Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
The ‘theology of the people’, according to Pope Francis

The ‘theology of the people’, according to Pope Francis

Last updated on: April 27, 2015 at 9:38 pm by CNA Daily News

The ‘theology of the people’, according to Pope Francis 2015-04-27T21:38:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Apr 27, 2015 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a previously unpublished 2012 lecture, Pope Francis explains the inner sense of the ‘theology of the people,' emphasizing that popular piety is the antithesis of widespread secularization.

The lecture has now been published for the first time, in the Italian edition of “An Introduction to the Theology of the People,” by Argentine theologian Ciro Enrique Bianchi, a pupil of Victor Manuel Fernandez – rector of the Catholic University of Argentina and one of Pope Francis' closest collaborators.

The book was conceived as a theological and spiritual profile of the Argentine thinker Rafael Tello, considered one of the founders of the 'theology of the people' which Pope Francis holds in high esteem.

The 'theology of the people' was popular in Argentina as an alternative to radical liberation theology. While radical liberation theologians looked to Marxist, immanentist interpretations of the Gospel, theology of the people was founded on common peoples' culture and devotion, including their spirituality and sense of justice.

While Archbishop of Buenos Aires, then-Cardinal Bergoglio wrote the foreword to the original, Spanish edition of Bianchi's book on 'theology of the people' and held a lecture at its official presentation. This lecture zeroed in on “the faith of our humble people,” and has been used as the foreword of the Italian edition; excerpts were published
April 27 in Avvenire, the Italian bishops' daily paper.

Cardinal Bergoglio wrote that Latin America was largely characterized by poverty and Christianity, and that this latter is expressed by various and colourful forms of popular piety such as processions, vigils, and public prayer.

“When we approach our people with the gaze of the good shepherd, when we do not come to judge but to love, we can find out that this cultural way to express the Christian faith is still present among us, especially in our poor,” he said.

Pope Francis explained that the notion was subjected to an evolution in the course of the years: at first, it was labeled “popular religion,” then Bl. Paul VI called it “popular piety,” and finally the 2007 Aparecida document called it “popular spirituality.”

Aparecida was the site of the fifth general conference of Latin American bishops, and its final document addresses the major issues facing the Church there, focused on missionary work.

According to Cardinal Bergoglio, “popular spirituality is the original way through which the Holy Spirit has led and continues to lead million of our brothers,” and this was clearly acknowledged in Aparecida.

The Pope recounted that “four days before the final vote on the draft, this latter had received 2,400 ‘modi’, or amendments, which had to be solved within those days”; but the chapter on popular spirituality “was subjected to only two or three observations, and they were all stylistic, secondary observations.”

“That chapter was proposed exactly the way it came out from the commission, which told all the bishops at the conference, 'this is a sign',” wrote Cardinal Bergoglio.

The then Archbishop of Buenos Aires also identified “popular piety as the disclosing of the memory of a people,” and emphasized the good example of José Gabriel Brochero, a popular Argentine priest who was beatified in September 2013.

Pope Francis recounted having been for two years a confessor at the Jesuit house in Cordoba, Argentina, “in the heart of downtown, beside the university,” where he heard the confessions of “university students, professors, and people from the suburbs who prefer to confess downtown since their parish priest has no time to hear confession on Sundays, since he celebrates one Mass after another.”

Among the penitents, Cardinal Bergoglio said he noticed that “there were people who confessed well: they only said what was needed, they never said something more than their sins, and they did not brag; they spoke with much humility.”

Once, Pope Francis asked one of these people where came from, and he said: “From Traslasierra,” the land where Fr. Brochero preached. So “there was the catechetic memory of Cura Brochero in a people, who expressed this in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.”

Pope Francis added that “popular piety comes from the memory of the people,” and “as the Catholic Church has made a preferential option for the poor, this should lead us to know and appreciate their cultural way of living the Gospel.”

“It is good and necessary that theology cares for popular piety” since it is “the precious treasure of the Catholic Church in Latin America, as Benedict XVI put it when he inaugurated the Aparecida Congress.”

In the end – Cardinal Bergoglio maintained – “when we approach the poor to accompany them, we understand that they live life in a transcendental sense, beyond the huge daily difficulties. In some ways, consumerism has not enclosed them.”

Their life “reaches out for something beyond this life. Life depends on Someone, and this life must be saved. This is what we found in depth of our people, even if (our people) are not able to express it.”

In the end, Pope Francis said, “the transcendent sense of life glimpsed in popular Christianity is the antithesis of the secularism that is spreading in modern societies.”

Vatican

Previous Post

April 27, 2015

Religious leaders urge conscience protections in recognizing marriage

Next Post

April 27, 2015 Scholars: No legal right to 'gay marriage' in Constitution

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 2 Timothy, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for what four things?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness Prayer, worship, fellowship, and service Salvation, sanctification, justification, and glorification Faith, hope, love, and peace