Faith in a Secular Age:
Disjunctions/Conjunctions between
Church and People
June 15-16, 2014
Vienna, Austria
Report
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Goals and Objectives: Wholistic Dialogue and Kenotic
Vision
III. Interchange between Teams
IV. Themes
Suggested by Participants
I. INTRODUCTION
Rather than beginning with the long and rich history of the
project on "Faith in a Secular Age" with its multiple facets
in times of promise, crisis and renewal, it seemed more
effective to begin from the recent period of Pope Francis.
He seems to be putting things right by simple gestures in
accord with both the life of the people and the gospel
message. But rather than resting with these, it is our task
to ask what is missing where a project of scholars might be
of help.
Upon reflection one notes that Pope Frances is not going
deeply into the secular culture in which all are raised,
which is inescapable in daily life, and in terms of which
all interpret present events and project their future.
Hence the goal of this project is to support Pope Francis in
this regard with professional insight drawn by such various
competencies as can be provided by the humanities and the
social sciences, by philosophy and theology.
What then is the secularity of which we speak? Charles
Taylor, in his now classical work A
Secular Age, spoke of three senses of the term in order
to focus on the third: (a) separation of Church and state,
(b) decline in Church practice, and (c) the cultural
conditions which today often make unbelief seem more easy,
more natural and more viable than belief.
This has been exacerbated by sexual and financial scandals.
Though these can be seen as tragic chances of timing, in
fact they may be rather the inevitable results of structures
which overstayed their age till finally they became
unsustainable and all seemed to be collapsing.
In view of all this what then are the goals and objectives
of this project; namely, what kind of vision is needed in
order to contribute to the life of faith in these new and
cultural conditions which have come to constitute this
secular age? Two stand out, namely, an wholistic vision
achieved through dialogue and a kenotic vision in the image
of Christ and indeed of the entire Trinity.
II. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Wholistic Dialogue
As cultural these conditions constitute what Pierre Hadot
defined as an integral way of life, distinctive of each
people and nation, and hence multiple and differentiated. As
such, the response cannot be by the abstract approaches of
scientific reason in which almost all are trained from their
early school years. That proceeds precisely by leaving out
all except the essences expressed in concepts which are
thereby univocal and universal. This would omit all of Pope
Francis' populous gospel gestures in which faith is actually
lived. It would render rather the "buffered self” which
indeed characterizes secularity. Only one team would then be
required; more would be redundant and confusing.
In that older style a single speaker, perhaps with one or
two critics, corresponded to the abstract approach for
which, as Descartes noted, a single author is most
effective. The task then was precisely to strip away the
cultural differences wherein the religious elements are to
be found, so that the secular age followed necessarily and
inescapably. To search for a living faith in a secular age
requires a fundamentally different, even contrary, dialogic,
interactive and mutually suggestive approach.
Further, as the secular condition is a culture, and hence an
integral and differentiated way of life, relevant work must
attend to the cumulative and creative experience of the many
peoples and their distinct cultures. For this not one, but
16 teams have been at work on this project. Each team is
writing its distinctive volume.
Thus the challenge of the present conference is to begin to
bind these together in a complementary and coherent search
for the wholeness and fullness of a religious life; to
articulate the cross references between them; and by
dialogue to point to what is seen, needing to be seen and
faith which transcends all sight.
This requires then not only the work of one keynote speaker,
but especially the lively interaction of the many teams of
the distinct cultures in dialogue with one another.
Indeed this was the new theme of the 2013 World Congress of
Philosophy in Athens, Greece, where this Council for
Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP) was awarded the
"Global Dialogue Prize" for its contribution to this new
mode of investigation as we enter upon these culturally
differentiated and secular times.
Kenotic Vision
The combination of the growing secular orientation of
contemporary culture with the tragically timely scandals,
which marked the over-extension of previous modes of Church
thought and practice, call now for change and reform. In
fact, this recalls and repeats the experience of Christ with
the Jewish people of old. Then there was an intensive and
enduring expectation of the Messiah. However, this
expectation had come to be so popularly misinterpreted and
mispresented in human and worldly terms of power and
prestige that when the Messiah came he was not recognized.
In fact, what was needed of a Messiah was one who would save
humanity from itself, that is, not more of human power, but
less, or a veritable emptying (kenosis) of self.
As Paul pointed out classically in his epistle to the
Philippians (2:6-11), it was not only that the Messiah put
aside the form of God to take human form, but that he did so
in the form of a servant; indeed of one who would surrender
his human life in the most ignominious manner, namely, that
of death on the cross. This was to be 'other' to the extent
of being the very antithesis of human messianic
expectations.
