Japan.

With regard to the immediate abolishment of nuclear plants, some people voice concerns about energy shortage. There are also various challenges such as the reduction of carbon dioxide. However, most important of all, we as members of the human race, have responsibilities to protect all life and nature as God’s creation, and to pass on a safer and more secure environment to future generations. In order to protect life, which is so precious, and beautiful nature, we must not focus on economic growth by placing priority on profitability and efficiency, but decide at once to abolish nuclear plants.

Because of the prediction that a new disaster will occur due to another earthquake or tsunami, all the 54 nuclear plants in Japan are at risk of horrific accidents like the latest one. Therefore, in order to prevent human-generated calamities associated with natural disasters as much as possible, it is essential to eliminate nuclear plants.

Although nuclear plants have been supplying energy in the context of “peaceful use” to society until now, they have also released an enormous amount of radioactive waste such as plutonium. We are going to place the custodial responsibility of these dangerous wastes on future generations for centuries to come. We must consider this matter to be an ethical issue.

Nuclear power has been encouraged by national policies up to now. As a result, natural energy has fallen behind in development and popularity. We urge that the national policies be changed to place top priority on development and implementation of natural energy, which will also contribute to reducing carbon dioxide. On the other hand, it takes a long time and enormous labor to decommission a nuclear plant. Therefore, the decommissioning of reactors and the disposal of radioactive waste must be conducted with extreme caution.

Indeed, electricity is essential for our lives today. However, what is important is to amend our ways of general life by changing the lifestyles that excessively depend on electricity.

Japan has its culture, wisdom and tradition that have long co-existed with nature. Religions such as Shinto and Buddhism are also based on the same spirit. Christianity has the spirit of poverty as well. Therefore, Christians have an obligation to bear genuine witness to the Gospel especially through the ways of life expected by God; “simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice”. (2) We should choose anew a simple and plain lifestyle based on the spirit of the Gospel (3), in cases like saving electricity. We live in the hope that science and technology will develop and advance based on the same spirit. These attitudes will surely lead to a safer and more secure life without nuclear plants.

From Sendai
November 8, 2011
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan

NOTES

1. Reverence for Life –A Message for the Twenty-First Century from the Catholic Bishops of Japan (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, 2001, p.104~p.105).
Another message on nuclear plants announced by the Catholic Church in Japan is “Petition on the Criticality Accident at the Uranium Conversion Facility, JCO Co. Ltd” (1999).

2. Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 76 (1975).

3. Cf. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 486 d. New lifestyles (2004).

The Spirit of Jesus

2012-01-05T11:12:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
1/4/2012

Mark 1:7-11

Jesus appeared in Galilee when the Jewish people were experiencing a deep religious crisis. They had been feeling distant from God for a long time. The heavens were "closed". A sort of invisible wall seemed to block God's communication with His people. No one was able to hear His voice. There were no longer any prophets. Nobody was impelled by His Spirit to speak.

The hardest was the feeling that God had forgotten them. Israel's problems no longer concerned Him. Why was He staying hidden? Why was He so far away? Certainly many remembered the ardent prayer of one of the prophets of old who prayed thus to God: "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down."

Those who first heard Mark's gospel must have been surprised. According to his narrative, on coming out of the waters of the Jordan after being baptized, Jesus "saw the heavens being torn open" and felt "the Spirit of God descending upon Him." The encounter with God was finally possible. A man filled with the Spirit of God walked on earth. His name was Jesus and He came from Nazareth.

This Spirit that descends on Him is the breath of God that created life, the force that renews and cures the living, the love that transforms all. Therefore, Jesus devotes Himself to liberating life, healing it, and making it more humane. The first Christians did not want to be confused with the disciples of John the Baptist. They felt they had been baptized by Jesus with His Spirit.

Without this Spirit, everything in Christianity is extinguished. Trust in God disappears. Faith weakens. Jesus is reduced to a figure of the past. The Gospel becomes a dead letter. Love grows cold and the Church is no more than just another religious institution.

Without Jesus' Spirit, freedom is stifled, joy goes out, worship becomes a mere custom, communion is broken. Without the Spirit, the mission is forgotten, hope dies, fear grows, following Jesus ends up as religious mediocrity.

Our greatest problem is forgetting Jesus and neglecting His Spirit. It's a mistake to try to achieve through organization, work, devotions or various strategies what can only be born of the Spirit. We have to come back to the root, regain the Gospel in all its freshness and truth, be baptized with the Spirit of Jesus.

We mustn't fool ourselves. If we don't let ourselves be revived and created anew by this Spirit, we Christians have nothing significant to bring to today's society, which is so empty inside, so incapable of love and solidarity, and so in need of hope.

SOA Watch Solidarity Delegation to Chile: March 15-23, 2012

2012-01-03T16:44:00.004-05:00

SOA Watch, better known for its efforts to close the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, GA, is organizing a solidarity delegation to go to Chile in March. The delegation will learn about the efforts of high school and college students in that country who are challenging the Pinochet-era privatization policies in education. In a national plebiscite of a million voters, 80% supported the students' demands for free public education.

The delegation will also be supporting the Mapuche indigenous people's ongoing struggle to recover their ancestral lands. They currently have access to only 5% of these lands. Many have been imprisoned and mistreated. Currently there are 18 Mapuche political prisoners and 44 on conditional release.

Both the student and Mapuche protests have been brutally suppressed by Chilean security forces. During the seventeen-year Pinochet dictatorship, 3000 people were killed or disappeared by SOA graduates.

The Chilean branch of SOA WATCH will host a delegation from March 15-23, 2012 in solidarity with the students and the Mapuche people. The trip to Chile will also focus on the rich history of Chilean culture, particularly poet Pablo Neruda and singer/songwriter Victor Jara. Participants will visit Santiago and Valparaiso, led by SOA WATCH Communications Coordinator for Latin America, Pablo Ruiz, a former political prisoner and survivor of torture under the Pinochet regime.

The cost for this solidarity trip is $1,200. For more information, please contact Lisa Sullivan: lsullivan@soaw.org

The notion of freedom

2012-01-03T15:48:00.002-05:00

By Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
12/30/2011

NOTE: These current columns by Sr. Teresa, which we will be gradually translating into English, are extracts from her most recent book, published in Catalan in 2011 by the Abadía de Montserrat, Ser persona, avui: estudi del concepte de ‘persona’ en la teologia trinitària clàssica i de la seva relació amb la noció moderna de llibertat ["Being a person today: a study in the concept of 'person' in classic Trinitarian theology and its relationship to the modern notion of freedom"].

I do not want to end this study of St. Basil's treatment of the Holy Spirit without recalling what is said about the concept of freedom:

"They maintain that the Holy Spirit is neither slave nor master, but free. Oh the terrible insensibility, the pitiable audacity, of them that maintain this! Shall I rather lament in them their ignorance or their blasphemy?" (20:51)

In contrast to the modern ideal, the old world concept of being is always relational. 'To be', 'to exist', means to be part of something larger than oneself and honor the obligations arising from this membership that gives me identity, this membership without which I would not exist. What is crucial is not to avoid all servitude (this is the modern notion of autonomy), but rather to serve the legitimate Lord, that is, Him from whom we receive the benefits that allow us to live. Jewish and Christian radicalness does not lie in the rejection of slavery, but the proclamation of Yahveh or God the Father-Son-Spirit as the only Lord of life itself:

"A life not lived under the oversight of the Lord is most pitiable. This is the case of the rebellious powers, which, in standing against God Almighty, are recalcitrant to slavery, not because they are of worse nature, but because they have rejected their creator. Whom then do you call free? Him who has no King? Him who has neither power to rule another nor willingness to be ruled? Among all existent beings no such nature is to be found. To entertain such a conception of the Spirit is obvious blasphemy." (20:51)

In this sense, 'to be free' would mean 'to be isolated', 'not being able to relate one's life to anyone else', while 'to rule' or 'to be ruled' indicates the experience of relationality:

"Therefore, if the Spirit is created, it is clearly a servant like everything else since, according to the psalm, 'all things are your servants' (Ps 119:91). But if it really is above created things, then it is part of the royalty [i.e. it is Lord, as the Father and the Son are Lord] (20:51)."

Is this judgment day for our culture?

2012-01-01T11:05:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
12/30/2011

The end of the year offers the opportunity to take stock of our human situation on this planet. What can we expect and what direction will history take? These are troubling questions since the global scenarios are grim. A crisis of structural magnitude has settled in the heart of the dominant socio-economic system (Europe and United States), which is reflected throughout the rest of the world. The Bible has a recurring theme in the prophetic tradition -- the day of reckoning is coming. It is the day of revelation -- the truth comes to the surface and our mistakes and sins are denounced as enemies of life. Great historians like Toynbee and von Ranke also talk about the judgment of whole cultures. I believe that we are really facing an overall judgment on our way of living on Earth and on the type of relationship we have with her.

Thinking about the situation at a deeper level, one that goes beyond the economic analyses that predominate among governments, businesses, in global forums and media, we see ever more clearly the contradiction between the logic of our modern culture, with its political economy, its individualism and consumerism, and the logic of the natural processes of our living planet, Earth. They are incompatible. The first is competitive, the second, cooperative. The first is exclusive, the second, inclusive. The first puts its main value on the individual, the second, on the good of all. The first focuses on commodities, the second, on life in all its forms. If we do nothing, this incompatibility can lead to a very grave impasse.

Exacerbating this incompatibility are the assumptions underlying our social process: that we can grow limitlessly, that resources are inexhaustible, and that individual material prosperity brings us much-yearned for happiness. Such assumptions are unrealistic -- resources are limited and a finite Earth can not withstand an infinite project. Prosperity and individualism are not bringing happiness, but high levels of loneliness, depression, violence and suicide.

There are two problems that are intertwined and could send our future into convulsions: global warming and human overpopulation. Global warming is a code that includes the impact that our civilization produces on nature, threatening the sustainability of life on Earth. The result is the annual emission of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and methane, which is 23 times more aggressive than the former. The accelerated melting of the permafrost in the Siberian tundra creates a danger in coming decades of an abrupt warming of 4 to 5 degrees Celsius that would devastate much of life on Earth. Human population growth causes more natural goods and services to be exploited, more energy to be spent, and more gases that produce global warming to be released into the atmosphere.

Strategies to control this threatening situation are virtually ignored by governments and decision makers. Our ingrained individualism has prevented a consensus from being reached in UN meetings. Each country only sees its own interest and is blind to the collective interest and the planet as a whole. And so we are casually nearing an abyss.

But the mother of all the distortions listed above is our anthropocentrism, the belief that we humans are the center of everything and that things have been made just for us, forgetting our complete dependence of all that surrounds us. Herein lies our destructiveness that leads us to devastate nature to satisfy our desires.

A little humility and seeing ourselves in perspective is urgent. The universe is 13.7 billion years old, Earth, 4.45 billion; life, 3.8 billion; human life, 5-7 million, and homo sapiens about 130-140 thousand years old. Therefore, we were born only a "few minutes" ago, fruit of all previous history. And we are going from sapiens to demens, threatening our partners in the community of life.

We have reached the apex of the evolutionary process not to destroy but to save and care for this sacred legacy. Only then will the Day of Judgment be the revelation of our true identity and our mission here on Earth.

Today

2011-12-30T13:55:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
12/28/2011

Luke 2:16-21

Luke ends his story of Jesus' birth by telling the readers that "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." She doesn't keep what happened as a memento from the past, but as an experience that she will update and relive throughout her life.

It isn't a gratuitous observation. Mary is a model of faith. According to this evangelist, believing in Jesus the Savior isn't remembering events from former times, but experiencing today His saving strength that is able to make our lives more human.

Therefore, Luke uses a very original literary device. Jesus doesn't belong to the past. He intentionally goes on repeating that the salvation of the risen Christ is being offered to us "TODAY", right now, whenever we encounter Him. Let's look at a few examples.

This is how Jesus' birth is proclaimed to us: "Today in the City of David a Savior has been born unto you." Jesus can be born for us today. Today he can come into our lives and change them forever. With Him we can be born into a new existence.

In a village in Galilee, they bring a paralytic before Jesus. Jesus is moved to see him blocked by his sin and heals him by offering him forgiveness: "Your sins are forgiven." The people react by praising God: "We have seen incredible things today." Today, we too can experience forgiveness, God's peace and inner joy if we let ourselves be healed by Jesus.

In the city of Jericho, Jesus stays in the house of Zacchaeus, a rich and powerful tax collector. The encounter with Jesus transforms him -- he will give back what he has robbed from many people and will share his assets with the poor. Jesus says to him: "Today salvation has come to this house." If we let Jesus come into our lives, we can begin to live a worthier and more fraternal life of solidarity today.

Jesus is dying on the cross between two wrongdoers. One of them confides in Jesus: "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom." Jesus responds immediately: "Today you will be with Me in paradise." The day of our death will also be a day of salvation. Finally we will hear these long awaited words from Jesus: rest, trust in Me, today you will be with Me forever.

Today we begin a new year. But what could be really new and good for us? Who will make new happiness be born within us? What psychologist will teach us to be more humane? Good wishes are not very useful. What's crucial is to be more attentive to the best that is being stirred up in us. Salvation is offered to us every day. We don't have to wait for anything. Today can be a day of salvation for me.

Conversion of the Heart

2011-12-25T15:58:00.003-05:00

by Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
12/23/2011

This centrality of baptism in terms of the inauguration of the 'new life' does not authorize us to anachronistically separate 'sacramental efficacy' from conversion. In St. Basil's text, it's clear that the sacrament is not complete without a conversion of the heart:

"As a result, with three immersions and as many invocations the great mystery of baptism is performed, so that death is represented and, through the tradition of the knowledge of God, the souls of those who are baptized are enlightened. So that, if there is any grace in the water, it comes not from the nature of the latter, but from the presence of the Spirit. Because baptism 'is not the elimination of bodily impurity, but a commitment to a good conscience with God' (1 Peter 3:21)" (15:35).

The baptized person must come to view herself only in terms of the dynamics of God's love. It is of utmost interest to the subject of the analogy between 'being a person' of God and of ourselves that St. Basil speaks openly of the 'new nature' of the baptized one and that he identifies it (as anticipated by grace) with the same nature that in the resurrection will allow us to participate in the life of the Trinity:

"To prepare us for the life of the resurrection, God offers us the whole gospel way of behaving, prescribing that we are to be gentle, tolerant, purified of the love of pleasure, and uninterested in wealth, such that the future life is by nature the same, as we proceed deliberately, maintaining ourselves appropriately. And if anyone, therefore, were to say by way of definition that the gospel is like a foreshadowing of the life that comes from the resurrection, I wouldn't think he were mistaken" (15:35).

'The life that comes from the resurrection' is the 'spiritual life' (1 Corinthians 15:44) and, as such, cannot be captured in formulas, concepts or words. It necessarily lies beyond our ability to speak of it, but we can experience it (in advance):

"Just as the sea represents Baptism because it tore [the people] away from Pharaoh, so the baptismal bath also separates us from the tyranny of the devil. That sea itself slew the enemy; here and now our enmity with God dies. From the former, the people came out unharmed, and from the water, we return to life from the dead, saved by the grace of Him who called us" (14:31).

Knowing oneself to be 'saved by grace', knowing onself to be totally and freely loved by God (up to the giving of life) is to find the truth about one's being, to behave according to this truth, to love (to the extent of one's own strength) as one is loved (up to the giving of life), is to 'be a person', is to 'be like God'.

(This is another excerpt from Sr. Teresa's new book, Ser persona, avui: estudi del concepte de ‘persona’ en la teologia trinitària clàssica i de la seva relació amb la noció moderna de llibertat ["Being a person today: a study in the concept of 'person' in classic Trinitarian theology and its relationship to the modern notion of freedom"] published in 2011 by the Abadía de Montserrat. As I work on these texts, I'm finding that I like Sr. Teresa's translation of St. Basil better than a lot of the standard English translations out there...)

Inseparable Communion

2011-12-22T19:02:00.002-05:00

By Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
12/9/2011

Besides being dependent on notions of space and time altogether improper for God, the notion of subordination, because of the perfect image ratio that exists between the Father and the Son, in diminishing the Son, also necessarily diminishes the Father:

"Moreover, whoever thinks so low of the Son, will also do so of the Father. Consequently, they do not take away the dignity of the Son, but, by repeating these arguments, they incur the charge of blasphemy against God, for every audacity they commit against the Son must necessarily be transferred to the Father. So whoever assigns to the Father the upper place by way of precedence, and asserts that His only begotten Son is in a more humble place, will find that to his fiction attach all the consequent conditions of body. And if these are the delusions of a drunken man or one who is on the brink of madness, how could it be pious not to worship and glorify Him who by nature, glory and dignity is conjoined with the Father, when He Himself has taught us that 'whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father' (John 5:23)?"(6,15)

St. Basil concludes that the doxology "Glory to the Father, with the Son, together with the Holy Spirit" is not only legitimate and in agreement with the written and oral tradition of the Church, but that it is particularly useful for capturing the difference between the persons and the unity of the essence that constitutes the mystery of God's being:

"Indeed, whoever says that the Son is with the Father, simultaneously states the properties of the hypostasis and of inseparable communion. This can be verified in human matters: the conjunction 'and' expresses the common element in an action, but the preposition 'with' means communion, in some sense. For example, Paul and Timothy sailed to Macedonia, while Tychicus and Onesimus were sent to the Colossians; from this we know that they did the same thing. If, however, we hear that they sailed with one another, and were sent with each other, we also know that they have carried out the action together. So this word, like no other, while demolishing the error of Sabellius, does the same with a diametrically opposed impiety. I speak of those who separate the Son from the Father and the Holy Spirit from the Son, by intervals of time (25,59)."

However, as we were reminded at the beginning of his treatise, St. Basil's intention was not at any time to replace one doxological formula with another, but to show 1) that the reality of God is above any formula, and 2) that the usual formula "Glory to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit" should be understood as the communion of the persons and never as the subordination of one person to another:

"And to you who love Christ, I say that the Church recognizes both usages and has not rejected one as destructive to the other (...). Therefore, the expression 'with whom' is for those who glorify, and 'through whom' is the term chosen by those who give thanks (7,16). "

In a Manger

2011-12-22T13:56:00.004-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
12/21/2011

Luke 2:1-14

According to Luke's story, it's the angel's message to the shepherds that offers us the key to understanding from the faith perspective the mystery enfolded in a Child born in strange circumstances on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

It's night. An unfamiliar light illuminates the darkness covering Bethlehem. The light doesn't descend on the place where the Child is, but envelopes the shepherds who hear the message. The Child remains hidden in darkness, in an unknown place. One must make an effort to find Him.

