Pope Francis's revision of the statutes of the Pontifical Academy of Theology is an important development within the discipline of contemporary theology.

Francis emphasises the need for an open theology within a synodal, missionary, and open Church.

Updating the statutes also encourages a robust exchange with various sciences and fosters an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to theological investigations. It is an invitation to scholars from diverse denominations, religions, and academic disciplines to participate in the life of a church that is "open" and engaged in in contemporary questions.

Antonio Stagliano, the Academy President, expressed enthusiasm for this new mission, emphasising the goal of promoting dialogue across all knowledge areas.

For him, the objective is to engage the entire people of God in theological research, transforming their lives into theological experiences.

Theologians wishing to pursue this line of reflection would do well to consider the theological and social perspective of the German Reform theologians of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

More specifically, they should consider the work of Romano Guardini (1885-1968), whom Pope Francis references both directly and indirectly in his writings.

With his first major work, "The Spirit of the Liturgy" (1918), he set standards for the Liturgical Movement and liturgical renewal and contributed to the shape of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council.

Two other books among his many publications, "Liturgie und liturgische Bildung" (1966) and "Das Ende der Neuzeit" (1950) are also seminal for contemporary theology.

Industrial society of the late 19th century

Guardini's perspective reflects the significant process of change that occurred from the late 19th to the mid-20th century.

He pays attention to the impacts of:

• social transformation through industrialisation, war, and new and often unstable republics;
• the philosophical movements of rationalism and the critiques of positivism and Neo-Kantianism, through Life-philosophy and Existentialism and
• reform theology movement's critique of Neo Scholasticism.

Life-Reform Movement

The Life-reform Movement (Lebensreform) movement was a politically diverse social reform movement in France and Germany that found renewed interest in the Romantic movement.

Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911), a leading German proponent, differentiated between the individual's life and life as a whole, emphasizing that understanding life required accessing the full, unblemished experience.

He criticised the traditional modern philosophy, focusing on rationality that neglected dimensions of will and emotions.

Like Dilthey, Guardini placed experience at the centre of his reflections on liturgy and life.

While Dilthey argued against limiting sciences to deterministic natural scientific methods, Guardini criticised the restriction of theology by Neo-Scholasticism.

Guardini's criticism of modernity and Neo-Scholasticism mirror each other insofar that an industrial model of living fundamentally changes people's perception of time and alters how individuals relate to others, to their bodies, to society and to nature:

• Industrialisation also brought about a significant change in the human-earth or human-nature relationship.
• Nature became a resource to be exploited, not a "brother" or "sister" or "mother" to be cherished and cared for as we read in Laudato Si'.
• Theologically, God and belief became functions of each other in a mechanism of ritualisation.

The issue for Guardini with respect to theology is that the systemisation of theology (as an academic discipline) especially through Neo-Scholasticism has resulted in theologies loss of contact with its base: namely how people live, work, pray and believe.

Catholic Reform Theologians

Catholic reform theology explored a heightened synthesis of theological and religious knowledge, and Guardini's primary focus was the youth movements of Juventus and Quickborn.

The Catholic youth movement continued the broader movement that emerged at the beginning of the German Empire, emphasizing the importance of educational reform, body, and self-improvement.

Although initially apolitical, it was still exposed to contemporary ideological currents and oriented itself accordingly.

The First World War and the politically polarized phase of the German Youth Movement were transformative events.

The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 forced all other youth organisations into compulsory integration into the Hitler Youth or dissolution.

Theology and life

Among the Reform theologians, Guardini represents the openness to the world and questions of faith posed in the context of culture, that the Pope has offered to theologians.

Guardini advocated for reforming Catholic believers through liturgy, using a liturgical experience that would address the true essence of humanity and not stunt it through tired ritualisation.

True liturgical encounter awakens and glorifies life through the liturgical act when it is intimately connected to the life of God present and active in the whole of creation.

Like Guardini, and as Pope Francis has written, we live in a "change of epoch" that requires deeper theological engagement with societal and cultural changes that mould our understanding of faith, worship, salvation and God.

Just as Guardini's work focused on the relationship between liturgical practice, lived faith and an openness to the world in the Catholic Church, today's cultural context is as central to theological reflection as Scripture and Tradition.

Guardini proposed that liturgy and life are fundamentally connected experiences, and it is the person, as a whole, integral being who prays and lives.

