FATHER LOMBARDI ON RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL DIALOGUE
Zenit News Agency
June 2 2008
Italy
"The Media Institutions of the Holy See Play an Important Role"
TORONTO, JUNE 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Jesuit Father
Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, Vatican Radio
and Vatican Television Center, gave Friday at the Toronto Catholic
Business Leaders’ Breakfast.
* * *
Your Grace, Archbishop Collins, Reverend Fathers, Dear Friends,
I am delighted to be here in Toronto and have this opportunity to
meet you for this Mass and breakfast for Catholic Business Leaders of
the Archdiocese of Toronto. I applaud the efforts of your archbishop
and his collaborators, Fathers [Joseph] Schner and [Thomas] Rosica,
for organizing these important gatherings. It is an honor to be one
of your guest speakers!
Six years ago I had the privilege and pleasure of being in this very
city for World Youth Day 2002. I cherish the memories of those blessed
days, lived with Pope John Paul II, tens of thousands of young people,
and so many of you who donated your time, talent and treasure to that
wonderful event.
As you know I wear several hats in the Church and in the Society
of Jesus! In my role as director of the Holy See Press Office, I
work closely with the Holy Father and the Curia. I also oversee two
important organs of communications of the Holy See: Vatican Television
and Vatican Radio.
Today I would like to share with you some personal reflections on
my work in the area of communications at the Vatican. In reflecting
aloud with you today, I hope to encourage you in your own important
work at the service of the Church and the truth.
Ecumenical relationships with other Christians
One of the great undertakings recent Popes have pursued with regards
to unity and dialogue in today’s world is that of ecumenism and
relationships with other religions and cultures.
I wish to comment on these undertakings, put into effect by the current
pontiff. Since his first speech in the Sistine Chapel on the morning
following his election, Benedict XVI clearly stated that ecumenism —
the search for unity with other Christian denominations — is one of
the greatest priorities of his pontificate, one that he will carry
on in the footsteps of his predecessor.
The apostolic voyage to Istanbul, which included the visit with the
patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, has thus far been the most
evident sign of this ecumenical pursuit. As head of communications I
wish to remind you that in these […] occasions we have experienced
exceptional collaboration with the communications department of the
Orthodox patriarchy, whose various members came from America.
For example, all the celebrations including the encounter between
the Pope and the patriarch were internationally broadcast from the
Centro Televisivo Vaticano with live commentary in six different
languages. The live commentary was a result of the joint effort between
the editors of Radio Vaticana, several priests and a team of Orthodox
experts who came to Rome from various parts of the world for the
very purpose of this occasion. The Orthodox communities in America
and other parts of the world, including Australia, have been able
to follow the events via various Catholic television networks such
as EWTN in America, and Salt and Light Television in Canada, among
others. I ask that you forgive me for this specific mention, but it
seems to me a perfect example of how we can put social communications
to the service of ecumenism.
For years, CTV and Radio Vaticana have established intense and
continuous collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity. Numerous are the broadcasts of the visits to Rome
by patriarchs and important delegations of Greece, Rumania, Bulgaria,
etc, and have been offered free of charge to their respective national
networks.
Substantial ecumenism is achieved by the Pope and his collaborators,
while we, on the other hand, contribute to making it seen, felt and
heard. Among other examples of the ecumenical progress of our times,
I would like to recall the visits to Rome by the archbishop of all
of Greece, Christodoulos — now deceased — and of the archbishop
of Cyprus. These visits have been very significant, because it was
a first for these Orthodox Churches. Other visits, such as the most
recent one on behalf of Catholicos of Armenia, Karekin II, confirm the
good relationships already established by the preceding pontificate.
An ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Church that remains
problematic to this day is the one with the patriarch of Russia. In
spite of the difficulties, there are, however, many blossoming
relationships from which we can cultivate the hope that one day soon
we will arrive to an encounter of the highest level, even if for the
time being any forecast of this kind is clearly premature. In this
regard, social communications can also carry out its service.
A small sign of progress on the Russian front, in which I personally
have been involved, is the recent airing of an hour length documentary
on Pope Benedict XVI on a national Television channel. This documentary
was a co-production between orthodox and Catholics, and contained
a Russian message pronounced by the Pope himself for the Russian
people. It was recorded at an earlier time in our studios for this very
purpose. Naturally, a production of this kind was an "absolute first,"
and it could not have happened without the consent of the Orthodox
patriarch of Moscow. Therefore it is considered a very positive sign.
