Francis explained that this distinction comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola, “who I think understood something better than I do.”
The International Theological Commission is at the Vatican this week for the group’s annual plenary meeting.
Pope Francis expressed his appreciation for the commission’s willingness to explore three themes during its meetings.
The first, he said, is the “relevance of the fruitfulness of the Christological faith professed by the Council of Nicaea, at the completion of 1,700 years since its celebration.”
The commission will also examine some anthropological issues relevant today “and of crucial significance for the journey of the human family, in light of the divine plan of salvation.”
He reminded them that they are called to carry out their work “in the path traced out by the Second Vatican Council, which … constitutes the sure compass for the journey of the Church” in our day.
The Holy Father then proposed three “directions” for following that path, beginning with “creative fidelity to Tradition.” The Pope insisted that Tradition must either grow or die out, and he warned once again of the dangers of “indietrism,” or “backwardism,” which refuses to grow, but instead falls back to “the way it’s always been done.” And he invited theologians to help correct this tendency in the Church. Theologians must also be open to the contributions of other disciplines, “treasuring” a “strong form” of “transdisciplinarity” as the gathering and deepening of all human knowledge “within the space of Light and Life offered by the Wisdom that emanates from God’s revelation.”
Concluding his address, Pope Francis expressed his hope that the work of the Commission might be tranquil and fruitful, undertaken in a spirit of mutual listening, dialogue, and communal discernment, and in openness to the voice of the Holy Spirit. He recalled again the “great importance” of the themes they will be investigating, and encouraged them to teach theology in a way that provokes “wonder and awe” to those who hear them.
And then, after thanking members once again for their work and blessing them, Pope Francis suggested that “it would be important to increase the number of women [theologians], not because it is fashionable,” but because women bring a different intellectual perspective to theology, which can make theology “more profound and more ‘flavourful’.”
--CNA/Vatican Media
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