Neum 2000.
Dott. Fra Franjo Vidovic: PROPHETS IN SACRED SCRIPTURE AND THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH
O. Sabino Palumbieri: THE CHURCH FACING TODAY'S WORLD - A TENT PITCHED ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE MILLENNIUM
Alfons Sarrach: MEĐUGORJE - A "THIRD EYE" GIVEN TO US
Lecturers for this year's seminar are:
Fr. Franjo Vidovic, - born February 19, 1960 in Crnkovci, near Osijek, Croatia. He completed elementary school in 1975 in Zagreb. In June 1979 he graduated from the Franciscan Classical Gymnasium in Vosoko. On July 15, 1979 he entered the novitiate of the Hercegovina Franciscan Province in Mostar. From 1980 - 1984 he was imprisoned in the Zenica prison sentenced for "anti-communist" activity. He obtained his diploma in philosophy-theology studies in 1987 and obtained a Masters degree in theology at Augsburg University in 1991 and in 1992 did pastoral work in Hercegovina at the monastery of Humac. During 1992 he was active as a military chaplain for units of the Croatian Armed Forces. He received a Doctorate in biblical theology in 1997 at the University of Graz in Austria. Presently he is engaged in pastoral work in Weissenstein in Austria. He works in a rehabilitation station and teaches Biblical theology of the New Testament at the Jesuit Philosophical Faculty of the in Zagreb.
Sabino Palumbieri - born in 1934 in Lavello (Potenza). He is a member of the order of the Salesian Fathers. He was ordained a priest in 1961. He studied philosophy and theology and obtained a doctor's degree in anthropology. At present he is a professor at the Papal University of the Salesians (UPS). He is a journalist and writes numerous essays from an anthropological viewpoint on the cause and meaning of the events of our time. He founded the society "TR-2000" (Witnesses of the Resurrection for the Jubilee 2000) and a national movement with international cultural affiliations which organizes humanitarian-Christian activities. In addition, he is the organizer of "Via Lucis" (Way of Light), a new form of piety of the people, which is spreading throughout the world.
Alfons Sarrach - born 1927 in the then free state of Danzig, and grew up in the German-Polish tradition. In 1939 during the Nazi regime he was taken away along with his family to a concentration camp. After World War II he studied philosophy, theology and psychology in Rome and Paris. In 1965 he became a free lance journalist, and later was editor in chief for several daily newspapers. He is the author of numerous publications and boosk. In 1992 he published the book, The Prophetic Thrust of Medjugorje, which attempts to penetrate more profoundly into the secret of the great impetus which, starting in 1981, is coming from the little place of Medjugorje in Hercegovina and which has helped millions of people in the whole world again to find a sense of the future, after a century during which hatred reigned in many states.
DECLARATION
Gathered in Neum from March 19th to 24th, 2000 at the seventh meeting for the leaders of Centers of Peace and Medjugorje prayer groups, we address ourselves to the friends and the pilgrims of the Queen of Peace:
- We are in the year of the Great Jubilee of Christianity. Let us strive to put Jesus Christ at the center of our lives and so to make our contribution to the renewal of the Church of our times and of the local Church.
- Within the content of the program of the Jubilee and of Our Lady=s messages from Medjugorje we recognize connecting points. Our Lady=s word: ADo whatever He tells you. . .@ reveals to us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
- Proclamation of the Gospel is the prophetic task of all Christians. It realized by taking first place in one=s own life. A life in keeping with that is the very best proclamation. The same is valid also for those who spread Our Lady=s messages.
- Let Our Lady=s invitation to peace and reconciliation be present in a special way in the life of individuals, of families and groups, especially in this year of the Great Jubilee.
- Again we call on all to get to know better and faithfully to preserve the originality of Medjugorje spirituality.
Medjugorje, March 24, 2000
PROPHETS IN SACRED SCRIPTURE AND THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH
The principal theme that prophets deal within Sacred Scripture is the relationship of man toward God. The prophets proclaim that the principal point of reference of human life , the basis of human existence, and in a special way the existence of the chosen people, is the relationship of man toward God. The correct relationship toward God is of vital importance because happiness, success, meaning, that is of unhappiness, failure, the absurdity of human existence result from it. The basis of existence of the chosen people is the relationship toward God who has revealed him in history. To believe in God for the prophets of the Old Testament means to understand what God means for life of the individual and of the entire nation. The question of relationship between God and the chosen people contains in itself two other questions: on what is the relationship of God toward his people founded, as well as what obligations and expectations result for the people from that relationship. Naturally, in addition to that is present the question: how can one interpret the particular historical conditions on the grounds of that unique relationship. The entire history of the chosen people is considered from the perspective of the first commandment of the decalogue - Yahweh solus, there is no other God but Yahweh.
Thus, for the prophets the history of the Jewish kingdom begins with something unheard of. In addition to Yahweh who is the only king over his people, Israel wants yet some other king. In addition to mishpat YHWH - the law of Yahweh appears as the royal law. Therefore, it is clear to the prophets that the entire history of the kingdom will end up as a catastrophe, deportation - exile. Israel did not keep the first commandment - YHWH solus (Yahweh alone). The entire history is measured by the standard of fidelity, that is infidelity toward God.
Yahweh is a God who reveals by the word, in contrast to the Greek thought which sees in God an esthetic ideal. The God of revelation is a God who proclaims his word. He calls. He commands. He promises. The God who chooses presents himself to people not as an object of esthetic contemplation but dialog and obedience are the basis of his revelations. Or, simply said, one cannot see Yahweh but one can hear him. Yahweh stands at the center of prophetic thought, but he cannot nor may he be presented in image, statue or anything other material thing. Yahweh reveals himself in history as the great I - ani hu - I AM. That I speaks, acts, decides, that I does not allow to be identified in any definite place nor any definite image. The individual is understood in relationship to obedience, that is, disobedience to the Word - the Law of Yahweh.
The concept of prophet
The Hebrew word prophet, nabi, derives from the akkadian word, nabu which means to call, to proclaim, to signify. According to the Greek parallel prophet ‘ s, a prophet is the one who calls, who expresses, who announces. However, this word can be understood and interpreted: a prophet is the one who is called, invited. Behind the passive form of this word is hidden the God who is active, God who is calling.
In Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament we find the word nabi - prophet 309 times.
In the early texts of Sacred Scripture we have the characteristic man of God (ish haElohim) for the prophet or visionary (ro=oh hozÑh). It seems that man of God was the characteristic for great leaders of Old Testament chosen people like Moses (Deut. 33:1) and David (Neh 12:24,36). In a special way is this title carried by the prophet Elijah (29 times). This title characteristic the close ties of the prophet with God, with him who has called him.
The visionary has the capacity to discover that which is hidden or even that which is going to happen (1 Sam 9:9-19). With the visionary what he sees is emphasized, with the prophet what he speaks (Is 30:10). The prophet experiences God=s revelation as a revelation of images - he Asees@ as well as the revelation of words - he Ahears@. The prophet sees Afaces@ (cf. Am 9:1 ff; Is 6:1 ff) but he also sees the relations among things that others cannot see, he sees Adeeper@ and Afarther@. Things that happen in everyday life have for him special meaning, they serve as the symbols of Yahweh = s will: the ordinary basket Afull of fruits@ becomes for the prophet Amos the symbol of the nations matured for exile (cf. Am 8:1-2), or even marriage problems become for Hosea the symbol of the relationship of Israel toward its God (cf. Hos 1:2 ff). The prophet recognizes the signs of God in everyday happenings. The chief characteristic of prophetic activity is his word. The prophet is a man of Athe word@. The Word of Yahweh Acomes@ to him, Yahweh Aspeaks@ to him (cf. Hos 12:11), that speaking of God to the prophet makes him a real prophet.
With all the Old Testament prophets we discover three reference points which coincide, which partially cross over from one to the other and which are essential for authentic prophecy. The prophet, on the basis of his experience, has a special relationship with God. At the beginning of his prophetic existence, the majority of prophets had a special experience of God. The prophet is chosen by God, he is Aset apart@, Athe hand of Yahweh touches him@ (Jer 1:9), it rests on him (Ez 3:14), Yahweh has seized him, overcome him, seduced him, stupefied (Jer 20:7); the prophet is seized by the Spirit (Ez 2:2), he is a man of the Spirit (Hos 9:7). In that way the prophet becomes Aa man of God@ - the specific title of the prophet, e.g. in 1 Sam 2:27 ff. The prophet is a friend of God, God=s confidant, Athe servant of Yahweh - ebed Yahweh @ . The prophetic call includes within it all these characteristics.
The second reference point we find with the prophet is his mission. Yahweh has chosen the prophet and sent him. For the prophetic mission Yahweh gave him his spirit, in the power of that spirit he goes forth in the name of God, he speaks in his Name, he becomes Athe mouth of God@ (cf. Isa 6:8; Jer 1:7). On the basis of his mission the prophet is permitted to shout out to his listeners AHear the Word of Yahweh@. He add to his prophetic word the characteristic Athe Word of Yahweh@. That speaking in the name of Yahweh, in the place of Yahweh, is one of primary reference points of the true prophecy.
The prophet is not that one who only speaks to the people in the name of Yahweh, but at the same time speaks to God in the name of Israel, something that is revealed in a special way in the prophet=s intercessory prayer, e.g. (1 Sam 12:17-25; Am 7:2, 5; Jer 18:20. The prophet has an intercessory role on the one hand to intercede between Yahweh and his people, on the other hand between the people and their God.
The prophetic ministry includes in itself also the ministry of watchman; the prophet watches over Israel (Ez 3:17). The prophet is like a shepherd who bears the responsibility for his flock (cf. Ez 3:17-21).
The various prophetic groups in the Old Testament
In the texts of the Old Testament we find various types of prophets:
a) The oldest type of prophet that we encounter in the Old Testament has as a chief characteristic - trance-ecstasy; these prophets go around Israel and with the help of musical instruments fall into the state of trance-ecstasy, in which condition they speak a definite prophecy (glossolalia - 1 Cor 14). The trance operates Acontagiously@, so that even Saul is suddenly found Aamong the prophets@ (1 Sam 10:5 ff; 1 Sam 19:18ff). The bible says that also the prophets of Baal were Aecstatics@ (I Kgs 18:19-40). The ministry of these prophets has an attractive effect on the Israelites (1 Sam 10:5ff), but many looked on them as meshugge - Amadmen@ (Hos 9:7).
b) In the First and Second Books of Kings we come across a community of prophets that has monastic traits; it talks about the Asons @ of the prophets.
These prophetic communities grow up around individual great prophetic persons, e.g. around the prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 2:3ff). Elijah advances against syncretism in the people of his time and he fights for Yahweh who is the only God and for the purity of faith in the true God. The danger exists that faith in Yahweh who is the only God get mixed up with faith in the gods of pagan nations, a faith that has its foundation in natural phenomena.
The prophet acts like Aa father@ for his Asons@, they sit at his feet, they learn from him and live together with him. In addition to the communities gathered around individual prophets we come across this kind of prophetic community gathered around individual sanctuaries (e.g. 2 Kgs 13:11 - prophets gathered around the sanctuary in Bethel; 2 Kgs 2:35 - prophets gathered around the sanctuaries in Gilgal, Jericho, Bethel).
With these prophets trance no longer plays the role that it had with the older prophets. That which characterizes this group is the bestowal of the Spirit. That gift is manifested in their miraculous deeds (2 Kgs 2:19-22; 2:23-25; 4:1-7, 18-37). These prophets are occupied in a special way with what we would today call saving souls (cf. Elisha - 2 Kgs 4:1-7, 8- 37; 5:1-14ff).
c) Sacred Scripture also knows of so-called Aofficial@, Acult@ prophets. They are found around the sanctuaries. Cult prophets differ from the prophets of Scripture who in their criticism do not spare either the temple, nor the priests who perform ministry in the temple. Cult prophets have their place beside the priests who carry out the cult. Their role is to give prophecies either to the people or even the king when it was requested of them. Those in the royal palaces enjoy great influence (2 Kgs 1:8). These prophets have developed their own prophetic language.
d) With the establishment of the kingdom in Israel a new era begins for the prophetic movement. Ecstasies, divination, miracles take a back seat, and in the first place is found the word, and the proclamation of the word. The prophets go farther and farther away from cult, from institution, for the royal courts. From the prophet Amos to the prophet Malachi the chief characteristic and means of prophecy is the word. The only ministry of the prophet is the one in signs, but those signs are not an illustration but the preformation of the word (cf. Hos 1:4, 6, 9; Is 7:3; 8:3: 20:2; Jer 16:2,5,8).
e) Ministry of the prophet:
There are three classic periods of prophetic ministry:
- During the fall of the Northern kingdom ( ca. 721 B.C.).
- During the fall of the Southern kingdom ( ca. 597/87 B.C.).
- During the exile (ca. 539 B.C.).
The prophets direct their message to the nation (Israel) as well as to all nations. In their message they connect the past, the present and the future. The dimension of the future refers to the proclamation (the future is connect with the present, with that with which an individual is in conflict with in the present), and not to foretelling (divination, in the future there will happen what has been foretold in the present).
The Old as well as the New Testament knows prophets and prophetesses. Thus we have the prophetess Miriam, Deborah, the wife of the prophet Isaiah (cf. Is 8:3), the prophetess Hulda. The prophets proclaim that the prophetic spirit should seize the entire nation (cf. Num 11:29; Joel 3:1-5). The entire nation should become a prophet.
Main themes of prophetic proclamations.
The task of prophet is revelation of the word of God. In that word is manifested the will of God. The revelation of the word of God happens in different ways. Most often it is the message in which Yahweh calls for fidelity to his law. The word which contains threats on the one hand if one persists in the path which leads to downfall, and on the other hand it contains the promise of salvation if the word is obeyed.
The writings of Old Testament show that prophecy in Israel is multi-layered phenomenon, a phenomenon that cannot be put into a common denominator, but is a phenomenon that definite lawfulness, definite common characteristics.
Regardless of individual prophets who are different according to their style, as well as the content of their messages, there are particular similarities among prophets that can be easily established.
Announcement of judgment
The man characteristic of Athe older prophets@, the prophets before the exile, is warning, threat of punishment. The prophetic message is addressed to both the representatives of the nation as well as individual groups in the nation, which have gone away from the faith of AAbraham, Isaac and Jacob.@ These prophets announce the punishment of God that is revealed in phenomena like the drought, earthquake, war, but at the same time in their announcement the call to conversion is included. The adversities that strike either the nation of the individual are considered punishment for sins of the nation, of individuals in the nation or of representatives of the nation. For the prophets sin consists in the behavior of the nation which is in opposition to God=s activity in history. Thus Isaiah calls for conversion because the nation sought security elsewhere than in their god. The prophets Amos, and Micah will announce punishments that come on the nation because of their disrespect for God=s law. Hose, Jeremiah and Ezechiel will point at the perfidy of the nation which goes after strange gods instead of Yahweh.
Announcement of salvation
The salvific message of the prophet is not based on the question what is going to happen after the divine judgment, but has its basis in God=s will, in the God who desires the salvation of his people. God is the one who wants to save the nation. Salvation is not conditioned as a punishment that comes as a consequence of sin. In the salvific message God promises help to his people in the future (cf. Is 41:17ff). In the announcement of salvation is already described what will happen (cf. Is 11:1ff). The announcement of salvation prevails mainly during the time of the exile and after the exile. The salvation the prophets announce will become evident in different areas, such as in the establishment of a new relationship between God and his chosen people, in the re-establishment of the nation state, national and political liberation. The salvation that God promises his people is not going to happen because the nation has become better; it does not have its basis in the fidelity and the conversion of the nation, but is based only on the will of God, on the fidelity of God, the holiness of God, and the love God for his people.
