Pope Francis is pressing Catholic theologians to be more in tune with the challenges of strange people and urging them to dialogue with non-believers in addition to believers of assorted religions.
In a document, he signed on Wednesday and which was made public by the Vatican, the pontiff noted that he was updating statutes for the Pontifical Academy of Theology, for the reason that last revision was issued nearly 25 years ago by one in every of his predecessors within the papacy, John Paul II.
“The moment has come to revise these norms, to make them more adaptable to the mission that our time imposes on theology,” Francis wrote within the document, referred to as an Apostolic Letter.
Francis said that theologians must “confront themselves with profound cultural transformations.”
He didn’t mention specific issues. Instead, the pope urged them to adopt “openness to the world, to man, within the concreteness of his existential situation, with its issues, its wounds, its challenges, its potentials.”
Thus, “theological reflection is named to a turning point, a paradigm change” that commits it to “give you the chance to read and interpret the Gospel within the conditions through which men and girls each day live, in several geographical, social and cultural environments.” That includes, Francis continued, with the ability to “enter within the culture, within the vision of the world, within the religious tradition of a people.”
Theology must develop inside a culture of dialogue that features “different Christian confessions and different religions, confronting itself openly with all, believers and non-believers,” Francis wrote.
Theology, he said, must not “close itself up in reference to oneself, which ends up in isolation and insignificance.”
Francis also said theology must be “open to the voice of the peoples, thus a ‘popular’ theology addressed mercifully toward the open wounds of humanity and of creation and throughout the wounds of human history.” That includes, he said, theologians’ privileging knowledge derived from the “common sense of individuals.”
When, 4 months ago, he selected a theological advisor from his native Argentina to steer the powerful Vatican watchdog office ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy, Francis issued a reminder that that department has as its “central purpose” safeguarding church teachings to “give explanation for our hope, but not as enemies who indicate and condemn.” The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith can discipline theologians deemed to have strayed from Catholic teaching of their writings or speeches.
In his 10-year-old papacy, Francis has repeatedly said the Catholic church have to be more attentive to suffering, especially to those living on the margins of society, and, typically, merciful in outlook.
The Pontifical Academy of Theology, an advisory body that occasionally hosts conferences or other gatherings, was established within the early 18th century.
