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PASTORAL VISIT TO CAGLIARI

MEETING WITH THE ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL WORLD

Lecture Hall of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Sardinia, Cagliari Sunday, 22 September 2013

ear Friend!, "ood afternoon#

I extend my heartfelt greetings to you all. I thank the Father President and Rectors

Magnificent for their words of welcome, and I wish them every good for the work of thethree institutions. I am pleased to hear that they work together as friends: this is good I

wish to thank and encourage the Pontifical !heological Faculty that is hosting us, especiallythe "esuit Fathers who generously carry out their most valua#le service, and the entire

$cademic %orps. !he training of candidates for the priesthood remains a top priority, #ut theformation of the laity is also very important.

I do not wish to give an academic lecture, even though the context and you who are a&ualified group may call for one. I prefer to offer a few thoughts aloud that come from my

experience as a man and a Pastor of the %hurch. For this reason, I am letting myself #eguided #y a passage of the 'ospel, #y making an (existential) interpretation of the account

of the disciples on the road to *mmaus: two disciples of "esus who, after his death, leave

"erusalem and return to the village. I have chosen three key words: disappointment,resignation and hope.

!he hearts of the two disciples are filled with suffering and #ewilderment at the death of 

"esus+ they are disappointed #y how things have ended. e find a similar sentiment in ourpresent situation: disappointment, di!illu!ionment as a result of an economic and financial

crisis, #ut also of an ecological, educational, moral and human crisis. It is a crisis thatconcerns the present and future of the history and life of man in our western civili-ation and

that ends in affecting the entire world. $nd when I say crisis, I am not thinking of tragedy.hen the %hinese want to write the word cri!i!, they write it with two characters: the

character for danger and the character for opportunity. hen we speak of crises, we arespeaking of dangers, #ut also of opportunities. !his is the sense in which I am using the

word. f course every age of history contains critical elements, #ut in the last fourcenturies, we have never seen the fundamental certainties that make up human life so

shaken as in our time. I am thinking of the deterioration of the environment: this isdangerous, let us think ahead a little to the war over water which is to come+ to social

im#alances+ to the terri#le power of weapons / we have said so much a#out this in recentdays/+ to the economic and financial system which puts money, the god of money, rather

than man at the centre rather than man+ to the development and the #urden of the media,with all of its positive aspects, of communications and of transportation. It is a change that

concerns the very way in which humanity keeps its existence in the world going.

0. hat are the reactions in the face of this reality1 2et us return to the two disciples of *mmaus: disappointed at "esus3 death, they show resignation and try to flee from reality,

they leave "erusalem. e can read these same attitudes at this time in history too. In the

face of this crisis, there can #e re!ignation, pessimism a#out the possi#ility of taking anyeffective action. In a certain sense it is (calling us out) of the same dynamic as the present

historical turning point, #y denouncing its more negative aspects with a mindset similar tothat spiritual and theological movement of the second century $.4. that was called

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 (apocalyptic). e are tempted to think in apocalyptic terms. !his pessimistic understandingof human freedom and of the process of history leads to a kind of paralysis of mind and will.

4isillusionment also leads to a kind of escapism, to looking for (islands) or a reprieve. It issomething like Pilate3s attitude of $%a!hing hi! hand!& . It is an attitude which appears to #e

 (pragmatic), #ut which in fact ignores the cry for 5ustice, humanity and social responsi#ilityand leads to individualism and hypocrisy, if not to a sort of cynicism. !his is the temptation

we are faced with, if we go down the road of disenchantment and disappointment.

$t this point we wonder: is there a way forward in our present situation1 6hould we resign

ourselves to it1 6hould we allow our hope to #e dimmed1 6hould we flee from reality16hould we 7wash our hands of it7 and withdraw into ourselves1 I not only think that there is

a way forward, #ut also that the very moment in history which we are living urges us to!ee' and find path! of hope that open our society to new hori-ons. $nd this is where the

role of the university is so very valua#le. !he university as a place for the development andtransmission of knowledge, for the formation in (wisdom) in the deepest sense of the word,

for the integral education of the human person. In this regard, I would like to offer several#rief points of reflection.

a. The uni(er!ity a! a place of di!cernment . It is important to interpret reality #y looking itin the face. Ideological or partial interpretations are useless+ they only feed illusion and

disillusionment. It is important to interpret reality, #ut also to live this reality without fear,without fleeing, without catastrophism. *very crisis, even the present one, is a passage, the

pangs of a #irth that involves struggle, hardship and suffering, #ut which #ears within itself the new hori-on of life, of a renewal, that carries the power of hope. $nd this is not a crisis

of (change): it is a crisis of (the change of an era). It is an era that changes. !hese are notsuperficial changes of an era. $ crisis can #ecome a time of purification and and a time to

rethink our socio8economic models and of a certain understanding of progress that fed

illusions, in order to recover what is most fully human. 4iscernment is neither #lind norimprovised: it is carried out on the #asis of ethical and spiritual criteria+ it involves asking