On the basis of their call, as well as their own reflection, the prophets present a model of the faithful Israelite. They show that God can be experienced, even though that experience of God is often painful (cf. AJeremiah=s confessions@). The prophets announce that a change in man is possible with the power of the word of God.
Typical for the Old Testament prophets is Asober intoxication@ with the word of God (cf. Jer 15:16; 23:9,29), the prophetic existence disappears in the power of their prophetic announcement. The Old Testament considers the prophet as the one who is called by God in a special way to announce his word, to warn, to console, to teach and direct. He is completely dependent God who called him and answers only to him.
The basic problem that prophets meets is the syncretism of the Jewish people, the disappearance of the true relationship toward Yahweh, that is, the violation of the first commandment of the decalogue - Yahweh solus - God alone.
The prophetic message of the New Testament
The word prophet is found 144 times in the New Testament, mostly in Matthew (37) and Luke (the gospel 29 times, Acts 30). The word itself signifies the messenger or even the interpreter of the word of God. The word prophet means the Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, Jesus, or some other person that points to the coming of the kingdom of heaven, or even the Christian who possesses the gift of prophecy.
Male and female proclaimers of the Word get the title prophet, prophetess respectively.
Prophecy in the New Testament shows similarity to the Old Testament prophecy: thus in the New Testament we have the prophecy of warning (cf. 1 Cor 14:3,31), prophecy that points to future events (cf. Mt 26:68; 15:7).
Under the concept of prophet the New Testament presupposes:
The Old Testament prophet
The Old Testament prophet is understood as that one who speaks the words of God, he is the Amouth of God@ (Isa 15:19). The Old Testament prophets announced what happened in Jesus Christ, says the New Testament (cf. Mt 1:23; 2:5ff, 15:17ff 23). For Matthew the Old Testament possesses absolute authority, and in Jesus is fulfilled that which the Old Testament prophets announced. On the basis of Old Testament prophecy Jesus gets recognized as the promised Messiah. What in a particular way becomes obvious is the similarity between the martyr=s death of the prophets and the death of Jesus (cf. Mt 23:31, 37; Acts 7:52). In the Judaism of Jesus= time as in the beginning of Christianity martyrdom is essential to the image of the prophet (cf. Mt 23:25).
John the Baptist
John is marked with the title of prophet in the Old Testament. His proclamation is in the style of the Old Testament prophets. He announces judgment and calls to conversion. In his proclamation he calls for moral reform and call into question the Jewish religious self-confidence. He calls to baptism, which differs from the cleansing by which proselytes enter Judaism, as well as from the cleansing that was practiced by the Qumran community. John=s baptism is a sign of the eschatological time which began and characterized an interior conversion was a precondition of salvation. Therefore, it is not strange at all, that John=s contemporaries wondered whether John was the long awaited eschatological prophet (cf. Μt 11:8ff) The New Testament sees in John that one who proclaims, foretells, gives Atestimony@ (cf. Jn 1:36) about the eschatological prophet who appeared in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. John=s baptism only points to Christian baptism.
Jesus Christ
The New Testament does not often apply the characteristic of prophet to Jesus. The Acrowds@ that listen to him call Jesus a prophet (cf. Mk 6:15). Nowhere in the gospel does Jesus describe himself with the word prophet. For the New Testament Jesus is more than a prophet (cf. Mt 12:41), Jesus does not merely announce salvation, but salvation is already present in his person (cf. Lk 10:24).
Christians
The first Christian community has members who are gifted with the spirit of prophecy. Their presence in the community is a sign that the community as such possesses the Spirit. Probably very early in the community this gift was institutionalized. It obtained a definite place, connected to a definite ministry in the community. Those gifted with the spirit stand on the same level with apostles and teachers (cf. 1 Cor 12:28ff, Eph 4:11), or even beside Aapostles and saints@ (Rev 18:20).
In Paul=s community the duty of these persons gifted with the Spirit is to warn the community (cf. 1 Cor 14:3, 24ff, 31), to console the community (1 Cor 14:23ff), to edify the community (cf. 1 Cor 14:3), to announce mysteries and knowledge to it (cf. 1 Cor 13:2). The prophetic revelation has to be in understandable words and without unnecessary ecstacy (1 Cor 12:1; 14:15ff, 23ff). Paul takes care that in the communities, especially at divine liturgy, order and peace prevail. He forbids several prophets to prophecy at the same time. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, Paul says (1 Cor 14:32). This Abeing subject to@has to be understood as subject to the order and to the peace that come from God. The prophet has to know also when to keep quiet.
In the letter to the Ephesians 2:20 the prophets Abelong@ to the foundations of the community. This appears to hint that the time of Aprophecy@, of prophetic ministries in the community is past, that prophecy is built into Athe foundations of the community.@
The warning against false prophets that we meet in the synoptics indicates that there probably existed a great number of prophets in the first Christian community.
Acts of Apostles in several places talks about prophecy and prophets. The reason for that must be found in the theology of the Evangelist Luke who divides all human history into three periods (the time of Israel, the middle time, the period of the Church. The third period, the period of the Church, appears at the event of Pentecost (Acts 2:1ff) and comprises the largest part in Acts. This third period is characterized as the period of the Spirit, the period in which all Christians possess the gift of the Spirit, the gift which in the second period only Jesus possessed. The sign of the period of the Spirit is visible both from the great number of the early Christian prophets who are mentioned by name (cf. Acts 11:27ff; 13:1; 15:32; 21:9ff), as well as the understanding that all Christians are bearers of the Spirit and thereby possess the prophetic gift (Acts 2:17ff; 19:6).
The author of the book of Revelations calls himself a prophet (Rev 22:9). According to the book of Revelations the prophet is receiving revelations of the secret plans of God (1:1), he is having visions (6:1-19, 10). The prophet warns and consoles (ch 2-3). Special importance is given to his word(22:18f).
Prophecy existed still for some time in the early Christian Church as the writings show us (Didache 10:7; 11:7-12; 13:1-7; Justin Dial. 82:1), that because of the Montanist abuses it would have fallen into such a crisis that it gradually disappeared and lost its importance. The task of the prophet will be taken over more and more by the institution, as the single authorized interpreter of the Word and activity of God in the world.
Sacred Scripture and church tradition see in the prophet, even if not exclusively and with a definite lack of confidence, that one who foretells future things, things that will take place. Accordingly, the true prophet is distinguished from the false by whether that which he prophesied is fulfilled or not. The Old Testament prophets and Old Testament prophecies were realized in Jesus Christ according to the understanding of the New Testament. For Jesus= contemporaries Jesus has the marks of the Old Testament prophet: he foretells his own destiny, but also the destiny of his teaching.
The Old Testament understands prophecy, in the first place, as interpretation of the will of God in the present, in a definite situation, in a definite place. The prophet announces what God expects of man in a definite situation, his speech is in the first place speech in the present.
The prophetic speech is essentially determined by parresia - open speech, bold speech, fearless speech, speech in which one says what one things. The prophetic authority has its foundation in parresia, in open speech to the world.
To speak prophetically means to free oneself from false considerations. But that speech includes in itself also the readiness to Aexpose@ oneself to the Word of God. To speak prophetically means Ato be called@ into the prophetic ministry. The prophet does not speak Afrom out of himself@, by his own power and wisdom but he speaks with the power of God. The prophetic call is charismatic. It is not tied to a particular ministry but it is tied to a definite situation in which the Word of God ought to be proclaimed with full openness and courage.
A Discernment of Spirits@ (1 Cor 12:10
For the prophetic ministry the ministry of the discernment of spirits is essentially related. There are true and false prophets. False prophets exchange the word of God with their own beliefs. Already the Old Testament knows of those who present themselves as prophets although God did not call them nor authorize them. Such false prophets are known also to the Old Testament. It warns the community of believers not to give them their confidence (cf. Mt 7:15; 24:11; 1 Jn 4:1). This is why criteria have been set down by which one can discern true from false prophets. The criteria for the discernment of true from false prophets are the same in the New Testament as in the Old Testament. Thus the Old Testament sees in one of the criteria in prophet=s self awareness of being called, Atorments@ that do not allow him to keep the word of God for himself. The prophet must proclaim in the name of Yahweh (cf. Jer 20:9; 23:16; Am 3:8). And the New Testament knows this charismatic criterion. Only one who himself is in possession of the Spirit of God can judge if someone is speaking in the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 2:11). Along with this subjective criterion also come other characteristics according to which one discerns true prophecy from false. For example: that the prophetic message is in agreement with the biblical message, that the message truly reflects the situation to which it is refers, that the life of the prophet is in keeping with his personal convictions. If the personal life of the prophet does not correspond to the demands of God, then he is not sent by God (cf. Jer 23:14; 29:23). According the Christian conviction, a true prophet is the one who in his life practices what he teaches and preaches. His life must bear Agood fruits@ (cf. Mt 7:16; Rev 2:20). The prophetic message must serve upbuilding and encouragement for the community to which it is directed (cf. 1 Cor 14:3) The prophetic proclamation must stand in agreement with older prophecies (cf. Jer 28:7ff). New Testament prophecy must be in agreement with the basic Christian proclamation (cf. 1 Jn 4:1ff; 1 Cor 12:3). The true prophet does not seek his own advantage. He does not fawn nor is he ready to compromise when it comes to the message of God.
Unavoidably tied to the prophetic call is also the prophetic fate. From the moment of his call the prophet no longer belongs to himself but to God who called him. God does not only call the prophet in order to send him to his people, but he hands him over to the people. Also essential to biblical prophetic existence is persecution for the word of God martyrdom ( cf. 1 Kgs 19:10,14; Jer 11:18ff; 20:2; 26:8ff). One can read on the faces of prophets the entire tragedy of their calling, but that tragedy brings to the people to whom they are directed blessing and salvation (cf. Is 50:6; 52:14-53). The New Testament has taken over the theme of the persecuted prophet and applies it to Jesus and his disciples. Jesus= destiny as well as the fate of his disciples is the prophetic destiny (cf. Mt 5:12: Lk 13:33).
The biblical prophet is a person attacked from within and without. He is a person suffering for internal and external force, but nevertheless, the prophet experiences his ministry in the first place as grace and not as a burden. The prophet experiences from time to time the special nearness of God. That nearness gives him strength to carry on. From time to time he feels in a special way his being chosen as prophet. He feels the love of God, the love of the one that called him (cf. Is 49:1-4) to be his witness in the world, in a world that has forgotten the first commandment of the decalogue: AAnd now, Israel, what does Yahweh, your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve Yahweh your God, with all your heart and with all your soul@ (Deut 10:12).
THE CHURCH FACING TODAY'S WORLD
A Tent Pitched on the Threshold of the Millennium
- The Church - an Everlasting Tent
- An Incentive to Return Forward
- Towards an Integral Development
- The Synthesis like Salvation
- Solidarity - a Response to the Challenge of Globalisation
- The Last Ones, the First Ones: A Messianic Practice
- The South of the World - a New Frontier
- Pressing Needs and Incentives
- Newness and Incarnation
- New Evangelisation - A Passport for the Future
- Hope on the Frontier
APPENDIX
- Hardships of the Civilisation
- Between Emergency and Impotence
- Between Ventures and Contrasts
THE CHURCH FACING TODAY'S WORLD
A Tent Pitched on the Threshold of the Millennium
1. The Church B An Everlasting Tent
The history has exhibited some features which indicate the matureness of certain evolutive processes of humanisation as the world became more temporal. The Pope John XXIII started to call them "the signs of the times" - an expression which was later on taken over by the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council[1] - referring to them as the flashes of divine Providence in the history.
The church, incarnated in the history in service of the world which is, in the times of the threshold generation, subject to radical changes, has to involve, just in the process of her youthfulness, a different form of presenting and indicating the signs of transformation.
In that context the face of the Church of the Third Millennium is definitely undergoing changes. From mainly western features, it is gradually assuming the traits inspired by globalisation and marked by the characteristics of the Third World. Young churches tend to rejuvenate the whole Church, i.e. to renovate its physiognomy.
This is confirmed, first of all, at the quantitative level. A decrease of numerical supremacy of the Western Churches has been recorded. At the beginning of the XX century, the share of these communities was about 85% of the total. In the year 2000 there will be not more than 40% of them. The churches from the countries of the Southern hemisphere are - regardless of considerable defluxions towards sects and religious movements of a different sign - growing exponentially.
At the qualitative level, a tendency towards inculturation of the contents of the faith has been registered. The fundamental form of incarnation of the Church in the texture of plights and expectations of people is the discovery of the pole of orthopraxis which is in fecund interaction with the pole of orthodoxy. A commitment to the verity of love, like the credibility of the love for verity[2].
Johan Baptist Merz says in this regard: "The Catholic church does not just include the church of the Third World, it actually is a Third-World church with western and European roots"[3]. In this way a passage is made from a culturally monocentric to a culturally polycentric Church, by preserving, however, its Catholic structure of a hierarchic-primatical community, as provided by the divine constitution, which means, together with Peter and under the guidance of Peter.
In this panorama, not only that the sense of universality does not rarefy, it is, indeed, drawn by deeper breaths. The old cultural hegemonies, which were historically explainable, give way to the equality of dignity and of expression.
The universal Church is the Body of Christ spread throughout this planet, in the sense of vital unity and a variety of culturally diversified members. The multiplicity of charisms present themselves in this framework also in diversified textures which constitute the body in which the mystery of the Incarnate Word continues.
Inculturation is like a principle of physiological law and "like its concrete consequence, the consequence of legitimate diversity"[4]. To inculture oneself means to participate from within in the dynamics of the cultures; the cultures which constitute extremely mobile realities, interchangeable particularly today, in permanent state of fragility, ambiguity, threats, risks. To inculture oneself does not, therefore, mean just to insert oneself, but rather to inter-esse: to be as one with the nations, but within their fatiguing search for identity, unity, dynamic stability. Which, far from being a tranquil immobility, actually represents a tension and settlement of tensions in order to achieve a difficult objective of the word pair Apeace and justice@.
The new perspective imposes new imperatives which arise from the perennial genetic code of the living organism of the Church, but which are felt according to the vital impulses of the new culture[5].
The gift of youthfulness, lavished by the Spirit to the Church, can compare with the commitment of the disciples of the XXI century, who care for nothing but to present to the world the renewed face of the hope. We are faced with the Church represented by a dual icon: as a caravan passing through the desert and as covered with the robe (grembiule) of the Holy Thursday. It is, in fact, proleptically symbolised by Israel, an ancient pilgrim nation. It is also a living continuation of the Christ the Bridegroom who kneels down in front of a tired man in order to wash his feet. And who, at this point, emblematically concerns the objective of his work of Incarnation.
The Church, an icon from Sollicitudo rei socialis and from Sollicitudo historiae populorum, is the sacrament - sign-instrument - of God's concern for today's world which He continues to love, in spite of all[6]. It is, therefore, the Church B planetary tent.
Today's world is a panorama which took a new shape in the last century of this millennium. The general picture does not seem to be uniform. It is, on the contrary, greatly diversified. Its paths are rough and often marked by contradictions and contrasts.
2. An incentive for the return forward
As we have seen, the general picture does not seem to be uniform. It is, on the contrary, greatly diversified, often marked by contradictions and contrasts. The common denominator is the cultural distress of different names and origins. The rising question is the question of a future that will be more humane than the present. In other words, the future in which people will be more involved.
The Church-planetary tent which pledges itself to co-operate with the people of good will towards a culture of resurrection has at its disposal the energy-giving hope of the Easter, with respect to the reconstruction of the foundations, accultured in human civilisation in various areas of our planet. This task has to be fulfilled together with other religions of the world, within the projects implemented by the people of good will.