This set a totally different model for humanity: not that of
master, but of the ultimate servant, indeed of a slave
sacrificing his very life; not of one kingly master but as
neighbor to all humankind and in all of its endeavors,
whether of health and sustenance, of industry and finance,
or of social and political interaction. In all this
messiahship in terms of kenosis points to sacrifice and
service for human fulfillment and wholeness in progressively
inclusive physical, moral and social terms.
Moreover, as the secular perspective inverts the apex from
the divine to the human, and even to the world in which we
live, this kenotic outpouring is articulated not only with
regard to humanity, but to physical nature as well. The
power of the creator as recounted in Isaiah is not reserved
to some overpowering phenomenon such as lightening or wind,
but is found in the whisper of the breeze. Some refer to
this as the small or weak god. In any case, it is the
kenotic God or creator manifest in and by nature even at its
weakest, most fallible and fickle.
Yet even this is not the entirety of the kenosis, for Christ
promised to send the Spirit to explain his message, to
enlighten minds and guide hearts. But where this might be
expected to be booming, inescapable, imperative, in fact it
is a weak voice which does not do away with, but enhances
human freedom. Even here the kenosis continues, leaving to
humanity and nature the responsibility -- and the struggle
-- to work toward an ever emerging wholeness.
So whether it be the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer,
or the Spirit as Guide, the life of the Trinity is marked by
a kenosis quite beyond human expectations and comprehension.
This assures that the secular is not replaced but enhanced,
or as expressed by John F. Kennedy: "In this world God's
work is man's own."
III. INTERCHANGE
BETWEEN TEAMS
In order to initiate this dialogic interaction between the
teams Charles Taylor proposed two principles:
1. The disjunction between, on the one hand, the ‘seekers’
which presupposes that they have not found their way and, on
the other hand, the ‘dwellers’ doing what has been done
better in the past suggests that faith be considered as a
journey, meaning that faith is not fully understood and that
we proceed by landmarks which give direction and guide our
journey.
2. Pope Francis suggests engaging with all others in this
spiritual journey in a constant and respectful interchange,
and trying to understand what is held by others in a
spiritual pluralism.
Both of these entail the need to get beyond the sense of
possessing truth, and learning to live apostolically with
others, whether as individual seekers or as the plural
spiritualities of our day, in an attitude grounded in love.
This generated fruitful dialogue which related the
participants around the following three themes: (1) the
seekers as individuals, (2) plural spiritualities, and (3)
the relation of truth and love. Some samples are described
here, followed by a listing of the themes each of the
participants suggested at the conclusion of these
discussions.
Individuals and Seekers
- The secular inversion of contemporary concern from
‘top-down’ to ‘bottom-up’ has given strong impetus to the
individual. This has a number of effects, both good and bad.
It can enliven in the person a sense of possibility with
corresponding far reaching vision and creativity. This is
indicated in terms of authenticity, i.e. whether a person
lives what he or she professes
On the one hand, this has been a special characteristic of
the success of the pontificate of Pope Francis whose daily
life continuously witnesses to the gospel injunction to live
for the poor (imaged in his own simple living quarters and
mode of transport), to reach out to the margins (to care for
the immigrant rather than the rich), and even to think of
the Church as a field hospital.
On the other hand, to focus too exclusively on the
individual to the extent of judging all in terms of
individual human success constitutes a major challenge
presented by secularization and the shift it entails from
God to man. When understood exclusively in term of an
individualism the implication is a competitive society. In
some places this has been the strategy for nation building
and hence defines as secular all economic, legal and
political structures.
- The vast majority of the
European teams chose to work on the disjunction between
seekers and dweller. This could refer to the tension between
two extreme positions. On the one hand, are the ‘dwellers’
who seek salvation in the exact repetition of past Church
practices. On the other hand, are the ‘seekers’ who feel
that they must dissociate themselves from set ritual
practices in order to follow the interior inspiration of the
Spirit in response to the present needs of society?
As constituting the context of life today the latter entails
special difficulties for membership in communities both
sacred and secular, in Church and civil society. For
example:
a/ Too little attention is devoted to the creative
appreciation and mobilization, to the responsibilities and
even the opportunities, which are present in and
characteristic of life in religious and secular communities.
b/ As a result the gospel message of love can be read too
exclusively as an internal issue of Church service or of the
private life of family; while too little attention is
devoted to one’s role in public life. That is left to a
sense of self benefit and competition with others in zero
plus terms. In this case, the transformative, enlightening
and enlivening power of the Christian message is not
sufficiently appreciated and applied. Too often this
bespeaks the situation where the Catholic community is the
majority. Elsewhere, the Church is often the minority, at
times a very slender minority, and seeks only tolerance. But
even in these situations should not the Christian approach
be one of active -- if cautious -- service both to Church,
e.g. in ecumenical efforts, and to public life both by its
transformative social doctrine and active public services
(e.g. in health and education).
