The great unknown

“For many Gos is great Unknown. (…) A purely positivistic culture, which tried to drive the question concerning God into the subjective realm as being unscientific, would be the capitulation of reason, the renunciation of its highest possibilities, and hence a disaster for humanity”. Thus ends the address of Benedict XVI to the cultural world of France on September 12 2008, during his apostolic visit. On that occasion the Holy Father spoke “of the origins of western theology and the roots of European culture”, and underlined the role of Monasticism recalling that the primary motivation of the monks was not to “create a culture” but “quaerere Deum“, using “his Word” as the way. The Pontiff’s reflections are the basis of the conference themed “The quest for God and the reasons of faith. Monasticism and the Gospel for Europe”, which opened a few days ago at the Saint Miniato al Monte Abbey (Florence – Italy), promoted by the Science & Life association in Florence. In view of the event SIR Europe interviewed Fr. Andrea Bellandi, fundamental theology professor at the Theological Faculty of Central Italy, on the value of monasticism in history and in contemporary society. What is the meaning of monasticism today? “It has an increasingly paradigmatic value. In a cultural environment where immanentism prevails, people and experiences ‘seeking the definitive element beyond the provisional sphere’ can help society not to close off to transcendence”. What are the underlying motivations of Christian monasticism? “The fundamental statement is that faith is sufficient to life. God is the ultimate object of the desire of the human heart, thus the encounter with Him in a relationship of familiarity, with a totalizing affective experience, is fulfilling. This is the absolute value sought by the monks. At the beginnings of the monastic experience this quest became manifest in the hermitic expressions, then, with Saint Benedict, it took on a more communitarian dimension where the heart encompasses the will to live a totalising relationship with the mystery of God through the mediation of Christ”.Since the beginning monasticism was characterized by a European dimension. How are these roots perceived today? “In history, monasticism represented the place of the encounter between the Roman Empire and the barbarian populations living in the North of Europe. Its work of Christianization among those populations led to the erection of a European civilization. Only a myopic vision, which fears to acknowledge these Christian roots could minimize it. Today the experience of Monasticism can help Europe prevent the economic dimension from prevailing, and enlarge the horizon of reason by promoting the idea that social coexistence is possible only when the transcendent element is acknowledged”.The ora et labora of Saint Benedict…“Yes: there is a distinction but not a separation between these spheres. It is what the Pope says about ethics and the economy in ‘Caritas in veritate’. Men seeking economic wellbeing cannot prescind from an ethical code”.Social coexistence, quest of the transcendent, Christian roots, these concept appear to be dismissed by a surging secularism. Is it true? “It will probably be necessary to imagine also new forms for a radical experience such as the monastic one. I think of those charismas which the Church identifies within herself, expressed in movements and associations that under certain aspects recuperate the monastic ideal, like through consecrated virginity, and at a wider level with the laity living their Christian vocation in the world. Monasticism will continue playing its role – albeit ‘a niche role’- within society. But the values and the indications it provides can be experienced also at a more general level in strongly motivated ecclesial experiences”.Monasticism has been, and still is, a bridge connecting the East and the West, linking the Catholic and the Orthodox worlds. What role does it play, in an ecumenical key, for the dialogue among Christian Churches? “The differences of confession and traditions cannot eliminate the deeper grounds of unity, which is baptism. Monasticism lives the radicality of baptismal vocation. Aiming at this common basis is in itself real ecumenism. Thus we also witness experiences where the monks from different Christian confessions share the same spirituality”. Is the contribution given to culture by monasticism in the past still valid today? What can be said about conscience formation? “In Paris the Holy Father said that monks created a culture targeted at the quest for God. Christianity can be understood as a fulfilled anthropology. By the encounter with Christ ‘man becomes more of a man’ to use the expression of John Paul II. This man will be zealous about all the attempts made in the realm of science, art, and literature, to enhance and bring to completion the germs of truth, the sparks of humanity which they encompass”.