- In the West, considered from the global point of view, the Churches can offer Paschal assistance - first of all, in the form of testimony, and also in the form of a concrete co-operation - in order to raise awareness of the dignity of their roots and of their ways. In the historical sense, such ways have not always been coherent, but they will be authentic in so far as they remain linked with the original inspiration.
It will be possible to find the soul of this process along the paths of respect for its genetic code. And, therefore, the former leadership which was broken up in the colonialism and in the economism of an essentially materialistic kind, at the end of the millennium will have the opportunity to be transformed into a service of planetary initiative, with regard to the renewed culture of the man.
In the West, therefore, the obligation to heterocentre ourselves[7] is required. It implies a radical change of mentality, in order to realise a departure from self-sufficiency. The shift of the axis goes from the "privileged I" to the "indetermined I" which leaves apart, in fact, the connotations of time, space, wealth. This is a form of an important recovery of the European soul, which is, with the mediation of Judaism and Christianity, focused on the sacredness of the human being.
At this particular point the principle of universality of dignity of every person, race, nation and community is inserted.
The Churches of the West, while recovering the otherness as a place of veneration of the living theomorphic icon, have to propose once again the liberty as the capacity of making room for the liberty of another person, elaborating what Armido Rizzi calls an authentic "European theology of liberation"[8]. It includes the radical liberation of the freedom from conceptual, planning and practical anguishes of a purely negative type. The liberty does not mean, like in the field of contractuality, to refrain from doing harm to those who are different from you and to respect them at the level of legal formality. It, on the contrary, means, in particular, to make yourself responsible for their need to exist. The idea of contractual right has to be materialised in the anthropology of solidarity.
The Churches have been called to create preconditions for such passage of the West from a pure contractuality towards a genuine solidarity.
In brief, in the space within Europe and America, which is opened, for the nostalgia for future - i.e. for exercising the memory of the roots in order that the fruits acclimatised to our times may ripen - it is necessary to place the commitment of Christian communities which are ecumenically reconciled, to encourage them effectively for the service to the world. First and foremost, for the service ad intra, with a prophetic obligation to offer credible meaning of life, which has partly been lost. And then, the ad extra service, in passing from the colonial to diaconal attitude, both in the field of culture and solidarity. The one who possesses the instruments of knowledge, science and technology, can not renounce his own duty of solidarity, in the form of subsidiarity, rejecting the declared and growing logic of the "ethics of circumscribed justice".
The churches have been invited to fulfill the educative task, in order to make provision for the opening of the people of wealthy societies towards globality, to fill the existential gap so strongly felt.
- As to the problematic confusion affecting the states of the East, it has to be reaffirmed that Europe, faithful to its roots, can not tolerate the passage from Scylla to Charybdis. After the demolition of the "wall", the passage from the leveling communism towards the degrading consumerism must not be allowed.
One of the most serious problems that have to be faced by the Churches of the East, is the issue of youth. They risk staggering in the void of values, between rejecting the pseudo-values of the failed past and the consequences of systematic efforts of eradicating spiritual values for entire generations.
In some areas there is a danger that this void could be replaced today by a void of a different kind: the one which is caused by the acceptance of the Western model of materialism and consumerism. Which, as is widely known, invades the whole generations of young people tempted by the nihilism of meanings.
From this point of view, to the Churches of the East a future is offered that would be more demanding and arduous than the preceding one in which vocations to martyrdom for high values of spirituality have matured.
As to the Churches of the West, the project of Paschal culture will, in particular, be the one aimed at contributing to, and developing the already existing potentials, even though they have for a long time remained covered with the ice of the years of terror, as the Extraordinary Synod for Europe[9] has pointed out.
There is a risk that these peoples of suffering might be left alone in their task of awakening.
The Churches experience Easter in offering help that the germs of incipient Easters may ripen. Wherever there is a passage from alienation to liberation in the sign of the man, Easter is there. But, think how hard is it to celebrate it and to invite the people to the feast, not only at the liturgical level, but also at the level of history, that is, of politics, economy and culture.
Today, it is not enough just to find the pleasure in the fact that many temples that were barred for decades have now been reopened. It is necessary to co-operate towards the creation of indispensable preconditions for conversion of the areas of these construction sites of the history in order that Christ might continue to resurrect in the millions of people who are waiting.
The Churches that live in an opulent West face the challenge of becoming the salt and light, in order to make sure that people of the East do not escape from a collective materialism to run into an individualistic materialism: from the gulag to the jungle.
A task is therefore imposed on the Churches in the West to strengthen the signs of the Easter, unpredictable yesterday, but imposing responsibility today.
3. Towards an Integral Development
- To Latin America the Churches can offer assistance in liberating the consciences from temptations of abuse by the logic of dominion, on one hand, and of the outburst of the explainable anger of millions of sub-humanised people, on the other hand.
The practice of evangelical liberation[10] does not oppose one class to another, but it tends to reconcile people dehumanised both by active oppression and by being subjected to subdue slavery, imposing on all of them together an obligation to construct the home of justice and peace[11].
In accordance with the conclusions of Medellin, of Puebla and of Santo Domingo[12], the Churches will continue to be, like in the messianic practice, on the side of the last ones. They will fight together with them by means of the method of non-violent resistance and of vigilant conscience.
However, this fight is not only verbal. It is a real fight. And it consists of offering assistance in order to say "no" to the oppression which obstructs the future, while paying with the oppressed ones the high cost of this resistant method[13]. The method which in India actually produced, with the figure of Gandhi who believed in God and in man, the results of freedom and progress.
In fact, a stream of opinion is being formed, thanks to basic groups of ecclesial and social origin which create a culture focused on the fundamental values of activism of the people, as well as of dignity of the oppressed.
It is time to make a synthesis of the instances of the theology of liberation, as a critical and constructive consideration of the practice done by the Church in the field of justice and peace, and of the social doctrine, which is courageous, but needs territorial mediation.
The Church in Latin America, while reading once again its end-of-century martyrology signed by bishops, priests, lay people, catechists, campesinos, discovers her courage in defense of the undefended. And it lives it as an authentic theological place of the new evangelisation faced with the proliferation of fundamentalist and plutocratic sects.
The Church is the one which takes its place in the heart of the processes of liberation from inhumanity, being on the side of the indigenous, excluded black people, marginalised elderly, abused and abandoned children, of everyone who is oppressed by physical or morbid violence. And the features of its physiognomy have already become visible[14].
The thrills of the Spirit have run through Latin American Churches which are aware of a drama-like situation and of the responsibility of the task. Medellín, Puebla and Santo Domingo are milestones of this awareness-raising itinerary[15]. The itinerary is long. The modern martirology, marked by sacrifice of many witnesses, encourages the intelligent and numerous animators of these groups of hope.
- The culture of resurrection will also ferment Africa, as a sign of renewal of characteristic values of community, solidarity, family and feast, typical for the society of the continent. It will help it to fight against the recurrent temptation of fatalism and defeatism. It will propitiate, among the sister tribes which recognise one another in the same culture or in similar cultures, the discovery of common points of reference and of paths of reconciliation. It will contribute to the enlargement of the cultural area, with regard to the creation of a class of leaders. Who, far from mimicking the arrogance of colonisers, should commit themselves to africanise the way to progress towards justice and peace, to save in order to ensure the redistribution of wealth, as well as the growth of the secondary and tertiary sectors. Without squandering the resources, but by introducing a system of economic participation which would not be spoilt by the western consumerism. These are the bases fitted to create for the year 2000 a module of substantial democracy, with gradualness and resoluteness by means of strengthening the education that would exploit today the great cultures of that continent.
It will create the space for inculturation of faith in Africa, according to the goals established by the Synod of African Churches.
The Africanism has a very rich language which includes, as an essential co-efficient, the affectivity with its emotions, with its sufferings, with its frequent and almost frenetic exultation, and, sometimes, with its moaning similar to the cosmic cry. All this requires a space for community and participation. From this a need for a creative and captivating liturgy arises.
The African thought has its own symbolic and religious system and its own analogical language. It is therefore necessary, in order to make the Gospel arrive to the hearts of the people, that it be communicated by means of such cultural mediation. This is the fundamental principle of the operation to "africanise the Christianity" after "having Christianised Africa".
Today this method has a crucial importance, in order to ensure that a historic opportunity is not missed. The disappearance of Christianity from the North of Africa in the first centuries, is also be explained as the result of the failure of faith to take roots in the culture of those times.
We should not defer studying the forms of dialogue with great religious traditions of the continent, marked by the tones of cosmic inspiration, which are almost in close relationship with the world of the nature.
Moreover, the culture of resurrection will promote - with the force of its principles and with the presence of its laity in the structures of industrially developed countries - projects and assistance not only at the economic level, but primarily at the level of labour and investments: a genuine improvement of technology to the advantage of production and agriculture in the poorest zones.
From the theological point of view, the synthesis to be promoted has to take place between African cultures and the Gospel. It does not concern only the promotion of liturgies and local folklore, but rather the valorisation of needs and incentives of the cultures themselves.
The African Synod[16] established this objective.
Similarly, it is a matter of organising the courage, in order to face up tribal divisions which hinder the processes of national, and sometimes, ecclesial unity. It is necessary to give an African answer to the problems typical of this continent, in a situation of political and economic depression and in need of hope.
4. The Synthesis Like Salvation
- Asia, a continent with a big religious soul, requires a "return forward" to its genetic code of a sacred and contemplative kind. However, it has to be re-read, this time also with the mediation of the contribution acknowledged by Gandhi to Judaism and Christianity, the one which has pervaded the legislation and cultures of the West, regarding equality of all persons and respect for the dignity of everyone, without any distinction based on the class.
For the cultures of the East, cradles of knowledge and religiosity, the Paschal service of the Churches will be related to the respect and preservation - in contrast to so many threats to popular identity - of the enormous capital of contemplation to be invested in an articulate form together with the capital of action[17]. As it was the case of the exemplary teaching of Benedetto da Norcia with his spirituality characterised by the synthesis of action which became an operating contemplation, and contemplation turned into a meditative action. This incarnated patrimony of values can constitute a contribution for the East, in order that it may maintain a dynamic faithfulness to its own specific qualities.
And the action should here be understood along the line followed by the Blondelian action[18] . It starts from the profound dynamism and spreads to the whole life, including the life of social and political relations. It will, therefore, have to include also the commitment to abolish castes, in order to be able to make us able to recognise in our fellow man - who may even be a pariah - a candidate for the future marked by the presence of the Divine.
The Churches will, in an extremely prolific dialogue with ancient religions and cultural traditions, be able to offer a useful space for both sides, in service of the man.
Generally speaking, Asia has three cultural and religious areas. First of all, there is the Middle East with Muslim prevalence. Then, the area of the South East having Hindu and Buddhist predominance. And, finally, an enormous space of the Far East with Confucianist, Taoist and Buddhist majority. This vast human aggregation has remained under the influence of the ideology of materialism, of both collective and neo-capitalistic type. The repression and anti-religious persecutions have revived brutalities on the one hand, and resistance on the other hand, similar to those from the first age of martyrs. As a result, they have rendered the Asian context more and more difficult for the acceptance of the message.
Tolerance, co-operation, sharing of wealth and joint projects would be able to weave the fabric of a methodology alternative to centuries-old conflicts revealed by the history as sterile and destructive.
Besides, the inter-religious ecumenism will promote the routes of search and prayer towards the one God of different peoples. The Churches have been urged to deepen the basis of the theology of the primordial covenant inherent in the creation, made first with Adam, and then with Noah[19].
It is preceded by the one stipulated with Abraham and Moses. For thousands of centuries God has been making His history with the peoples on the Earth. His love touches all of them and follows them. That covenant of creation has never been revoked. On the contrary, it has remained the basis for those which followed the election.
With reference to it and in so far as non-Christian peoples are coming closer to each other on the single path of love, incarnated and proclaimed by Christ, the only real God remains God of everyone. Although called by many names and not yet known as the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"[20].
This vision does not invalidate the urgency of the mission, but it confers to it the conditions of serenity and the respect for a different religious experience.
Finally, it seems important to emphasize, in the context of the Christian experience of the continent, that in Asia the majority of canonised persons or candidates for the altar are members of the lay faithful, men and women of an everyday sanctity exercised in the world, who have demonstrated courage in professing their faith until martyrdom. An opposite situation is found with respect to an array of canonised persons or candidates (for canonisation) in Europe and America where members of hierarchy and religious life have an overwhelming majority.
With regard to this zone of the Church, these facts can be interpreted from the viewpoint of flourishing of laical charisms and in particular of the seed of faith taken by the ecclesial base to the maximum maturity of witnessing faithfulness.
An interesting article would be the one dealing with the study on the union between the seed of Christian faith and the attitude towards contemplation, with a totalling dedication to the Absolute which is typical for these peoples.
A great promise for the future of the Kingdom.
- In Oceania the Church is in search of new forms of announcement, although in the conditions of structural and natural difficulties.
The presence of lay people who are motivated and supported by the communities, often also economically - some of them engaged on a full-time basis in pastoral activities, like cathechists or "church leaders" - constitutes a well founded hope for the future. There are currently four Episcopal conferences of the continent: Episcopal Conferences of Pacific, of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, of Australia and of New Zealand.
- In the Australian zone, mostly inhabited by the families of post-war immigrants it is, in particular, urgently needed to offer assistance for discovery of the roots belonging to both European and Asian cultures, marked by a significant religiosity. It is a question of liberating the development of this region from the risk of economism and efficiency which slows down the growth of spirituality.
The new generations must, in particular, receive help to discover, in the light of original traditions, often in the state of dispersion, and of contemporary history, the riskiness of materialism, which deprives the life of meaning and places it in the state of the jungle and intolerance for diversity.
The future of Australia has to be prepared. The disciples of the Risen One have the possibility to co-operate in the vital construction of the synthesis of the values of "having" and values of "being", not considered at the same level, but in the sense of functionality of the former towards the latter. They will, furthermore, co-operate in order to build a life together - based on justice - of people of different origin, but committed to elevate a civilisation which is necessarily indivisible, in a horizon of solidarity and subsidiarity.
Australia has the right to expect a believable Christian growth, in order to renew the authentic quality of life. In this new climate the tendency towards promotion and sharing of power will mature, also to the advantage of the newly arrived and of Aborigines who often lack an incisive voice, by means of a real democracy.
5. Solidarity - a Response to the Challenge of Globalisation
Finally, the communities of Emanuel's followers who carry in their code his sign and his seed to grow and develop, have been called, in this crossroads of civilisations, to make themselves the churches-with, churches-for, churches-in, with regard to the cultures of this planet. And always and only in the spirit of service to the man, a theomorphic icon and candidate for the perfect Kingdom.
It is the question of constructing with commitment the community of company (with), community of diakonia (for), community of syntony (in), with regard to the availability of the salvation of man. It is the question of creating preconditions for the growth of values of freedom, of solidarity, of dynamism in opening upward and forward. That objective appears so urgent as the world situation becomes insidious because of neo-liberalistic management in the conditions of globalisation.
There are two works containing a lucid analysis of the planetary economy. They deal with the metamorphosis of neo-capitalism at the turn of the two centuries. Ralf Dahrendorf makes an in-depth examination of a socio-economic kind under the symptomatic title Squaring the Circle [21]. The distinguished director of the London School of Economics takes pulse of our planet by an academic and relentless research of opportunistic optimism. He presents an in-depth analysis both of the most advanced world and of the rest of the planet which, as he observes, is not going down any more because it has already sunk. As to the former world, he indicates the tendency to hypervaluation of the economy followed by the collapse of social rules intertwined in the darkening of the sacred sense of life and in the increase of unemployment, distrust in institutions as well as multiplication of offences and suicides.