These are the first words we hear: "Do not be afraid. I bring you Good News, great joy for all the people." Something very great has happened. We all have a reason to rejoice. That Child doesn't just belong to Mary and Joseph. He has been born for all of us. He doesn't just belong to a few privileged ones. He is for all people.

We Christians should not hoard this holiday. Jesus belongs to those who follow Him in faith and to those who have forgotten Him, those who trust in God and those who doubt it all. No one faces their fears alone. No one is alone in their loneliness. There's Someone who is thinking of us.

So the messenger proclaims: "Today a Savior is born unto you, the Messiah, the Lord." He isn't the son of the emperor Augustus, the world dominator, celebrated as savior and bearer of peace thanks to the power of his legions. The birth of a powerful man is not good news in a world where the weak are the victims of all sorts of abuse.

This Child is born among a people in submission to the Empire. They didn't have Roman citizenship. No one in Rome awaited His birth. But He is the Savior we need. He will not be at the service of any Caesar. He will not work for any empire. He will only seek the Kingdom of God and His justice. He will live to make life more humane. Through Him, this unjust world will find God's salvation.

Where is this Child? How can we recognize Him? This is what the messenger says: "Here is the sign for you: You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." The Child was born an outcast. His parents were not able to find a welcoming place for Him. His mother gave birth to Him without anyone's help. She herself, as best she could, wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.

God begins His adventure among men in this manger. We will not find Him among the powerful but among the weak. He isn't in the grand and spectacular but among the little ones and the poor. We must hear the message: let's go to Bethlehem; let's return to the roots of our faith. Let's look for God where He has become incarnate.

The likeness of God

2011-12-21T17:23:00.003-05:00

By Sr. Teresa Forcades (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Un Manament Nou
12/16/2011

For Basil, it was clear that the end of human life is full participation in the divine life. Having been passively created in the image of God, we need to make use of our freedom to reach the likeness of God. The Spirit of God pushes us to live according to God's will. Our response is decisive: either we can stifle the action of the Spirit or we can be open to it.

"Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others. Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of charisms, participation in heaven and the dance of the angels, joy without end, abiding in God, being made like to God, and, highest of all, being made God." (9:23)

Due to sin, the step from the image to the likeness cannot be simply continuous. It can't just be the unfolding of potential that leaves intact or reinforces the initial identity but rather, as in the case of seed, we need a real transformation (1 Cor 15:51), we have to "die to be born anew."

The economy of our God and Savior over human beings is to bring them back from exile and rescue them for intimacy with God from the alienation caused by disobedience. (...) Therefore, for the perfection of life, the imitation of Christ is necessary not only in the examples of gentleness, humility, and patience He left us in His lifetime, but also of death itself, says Paul, the imitator of Christ -- "being conformed to His death, in order to attain the resurrection from the dead." (Phil 3:10-11) (15,35).

Basil reflects the belief of the Christians of the ascetic monastic movement at the end of the 4th century in his identification of the "death" that enables us to be "born from above" through baptism:

How, then, can we resemble Him in death? Being buried with Him in baptism. What is this kind of burial? And what is the benefit of imitation? First, you have to interrupt the course of the previous life. This is impossible unless one is born from above, according to the word of the Lord. In fact, the rebirth -- as its name suggests -- is the beginning of a second life. Now, before starting the second life, you have to put an end to the previous one (15:35).

(From Ser persona, hoy: estudio del concepto de 'persona' en la teología trinitaria clásica y de su relación con la noción moderna de libertad by Teresa Forcades i Vila. Published by the Abadía de Montserrat).

Christmas of yore: old and ever new

2011-12-21T13:32:00.003-05:00

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Leonardo Boff Blog
12/15/2011

Note: This essay, which Leonardo reproduced on his blog, is taken from a special Christmas book he compiled, O Sol da Esperança: Natal, histórias, poesias e símbolos ["The Sun of Hope: Christmas stories, poems and symbols"], Editora Mar de Idéias, Rio de Janeiro, 2007. The book is illustrated by graphic artist Adriana Miranda. There is a companion volume about Easter, Ovo da Esperança – o sentido da festa da Páscoa ["The Egg of Hope: the Meaning of Easter"]. I can't tell Orbis Books what to publish, but I think both titles would do very well in English...

I go way back to the late 30s, a time when Santa Claus didn't yet arrive by sleigh. In our Italian, German and Polish colonies that were taming the Concordia-SC region, known as the headquarters of Sadia and Seara with their excellent meat products, we were only familiar with Baby Jesus. Those were times of a deep and naive faith that informed every detail of life. For us children, Christmas was the culmination of the year, prepared and yearned for. Finally Baby Jesus came with His little mule (musseta in Italian) to bring us gifts.

The region was pine forests as far as the eye could see and it was easy to find a beautiful little pine tree. This was decorated with rudimentary materials from that area that was still under construction. Colored paper, cellophane, and pictures we had painted ourselves at school were used. Mother made gingerbread in different shapes -- human and pets -- which were hung on the branches of the pine tree. At the top there was always a big star covered in red paper.

Below, around the Christmas tree, we put up the nativity, made of scraps of paper that came from a magazine to which my father, a schoolmaster, subscribed. There was the Good Joseph, wholly devout Mary, the wise men, the shepherds, the little lambs, the ox and the ass, some dogs, the singing angels we hung on the lower branches. And of course, in the center, Baby Jesus, whom, seeing Him almost naked, we imagined to be shivering with cold, and it filled us with compassion.

We lived in the glorious time of myth. Myth expresses the truth better than pure and simple historical description. How do we speak of a God who became a Child, the mystery of man, his salvation, good and evil, except by telling stories, projecting myths that reveal the deep meaning of such facts? The stories of Jesus' birth told in the gospels contain historical elements, but to emphasize its religious significance, they have been coated with mythological and symbolic language. For us kids, all this was truth that we enthusiastically embraced.

Even before the thirteenth salary check was introduced, teachers were paid a Christmas bonus. My father spent all this money to buy gifts for his 11 children. And they were gifts that came from afar and all were instructive: cards with names of the main musicians, of famous painters whose names we struggled to pronounce and laughed at their beards or their noses or any other peculiarity. A gift made a fortune: a box of materials to build a house or a castle. We, the older ones, began to participate in modernity -- we won a jeep or a little car that was pulled by a rope, or a wheel that spun and threw sparks and the like.

So that there would be no fighting about each present below, the name of the son or daughter was hung from the branches. And later, the negotiations and trading began. The irrefutable proof that Baby Jesus in fact had passed by the house was the disappearance of the bundles of fresh grass. We ran to check. And, indeed, the little mule had eaten all of it.

Today we live in times of reason and demythologizing. But that is only true for us adults. Children, both with Santa Claus and to a lesser extent with Baby Jesus, live in an enchanted dream world. The good old man brings gifts and gives good advice. As I have a white beard, every child who passes by me calls me Santa Claus. I explain to them that I'm just Santa's brother who has come to see if the children are doing everything right. Then I tell Santa Claus so that they get a good present. Yet many doubt. They approach, stroke my beard, and say that in fact the man is Santa Claus himself. I'm a person like any other, but the myth makes me really Santa Claus.

If we adults, children of criticism and demythologizing, can no longer be enchanted, let's allow our sons and daughters to delight in and enjoy the magical realm of fantasy. Their lives will be full of meaning and joy. What more do we want for Christmas than these precious gifts that Jesus also wants to bring to this world?

The Church Fathers of Latin America

2011-12-21T11:52:00.003-05:00

by Jesús Espeja (English translation by Rebel Girl)
La Iglesia se hace diálogo blog
12/21/2011

On December 21st 500 years ago on Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic, Fray Antonio Montesinos delivered the famous sermon denouncing the abuses of the colonizers against the defenseless indigenous people (see video re-enactment below). That denunciation and similar ones in different regions of the Indies were the first cry of a Church that, especially in the 20th century, rejuvenated Latin America and is light for all Christian communities in the world. The subject well deserves a reflection on this day.

Whether in favor or against, who hasn't heard of "liberation theology"? It was a very significant movement in the middle of the last century in Latin America, especially after Vatican II. Its starting point was reality: the impoverished majority whose exclusion was now humanly intolerable and who lifted their voices to get out of an inhumane situation.

Christian sensitivities that experienced a compassionate God as revealed in Jesus Christ's historical actions could not remain impassive to that righteous cry, and logically the Church sided with the poor. And the Church wasn't just the theologians with their reflections, nor was it just the so-called base Christian communities that had been born among the poor and simple people, thanks to the Holy Spirit. It was also the bishops in the General Conferences. From the one held at Medellin in 1968 to the one that took place in Aparecida in 2007, the bishops have remained faithful to the preferential option for the poor.

It's true that the Roman Curia still has its reservations about this movement. But it is also true that this movement of the poor, processed through theological reflection, was accepted at the General Conferences of the Latin American bishops, and has been encouraged in the speeches of the last three popes. How can one not see this acceptance in the 1987 encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis? There are many currents in this theological movement, and it isn't fair to just talk about liberation theology, whether speaking ill or well of it. But at least it's a line I know a bit about; it seems to me to be very evangelical and scientifically serious.

Just as an example, there are names like Gustavo Gutiérrez, Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrino and others to whom we owe theological reflections that have been partially heard and could be very healthy for European theology. This theology has somehow received an endorsement at the CELAM General Conferences, which have been implementing Vatican II's invitation to read the signs of the times and discern in them the signs of the Holy Spirit.

We have a good basis to conclude that there is a tradition in the Latin American Church. Montesinos, Bartolomé de Las Casas and other prophets were its first Fathers. But that tradition is alive and has been renewed in others like bishops Helder Cámara, Evaristo Arns, Leónidas Proaño, Samuel Ruiz, Mons. Romero, Méndez Arceo, Jesús Calderón, Silva Henriquez, Gerardi, Pedro Casaldáliga, Tomás Balduino, Raúl Vera, Julio Cabrera, Ramazzini...

That tradition has been -- and continues to be -- a grace for the whole Church that we should celebrate with gratitude as we remember Montesinos' sermon.

How does one govern seven billion people?

2011-12-20T12:07:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
12/16/2011

Last week we dealt with the challenge of feeding seven billion people. The increase in global population is at a growing rate -- in 1802, we were one billion, in 1927, 2 billion, in 1961, 3 billion, in 1974, 4 billion, in 1987, 5 billion, by 1999, 6 billion, and finally, in 2011, 7 billion. In 2025, if there is no abrupt warming, we will be 8 billion, in 2050, 9 billion, and in 2070, 10 billion. There are biologists like Lynn Margulis and Enzo Tiezzi who see in the acceleration a sign of the end of the species, like bacteria when they are placed in a closed container (a Petri dish). Sensing the end of nutrients, they multiply exponentially, and then, suddenly, all die. Would this be the last flowering of the peach tree before it dies?

Regardless of this threatening issue, we have an exciting challenge -- how does one govern 7 billion people? It's the subject of global governance, i.e. a multipolar center with the role of democratically coordinating the coexistence of human beings in the same country and Common Home. This configuration is a requirement of globalization, because it involves the interweaving of all with all within the same single living space. Sooner or later global governance will emerge, since it is a requirement that cannot be postponed to address global problems and ensure the sustainability of the Earth.

The idea itself isn't new. It was already present as an idea in Erasmus and Kant, but it acquired its first real contours with the League of Nations after the First World War, and definitely after the Second World War with the United Nations. The latter doesn't work because of undemocratic veto power of some countries that make any global initiative against their interests unviable. Organizations like the IMF, the World Bank, World Trade Organization, WHO, ILO, GATT and UNESCO are expressions of the presence of some global governance.

Currently, the worsening of systemic problems like global warming, water shortages, maldistribution of food, the financial and economic crisis and wars calls for global governance.

The U.N. Commission on Global Governance defines it as "the sum of many ways individuals and institutions manage their common affairs and resolve diverse interests in a cooperative manner. It includes not only intergovernmental relations but also NGOs, grassroots movements, multinational corporations and global capital markets."

This globalization is also at the cybernetic level, through global networks, a kind of governance without government. Terrorism has caused a security governance in the threatened countries. There's a perverse global governance that we could call governance of global corporate power formed by the great economic and financial consortia which are organized in a concentric manner until arriving at a small group that controls about 80% of the economic process. This has been demonstrated by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Research (ETH) that competes in quality with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has been exposed among us by the PUC-SP economist Ladislau Dowbor. This power is not well-known, but it has a major influence in world politics starting from the economy.

These are the basic contents of healthy global governance: peace and security, avoiding the use of violent resolution, combatting hunger and poverty for millions of people, education accessible to everyone so that they can be protagonists in history, health care as a fundamental human right, basic decent housing, personal, social, cultural and gender human rights, rights of Mother Earth and nature, preserved for us and future generations.

To ensure these minimum things, common to all humans and also to the community of life, we need to decrease the figure of the nation states which are tending towards disappearing in the name of the unification of the human species on planet Earth.

Just as there is only one Earth, one humanity and one common destiny, a single form of governance must emerge, unique and complex, that will take charge of this new global reality and allow the continuation of human civilization.

30th Anniversary of Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House

2011-12-18T10:04:00.008-05:00

Friday night, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington, DC celebrated its 30th anniversary with a Mass with Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, followed by cake and other light refreshments.

Many former residents of the house returned for the occasion and told stories from the house's genealogy -- the first Catholic Worker house in this line (there is a separate lineage for the Michael Kirwan Catholic Worker houses) in the early 1980s as part of N Street Village where the late Fr. Dick McSorley lived, then St. Francis House (which also spawned the St. Francis CW retreat house in Spotsylvania, VA).

It was a lighthearted occasion punctuated by music from members of one of the choirs of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Arlington, VA, which enjoys a strong informal relationship with this Catholic Worker community both in the hospitality ministry and in joint peace activities through Pax Christi.

With Joy and Trust

2011-12-15T12:21:00.004-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
12/14/2011

Luke 1:26-38

The Second Vatican Council presents Mary, Mother of Jesus, as "prototype and model for the Church", and it describes her as a humble woman who listens to God with trust and joy. We have to listen to God with the same attitude in the Church today.

"Rejoice." It's the first thing Mary hears from God and the first thing we should hear today too. We lack joy. We often let ourselves be infected by the sadness of an aging and burnt out Church. Is Jesus no longer the Good News? Aren't we happy to be His followers? When joy is missing, faith loses its freshness, cordiality disappears, and the friendship between believers grows cold. Everything is harder. It's vital to awaken joy in our communities and regain the peace that Jesus left as our heritage.

"The Lord is with you." Joy isn't easy in the Church of our time. It can only be born of trust in God. We aren't orphans. Each day we invoke a Father God who walks with us, defends us and always seeks what's best for every human being.

This Church, sometimes so confused and lost, that fails to return to the Gospel, is not alone. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is seeking us. His Spirit is attracting us. We count on His encouragement and understanding. Jesus has not abandoned us. With Him everything is possible

"Do not be afraid." Many fears paralyze those of us who are followers of Jesus. Fear of the modern world and secularization. Fear of an uncertain future. Fear of our weakness. Fear of conversion to the Gospel. Fear is causing us much harm. It keeps us from going towards the future with hope. It locks us in a sterile preservation of the past. Our ghosts increase. Healthy realism and Christian rationality disappear. It's vital to build a Church on trust. God's strength is not revealed in a powerful Church but in a humble one.

"You shall give birth to a son and you shall call Him Jesus." Like Mary, we too have been given a mission: to contribute to shining a light in the midst of the night. We are not called to judge the world but to sow hope. Our task is not to quench the smoldering wick but to kindle the faith that is trying to spring up in many -- God is a question that makes us more human.

Starting in our communities which are ever smaller and poorer, we can be yeast for a healthier and more fraternal world. We are in good hands. God is not in crisis. We are the ones who dare not follow Jesus with joy and trust.

Awakening the shamanic side

2011-12-12T11:16:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
12/2/2011

Sustainability, taken in its broadest sense and not limited just to development, covers all actions aimed at keeping beings in existence, because they have the right to coexist with us, and only from this coexistence do we use, soberly and respectfully, some of them to meet our needs, while preserving them for future generations too.

The Universe also fits into this conception. Today we know through new cosmology that we are made of stardust and that a mysterious background energy sustains us and passes through us that fuels everything and that is split into four forces - gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear - that, always acting together, keep us as we are.

As conscious and intelligent beings, we have our place and our role within the cosmogenic process. If we are not the center of everything, surely we are one of those advanced points through which the universe turns on itself, ie becomes aware. The weak anthropic principle allows us to say that to be what we are, all energy and evolutionary processes were organized in such a subtle and coordinated way that they made our appearance possible. Otherwise, I would not be writing here now.

Through us, the universe and Earth see and contemplate themselves. The ability to see emerged 600 million years ago. Until then the world was blind. The deep and starry sky, Iguaçu Falls, where I am now, the green of the forests next door, could not be seen. Through our sight, the Earth and the universe can see all this indescribable beauty.

The native peoples, from the Andeans to the Arctic Sami, were bound to the universe as brothers and sisters of the stars, forming a great cosmic family. We have lost that sense of mutual belonging. They felt that the cosmic forces balanced the course of all beings and acted within them. To live in harmony with this basic energy was to lead a sustainable and meaningful life.

We know from quantum physics that consciousness and the material world are connected and that the way a scientist chooses to make his observation affects what is being observed. The observer and the observed are inextricably linked. Hence the inclusion of consciousness in scientific theories and the reality of the cosmos itself is a fact already assimilated by much of the scientific community. We are indeed a complex and diversified whole.

Shamans are well-known, so present in the ancient world and now returning with renewed vigor, as shown by quantum physicist P. Drouot in his book Le Chaman, le physicien et le mystique ("The shaman, the physicist and the mystic" - Broché, 2003). I had the honor of writing the prologue [of the Portuguese edition]. The shaman experiences a unique state of consciousness that puts him in intimate contact with cosmic energy. He understands the call of the mountains, lakes, forests and jungles, animals and humans. He knows how to steer these energies for healing purposes and to harmonize them with the whole.

There's a shamanic side hidden in each one of us. That shamanic energy that makes us be silent before the grandeur of the sea, vibrate under the gaze of another person, tremble before a newborn. We need to free this shamanic dimension in us to get in tune with everything around us and feel at peace.

