At the meeting with the members of the International Theological Commission set up by Paul VI in 1969. The Pope speaks of creative fidelity to Tradition and exhorts to accept “with faith and love” the commitment to exercise the ministry of theology through an ecclesial process of synodality from which “the ability to listen, to speak, to discern” can emerge
Amedeo Lomonaco – Vatican City
Tradition makes the Church grow from the bottom up, like the roots with the tree. But today there is a great danger: the danger of regression, of “backwardism” that leads us to think logically: “It’s always been done this way”. Pope Francis points to this risk when he meets members of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, which he says “with renewed commitment” continues its ministry “in the wake of Vatican II”. (Hear the service with the Pope’s voice)
move on
The Pope also exhorts theologians to “go further” off the cuff. While the catechist, he insists, must teach children “solid teaching” and “no new things”, “the theologian dares to go further and the Magisterium will prevent him from doing so”. For theology professors, the Pope added, it is a good criterion “to ask oneself whether the theology class arouses surprise among the participants”. Addressing the members of the International Theological Commission, Francis then calls for “the number of women to be increased, not because they are fashionable, but because they think differently from men and make theology something deeper and even more palatable”.
A moment of the Pope’s audience with the members of the International Theological Commission.
Creative fidelity to tradition
Creative fidelity to tradition, the opportunity to open up in a prudent manner to the contribution of the different disciplines and collegiality. These are the “three directions” that Pope Francis has pointed out to the International Theological Commission in its tenth five-year term. The first is creative fidelity to tradition:
It is about accepting with faith and love the obligation to exercise the theological ministry – listening to the word of God, the sensus fidei of the people of God, the magisterium and the charisms – and rejecting it with rigor and openness, recognizing the signs of the times – for the progress of the apostolic tradition, with the help of the Holy Spirit, as taught by Dei Verbum (cf. n. 8). In fact, Benedict XVI. the Tradition as “the living river in which the origins are always present” (Catechesis, April 26, 2006); so that it “waters different countries, nourishes different regions and sprout the best of this land, the best of this culture. In this way the gospel is embodied in ever new ways in all corners of the world”.
Open yourself to different disciplines
The second guideline concerns “the possibility of carrying out the work of deepening and inculturation of the Gospel in a targeted and concise manner, prudently open to the contribution of the various disciplines, thanks to the consultation of experts, including non-Catholics”:
It is about – I hoped for this in the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium – to appreciate the “principle of interdisciplinarity: not so much in its “weak” form of simple multidisciplinarity, but as an approach that favors a better understanding from several points of view a study object; but in its “strong” form of transdisciplinarity, as the bringing together and fermentation of all knowledge in the space of light and life offered by the wisdom that emanates from God’s revelation».
collegiality
The third guiding principle given by Pope Francis is that of collegiality:
It can make a particular relevance and contribution in the context of the synodal process 2021-2024, in which the whole people of God is called together, as the document on synodality elaborated in this context over the past five years underlines in the life and mission of the Church: “As in any other Christian vocation, the ministry of the theologian is not only personal, but also communal and collegial. Ecclesiastical synodality therefore obliges theologians to practice theology in a synodal form, fostering among them the ability to listen, to enter into dialogue , to distinguish and to integrate the multitude and variety of inquiries and contributions”.
The members of the International Theological Commission met in plenary session to discuss three themes: Christian anthropology in the face of contemporary cultural challenges, the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and the relevance of its dogma, the divine character of creation, and the human stewardship of creation. Presenting the commission, Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer stressed that “the qualified presence of women theologians has been maintained and strengthened over the previous three five-year periods, a sign of an ever-growing commitment by women in the field of theological sciences”. . Among the members of this body, the cardinal added, there is also a lay theologian.
Documentary for the 50th anniversary of the Theological Commission
The International Theological Commission
The International Theological Commission, founded in 1969 by Paul VI. Founded to “provide a valuable help to the mission that Christ entrusted to his apostles” (from Pope Montini’s speech of October 6, 1969), it has the task of helping the Holy See to examine the most important doctrines Questions. Its main purpose, St. John Paul II emphasized in 1994, is “to perpetuate the close collaboration between parish priests and theologians that characterized the work of the Second Vatican Council”. Another characteristic of this body, as Pope Francis recalled in 2014, is “its international character, reflecting the catholicity of the Church”. In fact, the commission is made up of theologians from different countries who have a common connection to faith in Jesus Christ.