Pope on Faith and Reason

Pope says it is urgent to re-launch a "fruitful dialogue" between philosophy and theology.

VATICAN CITY (Zenit) - Modernity requires a philosophical reflection open to a deeper understanding of man, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this Saturday when he addressed participants in the 6th European Symposium of University Professors. The Holy Father said that, in face of the present crisis of modernity, it is urgent to re-launch a "fruitful dialogue" between philosophy and theology.

Cardinal Camilo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for Rome, and professors from 26 European countries, were received by the Holy Father in the Vatican's Clementine Hall, at the conclusion of their June 5-8 symposium on the topic "To Extend the Horizons of Rationality: Perspectives for Philosophy."

In opening his address, the Pontiff mentioned that this year marks the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's encyclical "Fides et Ratio."

The German Pontiff recalled that when that document was published in 1998, some 50 philosophy professors from Roman universities "expressed their gratitude to the Pope with a declaration underlining the importance of relaunching the study of philosophy in universities and schools."

"The events of the years that have passed since the publication of the encyclical have delineated more clearly the historical and cultural stage onto which philosophical research is called to enter," Benedict XVI contended.

"Indeed, the crisis of modernity is not a symptom of the decline of philosophy; on the contrary, philosophy must embark upon new lines of research in order to understand the true nature of that crisis.

"Modernity is not simply a historically-datable cultural phenomenon; in reality it requires a new focus, a more exact understanding of the nature of man."

The Holy Father suggested that Christianity is called to "take charge of [a] historic urgency" -- that of humanity's "desire for fullness."

The Pontiff said this new dialogue between faith and reason "cannot be addressed with the terms and modes in which it was carried out in the past. If it is not to be reduced to a sterile intellectual exercise, it must begin from the concrete situation of man, and engage in reflection that takes up the ontological-metaphysical truth."

A research proposal

Benedict XVI said that from the beginning of his pontificate he has "listened attentively to the petitions made to me by men and women of our time; in the light of such expectations, I wished to offer a research proposal which, it seems to me, would awaken interest in the relaunching of philosophy and its irreplaceable role within the academic and cultural world."

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The Pope proposed that a good understanding of modernity "reveals an 'anthropological question' that manifests itself in a much more complex and articulated way than that foreseen by the philosophical reflections of the last centuries, above all in Europe."

It is not a question of a mere cultural phenomenon, he said; rather, it implies "a more precise understanding of the nature of man."

In the quest for solutions to this "prolonged crisis," the Holy Father noted the significance of many contemporary thinkers who propose an openness to religions, and in particular to Christianity. This is "an obvious sign of the sincere desire to remove philosophical reflection from self-sufficiency," he proposed.

In light of this, the Bishop of Rome recalled that Christianity from the beginning made a clear choice between mythical thought and philosophy, favoring the latter. "This affirmation, which reflects the path of Christianity since its beginning, is revealed fully in the historic-cultural context we are living."

"In fact, only beginning from this premise, which is historical and theological at the same time, is it possible to meet the new perspectives of philosophical reflection," he said.

True understanding

Yet, Benedict XVI pointed out two risks on this path that Christianity must avoid: that of being instrumentalized and that of being relegated to the "abstract world of theories."

"The Christian faith must descend to a concrete historical experience that reaches man in the most profound truth of his existence," the Pope affirmed. "The understanding of Christianity as a real transformation of the existence of man, if on one hand it drives philosophical reflection to a new approach to religion, on the other it animates it not to lose confidence in being able to know reality."

The Pope affirmed that the proposal to "extend the horizons of rationality" should not be counted among new lines of philosophical and theological thought.

Instead, he said, it "must be understood as the need for a new opening to the reality to which the human person, in his uni-totality, is called, overcoming old prejudices and reductionisms, in order to open the way for a true understanding of modernity."