The notion of context is central to theological reflection. Culture is a third source of theology.

To do theology — in any context that considers how people believe and how they pray — theologians must use Scripture, the Living Tradition of the Church and Culture as their sources of reflection when considering how a transformative event becomes a theological experience.

In the context of contemporary theological reflection is seen in an openness to the world and questions of faith and culture.

Paralleling Guardini's focus on the relationship between liturgical practice, lived faith, and an openness to the world Pope Francis emphasises the importance of theological engagement with societal and cultural changes.

Canon Law - not the answer

Francis has set a new direction in the discussion of key theological debates around ordination, blessings of couples and questions of sexuality and gender that the juridic discipline of Church Law cannot answer because it is not a theological discipline.

Starting with Canon Law to solve these theological questions only ends in frustration.

Instead, starting with what people do when they pray when they call on God's name or when they praise God is an utterly theological starting point because it is thoroughly incarnational.

In the end, all theological questions of any significance concern the relationship between what is believed and what is prayed.

Thus, all important theological questions are essentially liturgical questions that refer back to the interrelationship between living, praying and believing as transformative experiences of God's Grace.

• Dr Joe Grayland is a priest and theologian in the Diocese of Palmerston North. Currently on Sabbatical, he is lecturing at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

Forgive me if I set off from a few personal remarks.

'Three years have passed since I was consecrated bishop. When I arrived here, I had spent thirty years abroad.

Norway had became to me a foreign country. I knew the Norwegian Catholic Church by hearsay.

I had no personal experience of parish life. Not only had I never been a parish priest; I'd never even been part of an ordinary parish.

I had been formed in university chaplaincies and in religious life. I was minded to proceed cautiously.

I first wanted to get to know people and places in the prelature, above all you, dear priests, my closest collaborators.

I had heard of abbots going on visitation with the visitation card already written before departure, sure of their analysis based on first principles. I did not want to follow such a method.

Trondheim had been without its own bishop for eleven years. That a brand new one should charge ahead on the basis of instinct seemed to me unproductive.

In addition we were right in the middle of Covid lockdowns. It wasn't a time to propose radical initiatives.

The three years that have passed have been good ones for me. After a few months I noticed I no longer broke out in a spontaneous cold sweat when I entered the bishop's office. It was a sign I was slowly settling in.

I have been surrounded by great good will. I am often moved by people's generous fidelity, by the will to build the Church up together, to do ‘something beautiful for God' as Mother Teresa said.

Our communities may be vulnerable, small, but they are marked by evangelical authenticity, by service and prayer and, when needed, by sacrifice.

That is in no small measure thanks to you, dear priests. You do precious, fruitful work. People really appreciate you. I really appreciate you! Thank you for the service you perform, for the testimony you give.

When I got here, major projects were looming. The nuns on Tautra were extending. The monks at Munkeby were preparing to build their monastery.

The basement beneath the cathedral lay formless and void, like the chaos on the first day of creation. Much in the curia needed to be refounded.

We have come a long way, thank God.

Further, the church in Molde is equipped with a new roof. Even the Yellow House in Ålesund is ready.

For a prelature like ours, with few resources, there is a limit to how much can be done at once. But we now have a certain freedom of movement for creative work. That is what I wish to speak of.

Let me begin by say something self-evident: the Catholic Church in Norway has changed a great deal in the past thirty years. This fact invites us to new self-understanding. It calls us to new forms of enterprise.

From the mid-19th century until recently, the Catholic Church in Norway saw itself chiefly as a chaplaincy for migrants and a few converts.

It rather appeared, if I may be irreverent, as a fridge designed for the preservation of exotic fruit. This model has done well, but is no longer sufficient.

There are, as I see it, two reasons for this.

First, Norway has since the late 1980s become multi-cultural. The number of Catholics has increased, making our Catholic population a vocal, considerable part of society. We are no longer as marginal as we were.

Secondly, the cultural climate has changed. A Christian reference used to be natural in public discourse. That is so no more.

An increasing part of the population considers the Church, the churches, as an irrelevance.

We cannot allow ourselves, in these conditions, to put our light under a bushel.

We cannot presume that the memory of Christian hope, Christian values, a Christian understanding of man will be upheld by others.

We must get on with it.

