Vatican City, Nov 9, 2019 / 06:40 am (CNA).- When theology and philosophy engage with cultures in creative ways, they become a powerful tool for renewing humanity with the Word of God, Pope Francis said Saturday, during the awarding of the 2019 Ratzinger Prize.
“This is true for all cultures: access to redemption for humanity in all of its dimensions should be sought with creativity and imagination,” the pope said Nov 9.
He quoted St. Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, which says, “Evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new.”
“It is a duty for theology to be and remain in active dialogue with cultures, even as they change over time and evolve differently in various parts of the world,” he said. “It is a condition necessary for the vitality of Christian faith, for the Church’s mission of evangelization.”
“All the arts and disciplines,” Francis said, “thus cooperate in contributing to the full growth of the human person, which is to be found ultimately in the encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Logos, the revelation of the God who is love.”
Pope Francis addressed members of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation in the Vatican’s apostolic palace during the award ceremony for the 2019 edition of the prestigious Ratzinger Prize.
The Ratzinger Prize was begun in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrates a meaningful contribution to theology or philosophy in the spirit of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Bavarian theologian who became Benedict XVI.
The winners of the 2019 prize are Catholic intellectual Charles Taylor and Jesuit priest and theologian, Fr. Paul Béré.
Béré is the first African to win the prestigious Ratzinger Prize. A lecturer at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, he received the prize for his work on the figure of the prophet Joshua.
From Burkina Faso, Béré spoke in September on the need for an “Africanness” within the Catholic approach to addressing regional problems.
“Africa can find a solution to all its problems within, what we [Africans] simply need is the slightest desire to share the solutions across the continent,” Beré told ACI Africa Sept. 28 at the Nairobi tri-party conference on the status of the evangelization mission in Africa.
Beré is a member of several African theological associations and of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). He has also participated as an expert in several synods of bishops.
After the announcement that he had won the prize, he told Vatican News: “I think this is an encouragement for all theological work done in Africa.”
Pope Francis Nov. 9 praised Beré as a “renowned scholar of Sacred Scripture” and he expressed his appreciation and encouragement for all those who are “committed to inculturation of the faith in Africa through their original and deepened study.”
Contemporary African theology is still young, but it is “dynamic and full of promise,” the pope said. “Father Béré provides an example of this by his work on the interpretation of Old Testament texts in a context of oral culture, thus bringing to fruition the experience of African culture.”
Dr. Charles Taylor, 88, is an award-winning Canadian Catholic philosopher, who has taught at Oxford and at the University of Montreal and McGill University.
His focus has been in the areas of history of philosophy, most especially political philosophy and the philosophy of social science. One of Taylor’s many notable contributions was to the topics of religion, modernity, and secularization.
“During his years of active research and teaching, Professor Taylor has covered many fields, but he has particularly devoted his mind and heart to understanding the phenomenon of secularization in our time,” Francis noted.
“Secularization effectively poses a significant challenge for the Catholic Church, indeed for all Christians, and for all believers in God,” he said, adding that a priority of Benedict XVI’s pontificate was to “proclaim God anew” during a time “when that proclamation seems to be on the wane for a large part of humanity.”
The pope said, “few scholars in the present day have posed the problem of secularization with the breadth of vision as has Professor Taylor.”
“We are indebted to him for the profound manner in which he has treated the problem, carefully analyzing the development of Western culture, the movements of the human mind and heart over time, identifying the characteristics of modernity in their complex relationships, in their shadows and lights.”
Taylor’s work invites Catholics to seek “new ways to live and express the transcendent dimensions of the human soul,” he continued, which allows them to engage with secularization in the West “in a way that is neither superficial nor given to fatalistic discouragement.”
“This is needed not only for a reflection on contemporary culture, but also for an in-depth dialogue and discernment in order to adopt the spiritual attitudes suitable for living, witnessing, expressing, and proclaiming the faith in our time,” he stated.
Despite coming from very different backgrounds and continents, the two honorees of the 2019 Ratzinger Prize have dedicated themselves to seeking “the way to God and the encounter with Christ,” Francis said.
“This,” he added, “is the mission of all who follow the teaching of Joseph Ratzinger as theologian and Pope, to be “‘co-workers of the truth.’”
The honorees of the Ratzinger Prize are chosen by Pope Francis, based upon the recommendations of a committee composed of Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg and Cardinals Angelo Amato, Kurt Koch, Gianfranco Ravasi, and Luis Ladaria, who are heads of offices in the Roman Curia.
Pope Francis said Nov. 9, that “we are all grateful” for the teaching of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “and for his exemplary service to the Church, demonstrated by his reflections, his thought and study, his listening, dialogue and prayer.”
“His aim was that we might consciously retain a lively faith despite the changing times and situations; and that believers could give an account of their faith in a language that can be understood by their contemporaries, entering into dialogue with them, together seeking pathways of authentic encounter with God in our time,” he said.
“This has always been a keen desire of Joseph Ratzinger the theologian and pastor, who never closed himself off in a disembodied culture of pure concepts, but gave us the example of seeking truth where reason and faith, intelligence and spirituality, are constantly integrated.”
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To have turned the mass into a theater production or pep rally and the church into a town hall as he and his confreres have done – and then lament that people talk or take pictures is truly sad, and delusional.
I hope that the parishoners at Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park Ridge, Illinois will listen to what Pope Francis said about the time before Mass not being a time for “chit-chat” – and follow what he said. Or, at the very least, they can take that “chit-chat” somewhere else – but NOT in the sanctuary!
When the ministers are walking all around and chatting with people before mass, When the ‘presider’ starts the mass with the weather report and a recap of his plans for later on (who’s going to win the football game this afternoon), you can’t expect anything better from anyone else. But, if you care to, you know where to lay part of the blame.
(and let’s not pretend that that kind of thing never happened in Cardinal Bergolio’s diocese or parishes)
There are a few things I agree with Pope Francis and this is one. Parishioners have an awful habit of gabbing away before even seconds prior to the priest emerging to offer Mass. In a NM parish I gently reminded the small congregation. Later the pastor asked if such and such had me for dinner [she was an excellent cook] and I said no. He was befuddled. I wasn’t. How dare I a mere priest ask Laity to observe a modicum of reverence.
Silence prepares our hearts and minds to receive the promptings of the Holy Trinity.
What is the cure for the Novus Ordo?
The Latin Mass.
Just try it.
I fully agree with the Pope on this matter, but it is really sad that it even became necessary for him to say it.
It’s truly sad that he might not even know that it is his kind of liturgical reform and of leadership through the years that have led us to where we are now.
“Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for He is risen up out of His holy habitation.” Zacharias 2:13
It’s hard to believe that the integrity of the liturgy and its quality is something that this pope really cares about.
Pope Francis is right about silence before mass begins. It is so difficult to pray when people around you are laughing and talking. Parishioners should be preparing themselves for the coming of our Savior and not so worried about what they will be doing after mass. Another subject that Pope Francis should address is how people dress when they come to God’s house. People have forgotten that they are on holy ground when they enter the church and should be reverent in how they behave and dress.