After that, he discusses the spreading of the phenomenon of globalisation in which "all economies are intertwined in a single competitive market"[22]. A by-product of the system is the so-called "zero persons". The author explains himself in the following way: "Some persons, although it is horrible even to write it down, are simply of no use: the economy can grow even without their contribution; from whatever viewpoint it is regarded, for the rest of the society they do not represent any benefit, but just cost".[23] The social fabric is explained in this way: "People who are really disadvantaged have no sense of belonging. The rich can become richer without them. [...] The gross national product continues to grow next to their misery[24]. A duality which emerges in this way is indicated by Dahrendorf in the following way: "A sensation is spread that every rule is dying out and a profound insecurity is diffused".[25]
Another documented analysis deals with the disintegration of the society caused by the erosion of social rules. It is written by Edward N. Luttwak and also has an indicative title: The Dictatorship of Capitalism[26]. He calls it by a neologism turbo-capitalism and continues by describing it in the following words: "They call it a free market, but I would rather define it as the overfed capitalism, or more simply the turbo-capitalism, because it is substantially different from the rigorously controlled capitalism which flourished from 1945 to the Eighties and which gave to the people of the United States, Western Europe and all other countries that followed its tracks a sensational innovation of mass richness. However, the extremes tend to converge, and therefore, one should not be surprised by the fact that the new turbo-capitalism has many characteristics in common with the Soviet version of communism. In fact, the turbo-capitalism also offers a single model and a single corpus of rules for all the countries in the world, by ignoring all differences related to society, culture and temperament"[27]. In continuation of his analysis, the author makes coincidental the uncurbed progress with disintegration of the society. "To allow an undisturbed advancement of turbo-capitalism means to break up the society into a small élite of winners, a large mass of losers being at different levels of welfare or poverty and a category of rebels who commit crimes. As a result, erosion affects not only the sense of social belonging, but also the family which requires the time that is used for running in the more and more frantic way.@[28]. In this context, a trend of levelling of values innate in the social structures in conformity with their humanitarian purposes is registered. AMaking possible for the turbo-capitalism to transform every institution, from hospitals to publishing houses and marathons, into corporations directed towards maximum profits distorts and twists their essential purpose@.[29]
Turbo-capitalism has come to the shore of geo-economy, where the great powers nourish a new type of interconnectedness which is not of a nationalist and military kind any more, but rather of an economic and financial type. This system has three fundamental characteristics. First of all, the economic and entrepreneurial deregulation. It was established in England in the Seventies and imported by the U.S.A. in the Eighties. It implies the passage from a regulated economy to a deregulated one, in which the arrival of cybernetics that substitutes human work is favoured.
In this framework, the phenomenon of re-measurement and restructuring as the supreme rule means the application of the principle whereby the economy is superior to the work and the work is superior to the man. John Paul II in Laborem exercens had announced an opposite principle: Ain the first place work is >for man= and not man >for work=@.[30] And simultaneously: AOnce more the fundamental principle must be repeated: the hierarchy of values and the profound meaning of work itself require that capital should be at the service of labour and not labour at the service of capital@.[31] As to the materialism and economicism a A radical overcoming @ was hoped for through Achanges in line with the definite conviction of the primacy of the person over things, and of human labour over capital as a whole collection of means of production @.[32]
The second characteristic is related to the liberalisation of financial transactions, thanks to the real-time flow of torrents of dollars from one place in the world to another, made possible by means of data transmission. This results in the swiftness of investments and disinvestments, facility of making speculations in the stock market and of playing financial games, a pervert roulette of these times that can make small enterprises go bankrupt and increase interest rates on public debt. Which happens at the international level. What is more worrying at the level of values and ethics is the fact that in such trends the possibility of control does not exist. In fact, for the time being even the possibility of monitoring does not exist. This process can not be localised. The cyberspace is the only space. Besides, the financial centres of transit of capital are in private hands, and, therefore, thanks to the data transmission technology, they can not be controlled by any national or world government.[33]
Moreover, there is the phenomenon of globalisation, i.e. reduction of the world to a single market characterised, in fact, by socio-economic deregulation and financial liberalisation. In this way the globalisation reveals itself as an apparent opening towards underdeveloped countries, but with the intention to make money by speculating on misery and on surplus labour with the full enjoyment of surplus value. This unrestrained liberism has, among many of its social effects, the exclusion of losers desperate because of their future and breakup of their families. To put it more simply, the cost of labour B and consequently, of salaries B in underdeveloped countries is imposed by the game played by economic-financial and entrepreneurial societies. And, with regard to the public debt of these countries, it must be said that interest rates have been imposed by some centres of power of the rich countries.
The social differences between the rich and the poor have, therefore, grown more marked in an impressive way. What emerges here is called the superstar effect where the winner beats all hollow and the loser risks to have nothing more left. And all this happens because the winner has the power to change the rules of the game, or better still, to impose the rule of deregulation. And in this way a path is being opened for what has already been called Aglobo-colonisation@.
These signs which put in danger a concrete man, made of flesh, blood and tears can be attributed to the trend of thought which appears as a setback to humanism and hope. And this happens for very serious motives. First of all, for the most important objective of the globalisation system which is the maximisation of profits without corresponding rise of salaries.[34] Then, because the system, with its rigid methods aimed at this objective, neither can directly take care of the human development of the community, nor does it make any difference between products manufactured with the invested capital: arms or culture, narcotics or medicines. Neither B we could say - of quality and quantity of the production, having in mind the fact that the objective can be reached even if the production is reduced. The world of finance tends to detach itself from, and become independent of the world of production.
In fact, the globalisation seems to be a form of neo-colonialism which makes use of connections via fax and Internet in an undisturbed and silent way. Such style is exactly the opposite of what the ancient colonisers did. Namely, they stood out for a loud rhetoric of conquest and for a deafening music of fanfare. Today's colonialism is more radical and sprawling than its original form.
In such a climate the emperors of the Third Millennium, managers of the planetary empire of money can thrive.[35]
At the beginning of the process, globalisation was appraised with optimism because of the distribution of general wealth which was hoped for. To be honest, this optimism is not consistent any more. The crises of the three-year period ending this century - particularly in Russia, Latin America and Asia and in terrifying consequences on African economies - show the fragility of global market mechanisms. And these storms are almost physiologically recurrent.
Economic globalisation has to be contextualised in a perspective of cultural and spiritual globalisation focused on the man, every man on the Earth. Every single person who must be helped (subsidiarity) in the name of distributive justice in conditions of humanism in order that he may enjoy the benefits of civilisation (work, education and health care, shared wealth, access to means) according to his merits and according to his needs.
The Churches should, therefore, weave the woof of commitment to solidarity, in order to create among the continents and peoples, as well as within particular nations, objective possibilities for a world government.
This is the objective of the XXI century. It would guarantee the process of planetisation without any further polarisation, which would indicate an incessant evolution of the world. It would imply an authentic application of Populorum progressio the only one which has been granted a historical qualification for human life, as the development of all nations and of every nation.
It is an indispensable contribution to be given to the world by the Christian churches, which are marked by universality, together with historical religions, in their passage from the regime of throne to the regime of tent.
As the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us[36], so the Churches have to interweave themselves in the fabric of history of continents and plant their tents along the winding roads of the ascent of people towards the goals of unity.
6. The first and the last: Messianic practice
The last are called by this name because they lack power, space, and future. The last, because they even did not make their voice heard against their expulsion to underground caverns of history, because they have never been allowed - except at the formal level so exalted by neo-liberism - to see the light of their rights.
The followers of the Gospel get to grips with the drama of "underpeople" in terms of challenges and incentives. If the Church is the servant of God of mankind and of the mankind of God, it must co-operate in order to realise His prophecy regarding the last who have to become the first[37].
The point is to realise the prophetic programme of Magnificat[38], sung by a daughter of Israel, who belonged to the group of the last, if judged by the great imperial society in which she used to live, but who was called by the Most High to take the role of the first one in the new order of the Kingdom, or better still, of a collaborator in its very advent. Mary is the model, guide, the most condensed portion of the people of Anawim of Jehovah, on its way towards liberation.
The last ones are the people with equal dignity. In fact, they are a living icon of the new humanity. They are Christ. They are the ones in whom He explicitly identified Himself[39]. Therefore, the challenge has to be faced by the disciples in the sense of a serious commitment, i.e. not of formal justice, but of the love for people that is jeopardised.
Love, as a historic diaconia, is a Paschal law. The First Epistle of (St.) John explains and identifies the passage from death to life with the concrete love. ANow we know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers@[40]. The historic mediation for realisation of this rule of life in a desired form is the selection of the last ones, in the regime of exodus. In fact, love is not expressed in a generic or vague form. It is, on the contrary, directed towards the poorest members of the community, in order to make the last become the first. And this is the law of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is already here. The future is already present. It is true, the Kingdom embraces everyone. It does not exclude anyone. Oppressors and the oppressed are both involved in the process of liberation. God wants to liberate them all. And thus, He recommends to the oppressors to free themselves from interior slavery, as He said to the ancient pharaoh to let the oppressed people go[41]. The freedom is indivisible. It is not possible to be free in a community if one part of such community is denied the opportunity to exercise this dimension. It is a constituent part of the man, in its interior form. Which, by its nature, tends to express itself at historical levels of an economic, social, legal, political kind.[42]
The Church assumes Messianic practice as its own. It has, as its constant centre, the selection of the last ones. At its roots is the attitude of compassion, i.e. to suffer with those who suffer[43], to take on an immense weight of the world. Albert Nolan notices the necessity for those who believe to interweave themselves in their own times, with the same spirit as Christ did with His times. AWe should start, exactly as He did, with compassion: compassion for millions of human beings who are dying of hunger, for those who are humiliated and rejected, and for billions of individuals in the future who will suffer because of the way we live today. And only when we discover, as the Good Samaritan, our common humanity, shall we begin to experience what Jesus experienced@[44]. To avoid any misunderstanding, it should be well clarified that Athe Italian word >compassion= is far from expressing the emotion that was actually experienced by Jesus. The Greek verb splanchnízomai which is used in all texts, derives from the term splánchnon, which means internal parts of the heart (it. viscere), that is to say, the profound sources from which strong emotions seem to come. The Greek verb, therefore, means a movement or an impulse which comes from the heart, a profound and sincere reaction to goodness@[45]. The Church is the sacrament of the meeting with God who is peace[46]. Therefore, it has to be able to show itself as a credible sign of peace, that is, the space for experiencing peace, through forming the fabric of justice. Its joy, radiant like the sign ABlessed are the peacemakers@ [47], is aimed at this task.
7. The South of the World B a New Frontier
The selection of the last ones is, furthermore, identified with a concrete engagement for the South of the world, which is today marginalised and euphemistically called the AThird World@, although it would be more appropriate to call it the AWorld of the Last Ones@. And particularly this geo-historic space is the one in which, as indicated above, the Church will develop in the Third Millennium.
Easter is a struggle against death in all its forms. The Church has taken order to fight this uninterrupted battle. One of the most serious manifestations of death throughout the history today is the so-called Atepid war@. The more it is mystified, the more it will be insidious in a horizon which is declared as the time of peace.
On the threshold of the millennium, a gigantic problem facing the world is the issue of economic and social, politic and structural disproportions.
From the global point of view, the line which is dividing the world goes transversally between the North and the South. This is the problem which is related to the shortage of values and meanings for the former. And to the shortage of bread and facilities for the latter. Interdependence between geographic and problematic areas highlights the fact that the hunger of the first ones devastates the South because the shortage of values is strong in the North.
Today an undeclared war is conducted between the world of hyper-development and the world of under-development. We can call it a Atepid war@.
The Awarm war@ of the Thirties, as some people used to call it, which lasted from 1915 to 1945 and which culminated in the two world wars and in the raging of totalitarisms in the West was followed by the Acold war@ between the East and the West from 1945 to around 1989. It overlapped with the A tepid war @ between the North and the South. The warm war was a real war conflict. The cold war was marked by the force of deterrence and by the aversion discovered between the two great powers and their satellites. The Atepid@ war is marked by covering-up of profound dynamics of iniquity and indifference. There is a violence of attack and a violence of indifference. It is the violence of non-far-essere which is caused by the attitude of non-essere. The nihilism of values which leads to the nihilism of relationships.
The Church which has the historic mission to serve the man, by incarnating, pointing out and relaunching values, enters this immense task as a promoter of values for the North of the world. And all this has the purpose to ensure that the South might have enough bread and resources, in order to be able to elaborate in a dignified manner its own culture, while respecting its own original identities. To stop this war which is most deadly because it is most silent.
This means that the Church of 2000 will be the community which announces the Easter[48], by raising awareness of the value of solidarity and of subsidiarity in the North, as well as of mobility and co-responsibility in the South. The South of the world will never be able to "take off" because of the public debt becoming ever more disastrous as the Pontifical Commission Iustitia et Pax pointed out in one courageous document[49].
It is primarily in this direction that the Paschal work of the Church must animate and continue to offer encouragement. In spite of all the superiority of the North itself which needs to have space for market. However, apart from this criterion of interest, it is necessary to reactivate in the North the genetic principle of the West - alas, often betrayed - of the centrality of the man and not of economy, which remains functional.
In parallel with this service of hetero-stimulation, the Churches of the North will have to promote their commitment to self-activation.. Which is always the sign of vitality made on a human scale. Not, therefore, of a frenetic and possessive type, but of a dynamic and oblatory nature, because this is where the maturity of a whole civilisation is revealed.
8. Pressing Needs and Incentives
For the Church of Christ Risen, as a pilgrim in the time, three urgent tasks are, on the threshold of the Third Millennium, solved by strengthening its genetic code of koinonía, profezia and diaconia. The koinonía is the form of being a member of the Church. Ekklesía - which was actually a term to designate the community of followers - means exactly a convocation united by profound ties. The faithfulness to this dimension implies the growth of intra-ecclesial dialogue between the centre and local churches, and between local churches themselves, as well as confrontation and ecumenic journey, even though it is arduous. The fundamental attitude is, thus, the one which involves respect for, and valuation of all charisms, which in view of faith assume the connotation of coming from the Spirit which works abundantly even in the base. This results in a co-responsibility between the adult and mature members of the people of God.
The second dimension is the prophecy. It includes the capacity of mediation and reconciliation. It is revealed in the dialogue of the Church with the cultures marked by pluralism.
In every culture both the seeds of the Word and the toxins of antichrist are in the state of latency. The world, as well as every geo-historic manifestation of it, is symbolised by the field mentioned in the Gospel parable, the field which contains a mixture of wheat and darnel[50]. It is a permanent intertwinement of the mystery of the Kingdom[51] and the mystery of lawlessness[52].
Evangelisation strengthens these seeds by announcing realities which make them fully meaningful. Besides, it contributes to the purification from the poisons which stop the growth of the human in the history.
To be an ecclesial prophet implies the capacity of denouncing and announcing. These activities can not be performed at a distance, but rather while living and suffering together, particularly with regard to the valuation of the signs in which the Divine stands out. This prophetic task includes, therefore, the capacity of the Church to exercise inculturation and acculturation, thanks to its task to bring fermentation and to be the light and salt of the world, indicated by the divine Founder[53].
The issue to be dealt with today is to take again the questions which remained unsolved after the shattering of ideologies. It is an immense heritage at risk of remaining dispersed unless subjected to discernment. The ecclesial prophecy extends today also to the duty to help to read the questions underlying big ideologies that collapsed.
