The ideas I propose below are the result of a research effort that we making with colleagues in recent years. It is not only to identify the negative elements that have tarnished the image of the Catholic Church in El Salvador during the armed conflict experienced between 1977 and 1992, but to inquire into the sources which are the reasons behind the crisis that led to killing of people connected directly to the process of evangelization and how it has come to believe that many of them can be considered as witnesses of faith and, strictly speaking, martyrs.
When in 2000, the Jubilee, Pope John Paul II specifically requested that the name of Archbishop Romero was included in the list of so-called New Martyrs of the twentieth century and this gives reason the book by Andrea Riccardi, The century of martyrs (Plaza & Janes, 2001) - the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints found it necessary to distinguish between faith witnesses and martyrs . A debate between the theological canonical and even open-debate in order not to mix religion with politics. Do not go into the merits of the debate.
However, a few days ago a group of priests from the Archdiocese of San Salvador (El Salvador) invite me to share with them a reflection on a theology of martyrdom. This enabled me to give a preview of what I think will, if God allows me, my next release. What I did was to explain in general terms the three levels of analysis that seeks to confront and its components: the martyrdom of Jesus as an original and originator of the Church, the theological reflection which follows from the first correlation and the credibility of the Church from its behavior in front of the martyrdom of Jesus and witnesses of the faith today.
The key that we are using is the correlation between martyrdom and credibility of the Church. The credibility in the theological sense connected to the Church of Jesus Christ the supreme witness and that, in turn, makes credible her story.
Here, then, the main ideas that our reflection priesthood.
1. of a theology of martyrdom A THEOLOGY martyrdom
1.1. Until the first quarter of the twentieth century was a theology of martyrdom. In fact, one can cite texts written in that line, ranging from 1910 to 1960, which addresses the issue of martyrdom, bearing in mind the experience of martyrdom lived by members of the Church between the I and the IV century, predominantly.
1.2. There is a moment of transition from the theology of martyrdom to martyrdom theology between 1960 and 1975, approximately. The debate was led by theologians Hans Urs von Balthasar and Karl Rahner. They were not interested, at least not explicitly-in a theology of martyrdom, but sought to justify his own theology to address the phenomenon of modernity and secularization process, typically western aspects. Balthasar settled in the article of faith, defending his "objectivity", ie that given above the man himself. Rahner, as we know, tends to proceed methodically through the other way, ie not part of the data of faith, viewed objectively, it reads from the subject. Therefore, if all martyrdom Balthasar is read from the cross of Christ, Rahner, without denying the fact of faith, the cross of Christ read from the recent deaths.
1.3. The debate on the theological and doctrinal theology of martyrdom will find them in the n. 19 of the journal Concilium 1983. Subsequently the subject of the theology of martyrdom will become much more common.
1.4. course, the theology of martyrdom has a strong historical and sociological substrate, that theology can speak only to the extent it can be shown that communities have verified cases killed by the mere fact to reflect of faith from sociological fact and have a process of social organization in order to free themselves from economic oppression, political and military.
1.5. Schedule to this data, you should also check whether these processes and social pastoral theologians were accompanied by trade, and if they too have suffered the effects of repression to give the supreme testimony.
2. martyrdom THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RESPONSIBLE
2.1. Both theology with the theology of martyrdom martyrs are based on the supreme testimony of Jesus (The Faithful Witness.)
2.2. Now if the Church in Lucan version of the Acts of the Apostles, begins his historical justification after the death of Stephen. Then, one can conclude that both the witness of Jesus as the possibility of existence of the Church, are rooted in the new vision you have regarding the official view of the religious institution, the official religion.
2.3. Therefore, the death of Jesus has to do with the way he played and lived the Jewish religion of his time. The Church is understood from this new vision of faith embodied by Jesus.
3. CHURCH RESPONSIBLE AND CREDIBILITY OF THE CHURCH
3.1. Principle of credibility of the Christian faith is the paschal mystery.
3.2. Fidelity to this principle Including death-martyrdom-possible in the history of the principle of credibility.
3.3. Ecclesiality historically assumed responsibility: first, the critical view of life as the Church today, and secondly, actually testified that vision ever renewed or ongoing conversion of the Church.
4. CONCLUSION
4.1. What is preventing the ecclesiastical responsible?
4.1.1. The dialectic between the evangelical principle and ideological principle.
4.1.2. The life the theme of Christian witness and martyrdom in a particular way-in line with the past, not the present one, falling into the error of considering the theological theme of martyrdom only and not as substrate the very exercise of theology, which is mutilated the genetic principle of the subject of theology, the Christian community.
4.2. What is enabling the ecclesiastical responsible?
4.2.1. The research of the history of El Salvador of those elements that create confusion where there should be, that is, determine where the ideological charge of communism or Marxism to Christian movement generated from the radical witness Christians.
4.2.2. reflection not only pastoral, but theological and historical origin of the hatred of charity and advocacy human.
4.2.3. An evangelization that emphasizes, with a due date and in a systematic way, those principles and actions that led to the supreme witness to our fellow Christians of the twentieth century.
4.2.4. The exercise of ecclesial communion and mission read and experienced from martyrdom. This would highlight the intentions of the murderer and his accomplices, the type they were.
4.2.5. words, it is to enter into the dynamics of a sacramental official, who does not evade the issue of martyrdom, but it assumes in its current ecclesial practice.
0 comments:
Post a Comment