It is time for balances and perspectives. Surely we cannot live without them, not even in the Church, although we know its tremendous limits. These days there is an abundance of analyzes of the historical moment that lies before us, marked by a kind of lucid pessimism. It is not strange; If we only take into account the factors that are visible, it is difficult not to succumb to sadness, and what happens in the political, geostrategic or cultural spheres inevitably filters into the ecclesial field. That is why I was especially interested in the interview that the Vaticanist of the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, Matteo Matzuzzi, conducted with the Bishop of Trondheim, Erik Varden, whose voice is increasingly sought and heard in numerous ecclesial sectors. He begins by talking about hope, which does not mean regretting that “things will be fine.” In fact, many will get worse. “To hope is to have confidence that everything, even injustice, can have a meaning and an end,” says Varden. “Here and now, hope appears as a flash, but that does not mean it is irrelevant.” And he adds that “totalitarian powers always work to induce despair, that is why educating yourself in hope means exercising in freedom.” I believe that this must be one of the central aspects of the Jubilee Year that the Pope has just launched. “Waiting means betting one’s life on the possibility of what may come,” and that is something we can do if we remember our Christian history. This is already a first way (realistic and reasonable) to break the circle of prevailing fatalism. Matzuzzi presents the scenario of churches full of elderly people in Europe, and the fatigue that addressing young people represents for the Church in the West. But Varden does not accept the starting point, and once again he disorients us. From his Scandinavian “periphery” he affirms that certain diagnoses, both secular and ecclesiastical, make him smile, “where elderly talkers launch theses about young people.” According to him, what the Church has to do with young people is to take them seriously, “not speaking to them with complacency, but daring to present high and beautiful ideals, respecting their desire to fully embrace tradition; neither by throwing stones at them, nor by giving them candy. And it signals a change in trend, a new hunger for meaning and a willingness to listen that we should not underestimate. For him, secularization has made its way, and has been exhausted without many positive achievements, but the human being remains alive with his deep aspirations. And he points out some signs of this time: authors such as Marilynne Robinson and Jon Fosse are read throughout the world, people go to the cinema to see Terence Malick’s films and thousands of people seek formation in the faith. All this should fill us with courage and remind us that “the Church has the words and signs to transmit the reality of the eternal.” And he adds something quite countercurrent today in ecclesiastical circles: “without wanting to diminish one bit the importance of charitable work in the causes of justice and peace, I believe that the intellectual apostolate will be fundamental in the coming decades.” I end with a note that portrays many inertias of the moment. He points out that the so-called “spirit of the times” is the most fickle thing that exists. We must listen to it, certainly, because it tells us what is bustling in the world, but it is absurd for Christians to try to follow it to be in fashion, because we will always be late. On the contrary, we must remain clinging to what does not happen. In this sense, he emphasizes that the vitality of Catholic life in the 20th century sprang from the enthusiasm for discovering the sources of Tradition, to find clean and fresh water in them. This was a real strong point of the Second Vatican Council, but today, he observes with some irony, it seems that “we abandon those fountains to install our mobile stalls next to automatic water fountains.” Recommended to start the year, free of fatalism.
#Signs #times