The Adiaconal essence @ of the Church means to continue the service of Christ. It is directed towards the world which is loved by God[54]. It does not appear vague, but differentiated. This implies that, within its activities of service, the Church must respect pressing needs. It requires a preferential choice of old kinds of poverty the victims of which are people still suffocated in primary needs all over the world, and the new kinds of poverty relating to the people oppressed in their fundamental needs, i.e. those related primarily to the meaning of life and victory over the lack of sense and over the sense of loneliness.
9. Newness and Incarnation
Therefore, the Church on the threshold of the Millennium has already proclaimed its role, with a formula which condenses the pressing needs facing it. It spoke about the new evangelisation. And it did it in the most significant way in the Magna Charta of the laity[55].
Evangelisation is announcement of the newness which is ever more ancient and ever more fresh like the water springing from the source of the salvific love of God B which gives meaning, because it offers access to the life of man B and of the resurrection of the Son, as the fresh news and prolepsis that everything in the history will be in a good sign.
This announcement develops along the lines of the Good News[56] condensed in the event-Christ and spread by Him B who is both kerux and kérigma, i.e. the announcer and the announced. In short, it is nothing but the continuation of incarnation of the Word.
This is the greatest newness of all the times. Nevertheless, this nature of newness does not concern today just such contents, but, on the contrary, it refers to the history which awaits in a more adequate and appropriate form. It was John XXIII who indicated that AChristian, Catholic and apostolic spirit of the whole word, expects a vast improvementY [Y] Another issue, as the Pontiff of a great turning point went on B is the very deposit of the faith, [Y] and another is the form in which the truths contained in our doctrine are enunciated. It will be necessary to attribute great importance to such form, and if necessary, efforts will have to be made to insist patiently on its elaboration@[57].
Therefore, what is needed is the newness in pastoral form, understood as the promotion of the integral man by the Church. This is an anthropological turn which has characterised the decades preceding the beginning of the Third Millennium and which continues to challenge the community of those who believe.
This new form of pastoral work is the response to historic novelties of these days.
First of all, the novelty of historic frontiers, like for example the areas of human dignity, religious freedom, family as a priority space for societal commitment, the spheres of political, economic and cultural service,[58] and finally, the geopolitic orders renewed by means of imposed corrections of the course and viewpoint.
Then, there is the novelty of historic vision. Today, the history is not considered only as memory, but also as a project. Consequently, the Gospel must be explored in terms of its project-related responsibility, which has incarnational and eschatological nature.
Another type of novelty is derived from this one, the novelty which is related to the method and language. It is necessary not only to essentialise the message by liberating it from outdated cultural interpretations B a hermeneutical problem B but also to know how to communicate it to different levels, by the method of inculturation which can - as we have seen B be considered as an aspect of incarnation. A key problem for the Christianity of the secular age is the one which concerns the religious language. Even Dietrich Banhoeffer himself addressed the problem of Ahow@ to talk about God in a Asecular@ fabric and style, in order to make oneself understood by the people of secularisation[59].
10. New evangelisation B A passport for the Future
It is worthwhile having in mind that today=s world is marked by a phenomenon called Asecondary illiteracy@[60] by Hans-Magnus Enzensberger, a person who was engaged in the discussion on the late capitalistic society. It is the result of the thought hetero-directed by the mass-media-related macrostructure and so shaped by the images and influenced by the messages of the ephemeral. The De cathechizandis rudibus by Augustine[61] has to be drawn on and acculturated.
Having that in mind, we must immediately add that there is a more profound level with of secondary illiteracy which is not just a systematic rejection of the minimum permanent education and passivity in front of every-day incursions of the mass media, but it rather consists of ignorance or loss of fundamental meanings of existence. We could call it the radical illiteracy.
A secondary illiterate of the first level presumes to apologise by repeating the old proverb primum vivere, deinde philosophari. Especially because deinde almost never arrives, it is necessary today to reconsider that saying in accordance with the instructions of a master of logotherapy. While speaking about experiences that he and his fellow sufferers had in concentration camps, Viktor Frankl warns that as the life becomes more dreary, the need to prefer philosophari is more and more awaken. On account of that he intends: "to explain to yourself the question of definitive meaning"[62].
Life without meaning is vegetation. If one lives without meaning, he dies inside himself, unremittingly.
The new evangelisation can not fail to take care of this situation of semantic and radical illiteracy, which often affects even the persons of stagnant and resigned religiosity. In order to tackle such situation we need an operation called pre-evangelisation, necessary to prepare announcement. It is not a phase outside of evangelisation, but it becomes its integral part, because we are dealing here with a new evangelisation aimed at a world having so wide physiognomy,.
Being more radical than atheism, the lack of meaning remains the challenge on the horizons of all the challenges in the world facing the Church of the future. And the sails can not be struck.
At the end arises the novelty of protagonists, as a coefficient of the category of new evangelisation.
The task of evangelisation is the task of the whole people of God, "each according to his character and vocation"[63].
The contents of this new evangelisation - which is a real new frontier - can be described primarily in the area of the world, i.e. within the fabric of secularity. This is the field of action for the charism of the lay faithful.
The new evangelisation is the new conscience of the Church, re-awaken primarily in its widest stratum, which is the laity. The future of the Church passes through this growth of pastoral responsibility and creativity, of autonomy and sense of belonging of the laity considered as the presence of the Church in and for today's world. The new frontier of evangelisation passes through a new humanism placed in the hands of the new lay persons[64].
A particular order is given to the youth in order to accomplish this task of building the future. They are the ones who have been called to be "active on behalf of the Church as leading characters in evangelisation and participants in the renewal of society"[65].
11. Hope on the Frontier
There is a dialogue between young people and the Church, entrusted with making itself renewed by means of its Spirit. "The Church has so much to talk about with youth, and youth have so much to share with the Church. This mutual dialogue, by taking place with great cordiality, clarity and courage, will provide a favourable setting for the meeting and exchange between generations, and will be the source of richness and youthfulness for the Church and civil society"[66].
The new evangelisation is, therefore, not a question of words, but of service. Not of propaganda, but of testimony. Not of "having" and of power, but of "being" and co-operating.
The new evangelisation implies, first of all, a task to incarnate the already mentioned trinomial, which characterised the Church still warm from Pentecost. And, ad intra of the Church, it means to grow in a koinonía without any rails, in an order of general diakonía of the world without frontiers. In this way the capacity of a credible profezia and an incisive martyría will be boosted. Which means: a strengthened communion inside the Church will redound to a more useful service to people. A manifestation of such communion for service is called testimony. It will be the most credible evangelisation for the future, just like the prophetic language, which invokes the Almighty and opens itself ahead.
These are physiognomic traits of the primigenial Church. The task of the new evangelisation requires, therefore a return forward of a community which, exactly in the faithfulness to its genetic code, discovers the just tone for the faithfulness to the future.
Then, as to the form of the new evangelisation, account has to be taken of the following comparison.
In the First Millennium, the Churches have many times carried out evangelisation in an itinerant form. Paul, an itinerant apostle is one symbol of it. In the Second Millennium they used to prefer the institutional form: Establishment of schools, hospitals, orphanages. In the Third Millennium a tendency towards evangelisation in an ambiental form is starting to push its way. It concerns the creation of the fabric of communion among the people. The Churches of the Third Millennium, just like the salt of a land which is shattered, but in need of conciliation, have in front of them the field of mediation between persons, between groups and between cultures.
To know how to mediate means to be expert in relationships in their psychological, cultural and particularly spiritual dynamics, by fostering and strengthening everything that unites.
To know how to mediate means to help to decodify the manipulative and underhand messages in order to create critical and free minds which would know how to relate to each other, aiming at the positive aspects of their richness of which they can make use among themselves in order to grow.
To know how to mediate means to defend the undefended, bravely, uncompromisingly, but by means of the strategy of non-violence. Which is far from being acquiescence. On the contrary, it is a genuine active resistance, without any aggression. Its teacher remains Gandhi, who, inspired exactly by the Gospel, taught us that non-violence does not mean to give up the struggle against evil. It is just another type of struggle, even more active and efficient than the law of retaliation, but placed on the moral level.
To know how to mediate means to educate on contemplation and reasonableness, on globalisation and on providing critical information, as well as counter-information, especially on concrete and persevering gestures in a horizon of the Acivilisation of love@[67].
To know how to mediate means to educate on the culture of reconciliation, which is based on God=s passion for the noun-substantive (sub-stantia): man. The adjective represents a modulation, and not modification of substance. Whether he be red or black, white or yellow, the man always remains a sacred entity. Even if the adjective connotes wickedness, the passion for the noun-substantive denotes a constructive hope which can change the negative qualification, thanks to a supplementary task of taking care for his growth.
Finally, the communities of those who believe in Christ Risen, while living the time of meantime, that is, in temporariness of history, but waiting for a stable and eternal meta-history, need to offer to the world which is waiting the sign of incarnated Jonah, a practice of resurrection, as a response to incentives and challenges.
On the hill of Ain Karem Mary sang the Magnificat B a genuine exultet ante literam[68] - a hymn on the permanent passage in the life of temporariness from prehistory, marked by the formula the man on the man, to authentic history, characterised by the formula the man for the man. She has the experience of Easter as an opening of the ways for the future in the culture of life.
The Church which sees her as a condensed model of the newness brought by the Son, is, today more than ever before - while the signs of death multiply - called to reproduce the style of the Paschal Woman.
Within the Church the believers will, therefore, make efforts, together with other historic forms of religion and with all the people of Good Will from the cultures of the world, to give a decisive push to the future of the man, by creating a man of future.
APPENDIX
It is useful to raise a number of problematic issues regarding the situation in different parts of our planet.
1. Hardships of the Civilisation
The West is like a robust body, but a victim of convulsions of consumerism, frenzies of capitalism and obsessions of ethnocentricity. Hedonism and nihilism attack its humanistic roots. Relativism is becoming the framework of ethic reference. The manipulative materialism is spreading secularism in growing forms of religious indifference. People continue to ride on a train at a crazy speed. They start to suffer from dizziness because of some threats which were unimaginable just short time ago.
There has been registered a striking tendency towards pragmatism, accompanied by the cooling of ideals and diminished capacity of political representatives to summarise and organise appeals originating from the base in a horizon of a society which is complex. It results in the separation of real life from legal life, scepticism and mistrust towards institutions which often happens in the reality of democracy, although it was born in the Western civilisation.
1.1. In Europe, in particular, a tendency towards the fall of unity, ideality, towards fragmentisation is noticeable.[69]
The project of the Nation-State, which used to ensure social, political and economic power to the minorities, seems to be today at risk, due to the reduction of its adhesive strength.
A high demographic drop is also noticed. Apart from any other consideration, such situation will very soon impose in the West the need for new inter-cultural aggregations, with the acceptance of major inflows of immigrants, in spite of a phobic obsession with the Astranger@, the obsession which reveals itself in the form of recurrent racism and, sometimes, neo-Nazism.
The European continent, whose genetic code shows a striking attitude towards synthesis, is inclined B first of all at the level of radical anthropology B to the separation between the homo faber and the homo sapiens, either because of neo-capitalistic materialism or because of the mentality which prefers presentism and immediatism.
The second imbalance is created between the pole of unity and the pole of plurality. Although proclaiming and spreading democracy B which is of formal, rather than social and economic type B unity is an appearance of convergence and the plurality is at risk of being a set of differentiated entities.
Another imbalance is created between national and supranational entities. Nationalist feelings explode between member states and the collective body, where the stronger is the one which tends to make law. In spite of the principles ratified in Helsinki in 1975. It is the place where reconciliation and recognition of the right of everyone entitled to them was promoted, in order to build in a creative manner mechanisms for peaceful settlement of disputes and for reaffirmation of peculiarities. The underlying tendency was moving along the line of relativisation of sovereignties of the states and strengthening of the European Communities structures, capable of defending the most vulnerable groups.
It is necessary to build our common house to be a Asocial@ Europe, even before than a political and economic Europe. Within the West itself, we can actually notice a North and a South which are made up both of the native people and of the ghettoised zones of immigrant population.
Such common house can not be an old barricaded blockhouse, but a new building to be entirely reconstructed on the same ground, which would embrace, with the current members of the Community, the countries of the East and those countries of the Mediterranean basin which have applied for its membership.
It is important to make sure that, in accordance with the spirit of social and economic as well as political democracy, there are no superior levels inhabited by more powerful forces and inferior levels bound to the poor and to those who have come last. That is, it is necessary to ensure that this would not be the case of a feudal castle with the ground floor crowded by the serfs. There is a real danger of emergence of a South in a position of inferiority in the heart of the West. Europe of individualistic philosophy has to be replaced by Europe of solidarity.
1.2. The U.S.A. B a geopolitic reality originally derived from the West and now a planetary force B evoke in the world not only the symbol of hegemony, but also represent a dream of the masses of refugees and emigrants. [70]
The U.S.A. constitute an object of ultimate hope of the people overcome by despair. They are the country of a self-made man, of the ever-new frontiers, of the technology which is growing exponentially. The U.S.A. also emerge as one of determinant factors of economic and financial balance and imbalance on the planetary level B the dollar is law B and of the politics of control and setting down conditions on the vast areas of our planet.
Nevertheless, the U.S.A. have, paradoxically, remained the state in which the number of the street people and the homeless has increased in the recent years. If Rio de Janeiro has its favelas, and if Ankara has its gecekondus, the U.S.A. have also had the experience of cardboard dwellings, with the increase of the phenomenon of unemployment and of inequality of women in acquiring qualifications and in career promotion.
In the most delicate area of a civilisation, which is the education of people of the future, the increase of misuse of drugs among very young persons is registered. The whole educational system is the one which is held accountable. In late Eighties and early Nineties, the city violence reached alarming levels. It is symptomatic that the mayor of Washington has on a number of occasions been forced to resort to the imposition of curfew for minors. The ABig Apple@ or New York seems similarly typical as a place in which six fatal holdups are registered every day. They are linked with a high percentage of drug trafficking. The city which was a symbol of American dream has been transformed into a space of ruthless aggression and economic inequality. Will the ABig Apply@ manage to avoid becoming rotten? It is a symbolic challenge for the whole America, a country of contradictions, a planetary mirror of convulsions. A country in search of the big promise of the new frontier. First of all, a moral one.
Within such a new situation of distress, some ethic questions arise to avoid derailment. The ethics has also an economic value. In particular, a salvific value. The leadership of the world is at risk of becoming a mediator-exporter of the models of life which are economically alive, but often culturally lifeless. It is urgently needed to propose once again the forms of re-discovery and re-launching of an extremely rich heritage which would plunge its roots in the humus of a message with its four fundamental civilisational values: interiority, solidarity, historic dynamism, significativeness of the cosmic rule. Only in this way will the conscience of transformation of the economic leadership arise in a new culture of service to the man.
1.3. With regard to the countries which used to belong to the mature socialism (socialist realism), the end of the century catches them in the situation of a profound revision and restructuring. The monolithism of vision and power have revealed themselves as something that leads nowhere and has no historical consistency. The governments which declared themselves to emanate from the people, have then turned out to be something which was oppressive to people. Economies in disruption, underdeveloped technologies, absorbing militarism, disaffection of workers due to demotivation. And primarily, the resistance to that ideology which for decades trampled on the freedom of thought and conscience. The cultural dissidence has held out. Religion did not yield in people=s consciences. On the contrary, in some states the substance of the people=s spirit (Volksgeist) has revealed itself and it was, therefore, really a non-superficial basis for the rejection of the regime.