Plural Spiritualities
Another disjunction is the present encounter with plural
spiritualities. In the past, the Church in professing an
absolute divine might have felt obliged to seek to impose on
others its appreciation of this unique primacy. But what
then of the present interactive universe where the need and
opportunity is rather to learn from others and from nature,
to invite rather than to impose -- and this most
particularly in the rich global situation of plural
spiritualities? This issue was taken up by teams from
Poland, Portugal and Chicago.
- It was suggested that one approach might be to ask what
moves a people or peoples to look for a new spirituality.
One element might be that in this increasingly active,
changing and ever turbulent world there is a
felt need for the deeper and more constant path of
contemplation. This can be sought in alternate cultures with
long traditions of contemplation. In turn this can generate
a new respect for "the other" and a search for community
with them.
- For Portugal which had a long history as a majoritarian
Catholic country this entails coming to the realization
today that not all are Catholic. Whereas in the past it was
not necessary to articulate one's interest in religious
life, that could now be important. And in a time when
‘believing’ but not ‘belonging’ to a religious community
becomes more common this might be done through the various
arts.
Related elements which emerged in the discussions were the
need to encourage Catholics to speak out and articulate
their motivation. Indeed this has been central to the
transition of Jürgen Habermas from an earlier position in
which only a secular language could be proper for public
order, and all religious motivations would need to be
translated into secular terms. More recently he has
recognized that this placed a unique burden on the religious
section of the population contrary to the prime liberal
profession of equality for all.
- Today this may require not the comprehensive vision of a
classical Catholic theology, but attention to its practical
implications and to the more brief language that is required
for specific projects in support of limited populations and
their needs. This can be especially true if the student
population of our times is less interested in the
institutional and theoretical content of particular
religious denominations than in the spiritual motivation to
do good in the world.
- From here it was but a short step to the sociological
studies often built on statistics regarding the practice of
sacramental rituals. These tend to show dramatic decline,
e.g., in attendance at mass or the practice of the sacrament
of penance. However, this may be missing some other
significant religious indices, namely, the practice of the
gospel values in small Christian communities or in working
toward such specific goals as peace, e.g., the peace
building of the Saint Egidio community.
One might note as well that these seem especially fit for
bridging the gap between spirituality and religion often
cited in the claim to be ‘spiritual’ (as in deep
interiority), but not ‘religious’ (as in institutional
structures).
- A further consideration appears when one takes account of
the psychological dynamics, for then the needs of very
different personalities come into play. Many are not able to
deal with doubt. Whereas for some doubt could be a
reassuring sign that they are proceeding cautiously and that
the route taken, though limited, is sure. For others,
however, doubt undermines their sense of security. They look
for one in whom they can put complete and unquestioning
trust. Indeed this latter position can be not only the
situation of more simple people, but of earlier stages of a
scholar's academic growth. In time, however, one finds that
no thinker is always correct and that they themselves must
take up their own responsibility for evaluating and sorting
out what can be accepted and how this is complemented by
other insights that over time become available from their
own or other cultures.
Truth and Love
- This is not to suggest that there is no truth, for that
has no sense at all. Rather it is that truth is not fully
understood: hence it is not that we possess truth, but that
truth possesses us. Along with truth there is also emotion
or feeling. We need
a humble attitude because truth is being continuously
created and hence remains beyond us in its fullness. As this
can be destabilizing one must see oneself as being in the
hands of God. This requires letting go of any possessive
dynamic, which in turn implies the search for some common
ground between seekers and dwellers. The same is true of the
other disjunctions both within the self and in the world.
- Finally, truth and openness are possible in the broader
context of love. There one's security is assured by the love
of God and expressed in its extension to all one encounters
on one's journey. Indeed Christians soon became identifiable
precisely by "how they love one another."
This has a number of implications.
1/ that we need to have an open attitude both toward the
past for it relevance to the present and to novelty in our
changing times;
2/ that
we need to work with others in order to have the benefit of
their experiences and insights as life becomes ever more
complex;
3/ that we gain confidence in ourselves and in our extended
community as we move ahead on our journey; and
4/ that it is possible for a person to put greater stress
either on holding to the tradition as the more assured path,
or to belonging to a community of persons.