The relationships with the Christian denominations originating from
the Reform are meaningful events and encounters, even if the distance
from a doctrinal and ecclesial point of view is greater than that
with the non-Catholic Oriental Churches. Having remained in close
contact with the developments and problems of modern Western culture,
these denominations have experienced more than anyone the challenges
and influences of relativism and individualism, which Pope Benedict
characterized as serious risks that bring about negative consequences
for ecumenism as well.
It’s sufficient to think of the various attitudes with regards to
moral problems. Benedict XVI is not afraid to assert that ecumenical
engagement must be verified on the basis of the essential contents
of the Christian faith, which — like "ancient symbols" or "formulas
of faith" — constitute the foundations of Christian unity. In this
sense, a very important and very "Ratzingerian" speech during the
apostolic trip to America, perhaps barely noticed, was exactly that
in the ecumenical encounter.
The Pope said: "Even within the ecumenical movement, Christians may
be reluctant to assert the role of doctrine for fear that it would
only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a clear,
convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ Jesus
has to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic teaching: a
teaching which indeed underlies the inspired word of God and sustains
the sacramental life of Christians today."
Otherwise, everyone will think him or herself more and more capable
of following their own conscience and choose for themselves the
community that best satisfies their personal preferences. But this
is the opposite path way to unity: It is the path of fragmentation
and unending dispersion.
The relationships with other religions
Regarding the relationships with other religions, many have questioned
if, after the great progress of the pontificate of John Paul II
(ie. the encounter in Assisi of the world’s religious leaders), the
new pontificate is taking a different direction, one that is perhaps
less open to dialogue. I think not, but surely Benedict XVI wishes
for a sincere dialogue, one that does not hide the true problems.
Concerning the relationship with Judaism, Benedict XVI has from the
beginning taken meaningful action, not only in receiving illustrious
visitors, but above all, in his visit to the Synagogue of Cologne,
to the extermination camp of Auschwitz, to the memorial of the Jewish
victims of Nazism in Vienna, and most recently, to one of the great
synagogues of New York.
In light of these important public actions, the disputes on the
formulation of a specific prayer in a particular form of celebration of
the Holy Friday liturgy, now hardly used by anyone, appear marginal,
even if they unveil an ongoing sensitivity among many of our Hebrew
brothers and sisters, which requires that we always remain aware,
attentive and respectful.
I like to recall that in his 24-year pontificate, John Paul II visited
one synagogue, the synagogue of Rome, while Benedict XVI in three
years has already visited two: Therefore, he is indeed making progress
on the road paved by his predecessor. This is also true for mosques:
John Paul II visited one after 20 years of pontificate; Benedict has
already visited one after a year and a half.
It goes without saying that the relationship with Islam underwent a
more difficult route via the Regensburg address and the discussions
that followed. Without revisiting the debate over the famous quote
of the Byzantine emperor, it is obvious that the Pope’s intention
was to clearly express his idea that every authentic religious view
must refute violence and use reason when thinking of God and our
relationship with him; only in this way can reason preserve itself
respectful both to God and to the dignity of the human person. This
speech generated various Muslim responses to the Pope’s position as
well as an intense reflection within the Muslim world.
The monarch of Saudi Arabia came to Rome to visit the Pope and
to express his desire for unity in the path to peace between the
great world religions; including the Christians and the Jews. This
reflection is to be considered a positive and promising one considering
the remaining difficulties of this dialogue, a dialogue that must
confront the true problems, such as those concerning the respect of
rights and the person both in Christianity and in Islam.
Over 100 wise Muslims of various views have established common
positions, with which to confront Christians and Jews in light of
the common responsibility to bring peace to humanity. Surely, this
is a promising novelty.
>From my perspective, which is that of the media, I have seen how
on the occasion of the monarch’s visit to Rome, an official Saudi
Arabian Television station interviewed me for a long time in order to
better educate the public of Arabia on the Vatican. That same official
television station has recently returned to interview me again in order
to further explore the themes of dialogue and collaboration of all
religions in formulating the path to peace. These are promising signs.
