Another feature of your Commission is its international character, which reflects the Church’s catholicity. Diversity of viewpoints should enrich catholicity without harming unity. The unity of Catholic theologians stems from their common reference to one faith in Christ and is nourished by the diversity of the Holy Spirit’s gifts. Starting from this foundation, and in a healthy pluralism, various theological approaches, developed in different cultural contexts and using diverse methods, cannot ignore one other, but in theological dialogue should enrich and correct one another. The work of your Commission can be a witness to this growth, and also a testimony to the Holy Spirit, since He it is who sows this charismatic variety in the Church, and diverse viewpoints, and He it is who will establish unity. He is the main actor, always.
The Immaculate Virgin, as a privileged witness of the great events of salvation history, “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19): A woman of listening, a woman of contemplation, a woman close to the problems of the Church and people. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and with all the resources of her feminine genius, she unceasingly entered ever more deeply into “all the truth” (cf. Jn 16:13). Mary is thus the icon of the Church who, eagerly awaiting her Lord, progresses day after day in her understanding of the faith, thanks also to the patient work of men and women theologians. May Our Lady, the teacher of true theology, obtain for us, by her maternal prayer, that our charity “may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” (Phil 1:9). I accompany you on this journey with my blessing, and I ask you please to pray for me. Pray theologically. Thank you.
And today we celebrate...
