EDITORIAL" "
Will Latin America help the Old Continent revitalize its identity?
Monsignor Aldo Giordano, General Secretary of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) from 1995 to 2008, Observer for the Holy See at the Council of Europe from 2008 to 2013, was appointed apostolic nuncio in Venezuela by Pope Francis on October 26 2013. Elevated to Archbishop with titular seat in Tamada, he was consecrated bishop in Cuneo (Italy) past December 14 by Monsignor Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State. His sensitivity and his passion for Church communication in Europe have encouraged the establishment and the growth of SIR Europe. Prior to taking office to serve the universal Church he wrote this message for SIR Europe. In May 2007 I had the opportunity of taking part in the opening days of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin-American Bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, to the presence and with the words of Benedict XVI. It is mostly thanks to the contribution of Christianity that Europe and Latin America are close ‘relatives’, and that relationship ought to be further developed today. The Churches in the two continents share common challenges: they both are facing a globalization process, immense poverty and social injustice, and both have undertaken deep reflections on the relations of the Church with the political realm, on a preferential option for the poor, on the presence of the means of communication. Most of all, their reflections focus on how to announce God to their peoples. Such questions were raised by Pope Benedict in the opening speech of the Aparecida Conference, published in the final statement.The most emblematic historical event is the fact that today the Catholic Church has a bishop of Rome that comes from Latin America, a continent with the majority of the world’s Catholics. This fact invites Europe to reconsider its reality from a difference angle, from a different perspective. Contemporary Europe can be understood only in the framework of the global situation and in the encounter with world religions. A Pope from Argentina will naturally address Europe with the richness and the light of the ecclesial, cultural, social, and political experience pertaining to his Country and continent. It could be imagined that the Pope wrote his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” or his Message for Peace 2014, or that in the future he may write an encyclical on social themes in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, watching the world from that perspective.We are faced with the surprise of a reading of the political, economic and social situations that found a new home: from Europe to another continent. This event naturally raises a complex question, namely, whether Europe is loosing its global central role at economic and political level, and on the cultural and spiritual plane.Europe was the first continent where Christianity thrived: from Europe the Gospel was spread to other continents, including Latin America. The fact that the Bergoglio family has Italian origins carries a symbolical bearing. Throughout history the Church has been intrinsically bound to Europe and this is something that shall never go lost, as it is the design of the Divine Providence. But today there is a different standpoint, while other cultures, other continents are becoming protagonists of the Church.Perhaps for Europe the time of “humilitas” has come, a time to recover her great tradition, and recognize her serious mistakes, her wilderness; a time to undertake self-reflection on the need for the contribution of other world religions. If Europe will have the courage of this “humilitas”, all world populations will continue looking up at the Old Continent, chosen by the Divine Providence as the home of Christianity for over two thousand years, which has developed into an area of culture, science and arts, thereby opening up new pathways for exchange and solidarity at global level. The election of a bishop of Rome from Latin America thus strongly reaffirms the Church’s “Catholicism”, i.e., its universality.The Church embodies unique people from world ethnic groups, cultures, nations, and regions. The warmth, affection, attention and anticipation that marked Europe’s welcome of Pope Francis are tantamount to a most beautiful symbol.Francis has immediately entered the hearts of European populations, which joyfully acknowledged his paternity. There is today a strong sense of continuity and novelty, as often happens for the things of God.
