Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On June 7, in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, participants in the VI European Symposium of University Professors taking place in Rome with the theme: “Broadening the horizons of Rationality: Perspectives for Philosophy” met in an audience with the Holy Father Benedict XVI. The Pope spoke of the “great academic and cultural relevance” of the theme, as it is situated in the tenth anniversary of the publication of John Paul II’s Encyclical, “Fides et Ratio.” “The events that have taken place in the ten years since the publication of the Encyclical,” the Pope said, “have more evidently marked out the historical and cultural context in which the study of philosophy is called to enter. The crisis of modernity is not, in fact, synonymous with the decline of philosophy; on the contrary, philosophy should set off on a new course in the quest to understand the true nature of that crisis and determine new perspectives that can orient it...The openness which some authors suggest in reference to religions, and especially with Christianity, is an obvious sign of the sincere desire to make philosophical reflection emerge from self-sufficiency.”
The Pope then mentioned his “study proposal,” which is elaborated through an attentive listening to the men and women of our time, in order to “awaken interest in reviving philosophy and its irreplaceable role within the academic and cultural world.”
Rooted in the conviction that “the Christian faith has made a clear choice to reject the gods of religion for the God of the philosophers, that is to say, to reject the myth of mere tradition for the truth of being,” the Holy Father said that “only from this premise that is both historical and theological at the same time, can someone approach the new expectations of philosophical reflection...The Christian faith should never confine itself to the abstract world of theories, but should be imbued by a concrete historical experience that reaches out to man in the deepest truth of his existence. This experience, influenced by the new cultural and ideological situations, should be evaluated in theological study and become the basis for a fruitful dialogue with philosophy that must urgently begin to take place. In the understanding of Christianity as a real transformation of man’s existence, while philosophical reflection leads us on the one hand to a new approach to religion, on the other, it encourages us not to loose faith in being able to know reality. The proposal to ‘broaden the horizons of rationality,’ therefore, does not simply find its rank among the new lines of theological and philosophical thought, but it must be understood as the request for a new openness to reality, to which the human person in his uni-totality is called, overcoming prior prejudices and reductionisms, so as to open himself to the way that leads to true understanding of the modern era.”
The Holy Father continued, saying “the Christian faith is called to take on this historical emergency, uniting all men of good will into one common goal. The new dialogue between faith and reason required today, cannot take place in the same terms and manners in which it did in the past. If it does not wish to be reduced to a mere intellectual exercise, it should begin with the present situation of man and from there, develop a reflection that encompasses his ontological-metaphysical truth.”
At the close of his speech, the Pope pointed out that in order to reach these objectives, there should be a promotion of “academic centers of high profile, in which philosophy can enter into dialogue with the other areas of study,” trusting that “the Catholic academic institutions will be willing to become authentic cultural laboratories.” He then encouraged the youth in studying philosophy and expressed his hope that the upcoming inauguration of the Pauline Year may offer “a fitting occasion to rediscover, following in the footsteps of the great Apostle, the fruitful history of the Gospel in addition to its extraordinary potential for our contemporary culture.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 9/6/2008)
