Christianity faces new challenges in a world that is turning away from religious references and turning to new philosophical trends. In particular, anthropology, traditional rationality, is losing exclusivity.
Today we find ourselves in an era of diverse changes and epochal changes. The conditions of human life are changing radically due to the communication explosion, economic globalization, technical-scientific progress, massive migration and religious pluralism. The epochal change is particularly evident in anthropology, where religious references are suppressed and a panorama of contrasting perspectives on human nature has emerged. Cardinal Ouellet writes this down Communion.
Christianity faces new challenges in a world that is turning away from religious references and turning to new philosophical trends. In particular, anthropology, traditional rationality, is losing exclusivity. Human identity becomes a field of experimentation for ideological decisions and relationships, which poses massive challenges for families, schools and the transmission of cultural heritage.
In this context, Christians must be open to dialogue and look at cultural and religious diversity, offering the Christian vision free of charge and with concern for human fraternity. The current situation offers an opportunity to reexplain the coordinates of the human on the basis of Christian revelation and to offer an anthropology of vocation that understands life as a vocation.
The symposium “Man – Woman: Image of God, For an Anthropology of Vocation” on March 1 and 2, 2024 at the Vatican, with the participation of Pope Francis and international experts, aims to provide an updated view of Christian anthropology in the age of pluralism and dialogue between cultures.
The importance of this topic and the urgency of reflection are obvious. People in pastoral care, training and education can find an overall view of the Christian response to the anthropological problem, without polemics or identitarian retreat. The view, developed within the horizon of faith, is calmly offered as a path to the acquisition of the Christian meaning of life for every person in search of truth.
The symposium follows the symposium “For a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood” and considers the anthropological question as a natural continuation of this research. In the auditorium of the Synod of Bishops, in the spirit of COMMUNIO co-founder Hans Urs von Balthasar, it offers the opportunity to present the Christian view of man as man and woman in its originality.
At a time when pluralism is recognized as a constitutive element of every society, Christians must find a new way to preserve their identity. The anthropological question, in dialogue with cultural and religious diversity, requires a clear positioning. The Christian view, developed within the framework of faith, offers an answer to the experimental upheavals of human identity.
The future of Christianity depends on the ability to meet these challenges without falling into polemical disputes. The symposium on March 1 and 2, 2024 in the Vatican is a key event intended to consolidate the foundations of a Christian anthropology in the age of pluralism. It is hoped that this initiative will create a space for genuine dialogue and understanding to orient the coordinates of humanity in a changing world.