At the same time, the Pope knows how to be coherent and firm on his
positions. For example, on the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s, he himself
administered the sacrament of baptism to a famous Egyptian journalist,
Magdi Allam, of Muslim origin. That was truly a brave act, one that
affirmed the right to religious freedom and conversion to Christianity.
Even if I had to explain that this baptism does not signify that
the Pope shares all of Magdi Allam’s ideas, even those regarding
the relationship with Islam — some of which are controversial — it
cannot be denied that this was an important public act in supporting
the right to religious freedom. This makes it clear that the Pope
desires dialogue with Islam to move forward, but not to the extent
of sacrificing essential principles in the process.
Dialogue with the people of the world
Finally, I would like to recall another important aspect of the
dialogue, one which the Church — and the whole world — is closely
following: the one with China. The Holy Father has shown through his
"Letter to Chinese Catholics" how much his thought and prayers were
directed to China in the previous year.
In the document, he explicitly manifested the desire of a normalization
of the relationships with Chinese authorities in order to guarantee
the Church in China a serene life of freedom and extend to her the
friendship of the universal Catholic Church and its dedication to
peace and the integral good of the human family. Just last Saturday,
on May 24, the world celebrated the day of prayer for the Church in
China established by the Pope in his letter.
It is not my job, nor is it my duty to speak here of the goings-on
between the authorities of the Holy See and the representatives of the
Chinese government. But I can speak of a recent episode that involved
social communications and has become a positive and encouraging sign
of hope. It concerns a grand concert that recently occurred in the
Paul VI Hall in the Vatican on behalf of the Philharmonic Orchestra
of Beijing and the Opera of Shanghai.
Present were the Pope, many authorities of the Roman Curia and various
Chinese personalities, in particular Mrs. Deng Rong, daughter of the
famous leader Deng Xiao Ping, and representatives of the government
of Beijing such as the ambassador of China in Italy.
It cannot be ignored that this event, beyond its cultural significance,
represented an important sign of good relationship and friendship. The
Chinese Orchestra chose to perform an important piece, both Western
and religious; the Requiem of Mozart and also a short, beautiful and
popular Chinese song: Jasmin Flowers.
Up until a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that a
Chinese orchestra would perform a Western and religious piece in an
international venue. The Pope attended the concert and gave a short
but meaningful speech on art as a vessel of dialogue between peoples
and cultures, recalling with affection all Chinese Catholics.
The entire concert was broadcast live from the Centro Televisivo
Vaticano, Vatican Radio and repeated on Phoenix TV, the most
watched independent Chinese television station both locally and
abroad. Following government directions — the station also reserved
a three-hour time slot for Vatican specials.
We at the Vatican have enjoyed exceptional collaboration with the
Chinese organization; everyone appeared enthusiastic about this
initiative and very much aware of its historical significance. Since
I was able to send a Chinese translation of the Holy Father’s speech
ahead of time, the Pope was able, for the first time, to speak directly
to a huge number of Chinese.
Unfortunately, the great tragedy of the earthquake in Sichuan occurred
in the following days. The Pope publicly manifested his sympathy and
sorrow, and the Chinese ambassador to Rome shared with me that the
Pope’s words had a wide impact throughout the nation. The Pope is
no longer a stranger to the Chinese people, but a great personality
surrounded by attention and respect.
Furthermore, gradual steps in the normalization of the relationship
between the Holy See and Vietnam are currently taking place and being
followed by China with great interest. Anticipation surrounding the
events of the Olympic Games encourages the opening of China to the
rest of the world. Being aware of the fact that such openings have
often been followed by regress and disappointment, it cannot be denied
that this moment in time marks a concrete sign of hope.
Conclusion
In the vast and diverse range of relationships of the Holy See
and the universal Church with other Christian denominations, other
religious faiths, nations and cultures, social dialogue carries an
important role. It is with deep emotion that today I can speak of
having played a role in the first two appearances of Pope Benedict
XVI on both Russian and Chinese television networks.
In all these things, the media institutions of the Holy See play
an important role, but collaboration within the universal Church
is essential in the spread of information and ideas. No one in the
Church community exists and operates alone.
Your friendship and your encouragement are essential to the
effectiveness of our service.
Thank you and may God bless you all!
Federico Lombardi, S.J.