The eastern wind has blown violently. It was not improvised, but prepared by the collective conscience, nourished by alternative culture. The walls of lime collapsed together with the walls of the ancient distrust. A diversified revolution was born out of it, as we have analysed in the second volume, fundamentally democratic and non violent.
Reasonableness has won in the reconquest of values and in their hierarchisation starting from the man.
Therefore, the cultural, social and political revival is in a ferment. The ways towards a different future are being opened. But, how many temptations to the return to materialism in other forms are registered. The democratic socialism, as a principle of socialisation of the wealth according to the distributive justice, is an instance that should not to be sacrificed to the Moloch of capitalistic materialism always lying in wait. Which in the end remains a form of materialism.
2. Between Emergency and Impotence
2.1. On the threshold of the Millennium Latin America exhibits an ever more dramatic gap between the rich, beneficiaries of external neo-colonialistic protection, and the masses of the poor whose way to immense natural resources of their own land is blocked.[71]
This absurd inequality leads to the explosion of the clash between the ideology of economic and pragmatic liberism up to cynicism B overtly or surreptitiously supported or even replaced by military or paramilitary regimes B and fringes of a revolutionary and reactionary collectivism.[72]
In the middle of that, there are people who are developing awareness of their dignity and of their capacity to walk autonomously, while weaving the warp of a constructive patience. All that, in spite of overwhelming heaviness on the financial, military and criminal systems, related, above all, to death merchants.
A phenomenon of massive exodus from the country and settlement in urban areas, which is either forced because of land expropriation or spontaneous because of unrestrained and desperate hope. It is believed that in Latin America in the Nineties 65% of the population live in dispersed suburbs of large cities. People try to escape from the areas of misery, but they arrive at the situation of a more severe desolation, caused by the process of turbulent urbanisation. In unceasing invasion of the cities, the culture of expediency, exploitation and delinquency thrives. The weakest links of the human chain B the minors, who habitually live on the streets, the meninos da rua B constitute an ethical problem, rather than a problem of police.
On the threshold of the Third Millennium, it is estimated that there are around 20 million of South American citizens who habitually sleep in the open. The senza tetto (homeless) dramatically turn out to be the senza tutto (persons without anything).[73]
The Latin American land is for the most part marked by paradoxes: richness of the land and the misery of income, fertility of life and barriers for new generations. The majority of the poor are young, and the majority of the youth are poor.
2.2. The situation in Africa on the eve of the year 2000 oscillates between the original cultures still strongly rooted in the base and systems of governments in search of political balance after the long lethargy of colonialism.[74]
The traditional values B justice, solidarity, family B are, actually, subject to manipulation because of struggles for power and of groups of religious integralism. In many zones people are slaves to primary needs, like for example, hunger, thirst, diffusion of literacy skills. Today, the social situation in Africa is, in particular, at an alarming level of economic, politic and sanitary depression, and because of that this continent is a region at the highest risk on our planet.
Ethnic conflicts, class differences, demagogies and despotisms, one-party dictatorships, squandering public funds, pharaonic costs incurred by members of the regime, inefficiency of bureaucracy and incompetence of economic and financial apparatuses, systems of endemic corruption, low professionalism of the staff, fragility of educational, sanitary and traffic systems B all of them constitute the worn out fabric of the societies on this continent. These phenomena are frequently united with natural disasters, drought, famine, malnutrition, ancient epidemic outbreaks and the most recent scourges like for example AIDS.[75] International aid is scarce and appears to be greatly inadequate.[76]
The temptations of totalitarism and tribal corruption highlight the effects of the contagion of the systems of colonisation, aggravated by the recurrent signs of racism.
The whole continent is most wounded by colonialism of all: AAfrica is certainly the continent that has more than the others in history paid the price of encountering the external world. Let us remember just some of the simplest facts. The slavery: from 1500 to 1800 al least 50 million slaves were transferred to the Americas. The colonialism: too few facilities have been created which functioned most of all for us and for our plunderings. Africa was looted a lot. The demarcation which was imposed on Africa by the Berlin Conference which divided it into 50 states: an incredible choice. Finally, we have to bear in mind the fact that when independencies arrived, the black middle classes did nothing but became rich off their people, by acting as intermediaries for large international finances, at the expense of local community. All this has clearly made Africa the poorest continent today@.[77]
In such a marginal situation, attempts of various origins B from movements for independence and social promotion to ecclesial movements B are the ones which will be relevant in the future. A commitment is being made to find outlets of participation and market outlets. Efforts are made, in particular, to make vital syntheses between the old values of Africanism and the values of modernity. Which, at the moment of acculturation, knocks insistently on the doors of this continent.
These are the challenges taken up by African Churches and re-launched to the international community, held responsible because of the pressure of foreign debt, of iniquity of commercial bargaining led by the powerful North in its relationships with the South growing ever more impoverished.
The collapse of Eastern regimes has led to a serious crisis of pro-Soviet regimes in Africa.
Scope is now offered for the formation of a democratic conscience. The presence of Churches has in many countries been invoked for this unpostponable work.[78]
3. Between ventures and contrasts
3.1. Asia continues its itinerary of secular wisdom, concentrated in its religions abounding in the sense of transcendence, while is dramatically searching an adjustment to modernity on all levels.[79]
Acculturation of a western kind has not overwhelmed its soul, but has left its mark on its habits and on its political and economic modules. In some countries B like for example in China B of a collectivist choice, a social leap has been registered, starting from the backwardness of mandarins, but at a very high price for traditions of ethnic conscience, for religious and civil freedom.
In other countries - like, for example, in Japan - the economic liberalism, although it was in a way diluted with respect to the western version, tried to distort cultural identity and religious sense of life and ethics that were rooted there, by creating a nation which is hard-working, sated, but lacking in great values and revealing horrible existential emptiness.
In others - like, for example in India - the co-presence of extreme poverty in the population at large and of the bourgeoisie of a western type in the privileged areas does not facilitate the integration of people in justice and in democracy, following the message of Mahatma Gandhi who gave his own life for this ideal.
In the whole East, an effort is made to unite the contemplative aspect, pertaining to its most authentic patrimony, with dynamism of the constructive modernity.
In short, Asia is a very special laboratory full of contrasts. It is a melting pot of some of the oldest religious traditions with the most modern technological development. The most emblematic cities - Dhaka in Bangladesh, Djakarta in Indonesia, Calcutta in India, Shanghai in China - are witnessing a co-existence of reckless economic operations, on one hand, with the masses living in misery, on the other hand. The historical contrast is also conditioned by the cultures of non-violence originating from the religion permeated by contemplation and some of the cruelest wars of this century, like for example, the wars between India and Pakistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Indonesia and East Timor, in addition to fratricidal wars that took place in Korea, China and Vietnam.
These problems are supplemented by the atavistic ones which make today this contrast even more dramatic, in the background of official declaration on human dignity and freedom. We should have in mind, for example, the problem of the dalit or outcasts in India, that is, millions of men and women who have practically no recognised rights.
In a positive perspective, we should notice that a glimpse of a new order is caught in the most populated continent on the Earth. Asia is a giant, not only with regard to the human quantity, but also - as it seems to be - on the level of a unitary quality. Regardless of cultural, political, economic and legislative differences, a need is felt to unite the quality with the quantity.
A long time ago, the creation of the United States of Asia was hoped for as a historical and cultural necessity. Even more so today, after the collapse of polychromous walls, after the crash of bipolarism, after the enlargement of the united states of Europe, after the planned creation of the common market between U.S.A., Mexico and Canada (American Free Trade Agreement).
3.2. Oceania is in a condition of geophysical indentendness and geopolitic renewal, following the old inflows of settlers as well as on-going immigration.
Some new structural problems are coming up, along with the old ones, due to natural conditions. Yesterday they might have been of no primary interest, but today, in a world which is closely interdependent, they are urgent needs to be addressed.
The situation of the Australian region with the highest level of cosmopolitanism on our planet and metropolitan concentration, combined with the very low population density is significant.
Australia was transformed by an enormous post-war immigration, originating from Europe and Asia. The emigrants who settled there have acquired, thanks to their agile work, a strong sense of belonging and are aware of their contribution to the boom of the economy.
However, all this, experienced in the spirit of efficiency and after having gradually affirmed itself without solid references, led to a society of welfare and self-sufficiency, with the traits of intolerance for diversity, which appeared successively on the scene.
Today, a great need is noticed to grant effective power to the growing numbers of the powerless, whether they are aborigines or victims of old or new forms of poverty.
The challenges to Christianity are, therefore, determined by intrusiveness of secularisation which is at risk of degenerating into secularism, within a process of illuminism, hedonism and ethic relativism, linked with a considerable economic inequality of aborigines.
MEĐUGORJE - A "THIRD EYE" GIVEN TO US
If anyone of you has ever met an Indian woman wearing a colourful sari, you must have noted that the majority of them have a bindi on their forehead. What is its deeper meaning is even not known to many Indians. When being asked that question, some will reply that bindi is worn by married women. However, bindi is today used as an ornament even for very young girls. This has a very deep meaning, which can be grasped by observing how Indian deities, including the male ones, are portrayed. All of them wear bindis. It also has a religious meaning.
The answer can be found in the Bhagavad-Gita, a sacred book of Indians which is often compared with the New Testament. It gives an account of the peak of a great battle fought on the battlefield Kuruksetra (near today's New Delhi) between the tribes Pandavas and Kauravas who belonged to the same family, but were at odds. When the king Arjuna, the supreme commander of the tribe Pandavas takes a look on the other side of the battlefield he sees many of his relatives against whom he has to fight. Appalled by that, he throws his arms from the chariot. Then the charioteer turns around and reveals that he is Krishna, the God Vishnu who became a man, and begins to teach Arjuna about the sense of duty. The king, obviously greatly impressed, prays for the grace from the charioteer who allows him to look at his divine nature, in order to remove every suspicion. Krishna then utters the important words:
"But you will not be able to look at me by that eye of yours. I will give you a divine eye. This is my divine miraculous power" (XI,8)
In other words, a human eye can not see a divine nature. In doing so it has to be "destroyed". A special grace is needed, a special eye in order to watch and understand to a certain degree God, and what is more important, the relationship of God towards the universe, towards the whole world made by Him. Since I visited Mepugorje for the first time I have not been able to get rid of that picture.
A Pillar of Light
At the beginning of the events that took place in Mepugorje, many people in the valley saw that the cross on the mount of Kriñevac was transformed into the a Pillar of Light. It is an allusion to the Pillar of Fire which 3000 years ago shown to the Israel the way out of Egypt..
From a corruptible culture to the desert. God prepared for them a brand new catalogue of values according to which the human culture and spiritual life were supposed to develop in the spirit of God.
If we take a look at almost twenty years of Mepugorje, we can find out that many people acquired a completely new approach to the world and relationship with God. As if Our Lady had given to them a "third eye" which makes possible for them to look from now both themselves and the world around them with different eyes. Whether a person believes or not is going to determine the way he perceives the world. It is beyond any controversy. A decision for consumerist mentality or a decision for self-sacrifice will change radically the behaviour of a man. To opt for luxury or for a simple life can give a new quality to an entire culture. It is a matter of making a decision either for power or for serving. It could revolutionise the history of humankind and give to it the dimension of quarrel or of peace in the future.
A Changed Viewpoint
Conversion means a Achanged view@! Conversion made Saul of Tarsus become Paul who suddenly took a different view of the figure of Jesus, His work on the Earth and His message; a view which allowed him to identify himself with those whom he had hated and persecuted until then. AOpt for God!@ are the words that have been repeated by Our Lady of Mepugorje myriads of times.
Conversion or Acommitment to God@ made that many pilgrims, sometimes just curious pilgrims, became prophets. Prophecy is not an interpretation of the future (it is a misunderstanding which we still encounter), but it is rather a memory of everything which God has already revealed to the man, an admonition and signpost showing the way out from a confusing and hopeless situation. It means to recognise the way shown by God a long time ago. A prophet sees through his spiritual eye - enlightened by grace B Adeceitful lights@ of his times and illusions in which people have got lost.
At many religious and ecclesial meetings, even at those which are not of a religious kind, or at the meetings at the national or international levels, one can over and over again meet those persons who today call themselves AFriends of Mepugorje@. It most often happens at the meetings of the youth and at the meetings with the Pope. It appears that they represent an unorganised, spontaneous core of many activities throughout the world. They fathom the rules of the game in the contemporary civilisation, they get through to the heart of the matter and are always where the Spirit of God silently and imperceptibly shows new ways.
They participate actively both in the crisis areas and in spiritual debates.
A prophet suffers first of all the personal consequences of his mission. It applies also to the prophetic movement. By this we can measure whether the message to which he refers derives from God or is based on human self-deception. Mepugorje has contiguously been examined since its early beginnings and is purged in the blaze of slanders, suspicions and distrust. Starting from the difficulties in the Mostar Diocese to the remotest parts of the world. By now it has everywhere passed all these tests. However, having in mind the circumstances, we should prepare ourselves even for the bigger ones in the new millennium.
A prophet can sometimes have a sharp tongue. Because his duty is to criticise the times and the people which has Astrayed from the right path@, and sometimes to appeal to the conscience of Aweak@ and slow leaders. However, he will never try to place himself instead of an institution, he will not overthrow the responsible ones as revolutionaries often do, so that they may climb to power after having successfully overthrown the existing authorities. It would be a betrayal of his mission. He remains a servant of the Almighty. This is true for Mepugorje.
A prophet knows how to listen. He listens attentively to the voice of God. What is characteristic for longtime pilgrims to Mepugorje is not their willingness to discuss, but their capacity to listen. They never get tired of listening. It allows them to reach an inner maturity. Such behaviour is the sign for the whole Church.
Better Perception of Reality
Dr Johannes Dyba, the Archbishop of Fulda, has once, on the occasion of a Mepugorje meeting in Germany in his cathedral, named the Mepugorje pilgrims an Aunbending stock@. This is the greatest praise that one could wish to hear from such a great shepherd. By saying this, he emphasised the steadiness and stamina which are typical for such groups.
One of the most famous psychologists of the 20th century Abraham Maslow noticed once that in his work he had to deal mostly with sick people. After that he got an idea that he could study healthy people as well in order to find out where the cause of their state of health might be found. Maslow was not a particularly religious man, his curiosity was of a purely scientific nature. In the course of many years he used to select those people who attracted attention by their spiritual and physical health. In doing so he made a startling discovery. Of all the traits he could establish in such people, we shall mention here only some:
- They have a better perception of the real world
- They are able to accept themselves, other people and the nature.
- They are directed towards problems.
- They have an unexpended feeling for values. They have a strong ethical character, and what is most important: they are imbued with mystical experiences (the loss of their AI@ and the experience of transcendency)
It was already in 1962 that he could summarise his experiences in the following way:
AThe little that I have read about mystical experiences by that time made me link this with the religion, with the visions of supernaturality. As the majority of scientists, I also scorned it and rejected everything as nonsense, hallucination or maybe hysteria, as something which is most probably pathological. But people who talked to me about that or who wrote about such experiences were not pathological cases. They were the healthiest persons I could find. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the same applies to some Mepugorje groups, which will be confirmed even by some bishops.
"Behold, I Make All Things New" (Rev 21,5)
The notion that grace presupposes nature - "Gratia supponit naturam" - has held out in theology for a long time. Having in mind an old rule, it seems that it is not importants just to listen attentively to the God, like a prophet, but it is necessary to observe the events in the nature and in the history as well. God is not active beyond history, He is active within history. If we want to recognise the prophetical character of Mepugorje, it will not work without making thorough analyses of events that are taking place in the contemporary history, first of all, of great changes, and without our attempts to find out is there any link between messages from the Heaven and events in this life.
