Florence, the “States General” of the Italian Church – The Press

Angelo Bagnasco

Drafting
Rome

As it did for the first time in 1976 the Italian Church gathers in the middle of each decade its’ general states. ” The National Congress of Florence, which opens tomorrow (9 years earlier which was held in Verona), and which will participate Tuesday Pope Francis, will therefore “a laboratory of reflection, of experience, of narrative between communities, commissioning in the town of prospects, hopes, commitments, “said the cardinal Angelo Bagnasco , President of the CEI. This time, in contrast with previous years, there are no relations, but only two introductions to the discussion among the participants, who are divided into groups, will delve into the different themes. Then to give tangibility to the speeches and reflections on the afternoon of 12 November will be dedicated to the meeting with “real humanism” that is, with those works in the social, cultural, spiritual, charitable represent experiences of “good life”, gestures that translate into faces, initiatives and routes the slogan of the conference.

Delegates of the 220 Italian dioceses, however, will not be closed at the site of the works, but will go into the suburbs of the human city of Florence, where many people live and work, to deal with difficult situations such as labor and social justice, illness and disability or to pursue other positive outlook in terms of research and technological innovation, culture and education, art and beauty. Situations where Christian humanism confronts the reality of the experience of the people. In fact, to make the appointment as a thread of Florence, which is half of the decade dedicated to education, is the affirmation “In Jesus Christ the new humanism”, a theme which at first glance may appear abstract, generic. In fact, said Cardinal Bagnasco, “precisely the anthropological challenge resounded from the five continents in the Extraordinary Synod: in any society and culture tsunami Western wants to break down the doors of peoples and nations.”

Monsignor Nunzio Galantino , Secretary General of the CEI, meanwhile pronounce a wish: “It would be nice that the Italian Church would address an experience that not too long ago: a Synod national. ” “We have to look at the experience of the Synod just ended, in which – he said – it was evident vitality, beauty, but also the effort that involves the path of collegiality ‘.” “It may seem difficult – admits the bishop – that a conference with 2,500 participants will pay immediately, in four days, to create an experience of listening to each other and collegiality ‘, but the way it was organized can help.”

Ingredients fundamental event is the involvement and participation. Not surprisingly, the reference on which the dioceses, parishes, groups and movements have worked was not a document-mixed, but a track or an open text, with suggestions and `input’ by decline in local contexts, the territory . Nor is it a coincidence that for the first time the social network will be featured. In the name of inclusion, of listening and Coralita ‘.

“The novelty of the conference – says the president of the organizing committee, the archbishop of Turin, Nosiglia – is the subject matter of” New humanism in Jesus Christ, “which addresses the historical and cultural reality more relevant today: the crisis of humanity, often made insignificant by the power of technology and opposing views on the man who dominate in the culture and in the media. On the problem of man we have focused the attention of humanism, secular and Christian, atheist and religious, bourgeois and Marxist. Never the natural and cultural identity of man and his fate has become problematic in our times. ”

According Nosiglia, the Conference is not looking to the past or flattens on this, but raises the proclamation of Jesus Christ as an engine of renewal and hope for the future. A Church outgoing promotes the integral human dignity and worth of every human being open to others, respectful of their living environment and striving to build a more just, free and peaceful.

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