People before buildings, says Cardinal Tagle

Thursday, December 12th, 2019

People and how they are shaped in faith and not buildings make up the strength of the Catholic Church says Cardinal Luis Tagle.

Those with the gift of listening are the biggest gift of all, he said.

Tagle, the newly appointed congregation head for the Evangelisation of Peoples was speaking with clergy and laity at the foundation blessing of the FABC Veritas Asia Institute of Social Communications in Radio Veritas Asia’s Quezon City compound.

“Having a beautiful building in itself does not guarantee evangelisation. It (evangelisation) is the training and formation of people,” said Tagle.

“Evangelization is communication. God is a God who communicates, who dialogues. But He is also a God who listens,” Tagle said.

Nurture “the spirituality of listening, to God, to neighbours and to the signs of the times,” he urged.

“We are all in a hurry, rushing to say something, to issue a statement even when we have not heard yet”.

“We have already something prepared without knowing what the question or statement is,” he said to laughter among senior clergy.

“Listening comes first,” Tagle stressed.

“Many people are longing for someone and a community to listen. Even if you have no words, you communicate your presence, your compassion, your unity.”

While new savvy is needed to navigate the minefields of the digital revolution and artificial intelligence, Tagle said the Catholic Church must hone other kinds of intelligence, like that needed to understand context, reports ABS-CBN News.

Without context, communicators cannot collapse complex ideas to meet the demands of the digital age, he said.

Developing his comments, Tagle emphasised the importance of relational intelligence in evangelisation and communications.

Relational intelligence allows communities to avert conflicts before they erupt or quickly resolving conflicts that break out, he said.

“In our world today, so much fear, suspicion and prejudice. We don’t know whom to trust,”

“We need people who can generate that atmosphere of trust,” he said.