Might not our desire to travel in spacecraft through outer space perhaps be the archetypal desire to seek our stellar origins and the impetus to return to the place of our birth? Several astronauts have expressed similar ideas. This irrepressible search of ours for balance with the whole universe and to feel part of it belongs to the intelligible notion of sustainability.

Sustainability involves the assessment of this human and spiritual capital whose effect is to produce respect and a sense of sacredness before all realities, these values that nourish deep ecology and help us to respect and live in harmony with Mother Earth. Today this attitude is urgent to moderate the destructive force has taken hold of us in recent decades.

Is it possible to feed seven billion people?

2011-12-09T17:57:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
12/9/2011

We now have 7 billion people. Will there be enough food for everyone? There are several answers. We have chosen one from the group Agrimonde (see Développement et Civilisations, September 2011), based in France, which studied the nutritional status of six critical regions of the planet. The group of scientists is optimistic, even about when we have 9 billion people. It proposes two ways: to deepen the well-known green revolution of the 60's, and the so-called double green revolution.

The green revolution had the merit of refuting Malthus' thesis, according to which an imbalance would occur between population growth in geometric proportions and food growth in arithmetical proportions, producing a collapse of humanity. It found that with new technologies, greater use of arable agricultural areas and a massive application of toxins -- used earlier in war and now in agriculture -- it was possible to produce much more than the population demanded.

This forecast proved accurate, since there was a significant jump in the food supply, although because of the unfairness of the neoliberal and capitalist system, millions and millions of people still are in a situation of chronic hunger and poverty. It's true that this growth in food has had an extremely high environmental cost: the soil has been poisoned, water has been contaminated, biodiversity has been impoverished, and it has also caused erosion and desertification in many regions, especially in Africa.

Everything got worse when food became a commodity like any other rather than being considered a means of life that, by its nature, should never be subject to market speculation. The table is set with enough food for everyone but the poor have no access to it for lack of monetary resources. They continue starving, and their number grows. The prevailing neoliberal system still supports this model, since it doesn't need to change its logic, cynically tolerating living with millions of hungry people, considered irrelevant to unlimited accumulation.

This solution is not only shortsighted, but false, as well as being cruel and merciless. Those who still argue for it don't take seriously that the Earth is undeniably adrift and that global warming is producing high soil erosion, destruction of crops, and millions of climate migrants. For them, the earth is nothing but a mere means of production, not the Common House, Gaia, which must be cared for.

To tell the truth, those who understand food are the farmers. They produce 70% of everything that humanity consumes. Therefore, they should be heard and included in any step that is taken by the government, by business, and society, because it's about the survival of all.

Given human overpopulation, every piece of land should be taken advantage of but within the scope and limits of its ecosystem; all organic waste should be used or recycled as much as possible, energy should be saved as much as possible, alternative energy should be developed, family farms, small and medium cooperatives should be promoted. And finally, we should move towards a food democracy in which producers and consumers will become aware of their respective responsibilities, with knowledge and information about the actual state of sustainability of the planet, consuming differently, compassionately, frugally and without waste.

Taking such data into account, Agrimonde proposes a double green revolution in the following sense: it agrees to extend the first green revolution with its ecological contradictions, but simultaneously offers a second green revolution. This implies that consumers incorporate everyday habits different from today, more aware of environmental impacts and open to international solidarity so that food is in fact a right accessible to all.

Being optimistic, we can say that this latest proposal is reasonably sustainable. It is being organized embryonically in all parts of the world through family organic agriculture, small and medium enterprises, ecological farming, the Ecovillages and other forms that are more respectful of nature. It's viable and perhaps the mandatory road for humanity in the future.

Witnesses to the Light

2011-12-08T11:19:00.001-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
12/7/2011

John 1:5-8,19-28

The Christian faith was born of a surprising encounter a group of men and women had with Jesus. Everything began when these disciples got in touch with Him and experienced "God's salvific warmth." That liberating, tranformative, and humanizing experience they had with Jesus triggered everything.

Their faith awakened amid doubts, uncertainties, and misunderstandings as they followed Him along the roads of Galilee. It was wounded by cowardice and denial when He was executed on the cross. It was reaffirmed and began to spread when they saw Him fully alive after His death.

Therefore, if this experience isn't spread and transmitted from generation to generation over the years, a tragic breakdown occurs in the history of Christianity. Bishops and priests go on preaching the Christian message. Theologians write their theological studies. Pastors administer the sacraments. But, if there aren't any witnesses capable of spreading what was experienced with Jesus at the beginning, the essential is missing, the only thing that can keep faith in Him alive.

We need these witnesses to Jesus in our communities. The figure of John the Baptist, making way for Him amid the Jewish people, inspires us to stimulate this very necessary vocation in the Church today. In the darkness of our time, we need "witnesses to the Light".

Believers who awaken the desire for Jesus and make His message believable. Christians who, through their personal experience, spirit and words, facilitate an encounter with Him. Followers who rescue Him from oblivion and relegation to make Him more visible among us.

Humble witnesses who, in the style of John the Baptist, don't attribute any role to themselves that would focus attention on them, stealing the starring role from Jesus. Followers who don't replace or eclipse Him. Christians who are inspired and sustained by Him, who allow the unmistakable presence of Jesus alive in our midst to be seen through their words and deeds.

Jesus' witnesses don't talk about themselves. Their most important words are always those of Jesus. In fact, the witness doesn't have the floor. He or she is only "a voice" that inspires everyone to "make straight" the way that will lead us to Him. The faith of our communities today is sutained through the experience of those humble and simple witnesses who, in the midst of so much discouragement and bewilderment, shine a light as they help us feel the warmth of Jesus through their lives.

Belgian Catholics call for church reform

2011-12-07T18:36:00.003-05:00

Belgian Catholics, both lay and ordained, are signing on in droves to a manifesto -- Gelovigen nemen het woord ("Believers Speak Out") -- which was initiated on the First Sunday of Advent by Fr. Johan Dekimpe, a 69-year old priest from Kortrijk, and several of his colleagues. Fr. Dekimpe has told the press that the protestors are acting out of faith because they care for the Catholic Church. "The Belgian church is a disaster. If we don't do something, the exodus of those leaving the church will just never stop. ... I really want the bishops to reflect deeply about the growing discontent of so many believers," Fr. Dekimpe said.

The manifesto, which was launched on November 19th with 50 names, now has over 6,000 signatures. It echoes many of the same demands raised in the Austrian "Wir sind Kirche" petition: that laypeople be allowed to lead parishes in the absence of a priest, the holding of Communion services when nobody is available to preside with laypeople being allowed to read the Gospel and preach, allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, and expanding the priesthood to include women and married men.

Most of Belgium's bishops have not responded to the manifesto but Msgr. Johan Bonny, the bishop of Antwerp, expressed understanding of what led to it. In an interview with Tertio, he said the priests feel like they're drowning (because of the shortage). He advocated for pastoral teams in parishes and reiterated that the Latin rite Church could be enriched by admitting married men to the priesthood.

English translation of the Belgian manifesto courtesy of National Catholic Reporter

Believers Speak Out

Parishes without a priest, Eucharist at inappropriate hours, worship without communion: that really should not be! What is delaying the needed Church reform? We, Flemish believers, ask our bishops to the break impasse in which we are locked. We do this in solidarity with fellow believers in Austria, Ireland, and many other countries, with all who insist reform on vital for Church reform.

We simply do not understand why the leadership in our local communities (e.g. parishes) is not entrusted to men or women, married or unmarried, professionals or volunteers, who already have the necessary training. We need dedicated pastors!

We do not understand why these our fellow believers cannot preside at Sunday liturgical celebrations. In every active community we need liturgical ministers!

We do not understand why, in communities where no priest is available, a Word service cannot also include a Communion service.

We do not understand why skilled laypeople and well-formed religious educators cannot preach. We need the Word of God!

We do not understand why those believers who, with very good will, have remarried after a divorce must be denied Communion. They should be welcomed as worthy believers. Fortunately there are some places where this is happening.

We also demand that, as quickly as possible, both married men and women be admitted to the priesthood. We, people of faith, desperately need them now!

Good News

2011-12-01T11:23:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
11/30/2011

Mark 1:1-8

Throughout this new liturgical year, we Christians will be reading the gospel of Mark on Sundays. His short text starts out with this title: "Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of God." Those words allow us to evoke something we will find in his tale.

With Jesus, something new "begins". It's the first thing Mark wants to make clear. Everything before belongs to the past. Jesus is the beginning of something new and distinct. In the story, Jesus says that "this is the time of fulfillment." With Him, God's Good News has come.

This is what the first Christians are experiencing. Whoever has met the living Jesus and penetrated His mystery a little, knows that a new life begins, something that they have never experienced before.

What they find in Jesus is "Good News." Something new and good. The word "Gospel" that Mark uses was very common among the first followers of Jesus and it expresses what they felt when they met Him. A feeling of liberation, happiness, security and the disappearance of fear. In Jesus, they find "God's salvation."

When someone finds in Jesus the God who is friend of men and women, the Father of all people, the defender of the least and last, the hope of the lost, they know they will find no better news. When they know Jesus' plan to work for a more humane, worthy and blessed world, they know they could not devote themselves to anything greater.

This Good News is Jesus Himself, the protagonist of the story Mark will write. Therefore, his primary intention is not to offer us doctrine about Jesus or bring us biographical information about Him, but rather to seduce us so that we will open ourselves to the Good News that we will only be able to find in Him.

Mark attributes two titles to Jesus -- one that is typically Jewish, the other more universal. However, he reserves some surprises for the readers. Jesus is the "Messiah" for whom the Jews were waiting as liberator of their people, but a very different Messiah from the warrior leader many wished for to destroy the Romans. In his tale, Jesus is described as sent by God to humanize life and direct history towards its salvation. This is the first surprise.

Jesus is "Son of God", but not endowed with the power and glory some might have imagined. A deeply human Son of God, so human that only God could be thus. Only when His life of service to all ends, executed on a cross, a Roman centurion confesses: "Truly this man was the Son of God!" This is the second surprise.

The Great Perversion

2011-11-28T13:03:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
11/25/2011

To solve the economic and financial crisis in Greece and Italy, governments of technicians alone without the participation of politicians have been formed, as required by the European Central Bank. It was based on the illusion that it's an economic problem to be solved economically. Those who only understand economics end up not even understanding the economy. The crisis is not one of a mismanaged economy, but of ethics and humanity. Both are closely related to politics. So the first lesson in basic Marxism is to understand that the economy is not part of mathematics and statistics, but a chapter of politics. Much of Marx's work is dedicated to dismantling the political economy of capital. When a similar crisis to the present one happened in England and a technical government was created, Marx harshly criticized it, mocking with irony, as he foresaw a total failure, as indeed happened. You can not use the poison that created the crisis as a remedy to cure it.

To direct the governments of Greece and Italy respectively, they have called people who belong to the high ranks in banking. The banks and stock markets have been those who have caused this crisis that almost destroyed the entire economic system. These guys are like the fundamentalist Taliban: they believe in good faith in the tenets of free market and the stock game. Where in the universe is the ideal of "greed is good" proclaimed? How do they make a habit (and, let's also say, a sin) a virtue? They are sitting on Wall Street in New York and in the City of London. They aren't foxes guarding the chickens, but devouring them. Through their manipulations they have transferred vast fortunes into a few hands and when the crisis exploded, they were saved through billions of dollars taken from workers and retirees. Barack Obama was weak, leaning more towards them than towards civil society. With the money they received, they continued the spree, since the promised regulation of the financial markets remained just on paper. Millions of people are unemployed and in precarity, especially young people who, outraged, are filling the streets against greed, social inequality and the cruelty of capital.

Are people whose minds have been formed by the catechism of purely neoliberal thinking going to get Greece and Italy off the hook? What's happening is the sacrifice of a whole society on the altar of the banks and financial system.

Since most of the establishment don't think (they don't need to) we will try to understand the crisis in the light of two thinkers who, in the year 1944 in the United States, gave us an illuminating key. The first was the Hungarian-Canadian philosopher and economist Karl Polanyi in his classic work The Great Transformation. What is it? It's the dictatorship of the economy. After the Second World War that helped to overcome the Great Depression of 1929, capitalism accomplished a master stroke -- it canceled politics, sent ethics into exile, and imposed the dictatorship of the economy. Since then, there hasn't been a society with a market as there always was before, but a market society. Economics structures everything and makes everything a commodity governed by cruel competition and shameless profit. This transformation ripped social ties and deepened the gap between rich and poor within countries and internationally.

The other is a philosopher of the Frankfurt School in exile in the United States, Max Horkheimer, who wrote The Eclipse of Reason (1947). There, the reasons for Polanyi's Great Transformation are given, consisting mainly of this -- reason is no longer guided by the search for truth and the meaning of things, but is held hostage by the production process and reduced to a merely instrumental role -- "transformed into a merely tedious mechanism to register facts." He laments that "justice, equality, happiness, tolerance, judged for centuries to be inherent to reason, have lost their intellectual roots." When society eclipses reason, it becomes blind, loses the sense of being together and is stuck in the quagmire of individual or corporate interests. This is what we have seen in the current crisis. The most humanistic Nobel Prize winning economists, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, have written repeatedly that the players on Wall Street should be in jail as thieves and robbers.

Now, in Greece and Italy, the Great Transformation has acquired another name -- it's called the Great Perversion.

Jesus' House

2011-11-25T10:47:00.003-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
11/23/2011

Mark 13:33-37

Jesus is in Jerusalem, seated on the Mount of Olives, looking towards the Temple and speaking privately with four disciples -- Peter, James, John and Andrew. He sees they are worried about knowing when the end times will come. He, on the other hand, is worried about how His followers will live when they no longer have Him among them.

So, once again He shares His concern with them: "Watch, stay awake." Then, leaving aside the terrifying language of apocalyptic visionaries, He tells them a little parable that has gone largely unnoticed among Christians.

"A man went abroad and left his house behind." But, before leaving, "he entrusted a task to each of his servants." On parting, he only stressed one thing: "Watch, because you do not know when the lord of the house is coming." When he comes, let him not find you asleep.

The story suggests that Jesus' followers are a family. The Church is "Jesus' house" which will replace "the house of Israel." In it, all are servants. There are no masters. All are waiting for the one Lord of the house, Jesus Christ. Never forget it.

In Jesus' house, nobody has to remain passive. Nobody has to feel excluded, without any responsibility whatsoever. Everyone is needed. All have some mission entrusted by Him. All are called to contribute to the great task of living like Jesus who was known to always be devoted to serving the kingdom of God.

The years will go by. Will the spirit of Jesus remain alive among His own? Will they go on remembering his style of service to the neediest and the helpless? Will they follow Him along the way He opened? His great worry is that His Church will fall asleep. Therefore He urges them up to three times: "Stay awake." It isn't a recommendation to the four disciples who are listening to Him but a command to believers of all time -- "What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"

The most common trait of Christians who haven't left the Church is certainly passivity. For centuries we have taught the faithful to be submissive and obedient. In Jesus' house, only a minority feel they have any ecclesial responsibility today.

The time has come to react. We can't continue broadening the distance between "those who command" and "those who obey." It's a sin to promote disaffection, mutual exclusion, and passivity. Jesus wanted to see all of us awake, active, and working lucidly and responsibly.

Thoughts and dreams about Brazil

2011-11-25T09:52:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
11/18/2011

1. The Brazilian people became accustomed to "facing life" and getting everything through "the struggle", ie, by overcoming difficulties and hard work. Why wouldn't they also "face" the ultimate challenge of making the changes necessary to create more equal relationships and end corruption?

2. The Brazilian people have not finished being born. What we inherited was the Enterprise-Brazil, with an enslaving elite and a mass of dispossessed. But from the heart of this mass, social movements and leaders were born with consciousness and organization. Their dream? Reinventing Brazil. The process started from the bottom and is now unstoppable.

3. Despite poverty and marginalization, the poor invented paths to survival. To overcome the negative situation, the government and politicians need to hear and appreciate what the people already know and have invented. Only then will we overcome the elites-people division and be a single complex nation.

4. The Brazilian has a commitment to hope. It is the last thing that dies. Therefore, he is sure that God writes straight with crooked lines. Hope is the secret of his optimism, it lets him relativize dramas, dance in his carnival, be a fan of his soccer team, and keep the dream alive that life is beautiful and tomorrow could be better.

5. Fear is inherent in life because "life is dangerous" and always carries risks. These force us to change and reinforce hope. What the people, not the elites, want most is to change so that happiness and love would not be so difficult.

6. The opposite of fear is not courage. It is faith that things can be different and that, organized, we can move forward. Brazil has demonstrated that it is not only good at carnival and soccer, but it is also good at agriculture, architecture, music and in its inexhaustible zest for life.

7. The Brazilian people are religious and mystical. Rather than thinking of God, they feel God in their daily lives, which is revealed in the expressions "thanks be to God," "may God repay you", "go with God." God is not a problem for them, but the solution to their problems. They feel protected by saints and good spirits and orixás who anchor their lives in the midst of suffering.

8. One characteristic of Brazilian culture is the joy and sense of humor, which help alleviate social contradictions. That joy comes from the conviction that life is worth more than anything else. So it should be celebrated with fiestas and humor should be kept up in the face of failure. The effect is the levity and enthusiasm that so many admire in us.

9. A union that we still have pending in Brazil is academic knowledge with conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is born of suffering, of a thousand ways of surviving with few resources. Academic knowledge is born of studying, drinking from many sources. When these two forms of learning unite, we will be invincible.

10. Caring is part of the essence of all life. Without caring, life gets sick and dies. With caring, it is protected and lasts longer. The challenge today is to see public policy as caring for Brazil, its people, its nature, education, health, justice. That caring is proof that we love our country.

11. One of the hallmarks of the Brazilian people is their ability to interact with the whole world, adding, gathering, synthesizing and syncretizing. Therefore, they aren't intolerant or dogmatic. They enjoy and welcome foreigners. These are core values for globalization with a human face. We are showing that it is possible and we are building it.

12. Brazil is the largest neo-Latin nation in the world. We have everything to also be the greatest civilization in the tropics, not imperial, but in solidarity with all nations, because Brazil has incorporated representatives of 60 peoples who came here. Our challenge is to show that Brazil can be, in fact, a piece of paradise that was not lost.

The stars, the Araguaia and we ourselves are witnesses: Dom Pedro Casaldáliga's 40th anniversary as bishop

2011-11-23T16:06:00.004-05:00

By Antonio Canuto (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Adital
11/10/2011

Practically during the same period that Dom Leonardo left the pastorship of this church, and Dom Eugenio Rixen assumed it as apostolic administrator, it's the fortieth anniversary of Pedro Casaldaliga's ordination as bishop.

