Digital Religion
Among the cardinals present in Rome these days there is a climate of joy, born from the fact of meeting, being able to exchange what they are experiencing and make explicit the communion, something that is always excellent according to the words of some of them. The cardinals perceive in the reflections, which have gained in depth as the sessions have progressed, an opportunity to discern the path to better serve, to build a world that is an image of the Kingdom of God.
The reflection of the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, is interesting, in which he analyzes social and political life. In his words before the cardinals gathered in the Aula Paul VI, he made an analysis of the way of relating in which there is present “the constant recourse to discrediting, sometimes unrestrained, of those who think differently, together with the permanent dissemination of falsehoods for which no one seems to be responsible”.
Gradually, false information gains ground, even more so if repeated constantly and disseminated in diverse ways. The culture is established that everything is the same to us and disinformation advances to “the ridicule of the adversary and the systematic construction of fears and resentments”. We have reached a point where peace and dialogue are seen as “utopian or irrational positions”.
Proclaiming human dignity
Before the other, whether a country or a person, we react depending on convenience, regardless of their actions. The teaching of the Church makes its position clear: to proclaim human dignity in any circumstance. That is the path to generate trust and respect. It is about nurturing the culture of fraternity and the common good against the culture of power, a disjunction that is not easy to assume, but which is key to being faithful to the Gospel.
The Pope was explicit in this regard at the Mass with which the Consistory began. Ecclesial services are good and gratifying if they stem from unity with Christ and have the common good as their criterion. A line of thought that is irrenounced for whoever asks daily in prayer that the Kingdom of God come to us.
It is of particular importance the way in which the current pontiff understands his Petrine ministry, which he sees in himself “as one who asks, not as one who commands”. Even more, and this assumes an attitude that overthrows the way of positioning oneself in the Church: “the authority of the primacy, in fact, belongs to one who listens and only for that reason guides, to one who learns and only for that reason teaches, always following the only Teacher”. Whoever you are, including the Pope, if you are willing to listen, to position yourself on an inferior, or at least similar level, you will never be able to guide. At the same time, whoever never wanted to learn will in no way be able to teach.