The latter gives less attention to issues of truth (as bonds
between concepts), and more to the bonds of love between
persons (that is to ‘belonging’ rather than to ‘believing’).
More probably however everyone finds their proper
combination of the two as not mutually exclusive factors
along with such others as their internal psychology and
their external condition of life in the specific time and
place.
- One implication is that gradually we slide toward smaller
affinity groupings based on many factors. This is newly
possible as transportation and communication are augmented
so that geography need no longer be the determining or even
the major factor in the organization of Christian parishes
or other religious communities. To this must be added,
however, the importance of diversity if a faith community is
to avoid extremes and witness to the all englobing love of
the Creator and Redeemer.
- Here the constant example of Pope Francis is significant
with its emphases not on a closed community of believers,
but on the openness of living alongside all with their
multiple gifts and needs, their beliefs and unbeliefs. In
these days the Church, and indeed all societies, are marked
by challenging transformation.
- For a detailed treatment of the problematic of the four
disjunctions between Church and people (1. seekers and
dwellers, 2. the magisterium, 3. moral teaching and 4.
plural spiritualities), see Charles Taylor, Jose Casanova
and George F. McLean, eds. Church
and People: Disjunctions in a Secular Age (Washington,
D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy,
2012),
IV. THEMES SUGGESTED BY PARTICIPANTS
Alex Palmer (Portugal)
- authenticity
- bottom-up approach
- disjunction/conjunction between faith and secularization
Robert Schreiter (US)
- signs of the times: as challenges and opportunities
- kenosis: mission as going out; a kenotic Church
- religion in the public forum
- role of religion in social mediation
- authenticity/integrity
- change from top-down to bottom-up
Przemysław Strzyzynski
(Poland)
- language issues
- Imaginaries as kenosis for language
- authenticity regarding language, e.g. post modern concern
- emotion versus the reasoned wall of natural law
Tony Carroll (UK)
- open forum as needing dialogue
- cultural dialogue as key to openness
- welcoming to all
Leon Dyczewski (Poland)
- development of Christianity
- role of the Christian Church in the social life of the
communities of family, civil society, etc.
Marthe Kerkwijk (UK/Netherlands)
- trust as in need of being restored through open dialogue
and practice
Philip Rossi (US)
- plurality as a value in itself
- polarization: avoiding a gap that divides
- power: the difference between the powerful and the
powerless
- thick weight of history: its influence on structures
Yann Raison du Cleuzion (France)
- lack of institutional structures for internal dialogue
Zsuzsanna Bogre
(Hungary)
- memory
- recovery
- concern for the future
Joanna Szegda (Poland)
-relation to popular culture, especially for youth, versus
the old way of governing people
Sophie Cloutier (Canada)
- using more examples
- modeling authenticity
- a listening Church
Chantal Beauvais
(Canada)
- avoid "one size fits all"
--multiple modalities according to different needs
- participation as co-creation, rather than doing something
envisaged by or for all
- mission and envisaging the future as permanent states:
travelling light, choosing priorities and accepting risks
Holger Zaborowski (Germany)
- polarization as tension in the Church over the nucleus of
the Christian meaning
- signs of the times
- challenge of the past
- education of priests in medieval terms as a class distinct
from lay people
- the need to treat such concrete issues as social justice
and ecology rather than speaking in too general terms
- kenosis and fulfillment
- fidelity: the experience of a lack of God, versus that of
fullness and happiness
Peter Jonkers (Netherlands)
- authenticity in the presentation of doctrine as a
condition for being a leader, rather than the older
disjunction of people and theologians
Pavel Hosek (Czech)
- not only authenticity, but the message is also important
- not mission as trying to sell something or public relation
(which gives people the feeling of being instrumentalized by
a hidden agenda), but dialogue that truly shares the doubts
of others
- not only good communication, but the Good News
Tomas Halik (Czech)
- how to serve people outside of the Church: pastoral care
and mission for all
- not so much to convert as to help people to develop the
spiritual ground of their life, beyond just social work
- theological sources should lead to care for people outside
of Church context
- how to avoid religious fundamentalism and extremism: what
are its roots
Wilhelm Danca (Romania)
- develop relations to mass media
- levels of faith as both event and value
- a pragmatic ontology
Joao Vila-Cha (Italy/Portugal)
- if not tied to reality, discourse can lead to
overstressing the person
- incompleteness in Christian discourse: in analyzing the
experience of faith the goal must be not to close issues,
but to continue reflection
George F. McLean (US)
- participation as both pointing to transcendence and
manifesting it creatively in all aspects of physical nature
and human life