It was October 23, 1971. A moment of greatest importance for the prelature that was welcoming its first bishop. A time not to be forgotten. It was an event that profoundly marked the church and especially those who were privileged to participate in it.

Three years after the arrival of Pedro in the second half of 1968 to start a new mission field, accompanied by brother Manuel Luzon, the church of the prelature was consolidated with the ordination of its first bishop. Pedro was ordained by Dom Fernando Gomes dos Santos, archbishop of Goiânia, Dom Tomás Balduino, Bishop of the Diocese of Goiás, and Dom Juvenal Roriz, Bishop of Rubiataba.

Three rather significant elements stamped that ceremony with a completely new and prophetic character which had a strong impact not only on the church in Brazil, but also on many churches around the world and on society.

First, the ordination took place in the richest and largest cathedral in the world. The dome of this cathedral was decorated by the incalculable multitude of the stars of heaven. The walls were formed on one side by the free waters of the Araguaia, on the other, by the sands of the hill of Sao Felix. In the background, the poor little church of the community. At the foot of the hill, as if to recall how temporary and fragile life is, the cemetery where so many people, dead or "killed", were resting, next to the Karajá secular cemetery.

Second, Pedro refused any outward sign that would differentiate him within the church. I could be wrong, but I think he's the only bishop in Brazil -- and perhaps the world -- who considered never using any episcopal insignia. The episcopal insignia delivered to bishops at their ordination today are the ring, the crosier, the miter, and the pectoral cross. Outward signs of the place of the bishop in a hierarchically structured church. Signs of his authority and power. The bishop still has a shield that represents his motto for life and service. His clothes also differ from those of ordinary priests (Years ago, bishops still wore gloves, special shoes, and different vestments in the celebrations. All this to show their importance in the Church). Well, on that night of October 23, 1971, the sky, the waters of the Araguaia and all of us who were there saw something new happening. A bishop refused the signs of power in order to fully insert himself into the life of the people. These prophetic-poetic words echoed forth: "Your miter shall be a rustic straw hat, the sun and the moon, the rain and calm weather, the eyes of the poor with whom you walk and the glorious gaze of Christ the Lord. Your staff shall be the truth of the Gospel and your people's trust in you. Your ring shall be faithfulness to the New Covenant of the Liberating God and loyalty to the people of this land. You shall have no shield but the freedom of the children of God, or use any gloves other than loving service."

The third element that marked this ordination left a trail of light and hope. On one hand, he aroused immediate support of Christians throughout the church and in the most diverse sectors of society; on the other, he provoked an angry and violent reaction in the agents of the military dictatorship and those who enriched themselves through public incentives at the cost of the sacrifice, pain and slavery of many.

His pastoral letter, released on that occasion, was titled, "Uma Igreja da Amazonia em conflito com o latifundio e a marginalização social" ("The Church in Amazonia in conflict with the latifundio and social exclusion"). It was a document that marked an era and became a divider of currents within the Church in Brazil. The pastoral letter doesn't look inside the Church. It's the Church's look on the raw, naked reality of the people whom this Church came to serve.

It recounts the situations faced by the "squatters" who were expelled from the lands they had occupied and been working for decades, the situation of the indigenous people whose territory had been invaded for the benefit of capital, and the exploitation of laborers, workers brought in from various regions of the country and subjected to the most degrading conditions, in a situation similar to that of slaves.

Clear and prophetic words denouncing the injustices that were being committed against the people and that resounded in Brazil and around the world. Pedro said in the introduction: "If the first role of the bishop is to be a prophet, and 'the prophet is the voice of the voiceless'(Cardinal Marty), I honestly could not keep silent once I had received the fullness of priestly service."

The ordination was not just a celebration. It became reality in every corner of the prelature, in a simple and poor life, in a life shared with sertanejos and indigenous people, in collective and fraternal decision-making where lay people, religious and clergy had a voice, always considering the people and their history.

Forty years have passed. We can not forget those events that were the foundation of our diocese.

Message of Pedro Casaldaliga to the 21st meeting of the Base Ecclesial Communities:

What is crucial

2011-11-17T13:01:00.003-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
11/16/2011

Matthew 25:31-46

The tale is not really a parable but an evocation of the final judgment for all people. The whole scene is concentrated in a long dialogue between the Judge, who is none other than the risen Jesus, and two groups of people: those who have eased the suffering of the neediest and those who have lived denying them help.

Over the centuries, Christians have seen in this fascinating dialogue "the best recapitulation of the Gospel", "the utmost praise of love and solidarity", and "the sternest warning to those who falsely take refuge in religion". We are going to point out the basic statements.

All men and women without exception will be judged by the same criteria. What gives imperishable value to life is not social status, personal talent, and achievement over the years. What is crucial is love put into practice in solidarity with those in need of help.

This love translates into very specific deeds. For example, "giving something to eat", "giving something to drink", "welcoming the immigrant", "clothing the naked", "visiting the one who is sick or in prison". What's crucial in God's eyes is not religious deeds, but human gestures of help towards the needy. They can spring from a believer or from the heart of an agnostic who thinks of those who suffer.

Most of those who have helped the needy they have met along the way haven't done it for religious reasons. They haven't thought about God or Jesus Christ. They have simply sought to relieve some of the suffering in the world. Now, invited by Jesus, they enter the Kingdom of God as "blessed by the Father".

Why is it so crucial to help the needy and so reprehensible to deny them aid? Because, as the Judge reveals, what you do or fail to do to them, you do or fail to do to God himself incarnate in Christ. When we abandon a needy person, we are abandoning God. When we alleviate his or her suffering, we are doing the same for God.

This surprising message makes us all look at the suffering. There is no true religion, no progressive policy, no responsible human rights proclamation that doesn't defend the neediest, easing their suffering and restoring their dignity.

In each person who suffers, Jesus comes to meet us, looks at us, questions and implores us. Nothing brings us closer to Him than learning to look carefully and compassionately on the faces of those who suffer. Nowhere can we more truly recognize the face of Jesus.

Liberation Theology at 40

2011-11-17T11:31:00.004-05:00

by Benjamín Forcano (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Adital
11/9/2011

Forty years ago, a new way of doing theology began, which has significantly influenced society and the Church. At age 40, some think it's finished and others congratulate it for the work it has done and the challenges it's facing in the future.

But liberation theology did not begin in the 70s. In 1492, the so-called discovery of America occured and in 1511, a Dominican friar, Montesinos, on behalf of his community and to the authorities of Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) said in reference to the indigenous people and the treatment they were receiving: "Are they not men?" It was the first question in the history of liberation, as Professor Reyes Mate rightly stated in a lecture on this topic.

The history of liberation theology can be said to have begun on December 11, 1511, 500 years ago today.

No doubt, there were Christians who -- and always from the experience of their faith -- saw theology as subordinate to some oppressive colonizing dictates. But their experience never stopped expressing itself in new theological categories and making itself public in society. Starting in the 60s, great expectations for change have been generated in the world, but Christians seemed to lack creativity and didn't fall into this change with their own alternatives for transformation.

It was then that Gustavo Gutierrez launched a new theological approach from the Latin American context: How does one present God in a bipolar world of rich and poor, where their relationship is logically one of injustice and exclusion, and how, then, is faith able to cause radical changes? These changes suggest that the poor, the disenfranchised, the discriminated cease to be so, which is not possible without turning the system around.

If we Christians have the Gospel as a foundation and measure, we find in it a statement that sounds like a manifesto, in the parable of the Good Samaritan. It cuts through all the schemes of vain theologies and marks the style to follow. Jesus asks: "In your opinion, which of these three who saw the half-dead man who had been assaulted by bandits, was neighbor to him?"

"The one who had compassion on him."

"Perfect. Go and do likewise." (Lk 10:30-37)

Feeling compassion and acting accordingly is a prerequisite for those who want to do liberation theology. More than cold and abstract reflection, liberation theology is an experience, a praxis of love, within which a new way of doing theology springs up naturally.

Obviously liberation theology is not an end in itself; it doesn't stop at explaining what has happened, but goes on to change and liberation in practice. Explaining the contradictory reality that exists and leaving it as is, is not liberation theology. The reality, unjustly interpreted and configured, needs to be changed to be consistent with God's plan, which Jesus called the Kingdom of God, and which is built on the basis of equality, justice, fraternity and liberty. Living out liberation through change and liberating practice is imperative for the Christian if he wants to be faithful to the plan of the liberating God.

To change reality, Christians must have an analysis of that reality which is woven around the wealth/poverty, North/South pairings, and show that this situation is not due to chance or the will of the gods but to the selfishness and greed of men, the domination that the strongest have established over the weakest and neediest.

This analysis is necessary to discover the real causes of oppression and those who are responsible for them and to avoid idealism. Marxism, not as a philosophy or world view of reality but as a science, can help a lot to gain knowledge of these causes and their dire consequences. It is valid to the extent that its analysis proves true in pointing to the genesis and effects of capitalism. Liberation theologians never took Marxism as a philosophical view of reality or used it uncritically.

Precisely because liberation theology aims to change what is oppression and injustice, it has been falsely attacked. This theology is demanding for the whole Church the proper place to which its faith assigns it based on following Jesus: to be poor, to live with the poor, and to commit itself to their liberation.

This repositioning of the Church is dangerous for the oppressors and for a Power-Church that is used to living in alliance with the powerful. Nothing is given in this theology that does not faithfully translate the radical message of Jesus and His Gospel. But those "challenged" by liberation theology and their dominion and the "media giants" took responsibility for broadcasting that liberation theology was unorthodox because of its Marxistization, its separation from the Church's magisterium, its promotion of the guerrilla, its merely temporal concept of salvation, because of the reduction of the historical Jesus to an earthly leader...

Later, many came to associate the fate of liberation theology with that of real socialism. The fall of the latter led them to believe that liberation theology fell in a parallel manner. Double trick: because socialism was not the same as state socialism and liberation theology was not its subordinate, but had its own origin and basis in the Gospel. As Bishop Pedro Casaldaliga rightly said: "The godfather of liberation theology is not Marx but God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

The fall of real socialism didn't canonize the intrinsic evil of capitalism, but rather encouraged us to delve deeper into the causes of oppression, now globalized. As always, economic structures count in the progress of society, and without them one can't understand the workings of the neoliberal system. But they aren't decisive nor do they choke out the influence of other factors in society -- the role of citizens, first of all. The current awareness can reverse the dominant Eurocentric view that has ruled the Earth for over 400 years. Man is not the owner and predator of the land, and he cannot continue exploiting it limitlessly and without solidarity.

Today, liberation theology acts on the fronts most in need of liberation: women/men, conflicting religions, harassed indigenous people, people in submission for centuries...

The new paradigm of liberation theology goes beyond all forms of subordination in the modern world, embodied in the capitalist society and system. Today's society with the role of citizens -- as it appears in the M-15 movement of the "outraged ones" -- is marking a turning point in face of the relationship of domination, established for centuries.

It is a fact that liberation theology does not seem to be providing eminent thinkers, as in previous years. Probably because its transformative sap is circulating at the bottom, more horizontally, permeating and directly driving the thoughts and action of "the voiceless".

The Spanish Catholic Hierarchy vs. the Progressive Theologians: La Lucha Continua

2011-11-14T17:50:00.003-05:00

Spanish theologian Juan José Tamayo (right), president of the Asociación de Teólogos y Teólogas Juan XXIII and author of numerous books, was prohibited last weeek by Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid, from giving a lecture at San Félix, a parish in that city run by the Viatoran order. The Archdiocese offered no explanation for the censorship, though the differences between Dr. Tamayo and the Cardinal are well-known, and the Asociación de Teólogos y Teólogas Juan XXIII has been forced to hold their annual conference in the Salón de Actos de Comisiones Obreras because they have not been allowed to use any Catholic Church facility.

Instead, Dr. Tamayo, Chair of Theology and Religious Studies at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, gave his lecture on "Is liberation theology dead? The option for the poor today" at the María Moliner Public Library last Friday.

Commenting on the incident, Dr. Tamayo said, "It's one more example of the bunker mentality of the more fundamentalist bishops who close ranks to block free and progressive theological thought." And he added, "we are moving towards the Church of Gregory VII."

In a similar incident, Mons. Mario Iceta, bishop of Bilbao, has banned theologian Andrés Torres Queiruga from teaching a course at the Bilbao Diocesan Institute of Theology and Pastoral Ministry. Torres Queiruga is professor of Theology at the Instituto Teolóxico Compostelá and of Religious Philosophy at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. He writes primarily in Galician, is the author of numerous books, and in 1990 received an award from the Spanish government for his translation of the Bible.

Although Dr. Torres Queiruga has had his own run-ins with the Spanish Catholic hierarchy, this latest move seems to be more directed at reining in the Institute or, as Javier Vitoria, a former director suggests, "leading the Institute back to a more centrist position." However, Mons. Iceta also let it be known that he does not consider Dr. Torres Queiruga to be "someone representative of the diocese." He did add that the theologian could be one member of a roundtable where multiple views were presented.

And the decision follows on a terse communiqué from the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela disassociating itself from the journal Encrucillada which Torres Queiruga edits: "The editorial policy and contents of Revista Encrucillada, as can be seen from its organizational chart, are the sole responsibility of the editor, his editorial team and those who contribute articles." In the same communiqué, the Archdiocese distanced itself from a forum on "Towards a New Spirituality" that Encrucillada held earlier this month at which theologians Sr. Teresa Forcades, Fr. José Antonio Pagola, and Dr. Luis González-Carvajal spoke. "Nor is the organization of forums being held by said journal the responsibility of the bishops of the Church in Galicia...obviously, those who organize the forum invite those who agree with their positions and message." And the communiqué concluded "the benchmark for evaluating content and opinions related to Christian thought is the Magisterium of the Church and, specifically, the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

When asked later by journalist José Manuel Vidal to what he attributed the reaction of the ultra-traditional Catholics to his forum, Dr. Torres Queiruga replied: "First of all, ignorance. I don't know to what extent they realize the very serious slander they are spreading, something which certainly, in the traditional morality they claim to defend, is a mortal sin. Then there's an attitude that hides an ignorance of true interpretation of faith and legitimate pluralism behind an aggressive dogmatism, that never distinguishes between faith and theology, between what is essential and what is secondary. They repeat phrases without having spent the slightest bit of time to understand what they really mean and comment on opinions of authors and books that they've never read. What I find hard to understand is how so much hatred can be distilled in the name of God who is love, and that in the name of Jesus who was enormously renewing and even "revolutionary" in His interpretation of the traditional faith that He had received, they are trying to impose a reactionary religion, which kills the living voice of the Gospel. Basically, they are reenacting today the same procedures and calumnies with which others embittered Jesus of Nazareth's life two thousand years ago...even killing Him."

We're still fighting the same battles that Jesus did with the religious authorities of our time.

In praise of the tavern

2011-11-14T12:30:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
11/11/2011

Because of my "intellectual nomadism", always speaking in many places and environments on many topics ranging from spirituality to environmental responsibility and even about the possibility of the end of our species, the organizers, out of deference, often invite me to a good restaurant in town. Obviously, I keep the good Franciscan tradition and welcome the dishes with positive comments. But I'm always left with a bad taste in my mouth that keeps the meal from being a celebration. I remember that most friends can not enjoy these foods, especially the millions of hungry in the world. It's seems like I'm taking food from their mouths. How can we celebrate the generosity of friends and Mother Earth if, in the words of Gandhi, "hunger is an insult and most deadly form of violence that exists"?

In this context, I am reminded of the comfort of bars or taverns. I like going to taverns because I can eat without a guilty conscience there. They are all over the world, even in the poor communities, where I worked for years. There is a real democracy there; the tavern (where lower income people go) welcomes everyone. A university professor can be there drinking his pint next to a construction worker, an actor at the same table as a crook, and even a drunk having his nip. You just have to get there, go sit down, and shout, "Give me a nice cold pint."

The Brazilian tavern is more than its visual aspect, tiled in bright colors, the patron saint on the wall -- usually a St. Anthony with the Child Jesus in his arms, the symbol of the amateur football team, and colorful beverage ads. The tavern is a state of mind, the place to meet with friends and neighbors, conversation until the wee hours, the argument about the latest soccer game, comments on a favorite novel, criticism of politicians and well-deserved swearing against the corrupt. Soon everyone becomes friends, within an emerging community spirit. Nobody here is rich or poor. They are simply people expressing themselves as people, using the language of the people. There is much humor, jokes and bravado. Sometimes, as in the State of Minas, songs are improvised, accompanied by someone on the guitar.

Nobody cares about the overall condition of the bar or tables. The important thing is that the glass is thoroughly clean and free of grease; otherwise the creamy foam of the pint that should be about three fingers, breaks down. Nobody is bothered by how the floor is, or the state of the bathroom.

The names are quite varied, depending on the region of the country. It may be Adega da Velha, Bar do Sacha, Boteco do Seo Gomes, Bar do Giba, Botequim do Jóia, Pavão Azul, Confraria do Bode Cheiroso, Casa Cheia, and many others. Belo Horizonte is the Brazilian city that has the most taverns, and every year it holds the competition for the best tavern food. The dishes are also varied, usually based on family and regional recipes -- sun-cured meat in the Northeast, pork and tutú (a paste of beans with manioc flour and fried bananas) in Minas. The names are ingenious: mexidoido chapado ("scrambled and stoned"), porconóbis de sabugosa (named after pork and the leaves of a plant called ora pro nobis), costela de Adão ("Adam's rib" -- pork chops with cassava), torresminho de barriga ("belly bacon"). There is a dish I enjoy a lot that is offered at the Central Market of Belo Horizonte and it was given an award in one of the competitions: beef liver with onions and jiló ("scarlet eggplant"). If it were up to me, this dish should be on the menu for the banquet of the kingdom of heaven that the heavenly Father will give for the blessed.

In retrospect, the tavern has a citizenship role: it gives those who go there, especially the most regular, the feeling of belonging to the city or the neighborhood. There being no other places of entertainment and leisure, it allows people to meet, forget their social status, and experience an equality that is generally denied in daily life.

For me, the tavern is a metaphor for Jesus' dream of commensality, a place where everyone can sit at the table, celebrating fraternal coexistence and making a meal, communion. And in my case, it's the place where I can eat without a guilty conscience.

I dedicate this text to my friend Jaguar, a cartoonist who appreciates taverns.

