Common responsibility” “” “

A deeper “rooting” of the university ministry in the local Churches and a more decided commitment to the missionary aspect, on the basis of the “common responsibility of cultural animation” that is decisive in the relation between faith and history, in Eastern as in western Europe: these are the two main lines of the “Lineamenta of university pastoral care”, explains Msgr. Lorenzo Leuzzi , coordinator of the European Committee of university chaplains and head of the Office of University Apostolate of the diocese of Rome, in an interview with SIR. The “Lineamenta” were at the centre of the meeting of the Coordination Group of the European Committee held in Bratislava (Slovakia) from 1st to 3 April. Universities in Europe are called today to avoid “two opposing risks”: either suffer the dominating cultural influences, or become marginal to them”, says the document, which now awaits a kind of “rewrite” on the basis of the specific suggestions of those responsible for this sector in our continent. The final draft should be ready in time for the next European meeting of national delegates of university ministry (Budapest, 13-15 September). “University pastoral care – continues the document, promoted by the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) – contributes to the development of university life” and “to the development of a new integral form of humanism”, on the basis of the “personalist and authentically humanistic foundation of culture” typical of the Christian conception of man, at a time like the present in which this dimension seems “marginal”, while the reduction of knowledge “to what is measurable” prevails: There are approximately a thousand university chaplains in our continent, at the service of a “student population” that fluctuates between 8 and 10 million. The proposals discussed at Bratislava included the creation of a European “network” of university teachers and a specific “project of formation” for the young at our universities, following WYD in Cologne. What results has the new document already achieved? “First, it has had a positive welcome, especially as regards the role that the university ministry is called to play in the life of the local Churches and the missionary perspective: all this has favoured a maturation in terms of the need for a new relation between the dioceses and the university world, thanks to the new role assigned to university ministry no longer as an ‘occasional’ ministry, but as a central plank in the ordinary life of the Church on the territory. Another aspect of the ‘Lineamenta’ that was perceived as essential is that of the cultural dimension of university apostolate. There is a great deal of consensus about this, even though greater competences to focus it are needed. What is badly needed is a kind of reform of the way in which chaplaincies can become places of cultural presence and animation, where the relation between faith and culture is forged”. So in Eastern as in Western Europe “convergence” is prevailing… “I would say so, in particular with regard to the common commitment to work for pastoral projects in such a way as to identify common lines of action. So there is convergence about the identity of the university ministry, not as something episodic or sporadic, but as a central component in pastoral action as a whole. Of course, there remain differences between Western Europe, where some countries already have a long-consolidated tradition, and Eastern Europe, where the university apostolate is in many cases still in its initial stages. In both contexts, however, the ‘Lineamenta’ can be a stimulus either to ‘reforming’ already existing pastoral experiences or for formulating it ‘ex novo’ while at the same time avoiding making the same mistakes that were made in the West in the past”. What about the opposition between Catholic and non-Catholic universities? “I think that another merit of the new document is that of having finally overcome this opposition, to make way for a system of cooperation and common involvement beyond the differences between the universities, in full respect for their respective identities. We should interpret in this perspective the idea of setting up a ‘European network’ of university teachers, conceived – at least in its initial phase – as a small group within the European Coordination of chaplains. After WYD in Cologne, moreover, the objective is that of giving rise to a project for forming European university students, as the first concrete result in the implementation of the ‘Lineamenta’”.