Only He knows the future for Latin American Christians. And the confidence in his creative action is the best ingredient that the bishops can bring to the Conference in Aparecida do Norte Maria Clara L. Bingemer

Maria Clara L. Bingemer

 

The Church that receives the Pope Rio – Pope Benedict XVI arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, on the 9th of May. He came to attend the Fifth Conference of the Latin American Bishops but before that he has several meetings. With the bishops of São Paulo, with Brazilian youth at the Pacaembu stadium in the capital of São Paulo, with interns of a drug rehabilitation center called Fazenda Esperança (Farm of Hope) and the volunteers that work there. His trip is preceded by tremendous expectations. In the entire country as well as in other countries of the continent, groups of Catholics are getting mobilized in order to see the Pope. The media is getting prepared, the Churches are on alert. The symbolic and visible force of the papacy can be felt once more. Catholics or non-Catholics, there’s a tremendous uproar concerning Benedict XVI’s visit. There is a latent tendency to dissociate the Pope’s visit to the Fifth Conference. The expectations are around the Pope’s visit as an isolated fact. Public opinion seems to forget that this interest which is so interesting and which causes many divisions is held in the context of the important ecclesial event of the Fifth Conference. If it hadn’t been for that, the Pope would have hardly come to this area. It is because of the important meeting of the Bishops of the continent that Benedict XVI is traveling to Latin American lands. What will the German Pope find when he steps of Latin American lands next May 9th? Which will be the face of the Church that Benedict XVI will find when he arrives? What will the problems, the challenges to the ecclesial community that live in the so-called “continent of hope”, and which shelters the largest number of Catholics in the world will be presented to the Pope? Those are some of the questions that most certainly resound inside the minds and the hearts of Catholics and non-Catholics that are getting ready for the Pope’s visit for the inauguration of the Fifth Conference of Latin American Bishops in Aparecida, in the state of São Paulo However, more than these, there are other questions that concern the hearts of Christians of the continent. They are more related to the future than to the present, and are related to the new directions that the Latin American Church can expect from this important Conference which will start in a few days’ time. We feel one of the first expectations that can be felt is the desire for Catholicism to revitalize more intensely the road that leads to the heart of people, and above all, of the new generations in our continent. Benedict XVI will find a Church that is loosing its members at an amazing speed, especially on behalf of the Evangelical churches of Pentecostal tendency. Although this is not a privilege of Catholics, consisting, on the contrary in a common point with other historical churches, it does worry Catholics and particularly the pastors of the Catholic Church, the fact that there is such a large exodus from its faithful. There’s no doubt that all Catholics without exception hope that Aparecida will bring on lights and keys to elaborate and undertake new pastoral strategies that go deeper into the hearts of the young as well as the adults, bringing back the enthusiasm of faith and the pride of being Catholics. Likewise, and in the same proportion, they want this new fervour to reshape the face of their Church, undermined by the blows and the losses of the past years, beaten by secularism, globalization and the growing influence of new religious proposals which are easier and more seductive. That is why Aparecida’s theme: “Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ, So That Our Peoples May Have Life in Him” is very direct when it declares that the most immediate future for the Catholic church of the continent is to put itself in the state of mission. A mission, which is inherent to the life of the Church, not only implies living the Gospel on a personal level, but announcing it to others through gestures, words, and above all, with the testimony of love. And Aparecida will certainly suggest concrete action for the achievement of the objective conditions for this to happen. However there are other expectations around the Fifth Conference that point towards the new courses of the Catholic Church in the continent. Some are stronger in some sectors, others in other sectors. For example, the desire for a stronger and more explicit revival of the preferential option for the poor, a great achievement of the conferences of Medellín in 68 and Puebla in 79. The Santo Domingo Conference of 92 didn’t point at this as a priority. Thirty years after the Puebla Conference, however, what we can state is that poverty in Latin America has only grown. Therefore, it would be expectable that Aparecida underlines this fact pointing to the dramatic contradiction that there is in being the continent with the largest number of Catholics in the world and having over thirty percent of its population under the line of poverty, and with this bringing a word of hope and encouragement to the many millions of Catholics who live under the crushing yoke of poverty and pray for redemption and liberation. Strongly linked to poverty and largely as a consequence of poverty is the matter of violence. Our continent has been reaching really alarming levels of urban organized violence, killing many thousands every year. In Brazil, the equivalent to one Vietnam War gets killed every year. The situation in Colombia is well known, with the dramatic reality of the guerrilla and paramilitary groups, which is starting to be successfully dealt with lately. In other countries like Venezuela and Peru violence is growing dramatically and is slowly becoming a national scourge. For the Church, that preaches the Gospel of peace, this is an unavoidable challenge. Benedict XVI will find a Church which has been somehow timid in its official statements about this thorny subject. Despite the existence of constructive initiatives in the micro level, much is expected from the Catholic Church in the way of a more daring position on the macro level in order to combat this curse that destroys so many lives –mostly young lives from popular sectors- in the cities and the countryside. The eyes of many –direct or collateral victims of violence- are certainly expecting a sing of hope from Aparecida. Another expectation comes from the configuration of the Church itself and its pastoral action in the continent. The Latin American Church, which was too centered in the bishops and the clergy, declared as priority number one the action of the laymen in Santo Domingo. Fifteen years later, with the accelerated decrease of religious and priestly vocations, the formation of conscious laymen, who can take in their own hands a considerable and important part of the ecclesial pastoral action stands out as crucially important. The hope is that in the next years the Church becomes a church that integrates the faithful lay, not only as consumers and trainees, but as producers who participate in the deciding power and leaders, who with their presence, their life experience and their creativity can really help the Church here in out latitudes, pave new paths. Among these lay, obviously women will stand out. The contribution of the Brazilian delegates to the Fifth Conference has relevant positions in relation to this point. It points out that the crushing majority of the Catholics in Latin America are women. Despite the fact that they are so undervalued and underused in the church, there they are, faithful and laborious, assuming the most diverse tasks, from the cleaning and care of the temples to the Christian initiation and the religious teaching of the children. Apart from that, the number of women theologian, spiritual directors, and coordinators of the communities has increased in number and quality, showing a Church with a fascinating feminine face, anxious to reveal itself and do all it is capable of. The Fifth Conference would give the entire Universal Church a tremendous contribution if is found the fair measure to asses and stimulate these feminine faithful disciples of the Lord who, since the dawning of Christianity, have been present, following the Master closely, drinking all of his words of life and putting them into action. In the meantime, this exercise of futurology pastoral-theological we are doing here is only a humble effort of helping to think and wish and accompany the bishops in their important meeting. Because we know that the Spirit of the Lord, who conducts and presides the Church, will be the most important author of everything that can happen in Aparecida, and starting there, in the near future, for the ecclesial community that lives there. Only He knows what the future for Latin American Christians will be. And the confidence in his creative and sanctifying action will be the best ingredient that the bishops can bring to the Conference in Aparecida do Norte. The Pope’s arrival was expected with anxiety and joy. He was most certainly been welcomed with the traditional hospitality of the Brazilian and Latin American people. Let’s hope that his opening words can put the Fifth Conference in the right track: that of the disciples that listed to the Lord’s Words with a humble and obedient ear and diligently prepares to announce it to everyone and testifies it with his life.
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Maria Clara Lucchetti Bingemer Decana do Centro de Teologia e Ciências Humanas da PUC- Rio de Janeiro .