Photo: Leonardo Boff's favorite dish, beef liver with onions and jiló

Eucharist at a time of shortage of priests: Wir sind Kirche wants answers

2011-11-10T16:59:00.003-05:00

Some Catholic lay people in Austria are tired of waiting for their bishops to deal with the nation's priest shortage and are not only calling for the ordination of women and married men but also encouraging fellow Catholics, literally, to take matters into their own hands by assuming their baptismal priesthood and preaching and presiding at Eucharistic celebrations when an ordained priest is not available.

On Saturday November 5, 2011, Wir sind Kirche ("We Are Church"), together with the reform groups Laieninitiative, Pfarrer-Initiative, Priester ohne Amt and Taxhamer PGR-Initiative, met for a study day to discuss "The Eucharist at a time of shortage of priests". Dr. Franz Nikolasch, a professor of Liturgy, and Dr. Peter Trummer, professor of Biblical Studies, led this discussion and the group came up with the following manifesto (Note: this is an approximate translation since German is not one of my languages):

Concern for the Eucharist in the churches: seven theses

The priest shortage and the impending dissolution of parishes lead us to the following conclusions:

1. The community that gathered in the name of Jesus, was awarded the Eucharist. The commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ is entrusted to it as a local church; the Lord is in their midst (Mt 18:20). The community determines who directs it and presides at the Eucharist. Commissioning by the Bishop is necessary to maintain the unity of the Church.

2. At present, the line and the celebration of the Eucharist are dependent on the number of celibate priests. This is the wrong approach. Rather, the number of heads for church leadership and congregational celebration of the Eucharist must be adjusted to the number of communities.

3. The priest shortage has been artificially created by outdated requirements for the profession of priest in the official Church. While hundreds of priests have been removed from their positions due to marriage, the remaining priests must take on more and more communities. They can no longer offer adequate pastoral care and increasingly slide into burnout.

5. The New Testament abolished Jewish and pagan priests. Jesus Christ is the only priest of the New Covenant (Heb 9:10). All believers have a share in His Priesthood -- you are "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). This priesthood is awarded at each baptism, without gender distinction (Gal 3:28).

6. There were women deacons (Romans 16:1) and apostles (Rom 16:7) in the early church; they spoke prophetically in worship (1 Cor 11:5). Later restrictions were adjustments to the limitations of patriarchal societies, which have now been effectively overcome in our society. The path to women's ordination should not be obstructed by papal bans on discussion of it.

7. Every community has the right to a head. If the Bishop does not fulfill his obligation to ensure this, the communities, appealing to the general priesthood, will assume responsibility for facilitating the celebration of the Eucharist as the summit, the font of power for the faith (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 10).

Die katholischen Reformbewegungen [The Catholic Reform Movements], Linz, November 5, 2011

Hans Peter Hurka, head of Wir sind Kirche, told Reuters that a copy of the manifesto had been presented to the Austrian Bishops' Conference prior to their meeting this week. The bishops planned to discuss some of the church reform proposals and initiatives, along with other Church matters.

Risk averse

2011-11-10T11:20:00.002-05:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
11/9/2011

Matthew 25:14-30

The parable of the talents is very well-known to Christians. According to the story, before going away on a journey, a man entrusted the management of his assets to three employees. He gave one five talents, another, two, and a third, one talent -- "each according to his ability." He expected a worthy return from all of them.

The first two immediately began to trade with their talents. You see them working decisively, identifying with their master's plan. They aren't afraid to take risks. When the man comes back, they proudly give him the fruits -- they have been able to double the talents they received.

The reaction of the third employee is strange. The only thing he can think of to do is to hide the talent by "burying it in the ground" to keep it safe. When his master returns, he justifies himself in these words: "Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant...so I was afraid and I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here is what is yours." The master condemns him as a "negligent" employee.

In fact, the root of his behavior is deeper. This employee has a false image of the master. He imagines him to be selfish, unjust, and arbitrary. He is demanding and doesn't admit mistakes. He is not to be trusted. It's best to defend onself against him.

This petty image of his master paralyzes him. He doesn't dare to take any risks. Fear is blocking him. He isn't free to respond creatively to the responsibility that has been entrusted to him. The safest thing is to "save" the talent. That's enough.

Probably the first generation of Christians understood the appealing strength of the parable better than we do. Jesus has left His Father's plan to create a more just and humane world in our hands. He has bequeathed us the commandment to love. He has entrusted to us the great news of a God who is friendly to human beings. How are we responding today as followers of Jesus?

When Christian faith isn't lived in confidence but in fear, everything is distorted. Faith is preserved, but not spread. Religion becomes a duty. Observance is substituted for the gospel. Worship is dominated by preoccupation with ritual.

It would be a mistake to present ourselves before the Lord some day with the attitude of the third employee: "Here is what's yours. Here is your Gospel; here is the plan for Your kingdom and Your message of love for those who are suffering. We have kept it faithfully. We have preached it correctly. It hasn't been very useful for changing our lives or for making ways of justice to Your kingdom. But here it is, intact."

Dom Demétrio Valentini: Revisiting Vatican II, renewing hope, and resuming ecclesial renewal

2011-11-09T18:45:00.002-05:00

We would like to share with our readers this reflection on Vatican II by Dom Demétrio Valentini, bishop of Jales, Brazil, who, at the time of the Council, was a young seminarian studying in Rome. He was fortunate enough to get a press pass -- and a front row seat -- to the conciliar process. The bishop offered these remarks at the Jornada Teológica for the Andean region held in Bogota in October 2010. - RG

Adital
10/24/2011

Introduction

Thank you for the invitation to participate in the Andean Theological Conference, in view of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II.

In this conversation with you, I propose to simply relive some of the moments of that broad event that was the Second Vatican Council....more in the form of personal testimony than of theological reflection around the vast themes that this Council raises.

Fifty years after Vatican II, there are now few bishops alive who participated in the four conciliar sessions. On August 24th, Dom Clemente Isnard, one of the bastions of liturgical renewal, died in Brazil. Dom José María Pires, 93, is still alive.

It can be said that the generation of conciliar bishops is now gone. Now we are the heirs of an event that deeply involved the Church, whose momentum towards renewal is ours to sustain.

Personally, I feel obligated to give my testimony on the context in which this Council took place. I was lucky to experience Vatican II from up close, as a theology student in Rome at the time the Council was happening.

I especially remember the luck I had on October 11, 1962, on the opening day of the Council. I had gone very early to St. Peter's Square to see the procession of bishops that was to go through the square and enter the Basilica. I was there, very aware of the historical significance of that moment.

There I was surprised by the unexpected offer Frei Boaventura Kloppenburg made me. He was in charge of press credentials for Portuguese speaking journalists. And since none had shown up, he asked me if I wanted a press pass. I quickly accepted. I put my Brazilian seminarian's green and yellow sash in my pocket, went on through the square to the entrance of the Pope and bishops and then presented myself at the main door of the Basilica, entry guaranteed by my press pass! They looked at me suspiciously but let me go in. I came closer and closer until I was very near the Pope, nearer than all the cardinals, archbishops and bishops.

So I could see up close with my own eyes, and hear from John XXIII's own mouth, his famous speech at the opening of Vatican II, emphatically saying that this council was not going to repeat anathemas or proclaim new dogmas, but that it would attempt a new and accessible way to present to the people of today the great truths that make up the rich heritage the Church must bear witness to in all generations.

So now I also feel responsible for bearing witness to what that Council was. A while ago my conscience was troubling me, until I decided to write a little book which I titled Revisitar o Concílio Vaticano II ("Revisiting Vatican II"), where I tried to record the intense process of preparation for this great Council, what took place, and how it was received. The book has been published by Ediciones Paulinas, and it would be a good job to translate it into Spanish since it was written by a "Portuguese journalist"!

What I'm proposing to do today is a little bit like what I did in the booklet but I promise I won't read all the pages...because I don't want to kill any curiosity with respect to it!

Also, by way of an introduction, it's good to realize that we are now being challenged to look at the Council 50 years after it took place to answer the worrisome questions:

* To what extent is Vatican II still valid?

* Are its documents still in force?

* Has the process ended or are we still experiencing the consequences of Vatican II?

To answer these questions, nothing is better than to remember, first of all the words of Pope John Paul II in Tertio Millenio Ineunte, where he stated: "I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the Council as the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning."

Written on the occasion of the passing of the millenium, this declaration clearly shows the importance that the Council still has.

At the same time, we need to realize that we are living in a period of a strong tide of conservatism, which is manifested in many ways, and which, in some groups in the Church, is expressed explicitly as a challenge to the conciliar process.

This is a phenomenon that should be analyzed calmly, to understand it with much discernment. Undoubtedly, it presents a serious challenge to correctly understanding the Council, and for how far its proposals for church renewal can reach.

This hasn't ceased to cause a lot of perplexity. Fifty years ago nobody could imagine that we would come to the situation we are experiencing today, with this tide of conservatism, whose major symbol is the return of the Eucharistic celebration to pre-Conciliar models.

We are called to reflect more on what is at stake in this phenomenon. For this, undoubtedly, knowing the historical context can be helpful, that is, both the moment of the celebration of Vatican II and the situation we are experiencing today, especially with the profound social, religious and cultural changes going on.

For this, we'll propose a quick reflection on how the Council emerged, the reactions it provoked, the historical context of those years, the preparation for the Council, its decisive moments, its major institutions, how the Council was received, resistance to the conciliar process, and subsequent perspectives.

All very simple and brief! If you're patient, we'll go quickly through these points:

1) How Vatican II arose

A first observation to make: To understand the Council, it's necessary to realize how much it depended on Pope John XXIII. Never has a council been so linked to a pope as Vatican II was to John XXIII.

Without John XXIII, this Council wouldn't have happened. Without any exaggeration, it can be said that this is Pope John XXIII's Council.

The dynamic of the events that led to the convocation of an ecumenical council had already begun with the election of John XXIII. No one expected that Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli would be elected Pope.

With Pius XII's death in October 1958, everybody was asking who could replace a pope of Pius XII's intellectual caliber.

The conclave process itself highlighted the difficulty in finding a successor to Pius XII. There was vote after vote, with persistent black smoke that showed the difficulty in reaching a consensus.

When white smoke finally appeared, after four days, Angelo Roncalli's name was announced. The vast majority didn't know who the new Pope was. Noting that he was 77 years old, it quickly spread that he was a "transitional Pope" -- one who wouldn't live very long -- until someone would emerge who would be able to continue Pius XII's pontificate.

Therefore, John XXIII started under the stigma of being a "transitional Pope", a role he himself took on and put at the service of his plans that nobody suspected were very brave and worthy of a Pope who, contrary to what was expected, would go down in history as one of the most influential popes in the Church of his time. He surprised everyone, and he knew how to avail himself of the opportunity history offered him.

He started surprising people with the date he took office, which he chose himself: November 4th! It was the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, one of the bishops who had carried out the Council of Trent. The new pope understood about councils!

But John XXIII was able to win everyone's esteem very quickly. In a few weeks, he was quickly identified as the "Good Pope" and the "Kind Pope."

On Christmas, to everyone's surprise, John XXIII left the Vatican and went to visit sick children in a hospital in Rome. The next day, he went to visit prisoners in the city jail.

It was enough for everybody to be very happy with the new 77 year-old pope! For the people of Rome, they didn't need any other pope! And in fact, the primary mission of the pope is to be bishop of the Roman people!

It was in this context of admiration for the Pope, and prompt support for his stances, that a great surprise was announced. The Pope would convene an ecumenical council.

It was January 25th, the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. The "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" was ending in St. Paul's Basilica in Rome. The Pope had been invited and he was getting ready to go.

Three days before (according to a frequently heard statement from John XXIII himself) in a conversation with his personal secretary, Msgr. Capovilla, Pope John XXIII confided that he felt the need, as pope, to do something for Christian unity. And he asked his secretary what he thought. And, as he asked the question, the answer came to him: a Council.

The idea never left his mind. Three days later, at the Basilica of St. Paul, at the closing of the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", John XXIII surprised the Church and the world with the brave announcement of his plans.

Playing with the "transitional Pope" epithet they had given him, he stated that in spite of that, he also had plans for his pontificate. And then he went on to state what those plans were:

* Holding a synod for the Church of Rome,
* Bringing the Code of Canon Law up to date, and
* Convening an ecumenical council for the whole Church!

2. The reactions

The news spread rapidly and it was met with the same warmth that already surrounded the figure of the pope.

In the middle of this story, there was a significant episode that well shows that Pope John XXIII was aware of how far-reaching his proposals were, especially holding an ecumenical council.

He made a very interesting move. Before going to meet with the cardinals in St. Paul's Basilica, John XXIII had asked Vatican Radio to announce the news of the Council directly, without waiting for the closing of the religious ceremony.

So when the cardinals came out, the news had already spread throughout the world as the big headline of the day! The cardinals, who had listened to the daring proposals of the new pope with a certain amount of suspicion and reserve, suddenly encountered people's enthusiasm at the airing of the news.

Thus John XXIII strategically managed to avoid the possible resistance that might have come from the Roman Curia. The announcement of the Council having been greeted with so much enthusiasm, nobody would oppose this initiative. So, from its announcement, the Council was accepted in the Church with much enthusiasm and hope, especially ecumenically, given the events of the week.

Ecumenical expectations spread rapidly to the point that John XXIII himself felt the need to moderate them and he explained that the Council would be for the Catholic Church. However, the ecumenical atmosphere remained deeply linked with the future of the Council.

Thus the idea of the council was immediately accepted with a lot of enthusiasm, and it was supported from the beginning by John XXIII.

Even before it began, the Council modified the church atmosphere, in which everyone was soon involved, raising lots of hopes of participation and profound ecclesial change.

Taking these facts into account now, 50 years later, it's worth asking ourselves if John XXIII's strategy was completely positive. Now we realize that is caused resistance to build up that then manifested itself in the preparation of the conciliar documents, and especially as the Council developed, and even more after the Council ended.

The fact is that he delayed a lot in noticing the consistency of the opposition to the Council. He began with great enthusiasm, but did not sufficiently take into account the power of reaction, the niches of resistance, which unfortunately became divisive, and now threaten to contaminate the whole Church like volcanic ash from the Andes that extends across the continent!

It never hurts to insistently seek dialogue and to overcome resistance, especially when fundamentalist positions are being taken.

Even the "Council of Jerusalem" shows the importance of mutual concessions to secure unity and communion. Even the "meat sacrificed to idols" was part of the compromise between the two streams of thought!

3) The historical context of Vatican I

To understand the mood that was felt so intently at the council, it is necessary to note the atmosphere of optimism that the world was experiencing in those days.

It can be said that the decades of the 50s and the 60s were the most optimistic in recent centuries. Europe was rebuilding itself after the war. The African nations were at the full apogee of their independence. Development seemed about to come to all countries. The detente between east and west was solidifying, and the 1962 Cuban missile crisis became the symbol of the event with the appearance of the trio of personalities that reflected the new world situation -- Kennedy, Khrushchev, and John XXIII, who would write Pacem in Terris.

It seemed as if the utopia of peace and universal progress were coming!

The euphoric mood infected the atmosphere of the Council, and expressed itself, particularly, in the conciliar document Gaudium et Spes.

At the same time, another observation is very important. The worldwide euphoric mood was abruptly broken by the "cultural revolution of 1968", the revolt of the young people, and by the rapid initiation of the process of secularization which especially affected the Western European countries, where hopes for the Council had grown fonder.

If that crisis had come earlier, or if the Council had happened later, there's no doubt that much of the focus would have been different, whether in the internal Church documents or those addressing its mission in the world.

One fact that should be clearly noted is the error in historical interpretation, which is used insistently by those who are fighting Vatican II today. They accuse the Council of being the cause of the secularization that has deeply invaded Europe and elsewhere. It's a serious error in historical interpretation. Secularization would have happened even without the Council.

Thus, we now have the annoyance of living with incorrect suppositions, which has allowed for gratuitous accusations, attributing effects to the Council that it absolutely didn't cause.

That doesn't exempt us now from making a lucid evaluation, observing how the implementation process of the Council was managed, and , especially how it should proceed in the future. I hope that the serious in-depth celebration of the jubilee of the Council will help us perceive the important values that we can consider and use as a reference for our pastoral activity.

4) The preparation of the Council

Because it was promptly embraced, we can say that the Council process started on January 25, 1959, with the announcement that it was taking place.

The official summons happened on Christmas Day, 1961, in the papal bull Humanae salutis, when John XXIII said the council would open the following year, without specifying the date. Its official opening took place, effectively, on October 11, 1962, the closing date of the Council of Ephesus in 431, when the people proclaimed Mary as Mother of God. Here we can see John XXIII's style. Without offending the "separated brethren", the Council was placed under the protection of Mary.

The preparation for the Council was firmly directed by Pope John XXIII, who had his age in mind and wanted to ensure the effective fulfillment of his great dream.

So after the announcement of the Council, he named a "Central Preparatory Commission", with the primary task of identifying the main issues to be addressed by the Council. For the first time in history, a council was being convened without any specific problems to solve.

The Commission had the bright idea of asking the opinion of the bishops, superiors of the large religious orders, and rectors of Catholic universities.

The response was surprising.

The gathered suggestions filled twelve big volumes, which then served as a source for the development of the 75 schemas, already in the Council's preparatory phase.

The fact is that the council was formed through a strong experience of church involvement, already through its process. Before declaring that the Church is the people of God, the Council led Christians to truly feel like conscious and involved people of God.

Therefore, the best way to relive the Council is not so much by studying its documents as by reliving its experiment in church participation.

5) Key moments in the Council

First, the opening speech on October 11 became a very important reference point for the whole conciliar process. As John XXIII emphatically declared, it would be a Council to bring about the great "aggiornamento" of the Catholic Church, with the subsequent developments that this "updating" entailed.

Another key moment happened in the first regular meeting after the opening of the council. The session was intended to elect ten working committees. Each bishop was to submit 16 names for each committee. The impasse was evident. Who would have the names of 160 bishops in mind to nominate?

This situation led to a clever maneuver by the Roman Curia. At the entrance to the conciliar hall, the bishops received ten lists, each with 16 names of bishops. The intent was clear: to put the names indicated by the Curia on the commissions.

That was when Cardinal Liénart, of Lille, proposed suspending the session, and giving the bishops three days to make relevant inquiries to find the most appropriate names for each committee in each episcopate.

The idea was supported by several other bishops, and was finally adopted.

This demonstrated the importance that episcopal coordination would have in this council to sustain and support the conciliar process. And the autonomy of the bishops as actors in the conciliar process was affirmed.

