Wrangler Pope: "Intellectual Love" is Essential in the Pastor of Souls: A Pastor Must Involve Himself in the "Wrestling (das Ringen) of Humanity"
Below you will find Plinthos' translation of the recent letter sent by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on the occasion of the publication of the latter's new book La fede e il bene comune. Offerta cristiana all societa contemporanea.
Vatican City, 21 April 2015
The Feast of Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Your Emminence!
Upon reading the text of your new book which you kindly sent me, Faith and the Common Good: The Christian Contribution to Contemporary Society, I have the years of our common work at the service of the Petrine ministry lively represented before my eyes. It has become again very evident to me how many dimensions impinge upon the pastoral office of a Pastor in the Church of Jesus Christ today. Indeed the Pastoral Office does not mean merely that we carry out the ministry of the Sacraments and Preaching of the Word of God for the faithful in the Church. Above all it has become clear to me that the Pastoral [Office] also decisively includes the intellectual dimension with which the collaborators of Cardinal Ruini have coined the term "amor intellectualis" (intellectual love).* Only if we think together with the perspectives and the questions of our time will we be able to grasp the Word of God as addressed to us in the present. Only if we join in the concern for the possibilities and the needs of our time can the Sacraments come to men with their real power.
There is another element contained therein: Inasmuch as the care of the faithful who directly seek the faith is first of all entrusted to us, so also the service of the Shepherd cannot be limited to the Church. The Church is a part of the world and so can only rightly carry out its proper service looking after the entire world. For it's part the Word of God likewise regards the whole of reality, and it's accomplishment places a responsibility upon the Church for the whole. The argument of the encyclical Caritas in Veritate, which you very impressively expound, shows the interrelation of various levels: the Church must involve itself in the struggles which humanity and society undertake for the right path and for this purpose must find a way to debate which also goes out to non-believers. Only if She goes out of Herself and assumes the responsibility for all of humanity does [the Church] remain also true to Herself.
All of this is made clearly evident by the insights of your book. I think that finding presented anew this process which encompasses the struggle of the entire breadth of the spectrum of the responsibilities of our age will make also the readers who are not members of the Church reflect. Thus it remained clear to me that our collaboration could not limit itself only to concrete acts of governance but should be involved in the depth of the struggle to find the right way to serve the Word of God, the Logos of God.
I take this opportunity to thank you for these years of collaboration and I hope that the book will make many people reflect and will also be able to open to them the way of faith.
Benedict XVI
* Pope Benedict XVI Catholic University of America Address on Intellectual Charity.
Society...has high expectations of Catholic educators. This places upon you a responsibility and offers an opportunity. More and more people – parents in particular – recognize the need for excellence in the human formation of their children. As Mater et Magistra, the Church shares their concern. When nothing beyond the individual is recognized as definitive, the ultimate criterion of judgment becomes the self and the satisfaction of the individual’s immediate wishes. The objectivity and perspective, which can only come through a recognition of the essential transcendent dimension of the human person, can be lost. Within such a relativistic horizon the goals of education are inevitably curtailed. Slowly, a lowering of standards occurs. We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good and an aimless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of freedom. We witness an assumption that every experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and mistakes. And particularly disturbing, is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of ‘risk’, bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love.
How might Christian educators respond? These harmful developments point to the particular urgency of what we might call “intellectual charity”. This aspect of charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility to lead the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love. Indeed, the dignity of education lies in fostering the true perfection and happiness of those to be educated. In practice “intellectual charity” upholds the essential unity of knowledge against the fragmentation which ensues when reason is detached from the pursuit of truth. It guides the young towards the deep satisfaction of exercising freedom in relation to truth, and it strives to articulate the relationship between faith and all aspects of family and civic life. Once their passion for the fullness and unity of truth has been awakened, young people will surely relish the discovery that the question of what they can know opens up the vast adventure of what they ought to do. Here they will experience “in what” and “in whom” it is possible to hope, and be inspired to contribute to society in a way that engenders hope in others.
This letter is the third public text so far given by the Pope Emeritus.
The first was the letter in response to the atheist mathematician's book.
Second was the Address to the Pontifical Urban University.
Original German Text
An Italian Version below
Eminenza!
Scorrendo i testi del Suo nuovo libro, La fede e il bene comune. Offerta cristiana alla società contemporanea, che gentilmente mi ha inviato, mi si sono ripresentati in modo vivo davanti agli occhi gli anni del nostro comune lavoro nel servizio del ministero petrino. Mi è di nuovo risultato molto evidente quante dimensioni oggi abbraccia l’ufficio pastorale di un pastore nella Chiesa di Gesù Cristo. Ufficio pastorale in verità non significa solo che noi nella Chiesa svolgiamo per i fedeli il servizio dei sacramenti e dell’annuncio della Parola di Dio. Mi è risultato chiaro in modo particolare che l’ufficio pastorale abbraccia decisamente anche la dimensione intellettuale, che i collaboratori del cardinale Ruini hanno definito con il termine “amor intellectualis”. Solo se condivideremo le prospettive e le domande del nostro tempo potremo comprendere la Parola di Dio come rivolta a noi nel presente. Solo se parteciperemo alle opportunità e alle necessità del nostro tempo, i sacramenti potranno giungere agli uomini con la loro vera forza.
C’è un altro elemento incluso nell’ufficio pastorale: per quanto in primo luogo ci sia affidata la cura dei fedeli e di chi direttamente è alla ricerca della fede, il servizio del pastore non può limitarsi solo alla Chiesa.
La Chiesa è parte del mondo e perciò essa può svolgere adeguatamente il suo servizio solo prendendosi cura complessivamente del mondo. Allo stesso modo, anche la Parola di Dio, a sua volta, riguarda la totalità della realtà, e l’attualità di essa impone alla Chiesa una responsabilità complessiva. L’impegno profuso nell’enciclica Caritas in veritate, che Ella ha esposto in modo tanto incisivo, mostra l’intreccio dei diversi piani: la Chiesa deve coinvolgersi negli sforzi che l’umanità e la società in quanto tali compiono per un giusto cammino e deve per questo trovare un modo di argomentare che riguardi anche i non credenti. Solo se essa va oltre se stessa e assume la responsabilità per l’umanità nel suo complesso, la Chiesa rimane anche se stessa nel modo giusto.
Tutto questo emerge chiaramente nei saggi del Suo libro. Penso che trovare rappresentato il procedere di un impegno che abbraccia in tutta la sua ampiezza l’intero spettro dei compiti del nostro tempo farà riflettere anche molti lettori che non appartengono alla Chiesa. Così mi è risultato evidente anche che la nostra collaborazione non poteva limitarsi unicamente a concreti atti di governo, ma spingersi, più in profondità, fino all’impegno di servire oggi nel modo giusto la Parola di Dio, il Logos di Dio.
Profitto della circostanza per ringraziarLa per questi anni di collaborazione e auguro che il libro possa far riflettere molti uomini e possa aprire loro anche la via che porta alla fede.
Benedetto XVI
(Traduzione di Pierluca Azzaro, ©copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2015)