A New Era
Against this background there are two notions that deserve special attention:
A. The analysis of the system helps us to realise the relationships, e.g. between the man, machine and environment, and the effects on the economic and social life. In this way it was discovered that economic growth and slump have wave-like trends, and that this cycle has a social, even a moral and religious background. Some believe people that they have noticed that the obsession with sexuality in these times will, in the long run, lead to the economic impoverishment.
Since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment the man has more and more placed himself, i.e. his intellect in the centre. In late 20th century we experienced the collapse of such spiritual attitude on all fronts.
Towards the end of a stage of development a large number of new needs arises which sometimes have completely opposite natures. Such great quantity appears in the moment when many people think that they are at the peak of the stage which is going down. The man who discovered this pattern, the Russian Nikolai Dmitrijewitsch Konrdratieff was in 1938 put to death on the orders of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He was only 46. What was Stalin afraid of?
Just today we are facing a plenty of problems. At the end of the time which was formulated under the influence of hedonism and materialism, the needs of spiritual nature have piled up subconsciously. One day they will find some outlet. The question is what spiritual or false values will then be offered to the man. Our Lady has predicted such sequence of events and since the Eighties She has tirelessly called us: "Opt for God"! Do it in time, before you fall under the influence of new illusions. She has predicted the forthcoming spiritual vacuum in people and She wants to direct it in the right direction.
At the end of the Book of Revelation we read: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev 21,5). It is noticeable that Our Lady uses the word "new" a lot in Her messages. In June 1992 She said: "My presence here is, therefore, to lead you on a new path, the path of salvation." And in November of the same year Her words were: "... to teach you and to guide you to a new life of renunciation and conversion. Only in this way shall you discover God and everything that is far from you now." A month later: "... but throughout the whole world there is much lack of peace. Therefore, I call you to build up a new world of Peace together with me, by means of prayer." In January 1993 She continues her speech: "I am with you and I guide you into a new time."
The End of the "I" Culture
One of the most important cognitions in the physics is the exchange and interaction in the whole being. A universal and fundamental aspect of reality. One author described that in an understandable way: "A butterfly in Australia can cause a hurricane in the Caribbean." Even the smallest things are in constant interaction with the biggest ones!!
For this reason we should remember the message of Our Lady given in December 1992: Therefore, I call you to build up a new world of Peace together with me, by means of prayer. Without you, I cannot do that and, therefore... And, do not forget that your life does not belong to you, but is a gift with which you must bring joy to others and lead them to Eternal Life". "Y.. so that through each of you I may be enabled to convert and save the world.@
For almost twenty years Mepugorje (and by means of Mepugorje, many parts of the world) has been the place where people pray and fast intensively.
Instead of the AI@ culture, Our Lady introduces a new culture which is directed towards other people. Her influence on the destiny of humankind and the course of history is apparent B if we were able to look at this from eternity, we would be amazed. In 1991 the communism fell down. Since 1981 Our Lady has laid foundations for a new way of thinking. She launched a new avalanche of prayers. It must not be stopped. For fun one could say the following: in a totally plain way, Our Lady instructed us, just in passing, in system analysis and in modern physics.
Three Fingers
On 10 October the Spanish philosopher of religion Raimond Panikkar issued for HR2 (a German radio station) a statement which is worthy of attention. He stated that the age of monotheism is over. The Christianity itself has another aspect. This statement can be very easily misinterpreted. Namely, he wanted to say that God is both the life and the relationship!
After the magnificent Way of the Cross was built on Kriñevac, another 15 stations for praying of rosary were added at Podbrdo. The first picture features in a very expressive manner the scene of Annunciation in Nazareth. Generally speaking, the artists of all epochs have been portraying Mary kneeling, immersed in prayer, and in front of her, usually a little above, the angel Gabriel. In Podbrdo it is just the opposite. Mary is standing and in front of her, a little downward, there is a strong angel. He is so big that his right wing breaks through the frame of the picture. The angel extends towards Mary three fingers and introduces himself an envoy of the Triune God. Even before he uttered the message, his very posture demonstrates who is Mary; she is not only full of grace but is also B which is important for him, the AQueen of Angels@.
But the three stretched fingers have another meaning. They announce a new age. The age of the Triune God. God is reflected in different ways both in the world and in the natural laws. The artist has shown a brilliant intuition. Does Mepugorje maybe announce a new age in which the relationships between people will play a decisive role. Her statement: @Do not forget that your life does not belong to you Y a gift with which you must bring joy to others and lead them to Eternal LifeY @ i.e. the life in its entirety. How big is our responsibility was announced by her attentively and kindly in November 1987 when she said : AGod has given to all a freedom which I lovingly respect and humbly submit to."
A visionary from Kurescek whose mission started in Mepugorje received the instruction to build in Slovenia a church in honour of the Holy Trinity.
This leads in the same direction. God raises a little more the curtain which separates us from Him. He wants the end of the civilisation in which people adore themselves and in which human intellect is exalted. He wants to leave His imprint on the humanity and relationships which hold the humanity together. He wants to bring them closer to divinisation.
In this regard Mepugorje was and still is the way and the means. It is a cognition before which we can only fall on our knees and shout: ALord, how miraculous are your ways.@
[1] Cf. Second Ecumenical Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis redintegratio (21.11.1964), n.4, in AAS 57 (1965) 90-107; Id., Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam actuositatem (18.11.1965) n.14 in AAS 58 (1966) 837-864; Id., Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests Presbyterorum ordinis (7.12.1965), n.9, in AAS 58 (1966) 991-1024.
[2] "We have inadvertently - says Walbert Bühlmann - become witnesses of a historic process involving the Church. [...] The southern church plays a leading role, not only from the quantitative, but also from the qualitative point of view. [...] It would be, therefore, possible to write a history of the church and say approximately that the first millennium of Christianity passed under the guidance of the first church, the eastern church with its eight councils, all of which were held in the East. The second millennium has contributed to the uncontested predominance of the second church, the western church, our church in the proper meaning of that word. In the third millennium, the church of the Third World will probably be the one which will take the lead, but always within one and unique Catholic Church." (W. Bühlmann, La Chiesa alle soglie del terzo millenio [The Church on the Threshold of the Third Millennium], Dehoniane, Bologna 1990, pp. 25-26).
[3] J.-B. Metz, Im Aufbruch zu einer kulturell polyzentrischen Weltkirche, in "Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft", Münster i. W., (1986) 140.
[4] W. Bühlmann, La Chiesa alle soglie del terzo millenio (The Church on the Threshold of the Third Millennium), o.c., p. 28.
[5] Bühlmann, with his eyes on the essentialised conciliar provisions proposes a kind of Decalogue of the Church on the threshold of the third millennium, the Church which is truly one and culturally polycentric. Such suggestions have been distributed at three levels: the first three belong to the level of ecclesial problems; the next four are at the level of problems related to particular continents; and, finally, the last three are at the level of problems of the world. "1. You should respect the right scope of the mind: autonomy of the sciences. 2. You should consider yourself the people of God: the laity in the Church. 3. You should make peace with other Christians: ecumenism. 4. You should take sides with the poor. Justice: Latin America. 5. You should admire the greatness of the Creator. Inculturation: Africa. 6. You should recognise the "I am" of all the nations. The dialogue with the religions: Asia. 7. You should accompany the believers-nomads. Secularisation: Europe and America. 8. You should reinforce the lines of peacemakers: Iustitia et pax. 9. You should develop the earth on the track of paradise: ecology and eschatology. 10. You should meet God of History: mystic and politics" (Ibidem, pp. 41-42).
[6] Cf. Jn 3,16.
[7] Cf. Chr.Duquoc, Liberazione e progressismo. Un dialogo teologico tra l'America Latina e l'Europa (Liberation and Progressivism. A Theological Dialogue between the Latin America and Europe), Cittadella, Assisi 1989.
[8] Cf. A. Rizzi, L'Europa e l'altro. Abbozzo di una teologia europea della liberazione
(Europe and Other. A draft of a European Theology of Liberation), Paoline, Cinisello Balsamo 1991.
[9] Cf. Sinodo dei vescovi. Assemblea speciale per l=Europa, Siamo testimoni di Cristo che ci ha liberati (Synod of Bishops. Special Assembly for Europe, We are the Witnesses of the Christ who Has Freed Us), Paoline, Milano 1999; S. Palumbieri, L'uomo e il futuro II/ Germi di futuro per l'uomo (The Man and the Future II/The Seeds of the Future for the Man), Dehoniane, Rome 1993, pp. 146-148.
[10] Cf. Congregazione per la dottrina della fede, Istruzione su libertà cristiana e liberazione (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on the Christian Freedom and Liberation). Tip. Poliglotta Vaticana, 1986.
[11] P. de Charentenay, El desarollo del hombre de los pueblos, Sal Tarrae, Santander 1992; J. Comblin-J. I. GonzÁles Faus-J. Sobrino, Cambio social y pensiamento cristiano en America Latina, Trotta, Madrid 1993; J. Comblin, Spirito Santo e liberazione (Holy Spirit and Liberation), Cittadella, Assisi 1991; Paraguayan Episcopal Conference, Sobre la teologia de la liberación, in "Páginas" (1990) 92-113; O. Marson, Vangelo chiesa e liberazione. Dibattitto sulla teologia latinoamericana (Gospel, Church and Liberation. A Debate on Latin-American Theology), Concordia Sette, Pordenone 1992; B. Mondin, Los teólogos de la liberación, Edicep, Madrid 1992; J. B. LibÂnio, Teologia de la libertaçao, Roteiro didático para um estudo, S. Paulo 1987.
[12] Episcopato Latinoamericano, Santo Domingo. IV Conferenza generale (Latin American Episcopate, Santo Domingo. IV General Conference), Dehoniane Bologna 1992.
[13] J. Sobrino, Il martirio dei gesuiti salvadoregni (The Martyrdom of Salvadoran Jesuits), La Piccola Editrice, Celleno 1990; Id., Resurrección de la verdadera Iglesia. Los Pobres como lugar teológico de la eclesiología, santander 1989.
[14] Piersandro Vanzan notes: "The importance of the Latin American church is not only quantitative, with its share in the universal Church of almost 52%; it has, primarily a qualitative importance: in fact, in the recent years it has come into the limelight with a series of theological and pastoral initiatives which are so interesting that a motto has been coined: "The caravels are coming back". What is meant by this is the Basic Ecclesial Communities (Comunità Ecclesiali di Base/CEB) and the Theology of Liberation, a preferential options for the poor or inculturation of the faith - considered as a force for evangelisation of the last ones, insofar as they come back to the Gospel (P. Vanzan, Da Puebla a Santo Domingo. L'"instrumentum laboris" della IV Conferenza Generale dell'Episcopato Latinoamericano" (From Puebla to Santo Domingo. The "Instrumentum Laboris" of the IV General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate), in "La Civiltà Cattolica" 3415 [1992] 14-15).
[15] In the last part of the Santo Domingo document reference is made to an integral promotion of Latin American and Caribbean peoples: "Let the cry of the poor becomes our cry. Let's assume with a renewed ardour the evangelical preferential option for the poor, as a continuation of Medellín and Puebla. This option, which is neither exclusive, nor excluding, will illuminate, in imitation of Christ, all our evangelisation activities. In that context, we call for the promotion of a new economic, social and political order, in accordance with the dignity of the persons taken individually and as a whole, by giving impetus to justice and solidarity and by opening to them the horizons of eternity." (Episcopato Latinoamericano, Messaggio ai popoli dell'America Latina e dei Caraibi [Latin American Episcopate, Message to the Peoples of Latin America and the Carribean], in Santo Domingo. IV Conferenza Generale, Conclusioni [Santo Domingo. IV General Conference, Conclusions], pp.132-133).
[16] Cf. Lineamenta. La Chiesa in Africa e la sua missione evangelizzatrice verso l'anno 2000: Sarete miei testimoni (Lineamenta. The Church in Africa and Its Mission of Evangelisation Towards the Year 2000: You Will Be My Witnesses). It is "the first stage of the journey towards the celebration of the Synod for Africa. The text was submitted to the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar on 24 July 1990. It provides for five areas (of action): announcement, inculturation, dialogue, justice and peace, social communications" (quoted from W. Bühlmann, La Chiesa alle soglie del terzo millenio, o.c., pp. 139-140).
[17]B. Chenu, Teologie cristiane dei Terzi Mondi: teologia latinoamericana, teologia nera americana, teologia nera sudafricana, teologia asiatica (Christian Theologies of the Third World: Latin American Theology, Black American Theology, Black South African Theology, Asian Theology), Queriniana, Brescia 1988; A. Pieris, Una teologia asiatica della liberazione (An Asian Theology of Liberation), Cittadella, Assisi 1990.
[18] Cf. M. Blondel, L'azione (The Action), La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1973. Action means intentionality, that is, an attempt to go continually beyond oneself. It is a dimension of the mind which operates both as a theoretical and as a practical activity. It embraces both the aspect of thought and the aspect of will and it deliberately assumes an obligation to arrange the world for the man. It flows into social life, but never dries up there. As a matter of fact, as an expression of incessant self-transcendence of the man, it is understood as an "invincible need to take possession of God". This supreme objective of action returns to the human levels of its realisation in order to re-fill them and to give them a new meaning
Which means that action is a boost for the man, who tries, in an operational form, to make the world an order of convergence of will for the benefit of the community. And then, once again the tendency towards God who is the basis of that community and the decisive spur for its service.@
[19] Bühlmann notices in this regard: "The Cosmogral by the Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister should also be built in other places: a structure of eight circular chapels arranged in a circle, to represent eight world religions, and in the centre, accessed from the chapels, stands a sanctuary intended for a common prayer in particular occasions. A Utopian, paradisaic music for the Third Millennium! (W. Bühlmann, La Chiesa alle soglie del terzo millenio, o.c., p. 159).
[20] Col 1,3.
[21] R. Dahrendorf, Quadrare il cerchio (Squaring the Circle), Laterza, Bari 1996.
[22] Ibidem, p. 19.
[23] Ibidem, p. 36.
[24] Ibidem, p. 42.
[25] Ibidem, p. 44.
[26] E. N. Luttwak, La dittatura del capitalismo. Dove ci porteranno il liberalismo selvaggio e gli eccessi della globalizzazione (The Dictatorship of Capitalism. Where Will the Wild Liberalism and the Surpluses of Globalisation Take Us), Mondadori, Milano 1999.
[27] Ibidem, pp. 42-43.
[28] Ibidem, p. 274.
[29] Ibidem, p. 275.
[30] John Paul II, Encyclical Laborem exercens, n.6 in AAS 73 (1981) 577-647.
[31] Ibidem, n. 23.
[32] Ibidem, n. 13.
[33] In the Third World, then, the economic deregulation and financial liberalisation eliminate the apparent advantage of opening of labour market, which actually took place, but by means of the exploitation of the poorest.
[34] AIn the last five years the corporate profits B the profits of big corporations B in the USA have risen by 19%, while the salaries have remained the same: it is self-evident that the costs of globalisation have to be paid by the workers, and enormous profits have to go to investors and managers who manage the invested capital@ (W. Pfaff in AInternational Herald Tribune B Los Angeles Time@ (21 August 1999) reproduced by E. Chiavacci, La terra è di tutti (The Earth is Everyone = s Property), in AIn Dialogo@, 3 [June 1999] 15).