Some bishops stood out in this role. Among those who obviously emerged with great effectiveness were Dom Helder Cámara, of Brazil, and Mons. Larraín of Chile.

Another important moment came during the first rejection of a preparatory document. It was the schema on the Word of God, where the controversial topics of Revelation, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church came in. The document had been written in a quite controversial way, and many bishops began asking for its rejection.

When it was submitted to a vote, a clear majority was declared against the schema, but not the two thirds required to reject it. Then John XXIII intervened and decided to order that the document be withdrawn so that it could be written in different, more ecumenical language.

This strengthened the bishops' impression that they were the authors of the Council and that the schemas and programs prepared in advance could be replaced by different ones.

During the interval between the first and second session, before his death, Pope John XXIII ordered a drastic reduction in the number of preparatory schemas, since the Council had already identified the main theme, which would be the Church, and many other less important themes could be integrated within that broader theme.

Thus, before his death, John XXIII could be sure that his great dream was beginning to come true.

6) The great insights of the Council

Some say that this Council had no theological depth, or even that it didn't intend to state truths -- that it was a purely "pastoral" Council. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The big theme of the work and documents of Vatican II was the Church, mainly its vocation and mission in this world. It was clearly an "ecclesiological" Council, just as the first councils were clearly "Christological".

It's not a matter here of elaborating the great ecclesial statements made by the Council. I'm only going to recall them briefly.

The most strategic, the deepest one, was the vision of the Church as the People of God, recovering the Biblical dimension of the Church's journey.

Parallel to this statement, we can place episcopal collegiality, affirming the co-responsibility of all the bishops in the government of the Church, establishing the balance between the primacy of Peter and episcopal collegiality. This laid the groundwork for a vision of the church that includes both unity and diversity.

Closely related to these two truths, we can see how it adapts well to the importance of the local church, and the value of all church communities as practical manifestations of the life of the Church.

Thus, since the Council, we have been able to continue to develop a vision of the Church as People of God, led by pastors who call it to fraternal communion and to the mission in the world as "universal sacrament of salvation."

7) How the Council was received

We know that the worth of a document, or a church event, is measured by how it is received.

One good question to evaluate it, on the jubilee of the Council, is exactly that: checking to see how Vatican II was received.

The celebration of the 50th jubilee of the Council brought the hope that this positive reception of the Council might be resumed. After encountering so much resistance, a time is finally emerging for the fruitful reception of the impetus for Church renewal that the Council brought. This would be the aim for celebrating this conciliar jubilee.

In any case, for us here in Latin America, it's good to remember that our church was the only one that welcomed the Council on the continental level, due to the actions of CELAM, and the general conferences it conducted, especially the Conference at Medellin, in Colombia, which was a sort of Council for Latin America, making Vatican II resound among us.

At the same time, it must be admitted that, unfortunately, during those post-conciliar times, we also experienced a climate of mutual distrust between the Roman Curia and the Church in Latin America.

This suspiciousness was very much present at Puebla and at Santo Domingo, but almost completely vanished during the Conference at Aparecida.

Certainly, mature dialogue can contribute to making relations between Rome and the Church in Latin America take place in an atmosphere of complete trust, enabling us to always be in ecclesial communion, without impeding the implementation of appropriate pastoral options for our reality, for the benefit of strengthening the whole Church, in search of making way for the ecclesial renewal envisioned by the Council.

8) Resistance to the conciliar process

Nowadays we can appreciate John XXIII's grand strategy for circumventing possible resistance to his proposal for ecclesial renewal through a Council. But at the same time, we see that this resistance was not overcome. Instead, it coalesced during the Council, and was explicitly expressed after the Council, leading to ruptures that unfortunately still exist, and which constitute a personal drama for Benedict XVI, in his effort to reach full communion with the few dissidents, putting at risk the conciliar advances of the whole post-conciliar Church.

We hope these difficulties, which have been well located and identified, can be overcome, and not impede the continuity of the conciliar renewal proposed by this great ecumenical council, which God gave as a special grace to His Church in these difficult times of historic change we are experiencing.

Conclusion

Fifty years after Vatican II, we find ourselves faced with a vast panorama that could give rise to two initiatives that could be complementary:

On the one hand, we see how valid the Second Vatican Council was, and how much it gives for walking in the light of its two documents and the ecclesial events it stirred up.

Undoubtedly the Church keeps on moving forward, sustained by the motivation of Vatican II.

On the other hand, the rich experience of the era of the Council make us wonder if it wouldn't be worthwhile to experience an intense conciliar process again by holding a new council.

This second hypothesis is much more clearly opposed by the practical possibilities of its undertaking. And then we realize how difficult it would be, and perhaps too risky to undertake a new council in the current state the Church is in.

In addition to how complex organizing a new council would be, the profound changes that have happened in recent decades would result in a council that would also be completely new in how it was carried out.

In Spain there is even a small foundation, "Proconcil", that can be found through the Internet, dedicated to reflecting on the appropriateness of promoting a new council.

It prudently reached the conclusion that, for now, it was appropriate to recover the conciliar dimension of the Church, which is already a lot, to rely again on the opinion of the bishops and the people of the Diaspora to decide Church matters.

In any case, we have the enormous task over the next few years, as we celebrate the anniversary of Vatican II, of seeing how we can still motivate ourselves through its proposals and its dreams!

In this context, it is worth bringing up here, briefly, the dream of one of the cardinals who dreamed of the ecclesial renewal that we still have. It's the dream of Cardinal Martini, presented at the Special Synod for Europe in the nineties, in preparation for the transition to the new millennium.

Let me cite his dream again here:

Without saying that he was proposing a new Council, he proposed that "all the bishops of the world" should be called together to address three issues:

Within the Church, rethinking the exercise of ministry, from the Petrine ministry to the community ministries entrusted to the laity, therefore, a radical change in the Church's ministerial structure.
With respect to other Christians, that foundations be laid for broad theological understanding, which would allow a gradual rapprochement, and finally overcome the divisions.
With respect to the world today, beginning a broad reflection on the urgent need for inculturation of the Gospel, so that Christ's Church can take on the characteristics of different cultures in the world and not be limited to only one of them, the Western one.

If a council were convened with these goals, all of us, doubtlessly, would have many opinions to give and positions to take. And we would do so enthusiastically.

But for now, at this Theological Conference, we are only called to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, and take up again its generous goals of ecclesial renewal.

Which is certainly no small matter!

Photo: Dom Demetrio blesses his flock.

The difficult search for self-fulfillment

2011-11-08T16:58:00.002-05:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
11/4/2011

There is nowadays a widely prevalent erosion of ethical values that were usually lived out and transmitted by the family and later by the school and society. This erosion has made the guidestars of heaven hidden by the clouds of interests that are harmful to society and to the future of life and the equilibrium of the Earth.

Despite this darkness, we must also acknowledge the emergence of new values associated with international solidarity, care for nature, transparency in social relations and the rejection of forms of repressive violence and the violation of human rights. But not even thus has the crisis of values diminished, especially in the field of the market economy and speculative finance. These are what define the direction of the world and the daily life of employees, who live under constant threat of unemployment. Recent crises have exposed speculator mafias inside the stock markets and big banks, whose high number and ability to pillage others' money almost caused the collapse of the global financial system. Instead of being in jail, such miscreants, after minor adjustments, have returned to the old habit of speculation and the game of misappropriation of the "commons", of the common property of mankind (water, seeds, soil, energy, etc.).

This atmosphere of anomie and "anything goes", which also extends to politics, dulls the sense of ethics and, in the face of general corruption, makes people feel powerless and condemned to acid bitterness and humiliating resignation. In this context, many search for meaning in self-help literature, made of pieces of psychology, Eastern wisdom, spirituality, with recipes for complete happiness -- all an illusion because it isn't based on or supported by a realistic and contradictory sense of reality. Others get psychologists and psychoanalysts who give better founded advice, but in the end everything ends with the following recommendations: Given the failure of entities that create meaning, such as religions and philosophies, and given the confusion of worldviews, the relativization of values and lack of existential meaning, find your way yourself, work on your deep self, set your own ethical standards to guide your life and seek your self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment: the magic word full of promise.

I will not be the one to fight against self-fulfillment after writing El águila y la gallina, una metáfora de la condición humana ( "The Eagle and the Hen: a metaphor for the human condition" -- Trotta 2002), a book that encourages people to find reasons for sensible self-fulfillment within themselves. This results from the wise combination of the eagle dimension and the hen dimension. When should I be a hen, i.e. particularly attentive to the challenges of everyday life, and when should I be an eagle that seeks to fly high, free, fulfilling hidden potential. By joining these dimensions, the possibility for successful self-fulfillment is created.

I think this self-realization is reached only if it seriously incorporates three other dimensions. The first is the shadow side. Each one has his or her self-centered, arrogant side, and other limitations that do not ennoble us. This dimension is not a flaw but a sign of our human condition. To accept such a shadow side and ensure that its negative effects don't reach others, makes us humble, sympathetic with the shadow side of others, and allows us a more complete and wholistic human experience.

The second dimension is the relationship with others, open, honest and made of enriching exchanges. We are relational beings. There is no self-fulfillment if ties with others are severed.

The third dimension is nurturing a certain level of spirituality. This is not to say that the person must belong to any religion. It can happen but it's not essential. The important thing is to be open to human/spiritual capital which, unlike physical capital, is unlimited and made of values such as truth, justice, solidarity and love. In this dimension, the urgent question arises: In the end, what is the meaning of my life and the whole universe? What I can expect? A return to cosmic dust or shelter in a divine Womb that welcomes me just as I am?

If the latter is the answer, self-fulfillment will bring depth and an intimate happiness that no one can take away.

Rekindling a burned out faith

2011-11-03T12:14:00.002-04:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
11/2/2011

Matthew 25:1-13

The first generation of Christians was convinced that Jesus, the Risen Lord, would soon come back fully to life. It didn't happen. Little by little, Jesus' followers had to prepare themselves for a long wait.

It's not hard to imagine the questions that were sparked among them. How do we keep the spirit of our beginnings alive? How do we stay awake and alert until the Lord comes? How do we nurture the faith without letting it burn out? Jesus' story about what happened at a wedding helped them to think of the answer.

Ten young women, friends of the bride, lit their lamps and prepared to welcome the bridegroom. When he comes at sunset to take his bride with him, they will accompany both of them in the procession that will take them to the groom's house where the nuptial banquet will be held.

There's a detail that the narrator wants to highlight from the start. Among the young women, there are five "wise" and provident ones who bring oil with them to fuel their lamps as the flame is burning. The other five are "foolish" and careless ones who forget to bring oil, risking that their lamps will go out.

They soon discover their mistake. The bridegroom is delayed and doesn't come until midnight. When they hear the call to meet him, the wise ones feed the flame of their lamps with oil and accompany the groom until they enter the feast with him. The foolish ones don't know what to do but lament: "Our lamps have gone out." Busy getting oil, they arrive at the banquet when the door is closed. Too late.

Many commentators try to find a hidden meaning in the symbol of "oil". Is Jesus talking about spiritual fervor? Love? Baptismal grace?...Perhaps it's easier to remember His greatest wish: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" Is there anything that can light up our faith more than living contact with Him?

Isn't it foolishness to try to preserve a burned out faith without reviving it through the fire of Jesus? Isn't it a contradiction to believe ourselves Christians without knowing His plan or being attracted to His lifestyle?

We urgently need a new quality in our relationship with Him. To care for everything that helps us center our lives on Him. To not waste energy on what distracts us or takes us away from His gospel. To light up our faith every Sunday pondering His words and being in vital communion with Him. No one can transform our communities like Jesus.

'Liberation theology can help interpret the current global malaise': An interview with Sergio Torres

2011-10-31T19:47:00.002-04:00

by IHU - Unisinos (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Instituto Humanitas Unisinos (em português)
Adital (en español)
10/28/2011

Both liberation theology, in itself, and the upcoming Continental Theology Congress in 2012, can do much to "make it possible to address in a different way these new challenges" that "were not considered in the [Second Vatican] Council, but we have the tools that make it possible to confront them." For Chilean theologian Sergio Torres, the qualitative leap promoted by liberation theology was opening up the contextual perspective in theology. "The context," he says, "lets us delve into some aspects of the one Message and makes it more credible to people of different cultures." And also adding another "theological place": the presence of God in "faith working through love," especially among the poor.

Torres is a co-founder and emeritus member of the coordinating committee of Amerindia, a network of Catholics on the American continent that, along with other organizations such as the Humanitas Institute at Unisinos (IHU) is organizing and promoting the Continental Theology Congress, October 8-11, 2012, at Unisinos, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the convening of Vatican II and the 40th anniversary of the publication of Teología de la Liberación. Perspectivas (A Theology of Liberation) by Gustavo Gutiérrez.

Because of this circumstance, in this interview granted by e-mail to IHU On-line, Torres talks about the main moments in the history of Amerindia and states that celebrating these important dates on Latin American soil is also reliving the moments of "great enthusiasm" experienced by the Church on the continent, which "not only read and applied the Council, but also reinterpreted it from our social, economic and cultural situation."

Sergio Torres has a degree in theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He was professor of dogmatic theology at the Instituto Alfonsiano in Santiago. He is co-editor of several books of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (Asett/ EATWOT) and co-founder and emeritus member of the Coordinating Committee of Amerindia. He was vicar general of the Diocese of Talca and is currently an assistant vicar in a parish in Santiago.

IHU On-Line: The Continental Theology Congress of 2012 originates from a proposal by Amerindia, along with other theological organizations on the continent. Recalling its history, how did Amerindia begin?

Sergio Torres: Amerindia was born in 1978, during preparation for the Bishops' Conference at Puebla. At that time, there was a conflict within the liberating tradition that had started at the Medellin Conference (1968). After Medellin, most of the Latin American church joyfully accepted and tried to implement the guidelines and documents from that conference. Across the continent, a new stage began in the history of the Church, which conducted a thorough self-criticism of its pastoral work and began a new style in the mission to society. It distanced itself from the dominant classes and acquired Church citizenship among the poor. However, there was a small minority who did not participate in this general interpretation and made a social and theological critique of some of the main orientations of Medellín, for example, the option for the poor.

That minority got more power and visibility when the Colombian Bishop Alfonso Lopez Trujillo was elected secretary general of CELAM [the Latin American Bishops Conference] in 1972 in the city of Sucre (Bolivia). One of the tasks that that bishop set himself was to dismantle some of the institutions created after Medellín and change the members of the Theological Commission of CELAM. When it came time to prepare for the Conference at Puebla, CELAM interpreted the task and mission of the Church from a different perspective. In some preparatory documents, it was said that the biggest challenge for the mission of the Church in Latin America wasn't the evangelization of the poor, but the evangelization of culture.

That perspective, which itself was timely, implicitly intended to change the interpretation of Medellín. As was found later, during the Puebla Conference, the two perspectives were present and fought to prevail, imposing themselves in the reaffirmation of Medellin as the fundamental option of Puebla, from the perspective of "communion and participation." When it came time to name the theological experts who would accompany the bishops at the Puebla conference, the Secretariat of CELAM ruled out almost all the theologians identified with Medellin and liberation theology. This discrimination caused great discomfort and opposition among the bishops already designated to participate in the Conference, as many of them had asked to have the advice of those experts who had played a very important role at Medellin.

Amerindia was born at that time, but not under that name. It was organized as a response to the concerns and the request by the bishops for support and advice at Puebla. The liberation theologians themselves found a way to set up a working group to travel to Puebla and find a space, near Palafox Seminary, where the conference was taking place. Every day, bishops, religious and other people went up there to work with the group of "extramural" theologians. Subsequent history showed that this legitimately required advice was positive and fruitful in results that were included in the final document.

IHU On-Line: In your view, what were the highlights of Amerindia?

Sergio Torres: This initiative, talked about 33 years later, seems simple and without conflict. In practice, it wasn't. The secretariat of CELAM and many bishops felt the presence of these theologians at Puebla was an act that had not been authorized by the institutional Church at that time and was almost a subversive action. However, the bishops who had requested that counsel believed that their invitation to those theologians was a normal exercise of their authority and freedom as bishops and successors to the apostles.

That initial organizational effort by a group of theologians to advise bishops in official conferences, is the first historical antecedent, although the group wasn't named Amerindia as such. That name was born on the occasion of a similar effort in connection with the preparation for the Fourth Conference of Latin American Bishops in Santo Domingo in 1992. At that time, the liberation theologians were again excluded and, for the second time, a group of bishops sought theological advice from them for their deliberations, which in fact took place.

After the conference in Santo Domingo, in 1992, the group of theologians had the subjective perception of forming a group bound by friendship and theological affinity that was prepared to perform unusual tasks. Until then, they still were not conscious of forming a group with its own identity. In 1997, there was another opportunity to fulfill a similar function. On the occasion of the preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000, John Paul II called continental synods in Rome to promote a better celebration of the Jubilee on every continent. In 1997, the Synod of America was held in Rome, which included bishops and other representatives from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. For the third time, a group of theologians, many of them the same as at previous meetings, traveled to Rome this time, sought a place to work and were able to respond to the invitation of bishops seeking advice.

After the Synod in Rome, there was a significant change in the Amerindia group, which until then had consisted exclusively of theologians. The change was to expand the group to include lay people, nuns and priests as part of a larger multidisciplinary collective. Its objective expanded. The group's mission was no longer just being prepared to be a possible advisor; it assumed a broader and more permanent goal.

It proposed to "maintain and update the theological, social and pastoral tradition of Medellin and Puebla as a specific expression of following Jesus in the current reality of the continent, which is marked by the predominance of neoliberal capitalism and restricted democracy."

Later, the group saw the need to be more organized and established a permanent secretariat in Montevideo, Uruguay, and hired staff to move ahead with the work that was steadily growing. In subsequent years, Amerindia took on an extra task, organizing theological conferences and publishing books on Latin American theology, adapted to the new challenges. It also established a much closer contact with the new initiative of the World Social Forum that fights for "another world possible." From this relationship and together with other institutions, an initiative called the World Forum on Theology and Liberation was established.

Finally, the last major initiative was participation in the preparation for and implementation of the Conference at Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. In the preparatory phase, Amerindia participated in a dialogue between liberation theologians and some bishops appointed by CELAM to reflect on the situation of liberation theology in these times. In addition, Amerindia participated in the Bishops' Conference at Aparecida in a different way than in previous conferences. This time, the presidency of CELAM officially announced that there was a group of theologians associated with Amerindia in Aparecida that was available for theological advice and that conference participants were free to consult them.