In the light of these twin, indissociable factors, it seems essential that the Catholic Church in Norway should assume an evangelising, missionary character.

It is not a matter of being blusteringly triumphalist — that is counterproductive.

It is a matter of ensuring that Jesus Christ remains credibly represented in our country, that his name is heard. The harvest is plentiful, the labourers few. That is how it was in the beginning, too (Mt 9.37).

We must find a balance between excessive ambition and discouragement.

Above all we must remember that the Church is the Lord's, that he has a plan for it both at the large, global level and at the small, local level.

We must let ourselves be used as tools in his hands so that we, by word and example, may invite others into sustaining fellowship.

I want to point toward three especially important areas: Continue reading

• Erik Varden is a monk and bishop, born in Norway in 1974. In 2002, after ten years at the University of Cambridge, he joined Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Charnwood Forest. Pope Francis named him bishop of Trondheim in 2019.

Targeted at families, children, young people and faith communities, The Well - www.thewell.org.au - was initially designed as a solution to supporting the diocese during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

The Diocese then realised the initiative's longer-term potential.

The reason for The Well being nicknamed Netflix for Catholics is apparent - there are already 80-plus videos, podcasts and other online resources on offer, including:

• High-energy children's shows;
• Information and reflections on the sacraments;
• Recordings of young musicians around the Diocese leading praise and worship;
• Thought-provoking discussions from local and international speakers;
• Inspirational sharing from young people and young women.

Bishop Vincent Long, who is the Bishop of Parramatta, says various diocesan ministries and agencies contributed to The Well in response to the "growing need for a strong Catholic presence online."

"Through our work with our youth, with our parishes, and our councils, we have understood the importance of offering a relevant and engaging online space, and what is being offered seeks to support and complement the work of our faith communities, as we work together to share and grow our faith in Jesus Christ.

"In launching The Well, we recognise the Patron of the Diocese, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, and her call to ‘never see a need without doing something about it'.

"Our hope is that it will be another way that people can connect ... particularly at the current time of the pandemic."

"Our desire is for the content to both feature local communities as well as relate to the needs of our local people," Bishop Vincent said.

One of The Well's creators says: "The fact that we can have an even better presence, or another chance of presence of God in homes, among families, in schools and at workplaces - that's what it's all about."

Another contributor says collating resources appropriate for her ministry has been really important. Having them produced locally is an added bonus.

"We've had quite a bit of feedback already from parishes. They are so grateful to have resources available that speak to them, that are appropriate, and that parents enjoy as well."

A contributor who works in a youth ministry says: "We've all had to do something a little differently this year. But we dug deep, and a new digital space was born."

"This is about bringing faith, joy and hope into a digital space, and then into your living room, workspace, or on the go."

Richard McMahon, Director of the Diocese's Pastoral Planning Office, the describes the new service as a means to speak to a "mission field."

It is "vital for us to be meaningfully present in the online world," he says.

Source

• CatholicOutlook
• Image: Rollercoaster.ie

Still want to go? Caveat emptor.

Yet, some people still do.

According to the most recent data from the United States Catholic Mission Association, in 2008-2009 there were 3,352 Catholic missioners sent overseas. Most belong to religious orders: sisters (1,962), priests (784) and brothers (171). They were sent to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (721), in Africa (418), and in Asia (395).

Why is it so psychologically treacherous for missioners to go into conflict zones?

"Trauma is an occupational hazard," said Robert Grant, a psychologist in Oakland, Calif., who has spent more than 20 years teaching, writing, training and counseling missioners and others.

Grant has trained U.S. and Canadian combat troops and chaplains on trauma. He is the primary author of the combat trauma and operational stress protocol currently used by the U.S. Marine Corps for its troops worldwide.

His work in missioner trauma grew out of his earlier work on child sexual abuse in the church.

The impetus to send missioners to foreign lands came in 1961 from Pope John XXIII, who made a special request that U.S. religious orders send 10 percent of its members to Latin America as missioners. Men and women religious responded to this call.

"Missioners are the Marines of the church. Many are gung-ho," Grant said.

"Missioners in conflict zones will experience either direct trauma (e.g., rape, kidnapping, torture, gun violence) or vicarious trauma (e.g., sleep disorders, burnout, loss of identity, social withdrawal) due to serving people suffering direct trauma or both," he said. Continue reading

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Forty Days in Zwedru