[35] The UN end-of-century report made by the UNDP pries into financial affairs of the three most powerful men of the world. It specifies that the revenue of Bill Gates, founder, president and major shareholder of Microsoft, of Robert Walton, holder of control of the Wal-Mart supermarket chain and of Haji Hassani Bolkiah, the sultan of Brunei amount to the sum of GDP of 43 poorest countries, located mostly in Africa. Moreover, two hundred of the wealthiest people have a total fortune which equals the global revenue of 41% of the world population. Potentially, we could say that the three economic emperors of the world have the opportunity to purchase the work of 43 nations.
[36] Jn 1,14.
[37] Cf. Mt 19,30; 20,16; Mk 9,35; 10,31; Lk 13,30.
[38] Lk 1, 46-55.
[39] Cf. Mt 25, 31-46.
[40] 1Jn 3,14.
[41] Cf. Ex 5,1.
[42] The Church which constructs the Kingdom (Cf. Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, n.5) has to be able to unite to the present, progressively, the word of the law of Kingdom. Thus, the last are becoming the first. The most vivid surprise is finding Christ in His freshness, where no one would expect Him. And it often happens that those who could be considered addressees of evangelisation, the last ones also because of moral deterioration, become evangelisators, that is, instruments of communication, of goodness and power of love of the unpredictable God. A significant testimony is the one made by Frei Betto, in his experience gained among the last ones: AThe Lord has thrown me in underground caverns of life and history. And just there, in the places where I used to believe that there had been only malice, indifference and sin, I found grace, faithfulness, love and hope [Y] Christ is not afraid of being tempted and defamed or called Belzebùl, a friend of prostitutes and sinners. He does not mind being called a drunkard or a Abig eater@, disrespectful of laws and indifferent to traditions. Christ goes where we do not have courage to go. When we are looking for Him in the temple, He is in the stable; when we are looking for Him among priests, He is among sinners; when we are looking for Him free, He is a prisoner; when we are looking for Him covered with glory, He is on the cross covered with blood. We have created frontiers. We have divided the world into good and bad people. We think that God subordinates them to our ideas, our prejudices, our rationalisation. On the contrary, how many times he was sitting on the stairs in front of our houses, waiting for a crust of bread@ (Frei Betto, Dai sotterranei della storia [From the Underground Caverns of History], Mondadori, Milano 1971.)
[43] Cf. Rom 12,15.
[44] A. Nolan, Gesù prima del cristianesimo. Un vangelo di liberazione (Jesus before Christianity. A Gospel of Liberation), Dehoniane, Bologna, 1986, p. 199.
[45].Cf. Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, n. 1.
[46]Ibidem, p. 42
[47] Mt 5,9.
[48] In a letter written by Fr. Roger Schutz during the Council of the Youth in Taizé the following can be read: "A question made by Christ makes you feel a lump in your throat: Did you recognise me in a poor man when he was hungry? Where were you when I shared my life with the most miserable ones? Have you been an oppressor who was oppressing maybe just one person on the Earth? When I was saying: "Alas for the rich ", those who are rich in money, rich in doctrinairism, have you perhaps preferred the illusions of richness? Your battle can not be fought in a medley of ideas which never become concrete. You should stop the oppression of the poor and the abused: as an astonished witness from now on you will see the signs of resurrection appearing on the Earth. Divide your property in consideration of a greater justice. Do not make anyone the victim of himself. As a brother of everyone, a universal brother, be determined to go towards the man who does not count, towards the rejected ones" (Taizé - Il concilio dei giovani. Perché? [Taizé - The Council of the Youth. Why?] Morcelliana, Brescia 1975.
[49] Commissione Pontificia "Iustitia et Pax", Un approcio etico al debito internazionale (Pontifical Commission "Iustitia et Pax", An Ethic Approach Towards International Debt), Elle Di Ci, Leumann (Torino) 1987.
[50] Cf. Mt 13,24-30.
[51] Mk 4,11-12; cf. Mt 11,25-26
[52] 2 Thes 2,7.
[53] Cf. Mt 5, 13-14.
[54] Cf. John 3,16.
[55] Cf. John Paul II, Christifideles laici n. 34.
[56] Mk 1,1.
[57] Giovanni XXIII, Discorso sulla solenne apertura del Concilio [John XXIII, Speech on the Solemn Opening of the Council] (11.10.1962), in AAS 54 (1962) 792 (transl. in It. in Enchiridion Vaticanum, I, Dehoniane, Bologna 197610, p. [45]).
[58] Cf. John Paul II, Christifideles laici, nn. 37-44.
[59] Cf. D. Banhoffer, Lettere ad un amico [Letters to a Friend], Bompiani, Milano 1969, p. 82. One of the most famous texts which can explain Banhoffer=s concern for the man is the following: ATo be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a specific way, to do something with ourselves [Y] on the basis of a certain methodology, but it means to be human; Christ does not create in us a type of man, but just a man@ (Id., Resistenza o resa [Resistance or Surrender], o.c., p.44.). C. Cantone makes a lucid comment: APerhaps this is really today=s form of access to Christian experience, which, I believe, reached in this way the stage of further Amaturity@, precisely as an experience of radical kenotic identification of God with the man: it is therefore, not a Asacral@ experience any more (with all the Abarriers@ and Aprohibitions@ which the word sacral implies), but literally a Asecular@ experience of God and just because of that it is open [Y] to human pluralism [Y] of the Apaths@ by which, exactly in the revelation [Y] of the Atruth of Man@, which can be only Atruth-love-liberating communion@ (C. Cantone, Rilievi introduttivi: per una coscienza religiosa planetaria, in ACronache e commenti di studi religiosi, 5/Religione e religioni@ [=Quaderni di Salesianum 16], LAS, Roma 1989, pp.17-18).
[60] AA secondary illiterate is the product of the latest stage of industrialisation. In the developed industrial societies, an illiterate person who signs with an X is an annoyance and has to be eliminated. On the contrary, a secondary illiterate is useful. He can be everyone: a director, a politician, a simple worker, a man capable of signing cheques and of deciphering a statistical chart, however with one common feature: It is a man who, basically, does not understand what is happening with him. TV is for him an ideal medium [Y] The old middle-class idea of culture would say more or less the following: if you have not read classical writers, you will not join the club. This is mistaken. Today, the majority of middle class has chosen secondary illiteracy. I know some directors who do not read anything, never, and it is sure that they do not lack opportunities and incentives. Their choice to become secondary illiterates is therefore clearly deliberate@ (H.M. Enzensberger, in an interview given to the ALa Republica-Mercurio@ [30.6.1990] 13). Cf. S. Palumbieri, L = uomo e il futuro [The Man and the Future], II, p. 227.
[61] Augustine, De catechizandis rudibus
[62] V.-E. Frankl, Psychotherapy and Existentialism. Selected papers on Logotherapy, Washington Square Press-Pocket Books, New York (NY) 1985, p. 107.
[63] Francesco di Sales, quoted by John Paul II, in Christifideles laici, n. 56.
[64] Cf. S. Palumbieri, Laici nuovi per un umanesimo nuovo (New Laity for a New Humanism), in Aa. Vv., Laici per una nuova evangelizzazione. Studi sull'esortazione apostolica "Christifideles laici" di Giovanni Paolo II (The Laity for a New Evangelisation, Studies on the Apostolic Exhortation "Christifideles laici" by John Paul II), a cura di M. Toso, Elle Di Ci, Leumann (Torino), pp. 157-184.
[65] John Paul II, Christifideles laici, n. 46.
[66] Ibidem.
[67] Paolo VI, Discorso per la chiusura dell = Anno Santo [Paul VI, Speech on the Closing of the Holy Year] (15.12.1975), in AAS 68 (1976) 143-145, cit.p. 145.
[68] Cf. S. Palumbieri, Un A Magnificat @ per il Terzo Millenio. Dimensione antropologica del Cantico (A A Magnificat @ for the Third Millennium. An Anthropological Dimension of the Canticle), Paoline, Milano 1998, pp. 108-114.
[69] Cf. A. O. Hirschman, Tre continenti. Economia, politica e sviluppo della democrazia in Europa, Stati Uniti e America Latina (Three Continents. Economy, Politics and Development of Democracy in Europe, United States and Latin America), Einaudi, Torino 1990; P. W. Phillips, Wheat, Europe and the GATT. A Political economy analysis, Pinter, London 1990; J. M. van Brabant, Remaking Eastern Europe. On the political economy of transition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht 1990; L. Spaventa, The political economy of European monetary integration, "Quarterly Review-Bancoper", 172 (3/1990) 3-19; P. Ciocca, L = unione monetaria d = Europa fra politica ed economia (European Monetary Union between Politics and Economy), in AImpresa Banca@, 3 (9/1990) 13-17; S. M. Cherian, End-Independent legal rules and the political economy of expanding market societies of Europe, in AUniv. Essex Department of Economics. Discussion paper@, 372 (1990); Aa. Vv., Prepararsi all = Europa, III/Unione politica e sviluppo economico (Preparations for Europe, III/Political union and economic development), ed. by Confindustria, SIPI, Rome 1992; G. Gomel-S. Rebecchini, Migrazioni in Europa. Andamenti, prospettive, indicazioni di politica economia (Migrations in Europe. Trends, perspectives, indications on political economy), Banca d=Italia, Rome 1992; A. Koeves, Central and East European economies in transition. The international dimension, Westview, Boulder 1992; D. Lorenz, Economic geography and the political economy of regionalisation. The example of Western Europe, in AAmerican Economic Review B Paper & Proceedings@, 2 (5/1992) 84-87; AEuropean Journal of Political Economy@ 1 (2/1992) (contains, among other things, articles by S. M. Kambur, Policy Choice and political constraints, pp. 1-29; U. Broll B J. E. Wahl, International investments and exchange rate risk, pp. 31-40; C. Weinhardt, How to measure price progression. A first axiomatic approach, pp. 115-127).
[70] A. O. Hirschman, Tre continenti. Economia politica e sviluppo della democrazia in Europa, Stati Uniti e America Latina, o.c.; P. R. Krugman, Il silenzio dell = economia. Una politica economica per un = epoca di aspettative deboli (The silence of economy. An economic policy for an age of low expectations), Garzanti, Milano 1991; F. Th. Cargill-Sh.Royama, Il processo di trasformazione dei sistemi finanziari. Le esperienze giapponese e statunitese a confronto (The process of transformation of financial systems. A comparison between the Japanese and US experiences), Cariplo, Milano 1991.
[71] Aa. Vv., Dalle armi alle urne. Economia, società e politica nell = America Latina degli anni Novanta (From weapons to urns/ballot boxes. Economy, society and politics in Latin America in the Nineties), ed. by G. Urbani-F. Ricciu, Il mulino, Bologna 1991; Aa. Vv., The political economy of agricultural pricing policy, I/Latin America, ed. by A. Valdes-A. O. Krueger, M. W. Schiff, John Hopkins Univers. Press for the World Bank, Baltimore 1991; M. Plane-A. Trento, L = America Latina nel XX secolo. Economia e società. Istituzioni e politica (Latin America in the 20th century. Economy and society. Institution and politics), Ponte alle Grazie, Firenze 1992.
[72] H. Assmann-F. Hinkelammert, A idolatria do mercato, Ensaio sobre economia e teologia, Vozes, S. Paulo 1989.
[73] Cf. Pontificia Commissione AIustitia et pax@, La Chiesa e il problema dell = alloggio (Pontifical Commission AIustitia et pax@, The Church and the problem of accommodation), A letter by John Paul II of 27.12.1987, in Enchiridion Vaticanum, 10/1986-1987, Dehoniane, Bologna 1989, ' 2425-2502, pp.1636-1697.
[74] Cf. B. M. Magubane, The political economy of race and class in South Africa, Monthly Review Press, New York-London 1979; Aa. Vv., Apartheid-Capitalism or socialism? The political economy of the causes, consequences and cure of the colour bar in South Africa, ed. by A. Mahjoub (=The UN University Studies in African Political Economy), ZED, London 1990; S. Amin, Maldevelopment. Anatomy of a global failure (=The UN University: 3rd World Forum Studies in African Political Economy), ZED, London 1990; Aa. Vv., The political economy of agricultural pricing policy, III/Africa and the Mediterranean, ed. by A. Valdes-A. O. Krüger-M. W. Schiff, J- Hopkins Univ. Press for The World Bank, Baltimore 1992.
[75] The WHO estimates that today the continent has already at least five million of seropositive and 700,000 adult persons who have fallen ill with that disease. [Y] According to the projections of the WHO, the continent might have till the end of century between 20 and 25 million seropositive persons. Now already, especially in eastern Africa [Y] the whole villages have been decimated, not to mention the cities, which in some cases have up to 30% seropositive persons. (Il mondo dopo il crollo del comunismo e la guerra del Golfo. Verso un nuovo ordine mondiale?[The world after the breakdown of communism and the Gulf War. Towards a new world order?], an editorial in ALa Civiltà Cattolica@, 3401 [1992] 417-430, quoted p. 426).
[76] It is symptomatic to note that the AUN programme for the development of Africa 1986-1990, adopted in May 1986 has proved to be a great failure. The debt of the continent increased by a rate of approximately 20 billion dollars per year during the decade@ (Ch. Brisset, Famines et guerresen Afrique subsaharienne, in ALe Monde diplomatique@ [juin 1991] 8-9).
[77] A. Zanotelli, Il coraggio dell = utopia, o.c., p. 27. This reliable witness of African chaos caused by colonialism briefly reports statistical data of the World Bank which Ahelps us to understand where Africa is going now and the tragedy of the moment she is living today. According to the World Bank estimates, in 1980 around 60% of African population lived under the line of absolute poverty, Absolute poverty has been defined by the former defence secretary of the U.S.A. McNamara as conditions of the life which is so limited by malnutrition, illiteracy, diseases, high infant mortality, low life expectancy that it is below any rational definition of human decency. The World Bank foresees that if the economy continues to be as now, in 1995 80% of the population will live under the line of absolute poverty in Africa. It is a tragedy of a continent, and particularly, the tragedy of children who are born and see their future blocked@ (Ibidem, pp. 27-28).
[78] AIn the countries like Benin, Congo, Gabon, Togo, Zaire and Mali a Catholic bishop was chosen to preside national conferences of the whole nation (in some cases, real constitutive assemblies) in charge of elaborating new constitutions and announcing political elections.@ (E. Tresoldi, Africa perla preziosa [Africa, a precious pearl] in AJesus@, 15/3 [1993] 98-102, quoted p. 102).
[79] J. P. Lehmann, Politics and the Pacific economic miracle. Dictatorship and development in Pacific Asia B Wider implications, in AInternational Affairs@, 4 (1985) 591-606; Aa. Vv., Il Sud-Est asiatico nell = anno della tigre. Rapporto 1987 sulla situazione politica ed economica dell = area [The South-East of Asia in the year of the tiger. The 1987 report on economic and political situation in the area], ed. by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Fondaz. Agnelli, Torino 1988; Aa. Vv., Il Sud-Est asiatico nell = anno del serpente. Rapporto 1989 Y [The South-East of Asia in the year of the snake. The 1989 report Y], Torino 1990; G. Fodella, Dove va l = economia giapponese. L = Estasia verso l = egemonia economica mondiale [Where is the Japanese economy going.], La Nuova Italia Scientifica, Roma 1989; S. Manzocchi, The political economy of EEC-Asian NIC = s relations. A structuralist perspective on 1992, in ARivista di diritto valutario e di economia internazionale@, 1 (3/1991) 45-61; Aa. Vv., Modernisation in East Asia. Political, economic and social perspectives, ed. by R. H. Brown-W. T. Liu, Praeger, Westport 1992; Aa. Vv., The political economy of agricultural pricing policy, II/Asia, ed. by A. Valdes-A.O.Krüger-M. W. Schiff, J. Hopkins Univ. Press for the World Bank, Baltimore 1992.