IHU On-Line: On its web site, Amerindia calls itself a "network of Catholics in an ecumenical spirit, open to dialogue and inter-religious cooperation." How do you view the role of theologians in discussions with other Christian denominations and other faiths that characterize Latin American culture?

Sergio Torres: In the early years of Amerindia's history, there was a rather prolonged discussion about the need to work with the Protestant churches. Many members said that this should be the normal attitude of our institution. Eagerly living out the One Church of Jesus Christ focused on His message of liberation and service to the poor. The debate was closed. Amerindia thought it best to describe itself as a Catholic organization, open to other faiths, thinking that there are many problems and challenges of our own that need to be treated in the family. The same is true for Protestant churches. Each has its own organizations, meetings, journals, to better define its identity and, furthermore, many of these churches show little ecumenical concern. Amerindia isn't a closed group and has always cultivated good relations with the liberating streams in Protestantism. Some Protestant theologians, such as Ruben Alves, Jose Miguez Bonino, Elsa Tamez and Julio de Santa Ana, among others, have made important contributions to liberation theology. We have some common elements in our short history and tradition.

Amerindia did not get into a debate on doctrinal and dogmatic issues with other Protestant traditions. It prefers to experience ecumenism in social life and in the practice of serving the poor and the liberation of the people. And at the same time, it's indebted to the rich wisdom traditions of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent. It has learned from the development of the theologies that have emerged from these traditions. With regard to dialogue with other religions, it stays out of the deep debates that take place between interested groups of theologians and scholars of these religions.

Because of the limited presence among us of Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, Amerindia is attentive to these discussions, but not directly involved in them. At the same time, it values the specialized arenas of inter-religious dialogue, such as the studies by the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians. Naturally, we're concerned about the need for a radical reformulation of the Message of Jesus Christ, handed down so far through Greek and Western culture. This task is an urgent priority.

IHU On-line: Amerindia's identity is also marked by reassertion of the "option for new communitarian and participatory Church models and theology of liberation, as a contribution to the universal Church." In your opinion, what are the main features of these new models of church?

Sergio Torres: The history of the Church in Latin America after Vatican II is marked by periods of profound renewal and vitality and by moments of difficulty, withdrawal and frustration. In Latin America, at the time of the Second Vatican Council, there was a worthy group of committed bishops scattered throughout the continent. Some names will be remembered forever, for example, Dom Helder Camara of Brazil and Don Manuel Larrain of Chile. The recently deceased theologian José Comblin proposed calling these bishops the "fathers of the Latin American Church." These bishops, with the help of theologians and grassroots pastoral agents, contributed to an understanding of the Council from the Latin American perspective at the Conference at Medellín in 1968.

Since then and for nearly 20 years, the Church of the subcontinent experienced tremendous growth and vitality among the people, forming a new identity. Following Jesus Christ and with deep loyalty to the Church's tradition, it assumed a new role among the poor, leaving aside its former role of legitimating the ruling classes of society. At the same time there was a profound renewal of liturgy, catechesis, theology, church organization and evangelization as a whole, taking direction from Medellin, Evangelii Nutiandi and, later, the Conference at Puebla.

Unfortunately, starting in the 1980s, something unexpected happened in this renewed Latin American Church. There was an internal division between some sectors of the hierarchy and some theologians, in relation to the interpretation of Medellín and Puebla, in particular regarding how to understand the option for the poor. Some people believed that the option for the poor could be interpreted as a Marxist expression. This internal discussion led some sectors of the Curia to take sides and, from that time, there was a great distancing and mistrust between these Roman entities and progressive sectors of the continent.

An important moment in this history was the two instructions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 1984 and 1986, condemning certain forms of liberation theology. Although the instructions say that it's about "some forms", the more conservative sectors thought all liberation theology was suspect and ultimately to be condemned. This misunderstanding has continued up to today, and created distance and differences of opinion and attitude that have prevented a common response of the Church to the new challenges of the present times. A serious difficulty was listening almost exclusively to the 1984 instruction and the silencing that prevented them from accepting with as much interest John Paul II's May 1986 letter to the Bishops of Brazil, in which, after the first instruction, he told them clearly that "we and you believe that liberation theology is useful and necessary."

IHU On-line: In 2012, we'll be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Convocation of the Second Vatican Council, an anniversary that inspired the promotion of the Continental Theology Congress. How can this event enlighten the Church in the present context?

Sergio Torres: The Church in Latin America and the Caribbean received the Council with great enthusiasm. It was even prepared to do so. Moreover, not only did it read and apply the Council, but it also interpreted it from our social, economic and cultural situation. The concept of Church as the People of God, was received with great ease, since, at that time the awareness of the people as important players who were taking on a leading role and proposing major changes in the structure of society, was developing. Latin American culture, supportive and fraternal, joyfully and enthusiastically experienced the identity of a communitarian church in which the bishops and the faithful, in the language of the time, felt they were part of a common horizontal plan for a renewed missionary Church.

History also shows that both in Europe and in America, after early enthusiasm for the Council, different interpretations emerged about the true meaning of its documents with the pastoral guidelines and conclusions. In Latin America, there was also a process of involution and restoration. Some sectors thought that the Council, in some respects, had gone too far and needed to regain a more traditional line on several levels.

The 50th anniversary of Vatican II is an opportune time to reread the Council. The great documents, especially Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes, have lasting insights that are highly relevant to the current situation. The democratic spirit and the desire for participation demand a communitarian, participative and supportive church. The opening to the world today takes on new aspects and faces great challenges. There are new problems that were not considered by the Council, but we have the tools that allow us to address them. Both liberation theology, in itself, and the upcoming Congress in 2012 can contribute a lot to addressing these challenges in a new way.

IHU On-line: In 2012, we are also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the publication Gustavo Gutiérrez's book. Since that inaugural work, what were and are the main contributions of liberation theology in the context of Latin America? What is the meaning of liberation today?

Sergio Torres: The rise of liberation theology represented an important moment in the history of theology in general. Before it, it was thought that there was only one universal theology, along the lines of St. Paul's expression, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." Without in any way denying this fundamental principle, liberation theology opened the contextual perspective. We believe in one Lord, but we do so from our contexts and our own different situations and cultures. The context allows one to delve into some aspects of the single message and make it more credible to people of different cultures. Born in Latin America, liberation theology has spread to Africa and Asia and has also generated experiments in contextual theology in North America and Europe.

Liberation theology contributed other elements to traditional theological reflection. Theology reflects on the mystery of God, revealing permanent "theological places" to us such as the Bible, Tradition, Liturgy, the Magisterium, the teaching of theologians and so on. Liberation theology added another "theological place" -- discovering the presence of God in "faith working through love", especially in the poor who, enlightened by their faith and following Jesus, fight for their liberation.

The concept of liberation expanded and became richer. At first, they talked about the liberation of the poor, understood as the workers in the industries and factories of the great cities of the continent. Subsequently, the concept of the poor also deepened. The poor are the excluded ones, the marginalized, those who have no voice, are discriminated against, or, as we say today, "the other". Currently, the concept of liberation expresses the salvation and liberation that Jesus brings, including many terms that refer to the salvation of neglected and oppressed sectors in the current cultural and social situation.

Today, there is not just one liberation theology. There is an open theological pluralism, one that is truer to some of the intuitions and basic principles of the first liberation theology. That theology still has much to give in and of itself. For example, it should continue joining the individual and complementary contributions of academic theologians and grassroots theologians. Moreover, professionals are called on not only to speak 'for' the poor but, from [the perspective of] the poor and with them.

IHU On-line: In a historic moment of greater democracy and development in Latin America, what do you think of a regional Church?

Sergio Torres: The economic, social and political history has been marked by major steps including the development processes of the 1950s and 60s, the dictatorships of the 70s and 80s, and the recovery of democracy in the new context of neoliberal globalization. The hierarchical Church and the grassroots Church have been present in different forms in these historical processes. Currently, one gets the impression that we don't have very definite answers in the face of new challenges. What we learned in the previous stages is not enough to act in the present moment. There are new challenges such as those emanating from global population growth, global climate change and natural resource depletion that threaten the very survival of life on the planet.

Liberation theology and the Church's social action are based on the protagonism of the people and critical social theory that allows one to interpret the causes of poverty and propose viable development and liberation strategies. Both are inadequate today. The mobilization is weak and inorganic, and there is no common social theory to address neoliberalism.

However, there is a positive element. Liberation theology is better prepared than other institutions and ideologies to interpret what is happening now with the global malaise and protests of the "outraged". This malaise is due to the crisis of a paradigm of civilization and requires a new model of society with citizen participation, regulation and control of the financial economy. Moreover, it is necessary to come to new models and approaches to global governance. This would require reform of the internal organization of the United Nations.

The World Social Forum, in its various versions, provided new tools to energize the social movements and create a new style of politics. But these aspirations were not enough to create a force for change and renewal. Meanwhile, we Christians are called to live the Gospel in small communities and to participate in today's social movements and in other initiatives which will gradually be addressing global problems, such as the social networks of the Internet.

IHU On-line: Specifically with respect to the Chilean Church, there was recently the case of Fr. Fernando Karadima, condemned by the Vatican for sexual abuse of minors. What have the outcomes and implications of this case been in Chile?

Sergio Torres: The case of that priest had a profound impact on the whole Chilean Church, because it was related to a broad group of diocesan priests, which included five bishops. Moreover, he personally had strong ties to very influential laypeople in the social and political life of the country, because of his economic power. Such was the credibility of that priest, that the hierarchy delayed in starting investigating the case, which resulted in further harm to the Church. Happily, after initial hesitation, the case was accepted and investigated.

The consequences were very bad for the credibility of the Church, but at the same time, there are positive aspects that need highlighting. The public was tired of an authoritarian attitude to ethical issues related to sexuality. This case showed that in the lives of priests, there are also very damning situations. It was noted that one of the causes of the legitimate scandal that arose, comes from the lack of honesty and concealment of specific cases by the hierarchy itself. It was rightly acknowledged that cases of pedophilia involve not only the problem of sexuality and abuse but, and perhaps primarily, the problem of misuse of authority. People questioned, and rightly so, whether ordination gave priests excessive and limitless authority. It's time to update what Vatican II said, that authority is a service, and that, as Jesus said, what happens with the authorities of this world shouldn't happen in the Church.

U.S. Catholics and their bishops: Still disconnected

2011-10-29T22:24:00.002-04:00

In one corner, we have the U.S. Catholic bishops, claiming to speak to and for their flock through such things as the Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship voting guide with its stress on the abortion issue above and beyond all other social teachings of the Church, and the formation of a new Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, purporting to defend Catholics against such "threats" to religious liberty as contraceptive equity in health insurance coverage and the growing trend towards civil same sex marriage.

In the other corner, you have a Catholic laity that prefers to think for itself, at least according to a survey released this month by the National Catholic Reporter, and whose priorities are not those of their bishops. Fewer than half of those surveyed view opposition to abortion (40%), same sex marriage (35%) or the death penalty (29%) as being important to their Catholic identity. On the other hand, 67% believe that helping the poor is important.

On "personal" morality issues in particular, Catholics in this survey believe the individual rather than church leaders should have the final say about what is right or wrong and this percentage has grown steadily since NCR first began its survey in 1987. Today, this is who Catholics believe should have the final say on the following issues:

Divorce and remarriage
Church leaders: 20%
Individuals: 47%

Abortion
Church leaders: 19%
Individuals: 52%

Sex outside of marriage
Church leaders: 16%
Individuals: 53%

Homosexuality
Church leaders: 16%
Individuals: 57%

Contraception
Church leaders: 10%
Individuals: 66%

Between a quarter and a third of those surveyed (depending on the issue) are willing to accept joint authority on these matters.

Even among those classified by the survey as highly committed Catholics, 60% believe that you can be a good Catholic without obeying the Church's teaching on birth control and 48% say you don't need to be married in the Church to be a good Catholic.

A different way of being Church

Nor are U.S. Catholics necessarily attached to the current hierarchical and patriarchal way of organizing the Church. Only 21% thought that celibacy for priests was important and 60% support the ordination of women priests. Less than a third thought the Vatican's teaching authority was important. Even among those who described themselves as highly committed Catholics, the Vatican's teaching authority has declined sharply in significance in recent years -- from 71% in 2005 down to 57% in 2011.

Catholics are no longer buying into the importance of "fulfilling the Sunday obligation." Even among highly committed Catholics, 48% believe you can be a good Catholic without attending Mass each week -- a good thing since weekly Mass attendance continues to decline from 44% in 1987 to 31% in 2011, and 47% of Catholics attend Mass less than once a month. We would expect this decline to accelerate once the new Roman Missal is implemented next month. If many are already unmotivated to participate in a liturgy that they find routine and remote to their daily lives, how many will want the added dimension of new, arcane language that must be memorized?

Most Catholics still believe that their parish priests are doing a good job but, as we approach the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, the laity are finding themselves increasingly shut out and most of those surveyed said they believe priests don't expect laypeople to be leaders. At the same time, they want to have a voice and 75-80% of them think they should have a say in such matters as how parish income is spent and who their priests will be.

As the Church time after time reiterates the value of a celibate clerical caste and punishes anyone who might think differently, and uses such outdated tactics as banning girls from being servers to keep the altar an all-male preserve, the Catholics in this survey are already looking towards a post-clerical future. While it's still very important for them to keep parishes open whenever possible and to have priests available to visit the sick and minister last rites to the dying, 76% would find it acceptable to have a layperson or deacon run the parish with visiting priests coming in to provide the sacraments. A similar number would accept reducing the number of weekend Masses (logical, since regular Mass attendance is not a major value), and 66% would accept the occasional Communion service instead of Mass.

In other words, laypeople have already come to terms with the priest shortage and are willing to explore different ways of being Church while the hierarchy continues to try to hold on to the old model and hopes to stimulate vocations through glitzy web sites and other high tech tools to put a new "look" on the same tired, old personnel system while failing to effectively address the underlying reasons for the decline in vocations, much less looking at how to function in a post-clerical future.

A time for dialogue

Going back to the Church's presence in the political arena, Catholics are largely with their bishops on broader social issues such as immigration reform, government funds for the poor, and reducing spending on nuclear weapons, but only about half the faithful agree with their bishops on opposing health care reform legislation and same sex marriage. To sum it up: Catholics don't want their bishops in their bedrooms or in their doctor's offices, whether directly through Church directives or indirectly through lobbying.

It seems to me that by continuing to adopt a paternalistic, "father knows best" approach, the bishops will further alienate the Catholic laity and undermine their own spiritual and political authority. After all, how can you hope to influence a secular and religiously diverse country when you cannot even persuade your own flock? A more effective approach would be to use these surveys to bring the Church's political priorities into sync with those that enjoy widespread agreement and support from lay Catholics and put issues such as contraceptive equity and same sex marriage on the back burner. Then the bishops would have a better chance of mobilizing the Catholic faithful and gaining real political clout.

Second, these surveys are a clear indication that it's time for the nation's bishops to start talking to the faithful about how we, together, can reshape the institutional Church to meet the needs of Catholics in light of what, for the foreseeable future, is going to be an ongoing decline in membership, personnel, and financial resources. It is customary for businesses to use focus groups and other tools to get input from their clients and use the results to improve their products to meet their clients' expectations and keep their loyalty. This is how Americans think, subconsciously, and while some may resent the suggestion that similar standards should be applied to a religious institution that traces its roots back to Jesus Christ, there's no reason such an approach couldn't work for the Catholic Church without sacrificing the basic "product". It's time for "We Are Church" to become more than just a slogan.

Dealing with our inner angels and demons

2011-10-28T16:02:00.002-04:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
10/28/2011

The human being is a complex entity: he is simultaneously corporeal man, psyche-man, and spirit-man. Let us linger a moment on psyche-man, that is, on his inner world, woven of emotions and passions, light and shadows, dreams and utopias. Just as there is an outer universe made of order-disorder-new order, of horrific devastation and promising emergences, so there is an inner world, inhabited by angels and demons. They reveal tendencies that can lead us to madness and death, and energies of generosity and love that can bring us self-actualization and happiness.

As the great scholar of the meanderings of the human psyche CG Jung used to observe, because of these contradictions, the journey to one's own center can be longer and more dangerous than the trip to the moon and stars.

Among those who think about the human condition, there is a question that has never been satisfactorily resolved: What is the basic structure of our interiority, of our psychic being? There are many schools of interpretation.

In sum, we hold the view that reason doesn't seem to be the primary reality. Before it, there is a whole world of passions and emotions that stir the human being. Above it, there is intelligence, through which we sense the whole, our openness to the infinite and the ecstasy of contemplating the Being. Reasons begin with reason. Reason in itself has no reason. It's just there, indecipherable.

But it goes back to the most primitive dimensions of our human reality, on which it feeds and which cross through all its expressions. Kantian pure reason is an illusion. Reason is always imbued with emotion and passion, a fact accepted by modern cosmology. Contemporary cosmology includes in the concept of universe,not only energy, galaxies and stars, but also the presence of spirit and subjectivity.

Knowing is always entering into self-interested and emotional communion with the object of knowledge. Supported by a host of other thinkers, I have always maintained that the base status of human beings lies not in the Cartesian cogito (in the "I think, therefore I am"), but in the Platonic-Augustinian sentio (in the "I feel, therefore I am"), in deep feeling. The latter puts us into living contact with things, seeing ourselves as part of a larger whole, always affecting and being affected. More than ideas and worldviews, passions, strong feelings, germinal experiences, love, and also their opposites, enslaving rejection and hatreds, are what move us and get us going.

Sensible reason is rooted in the emergence of life, 3.8 billion years ago, when the first bacteria emerged and began to talk chemically with the environment to survive. That process was deepened from the moment, over 125 million years ago, when the limbic brain of mammals emerged, the brain that is the bearer of caring, tenderness, affection, and love for offspring. It's emotional reason that reaches a self-aware and intelligent level in human beings, because we are also mammals.

Western thought is anthropocentric and logocentric and has always been suspicious of emotion, for fear of impairing the objectivity of reason. In some sectors of the culture, a kind of lobotomy was created, that is, a great insensitivity to human suffering and the suffering that has happened to nature and the planet Earth.

Nowadays we realize that it's urgent to decisively include cordial and sensitive reason along with inalienable intellectual reason. If we don't go back to affectionately and lovingly feeling as if Earth is our Mother and we ourselves, the conscious and intelligent part of her, it will be hard for us to move to save lives, heal wounds and prevent disasters.

