An open road

Pope Ratzinger, a theologian formed by French culture, wanted to dedicate a special moment of his trip to France to culture, with a meeting with numerous representatives (650 people) of the world of French culture (writers, painters, musicians, singers, theologians, philosophers, historians, heads of the principle media groups, etc.) This took place in the gothic refectory of an ancient convent that was recently restored and transformed by the Diocese of Paris into a Cultural Center. To this particular audience, in such a significant place, the Holy Father chose to present his vision on the issue of culture in Europe and its reflections in a society that has lost so many of its points of reference. With a masterful lesson, accepting his task as Bishop of Rome, the Pope avoided the traps of a French debate on secularity or the roots of European civilization, setting forth instead, a high level reflection on the sense of culture in Europe today. To underscore the ties between the present situation and the times of the beginnings of Christianity and those of the fall of the Roman Empire, he took two examples: the monasticism of Saint Benedict and Saint Paul in Athens when he says, "In passing, in fact, and observing the monuments of your cult, I also found an arc with the inscription: To the unknown God. The One you worship without knowing, I am proclaiming." As in the times of Benedict, when nothing seemed to endure, ours is a time of confusion; as in the Athens of Paul, in our Europe, God has gone back to being "the great unknown." It is therefore important to search for God again, "quaerere Deum". This recalls the importance of monasticism which saved ancient culture and which, together with books, libraries and schools, with knowledge and the formation of reason, through music and beautiful liturgy , reading and the word (to read and to teach) and through work, all summed up in the famous "Ora et labora", succeeded in rebuilding a European culture on the ruins of the ancient world. A culture, simultaneously of the word and of work, belonging "dans la tradition pratiquée depuis longtemps par le judaïsme". The Pope stressed the word "Scritures – Writings" and not, as he specified, "Scripture – Writing", to point out that the use of the plural indicates that the Word of God is expressed through the human word, that is, "Dieu nous parle seulement dans l’humanité des hommes, et à travers leurs paroles et leur histoire". This means that Scripture – Writing necessitates interpretation, comprehension, and without such interpretation the risk of falling into fundamentalism and fanaticism is great. Such freedom of interpretation does not mean subjectivism because a higher connection exists: that of intelligence and love. European culture moves in this tension between freedom and belonging, which "a profondément modelé la culture occidentale", to the present in a culture which more than ever exists between the two poles, the two challenges of "arbitrary subjectivism" and "fundamentalistic fanaticism". The announcement of the Word is necessary, the Christian faith must be communicated because God is not an unknown: -"Il s’est montré, Lui personnellement. Et à présent, le chemin qui mène à Lui est ouvert ». The novelty of the Christian proclamation is therefore a fact, a rational fact. For this reason the Pope refutes positivism because it represents a defeat, a failure, a capitulation of reason, therefore of humanism. With this lesson, Benedict XVI defined the foundations of European culture with great acuteness: "La recherche de Dieu et la disponibilité à L’écouter". A definition that can be shared with the other religions present on our continent, especially Judaism. A definition that sounds like the great challenge of our confused times.