The Theology of the People, to which Pope Francis firmly adheres, expresses trust in the experience of believing people, starting from the poor
In Verona, in the context of the “Arena of Peace” on 17 and 18 May, Pope Francis will meet the ecclesial and popular movements. Born and spread in Latin America, these movements have always been esteemed and supported by the Argentine Pontiff. And the Theology of the People was also born in Argentina, to which Francis adheres with conviction. A theology that expresses trust in the experience of believing people, starting with the poor. When they live their faith with evangelical simplicity, people understand the Christian mystery in a profound way. It is, in a certain way, an updating of the doctrine of the “sense of the faith of the faithful”, which is traditional but often ignored in theological and ecclesial discourse. When the Second Vatican Council describes the Church as “the people of God”, rather than “a perfect hierarchically constituted society”, it takes up the doctrine of the equal dignity of every baptized person; dignity which is primary compared to any other distinction of ministries and charisms.
The extraordinary value of the people’s faith it has always been very clear to me: I grew up in a poor peasant family and in a small marginal community. We lived the faith and its rites with the naturalness of everyday things. I have always had a deep respect for the noble dignity of poor people and for the spirituality of the humble.
Since I was a boy I have had a great inspiration in Don Lorenzo Milani. A man and a priest who spent his young and tormented life giving dignity, speech and rights to very young workers and peasants, or rather to the “children of the people”, who were then exploited and counted for less than nothing. The beauty of the genitive “of the people” is linked, in my conscience, to the legacy of Don Milani. I am happy that his lesson is being taken up today by dozens of initiatives, starting with President Sergio Mattarella’s visit to Barbiana. Don Milani was a prophet and teacher of non-violence, of conscientious objection, of the rejection of war, of social justice: the same themes of the Verona event.
Popular movements today affect many countries. The democratic one in Hong Kong, which I got to know closely and which was suppressed by national security laws (we write about it in this issue), was truly a mobilization of the people, which included people of all ages, social and religious backgrounds. This is demonstrated by the extraordinary participation in the demonstrations before the repression: two million citizens on the streets, in a city that has seven of them, and the plebiscitarian outcome of the elections when they were free. Also for this reason, we all participate, with popular movements and Pope Francis, in the peace building site.