One of the undeniable merits of the psychoanalytic tradition, starting with its founding master Sigmund Freud, was to have scientifically established passionality as the basis, at zero degrees, of human existence. The psychoanalyst works not from what the patient thinks but from his emotional reactions, his angels and demons, trying to establish some balance and a sustainable inner serenity.

The whole question is how to creatively take control of our volcanic passionality. Freud focuses on the integration of libido, Jung on the quest for individuation, Adler on the control of the will to power, Carl Rogers on the development of personality, Abraham Maslow on the effort of self-actualization of latent potential. One could cite other names such as Lacan, Reich, Pavlov, Skinner, transpersonal psychology and behavioral cognitive therapy, and others.

What we can say is that regardless of the various psychoanalytic schools, psyche-man is forced to creatively integrate his inner universe that is always in motion, with diabolic and symbolic, destructive and constructive, tendencies. We gradually discover our path through trial and error.

No one can replace us. We are condemned to be masters and disciples of ourselves.

In an attitude of conversion

2011-10-27T11:29:00.003-04:00

by José Antonio Pagola (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Eclesalia Informativo
10/26/2011

Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus speaks with prophetic indignation. His speech to the people and His disciples is a harsh criticism of the religious leaders of Israel. Matthew picks it up eight decades later so that the leaders of the Christian Church won't fall into the same behavior.

Can we remember Jesus' recriminations today peacefully, in an attitude of conversion, without getting into any empty debates? His words are an invitation to bishops, priests, and those of us who have any responsibility in the Church to review our performance.

"They don't practice what they preach." Our greatest sin is inconsistency. We don't live what we preach. We have power but we lack authority. Our behavior discredits us. If we were to set the example of a more gospel-centered life, the atmosphere in many Christian communities would change.

"They lay heavy burdens on people's shoulders...but they aren't willing to lift a finger to move them." It's true. We are often demanding and stern with others, understanding and indulgent with ourselves. We overwhelm the humble people with our demands but we don't make it easy for them to welcome the gospel. We are not like Jesus, who was concerned with making His yoke light since He was simple and humble of heart.

"Everything they do is to be seen by people." We can't deny that it's very easy to live hung up on our image, almost always seeking to "look good" in others' eyes. We don't live according to God who sees everything in secret. We are more attentive to our personal prestige.

"They love being first and in the places of honor...and to be greeted reverently in the streets." We are ashamed to admit it, but we like it. We like to receive special treatment, not like just another brother or sister. Is there anything more ridiculous than a witness to Jesus seeking reverence and distinction from the Christian community?

"Don't let yourselves be called 'master'...or 'guide'...because only One is your master and guide: Jesus Christ." The gospel commandment cannot be clearer: renounce all titles so as not to overshadow Christ; direct the believers' attention only to Him. Why doesn't the Church do anything to eliminate the many titles, prerogatives, honors, and ranks to better show the humble and friendly face of Jesus?

"Call no one on earth your father because you have but one Father in heaven." For Jesus, the title "Father" is so unique, intimate, and profound that it ought not to be used by anyone in the Christian community. Why do we allow it?

Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez honored at Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University

2011-10-26T12:36:00.004-04:00

by Liliana Rojas (English translation by Rebel Girl)
La República (Peru)
10/22/2011

Liberation theology, which was created over 40 years ago, is still going strong because a significant income inequality still exists in Latin America as well as millions of poor people, says Father Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, founder of this theological current.

Even though he acknowledges that the political and social conditions are not the same as four decades ago, he notes that poverty in the region continues to be a shameful "scandal" that attacks human dignity. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 200 million people live on less than a dollar a day. That is, they are extremely poor.

"There is poverty and human suffering. This is undeniable. There is great poverty and inequality," Gutierrez Merino said during his speech at the tribute that Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University gave him on the 40th anniversary of the publication of his book, Teología de la liberación. Perspectivas (A Theology of Liberation, Orbis 1988). Audio files of each speaker at this event are available on Erich Luna's Vacío blog.

During the tribute, Alberto Simons, director of the Instituto de Fe y Cultura, former congressman Rolando Ames, and philosopher Raúl Zegarra highlighted the contribution of liberation theology to Christian philosophy.

Father Gutiérrez recalled that in the 60s when he returned from Europe and found that, in a whole continent that considered itself Christian, millions of people were living in inhumane conditions, the need for liberation theology became imperative. "The conditions were given," Gutiérrez Merino emphasized.

The university's Centro de Estudios y Publicaciones, which publishes Gustavo Gutierrez's writings in Spanish, has also dedicated a special issue of their journal, Páginas to the anniversary of his most famous work.

Photo: Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino poses with well-wishers.

Teresa Forcades: A "hopeful woman" speaks on the state of women in the Church

2011-10-25T17:26:00.002-04:00

by José Manuel Vidal (English translation by Rebel Girl)
Religión Digital
October 23, 2011

She is a doctor, a theologian, and a cloistered nun. However, Teresa Forcades, the Benedictine from the convent of St. Benet in Montserrat, is known all over the world. A YouTube video against the multinationals and the swine flu hoax catapulted her into fame. We interviewed her in Madrid on October 7th, taking advantage of the presentation of her book, La teología feminista en la historia ("Feminist Theology in History" -- Fragmenta). Sister Teresa states that women's situation of exclusion in the Church is "a scandal" and that "no Pope has dared to ban women priests ex cathedra." But she also acknowledges that it has been in the Church and in her convent that she has felt most respected as a woman.

Why does a cloistered nun like yourself write a book on "feminist theology in history"?

The book was proposed by the publishing house Fragmenta. They proposed it because they knew that I had trained with theologian Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. I met her in Barcelona in 1992, before the Olympics. I was going to study in the United States, to specialize in internal medicine. She had come from Harvard and gave a lecture. A lecture in which the communication broke down because the interpreter, who knew English well, knew nothing about theology. I got up to help with the translation from English to Catalan and the problem was solved. Elizabeth was delighted and invited me to visit her at Harvard. In the end, it was she who came to Buffalo, in northern New York state, where my hospital was, to give another lecture.

And you had to get up again as a spontaneous interpreter?

I went to her lecture, which there was no need to translate, and we met again. And, as a result, I started to translate one of her books into Catalan, her book about feminist Biblical hermeneutics. I liked the book very much and translated it to delve deeper into its contents. When I finished the translation, I went to interview Schüssler Fiorenza a couple of times, to share my doubts and reflections with her. Seeing how I had received, understood and processed her book, she encouraged me to study theology and wrote me a letter of recommendation to study at Harvard.

A life journey the publishing house knew about.

Exactly. What's more, I had given some lectures on feminist theology in Barcelona. And when the publishing house launched this series of brief, introductory books that could serve as university texts to introduce the theological discipline, they asked me to write the book and I agreed with pleasure.

As a feminist theologian, is the current situation of women in the Church painful to you particularly?

The situation of women in the Church has a complex history that includes both discrimination and promotion. The discrimination hurts anyone who is for justice and who understands that the gospel involves human growth at all levels. In the gospel, one also learns the reality that when a person tries to live out Jesus' message, he or she is usually marginalized. In that sense, the situation of women testifies to the fact that there are truths whose place will always be on the margins until the end times.

That is to say, you are prepared to go along on the margins or on the frontier and without aspiring to the altar.

The dynamic of the gospel margins is, in my opinion, the promotion of justice at all levels but knowing realistically that, whenever one manages a step forward, a process is generated whereby whoever doesn't want to stay in one place will continue to find reasons to go on walking towards the margins. Hence my theological defense of the margins.

And the ban on women's presence at the altar?

The conclusion of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which was asked by Paul VI to study the issue, was that there is no Biblical reason whatsoever to deprive women of access to ordained ministry. That was in 1976. In 1974, the first women's ordinations in the Episcopal Church had taken place. Paul VI saw it coming that similar demands would be made in the Catholic Church so he asked the Pontifical Commission to study the issue.

What does the Pontifical Commission document say specifically?

It states that in the Scriptures there is nothing against it. After learning the conclusions of the Commission, Paul VI published a motu proprio in which he said that he didn't think women should be ordained in the Catholic Church.

And later on came John Paul II's attempt to close the subject definitively.

Yes, but no Pope has dared to proclaim this ban ex cathedra.

Is this flagrant discrimination against women in the Church a scandal?

Yes. For those who want to go deeper into this issue, I recommend Professor Gary Macy's book, The Hidden History of Women's Ordination.

How does this situation exist at a time, too, in which civil society is moving towards parity?

I don't like the pattern that has been set putting civil society in the vanguard and the Church in the rear on something in which it should be a pioneer. I think the situation between men and women and the way of viewing feminine and masculine in contemporary Western society is far from being satisfactory. What I'm most interested in discussing theologically are the critical theories of Lacan and some of the modern post-structuralists. Because, at the moment and acknowledging that there may be others who have had a different experience, where I have felt most respected as a woman has been in the Church and, specifically, in my convent. Compared to other environments, such as the hospital or the university, I stick with the monastery, by far, as a space of freedom and respect. In my relationship with the monks of Montserrat for example, I have found much richer possibilities for interaction than those I have generally experienced or observed between men and women who are colleagues at the hospital or university.

Then the Church isn't as anti-women as they say.

Look, we have to start to talk about this issue truthfully because, otherwise, it would seem like we have, on the one hand, a liberated society -- an oasis or mecca for women -- and, on the other hand, the Church that is an institution of oppression and disaster. My experience speaks to the contrary. Because, if it were such, perhaps I wouldn't be where I am.

Do you mean to say that there's a huge space of freedom within the Church in spite of everything?

There always has been. What happens is that you also have to denounce that, within the leadership ranks of the Church, women are totally unrepresented. And that is the scandal we were talking about.

Freedom for women in the Church-people of God and lack of representation in its hierarchy.

We have to change this notion of Church that looks upwards first. To talk about the Church, we have to first look down. And down there we find founders and initiatives that have no corollary in the civil world. At least up until now. We'll see what happens in the 21st century.

Some of the more conservative Web sites point fingers at you and accuse you of all sorts of heresies. Are you scared?

I remember St. Francis' "perfect joy" and I think it's essential for a Christian to know that when everybody is applauding you, you're going the wrong way. Unleashing the anger of certain sectors is not in itself a guarantee that you're right, but it's a bit better than when everyone is applauding you.

Is the hierarchical Spanish Church too closed in on itself and does it exert too much control over its ranks?

It's clear that, since Vatican II, there has been a turning inwards. And, one can note that in the Spanish Church fear exists and there's a lack of freedom to speak in different voices, which is what usually happens when people speak from their experience. That uniformity of expression is very troubling.

Is there a lack of diversity in the Spanish Church? Or, to put it another way, are the Spanish bishops able to accept that there are different church models or sensibilities and that all are valid?

Many bishops are able. The problem is that it's not just a matter of accepting that, but living it out. The bishops have the right and duty to exercise their pastoral responsibility according to their own consciences; they can't just substitute the criterion that comes from above for their own criterion. In that sense, the bishop doesn't only accept diversity, he becomes a generator of the latter and lives it.

You're a Benedictine nun. Does religious life have a future or has its time come to an end? What do you think?

I think it's very good. Religious life has changed throughout history and it will only have a future if it keeps on doing so. Change is inherent in religious life and only the branches that don't change tend to disappear. Maybe we Benedictines will come to an end, but those community spaces of people who see that their lives aren't fulfilled by living as a couple but in relationship with a community will always exist. Because they are also people who bear witness that this is the model for all in the eschatological world.

Religious life as anticipation of the heavenly life.

This is Christian anthropology. The life of the couple is the sacrament of God's own love but temporarily so. Community life is eschatologically so because God calls us to be people who understand that the relationship with all of humanity, with all who are created in God's image, is a relationship of absolute love, a relationship of giving and receiving like that of the Trinity. The Christian utopia proposes this life of trinitarian communion.

But that can also be experienced in marriage -- being open to all and loving all.

Obviously, but marriage is until death do us part. And that's why Jesus said: "You don't understand." Because, in Heaven, people don't marry.

Was your 2009 video denouncing the famous swine flu scheme so successful because it showed the superficiality of the great factual powers of information in a globalized world?

We have to be clear in the criticism that the growing inequality between rich and poor over the last 50 years is the greatest disaster in modern society. It is a much bigger scandal than the injustices to women in the Church that we talked about earlier, although there isn't much sense in comparing injustices, because each one is an absolute in itself. There is much to be criticized in modern society but not as a slogan. Because while it's true that this superficiality exists, it's also true that it's coexisting with people who really believe that one shouldn't wait for the solution to problems to come from above.

There's also a lot of good in current society.

Exactly. Today there are many people who are taking the reins of their lives into their own hands. It's true that we are going through a neoliberal stage that, at the structural level, can be compared to other stages in history in which there was a growing unease among the people.

What do you think of this growing outrage that's spreading everywhere, including in the Arab world?

I'm very worried about what's happening right now in Libya and Syria. And what could happen in Iran. Especially from the perspective of the great political lies. They did it twice, but it seems we weren't chastened. It happened in Iraq and later we regretted it. I think the same thing has happened with Gadhafi. They lie to justify a military intervention. Why don't we intervene in Saudi Arabia to liberate women?.. and yes, we did in Afghanistan.

Would you like the Pope to go to Somalia as a prophetic gesture to stop or mitigate the deaths of so many people and so many innocent children?

This might be another of those slogans from which I would like to stand apart. Perhaps now, when everybody's looking at Somalia, I might like the Pope to go somewhere else. Because disasters proliferate. For example, what's happening in Sudan?

Are the media fooling us?

I have the impression, which was confirmed in the case of swine flu, that another of the major current scandals in the lack of freedom in the world of information. There's more journalistic freedom in Periodista Digital or Vida Nueva than in El País or La Vanguardia.

Let's go back to where we started: life is better in the Church.

I wouldn't like to bite my tongue when it's time to criticize what can be criticized in the Church, but let no one ask me to say that there's greater freedom in civil society than in the Church, because it isn't true. Which doesn't mean that the Church has nothing to learn from non-ecclesial society. It always has.

Did you participate in, or see World Youth Day? What do you think of these kinds of events?

I didn't see much of it. The three youngest sisters in the convent went and they came back very content. The macro-Church event is perhaps a sign of the times. I attended one of those macro events in Venezuela for the 90th anniversary of the death of Monseñor Romero and it seemed extraordinary to me. The same thing happened to the people who went to see the Pope. These big church events are perhaps a sign of the times in the 21st century. What's important is the kind of message they send and how they use those spaces.

And how were they used during WYD?

I think there was a preponderance of conservative expressions and messages towards the young people along us-them (Church-society) lines, but there were also spaces where one could share the faith with a more open viewpoint.

Do you have hope for the future of society and the Church? Are you a hopeful woman?

Yes.

For example, will we see a change in the Church in the short term?

More than in the short term, today. I like to look at reality the way Jesus asked us to. A look that sees that the fields are golden or mature and that there is just a need for harvesters. That outlook that sees, as St. Paul says, that the world is pregnant with God. And even already giving birth, and in places where nobody anticipated it. That's what gives hope.

The illusion of a green economy

2011-10-21T18:38:00.001-04:00

Leonardo Boff's weekly columns are available in Spanish from Servicios Koinonia and in Portuguese on his blog. Some of his older columns are available in English at LeonardoBoff.com.

by Leonardo Boff (English translation by Rebel Girl)
10/21/2011

Everything we do to protect the living planet that is Earth against factors that take away her equilibrium and, therefore, cause global warming, is valid and should be supported. In fact, the term "global warming" conceals phenomena such as prolonged droughts that decimate grain crops, extensive flooding and high winds, water shortages, soil erosion, famine, degradation of 15 of the 24 services listed in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (UN) and which are responsible for the sustainability of the planet (water, energy, soils, seeds, fibers, etc.). The main issue isn't even saving the Earth. She saves herself and, if necessary, would do so by expelling us from her midst. But, how can we save ourselves and our civilization? That is the real question, to which most shrug their shoulders.

Low-carbon production, organic products, solar and wind energy, the greatest possible reduction in intervention in the rhythms of nature, seeking to put back resources used, recycling -- everything that falls under the name of green economy -- are the most popular and widespread processes. It is advisable to impose this way of producing. Yet we must not be deluded and lose the critical sense. There is talk of green economy to avoid the issue of sustainability, because it is contrary to the current mode of production and consumption, but in the end that (the green economy) uses measures within the same paradigm of domination of nature. "Green" and "not green" don't exist. In the various stages of production, all products contain elements that are toxic to the health of the Earth and society. Today, through Life Cycle Analysis, we can show and monitor the complex interrelationships between the different stages -- the extraction, transport, production, use and disposal of each product and their environmental impacts. Here, it is clear that the alleged "green" is not as green as it seems. The "green" represents only one stage of the process. The production is never entirely eco-friendly.

For example, take ethanol, which is considered a clean energy alternative to the dirty fossil fuel, oil. It is clean only at the spout of the supply pump. The whole production process is highly polluting -- the chemicals applied to the ground, burning, large transport trucks that emit gases, liquid effluents and bagasse. Pesticides kill bacteria and expel the worms that are essential for the regeneration of soils. They only come back after five years.

To ensure production necessary for life that doesn't put stress on or degrade nature, requires something more than the pursuit of what is green. The crisis is conceptual, not economic. The relationship with the Earth has to change. We are part of Gaia and through our careful actions we become more aware of her and have more opportunity to ensure her vitality.

To save us I see no other way than what is indicated in the Earth Charter: "Common destiny beckons us to seek a new beginning...This requires a change of mind and heart. It requires a new sense of global interdependence and universal responsibility."

Change of mind: adopt a new concept of Earth as Gaia. She doesn't belong to us, but to the entire set of ecosystems that serve the whole of life, regulating its biophysical basis and climates. She created the whole community of life, not just us. We are her conscious and responsible portion. The heaviest work is done by our invisible partners, a veritable natural proletariat -- microorganisms, bacteria and fungi, billions of which are in every spoonful of soil. They are the ones who effectively have been supporting life for 3.8 billion years. Our relationship with the earth should be like the one we have with our mothers: one of respect and gratitude. We should gratefully return what she gives us and maintain her vital capacity.

Change of Heart: In addition to instrumental reason with which to organize production, we need warm and sensitive reason, which is expressed by love for the Earth and respect for every being in creation because it is our partner in the community of life, and by the sense of reciprocity, interdependence and care, since this is our mission.

Without this conversion, we won't get away from the shortsightedness of a green economy. Only new minds and new hearts will give birth to a different future.