Pope encourages Pontifical Academies
to promote 'authentic Christian humanism'
This morning, on the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, Benedict XVI received some 300 participants in the annual public session of the pontifical academies.
The event was attended by representatives from the following institutions: the Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Theological Academy, the Academy of Mary Immaculate, the International Marian Academy, the Academy of Fine Arts and Literature "dei Virtuosi al Pantheon", the Roman Academy of Archaeology and the "Cultorum Martyrum" Academy.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's address to them:
Dear Cardinals,
Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate and the Priesthood,
Distinguished Presidents and Academicians,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am happy to welcome you and meet with you, on the occasion of the Public Session of the Pontifical Academies, the culminating moment of the year's multiple activities.
I greet Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Coordinating Council of the Pontifical Academies, and I thank him for the kind words he addressed to me.
I extend my greetings to the Presidents of the Pontifical Academies, to the academicians and to the associates present. Today's public session, during which the Prize of the Pontifical Academy was awarded in my name, was on a theme which, in the context of the Year for Priests, takes on particular significance: "The theological formation of the priest".
Today, the memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, great Doctor of the Church, I wish to offer you some reflections on the goal and specific mission of the meritorious cultural institutions of the Holy See that you are part of, and which can claim a varied and rich tradition of research and engagement in various sectors.
The years 2009-2010, in fact, are for some of them, marked by specific anniversaries which constitute yet another reason to give thanks to the Lord.
In particular, the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archeology marks its foundation two centuries ago, in 1810, and its transformation into a Pontifical Academy in 1829.
The Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum have marked their 130th anniversary, both having been established in 1879.
The Pontifical International Marian Academy celebrated the 50th year since it was transformed into a Pontifical Academy.
Finally, the Pontifical Academies of St. Thomas Aquinas and of Theology marked the tenth anniversary of their institutional renewal which took place in 1999 with the Motu proprio Inter munera Academiarum, which bears the date of January 28.
So many occasions, then, to revisit the past, through the attentive reading of the thoughts and actions of the Founders and all those who gave their best for the progress of these institutions.
But a retrospective look at the memory of a glorious past cannot be the only approach to these events, which recall above all the task and the responsibility of the Pontifical Academies to serve the Church and the Holy See faithfully, renewing today their rich and diversifgied commitment which has already produced so many precious results, even in the recent past.
Contemporary culture - more so, believers themselves - continually require the reflection and action of the Church in the various fields where new problems are emerging, and which constitute the very sectors in which you work, such as philosophical and theological research; reflection on the figure of the Virgin Mary; the study of history, monuments, of the testimonials we have received as a legacy from the first Christian generations, starting with the Martyrs; the delicate and important dialog between the Christian faith and artistic creativity, to which I dedicated the meeting with personalities from the world of art and culture at the Sistine Chapel last November 21.
In these sensitive areas of research and involvement, you are called to offer a contribution that is qualified, competent and impassioned, so that the whole Church, particularly the Holy See, can avail of the opportunities, languages and means adequate to dialog with contemporary culture, and respond effectively to the questions and challenges that arise in the various fields of knowledge and human experience.
As I have stated many times, today's culture strongly suffers both from a vision dominated by relativism and subjectivism, as well as from methods and attitudes that are often superficial and even banal, that damage the seriousness of research and reflection, and consequently, that of dialog, confrontation and interpersonal communications.
Therefore, it seems urgent and necessary to recreate the essential conditions for a real capacity for study and research in depth, in order that we can dialog reasonably and effectively confront each other on various problems, in the context of common growth and a formation that promotes man in his wholeness and completeness.
The lack of ideal and moral reference points, which particularly penalizes civil coexistence, and above all, the formation of the younger generations, should be met with an ideal and practical proposal of values and truth, of strong reasons for life and hope, which can and should interest everyone, especially the youth.
Such a commitment should be especially cogent in the area of forming candidates for the ordained ministry, as the Year for Priests calls for, and as confirmed by your happy choice of your annual public session for this theme.
One of the Pontifical Academies is named for St. Thomas Aquinas, the Doctor Angelicus et Communis, an always relevant model to inspire the activity and the dialog of the Pontifical Academies with different cultures.
In fact, he succeeded in establishing a fruitful confrontation with Arab as well as Jewish thinking in his time, and while treasuring the Greek philosophical tradition, he produced an extraordinary theological synthesis, fully harmonizing reason and faith.
Already with his contemporaries, he left a profound and indelible memory, by the extraordinary refinement and acuteness of his intelligence and the greatness and originality of his genius, besides the luminous sanctity of his life.
His first biographer, Guglielmo da Tocco, underscored the extraordinary and pervasive pedagogical originality of St. Thomas, with expressions that could inspire your own activities: "Fra Tomasso," he wrote, "introduced new articles into his lectures, resolved questions in a new and clearer way with new arguments. Consequently, those who heard him teach new theses, treating them with new methods, could not doubt that God had enlightened him with a new light: indeed, could one ever teach or write new opinions if one has not received new inspiration from God?" (Vita Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, in Fontes Vitae S. Thomae Aquinatis notis historicis et criticis illustrati, ed. D. Prümmer M.-H. Laurent, Tolosa, s.d., fasc. 2, p. 81).
