Theology should serve as a guiding companion for those seeking meaning and truth, particularly during life’s pivotal moments, Pope Francis said yesterday, calling on theologians and theology faculties to expand their outreach. Source: CNS.
Speaking to participants in a conference on the future of theology organised by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Pope asked that the discipline be made “accessible to all”, particularly those engaging with theological questions during middle age.
“Middle age is a special time in life,” when, upon achieving greater stability in one’s work and personal life, “failures are painfully felt and new questions arise as youthful dreams fade,” he said.
In response to such situations people “can feel abandoned or even at an impasse – a mid-life crisis – and sense a need to renew their quest, however tentatively, perhaps even with a helping hand,” he said. “Theology can be that guide on the journey.”
Pope Francis asked that theology programs make adjustments to accommodate people interested in advancing their studies in middle age.
“Please, if any of these people knock at the door of theology, of the schools of theology, may they find it open,” he asked the scholars.
“Make sure that these women and men find in theology an open house, a place where they can resume their journey, a place where they can seek, find and seek again.”
“The Future of Theology: Legacy and Envisioning” two-day international congress, held at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, will conclude today.
The program includes sessions addressing themes such as the geographical and cultural diversity of theology; the integration of non-theological perspectives such as music, literature and science; and theology’s role within society, the Church and the world.
Participants include theologians, academics and artists from various global contexts, with contributions highlighting interdisciplinary approaches and local theological traditions.
Reflecting on the state of theology, the Pope stressed the need to expand the role of women in academic theology: “There are things that only women understand, and theology needs their contribution.”
“An all-male theology is an incomplete theology,” he said. “We still have a long way to go in this direction.”
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Pope asks that theology be ‘accessible,’ not polarising (By Justin McLellan, CNS)