oneself a#out what is good, it entails thinking a#out our own values regarding man and the

world, a vision of the person in all his dimensions, especially the spiritual and transcendent+

the person may never #e considered (human material) !his, perhaps, is the suggestionlurking in functionalism. !he 9niversity, as a place of (knowledge) has a very important roleto play in forming students in discernment in order to nourish hope. hen the unknown

traveller, the Risen "esus, approaches the two sad and disconsolate disciples of *mmaus, hedoes not try to hide the reality of the %rucifixion, of the apparent defeat that threw them

into crisis. n the contrary, he invites them to interpret reality so as to to guide them to thelight of is Resurrection: ( foolish men and slow of heart ; as it not necessary that the

%hrist should suffer these things and enter into his glory1) <2k 0=:0>80?@. !o discern doesnot mean to escape, #ut rather to seriously interpret reality without pre5udice

#. $nother element: The uni(er!ity a! a place %here the culture of clo!ene!! A pro!!imit)]de(elop!, a culture of closeness. !his is a proposal: a culture of closeness. Isolation and

withdrawing into one3s own interests are never the way to restore hope and #ring a#out arenewal. Rather, it is closeness, it is the culture of encounter. Isolation, no. %loseness, yes.%ulture clash, no+ culture of encounter, yes. !he university is a privileged place where this

culture of dialogue is promoted, taught and lived, this culture which does notindiscriminately level out differences and plurality / this is one of the risks of glo#ali-ation

/ nor does it take them to the extreme, causing them to #ecome causes of conflict. Rather,it opens to constructive dialogue. !his means understanding and esteeming someone else3s

riches+ it means not seeing him with indifference or fear, #ut as an opportunity for growth.!he dynamics that regulate relationships #etween people, groups and nations often do not

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involve closeness and encounter #ut rather conflict. I refer again to the 'ospel passage.hen "esus approaches the two disciples of *mmaus he shares in their 5ourney, he listens

to their reading of reality and to their disappointment, and he talks to them. In this way, herekindles hope in their hearts+ he opens up new hori-ons that were already present #ut

which only the encounter with the Risen ne makes it possi#le to recogni-e. Bever #e afraidof encounter, of dialogue, of comparisons, #etween universities. $t all levels. e are here at

the centre of the Faculty of !heology. $llow me to say to you: do not #e afraid to openyourselves likewise to the hori-ons of transcendence, to an encounter with %hrist nor todeepen your relationship with him. Faith never restricts the space for reason+ rather, it

opens it to an integral vision of man and of reality and acts as a defence against the danger

of reducing man to (human material).

c. ne final element: The uni(er!ity a! a place of formation in !olidarity* !he word solidarity

does not #elong solely to a %hristian voca#ulary. It is a word that is fundamental to humanvoca#ulary. $s I said today it is a word which in the present crisis, risks #eing eliminated

from the dictionary. !he discernment of reality, #y taking on the moment of crisis, and thepromotion of a culture of encounter and dialogue, orientate us to solidarity as a

fundamental element for a renewal of our societies. !he encounter, the dialogue #etween"esus and the two disciples of *mmaus, which rekindles their hope and renews their life3s

 5ourney, leads to sharing: they recogni-e him in the #reaking of the #read. It is the sign of the *ucharist, of 'od who makes himself so close in %hrist that he #ecomes a constant

presence, that he shares his very life. $nd he says this to everyone, even to non8#elievers:it is precisely in solidarity unspoken yet practiced that relationships change from considering

someone as (human material) or (a num#er) to seeing him as (a person). !here is no futurefor any country, for any society, for our world, unless we are a#le to show greater solidarity.

6olidarity, then, as a way of making history, as a vital context in which conflicts, tensions,and even those who oppose one another attain a harmony that generates life. In thinking

a#out this this reality of encounter in crisis, I have found in young politicians another way of thinking a#out politics. I don3t say #etter or worse, #ut different. !hey speak differently,

they are seeking ... their music is different from our music. 2et us not #e afraid 2et us

listen to them, !hey have an intuition: let us open ourselves to their intuition. It is an

intuition of young life. I say young politicians #ecause this is what I have heard a#out, #utthe young in general are looking for this different key. !o assist us in the encounter, it will

help us to listen to the music of these young politicians, (scientists), young thinkers.

Cefore I conclude, allow me to emphasi-e that faith itself gives us %hristians a firm hope

that urges us on to discern reality, and to live together in closeness and solidarity. For 'odhimself has entered our history, #y #ecoming man in "esus. e has immersed himself in our

weakness, #y #ecoming close to us, #y showing true solidarity, especially to the poor andthe needy, #y opening up #efore us a hori-on that is infinite and sure in hope.

4ear friends, thank you for this meeting and for your attention+ may hope #e the light thatever illumines your study and commitment. $nd may courage #e the musical tempo for

keeping going May the 2ord #less you