The thought and the testimony of St. Thomas Aquinas suggests that we should study emerging problems with great attention in order to offer adequate and creative responses. Confident in the possibilities of 'human reason', in full fidelity to the immutable depositum fidei, we must - as the Doctor Communis did - always draw from the riches of Tradition, in the constant search for "the truth of things".
For this, it is necessary that the Pontifical Academies, today more than ever, be vital and lively institutions, able to acutely perceive both the questions of society and of cultures, as well as the needs and expectations of the Church, to offer an adequate and valid contribution, and thus promote, with all the energies and means at its disposal, an authentic Christian humanism.
Therefore, as I thank the Pontifical Academies for their generous dedication and profuse commitment, I wish that each may enrich their individual histories and traditions with new significant projects to carry out their respective missions with new impetus.
I assure of remembrance in my prayers, and in invoking on you and your institutions the intercession of the Mother of God, Seat of Wisdom, and of St. Thomas Aquinas, I impart the Apostolic Blessing from my heart.
The Holy Father greets families of some of the Academicians.
[DIM]
A news conference was held on Tuesday to discuss the initiatives of the Pontifical Academies, and the Press Office actually had a very informative release about each of the academies but I did not have the time to translate and thought I would leave it to be a backgrounder for today's event. Here, at least, is the VIS report on that newscon.
PONTIFICAL ACADEMIES:
OPEN TO NEW KNOWLEDGE
VATICAN CITY, 26 JAN 2010 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office a conference was held to present “Pontifical Academies for a New Christian Humanism”, an initiative that will include a special audience of the Holy Father with the pontifical academies on 28 January, and the public session of those academies on 27 January.
Participating in today’s press conference were Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Co-ordinating Council of the Pontifical Academies, and Msgr. Pasquale Iacobone , official of the same pontifical council and delegate of the co-ordinating council.
The Co-ordinating Council of the Pontifical Academies was created by John Paul II in 1995 and is made up of the presidents of the following institutions:
- the Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas
- the Theological Academy
- the Academy of Mary Immaculate
- the International Marian Academy
- the Academy of Fine Arts and Literature “dei Virtuosi al Pantheon”
- the Roman Academy of Archaeology and
- the “Cultorum Martyrum” Academy.
A joint public session of the Pontifical Academies is organised once a year to examine a theme of current importance. This year’s meeting, the fourteenth, focuses on the “theological formation of the clergy” and has been organised by the Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Theological Academy.
The public session also includes the presentation of the Pontifical Academy Prize which is awarded by the Pope to institutions or to young researchers or artists who have distinguished themselves in promoting Christian humanism.
The prize-winner this year is the American theologian John Mortensen who gained his doctorate in 2006 from Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross with a thesis on “Analogy in St. Thomas”.
In his remarks Archbishop Ravasi recalled how the activity of the Pontifical Academies focuses on three fields: theology, culture and the reappraisal of Christian heritage especially from Roman times.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Culture likewise explained that one of the purposes of the session is to publicise the “often little known activity” of the academies, which he called “little worlds of very-high-quality research”.
The session will also help
to ensure that the work undertaken in those academies leaves their confines and becomes more widespread, making them not just glorious vestiges of the past but institutions capable of confronting the modern world of knowledge.
In this context, he noted that the granting of this year’s prize to layman with a family is a sign of the openness of theological research which, he said, cannot be limited only to the clergy.
For his part, Msgr. Iacobone pointed out that this will be Benedict XVI’s first audience with the pontifical academies. He also recalled how the years 2009-2010 are very significant for some of these institutions, such as the Roman Academy of Archaeology which has celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of its foundation (1809), the Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas which marked its 130 years, and the International Marian Academy which was made a pontifical academy fifty years ago.
Part of the Vatican backgrounder on the Pontifical Academies also says this:
The Coordinating Council meets several times a year, presided by the head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, to hear a general report of activities by each of the academies, and to coordinate their activities in order to promote interdisciplinary research for greater resonance of these activities.
This also facilitates regular information exchange, scientific cooperation and collegial discussions.
The Coordinating Council today is composed of:
- Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, President, Pontifical Council for Culture
- Mons. Lluís Clavell, President, Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Fr. Manlio Sodi, S.D.B., President, Pontifical Theological Academy
- Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur, President, Pontifical Academy of Mary Immaculate
- Fr. Vincenzo Battaglia, O.F.M., President, Pontifical International Marian Academy
- Prof. Vitaliano Tiberia, President, Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters
- Prof. Letizia Pani Ermini, President, Pontifical Roman Academy of Archeology
- Prof. Fabrizio Bisconti, Magister, Pontifical Academy «Cultorum Martyrum».
The Academies have their official headquarters in Rome at the Palazzo San Pio X on the Via della Conciliazione.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/01/2010 01:12]