A questão do laicato. Um Tributo a José Comblin e Hugo Assmann

A questão do laicato está presente em vários campos da teologia e em muitos documentos do magistério eclesiástico. No desenvolvimento da Teologia da Libertação na América Latina essa questão foi apresentada de maneira implícita, embora sempre presente em vários momentos e com diversas abordagens específicas. No Brasil, a temática foi muito enfocada na perspectiva das Comunidades Eclesiais de Base e na reflexão de vários teólogos da libertação, com destaque para José Comblin e Hugo Assmann. A proposta deste artigo é apresentar duas obras desses autores cuja temática do laicato faz parte de seu conteúdo. José Comblin, em sua obra “Teologia da Cidade”, e Hugo Assmann, com seu livro “Teologia desde a Prática da Libertação”, ambos publicados respectivamente em francês e espanhol, propõem, cada um com suas peculiaridades, uma abordagem interessante e oportuna sobre a questão do laicato, pertinentes no atual contexto eclesial e eclesiológico da Igreja Católica diante do pluralismo cultural e religioso da sociedade, particularmente, latino-americana contemporânea. A retomada de suas interpretações visa apresentar a importância desses teólogos brasileiros e, mais que isso, recuperar a pertinência da temática do laicato, presente na história da Igreja Católica, no contexto do Concílio Vaticano II (1962-1965) e no desenvolvimento da Teologia da Libertação latino-americana. Abstract: The laity issue is present in several fields of the theology and in many documents of the Ecclesiastical Magisterium. In the development of the Liberation Theology in Latin America this issue was presented implicitly, although it has been present in various moments and with several specific approaches. In Brazil, the theme has been very focused in the perspective of the Basic Ecclesial Communities and in the reflection of various liberation theologians, with special focus on José Comblin and Hugo Assmann. The proposal of this article is to present two titles of these authors, in which the laity issue takes part of its content. José Comblin, in his title “The City Theology”, and Hugo Assmann, with his book “The Theology since the Liberation Practice”, published in French and in Spanish respectively, propose an interesting and opportune approach about the laity issue, each one with his peculiarities, which still has relevance in the current ecclesial and ecclesiological context of the Catholic Church before the cultural and religious pluralism of the contemporary society. The resumption of their interpretation aims to present the importance of these Brasilian theologians. Furthermore, it intends to recover the relevance of the laity issue present in the history of the Catholic Church in the context of the Second Vatican Concil (1962-1965) and in the development of the latin-american Liberation Theology.

A contribuição das CEBs para uma nova cultura política no Brasil: reciprocidade e democracia

A cultura política é o resultado de interações passadas e atuais entre os diversos grupos sociais e não se constitui em um eixo certo de valores. Ela sofre rupturas, mudanças que fazem da mesma um conceito dinâmico. Para compreendermos a constituição da cultura política brasileira, a antinomia entre tradição e modernidade é muitas vezes utilizada nas ciências sociais como a chave de leitura principal. Longe de ser sempre contraditórias, a modernidade e a tradição são, muitas vezes, articuladas, associadas e combinadas de uma maneira complementar, constituintes ativos de renovação cultural. As Comunidades Eclesiais de Base contribuíram diretamente para a renovação de nossa cultura política em bases participativas e de relações sociais de reciprocidade.Abstract: Political culture is the result of past and present interactions between the various social groups and does not become an established axle of values. Indeed, it is often subject to ruptures and changes that make of it a dynamic concept. In order to understand how the Brazilian political culture was built, the social sciences often use an antinomy between tradition and modernity as a key. Far from being always contradictory, modernity and tradition are frequently articulated, associated and combined in a complementary way, and are active elements in the cultural renovation. The Basic Ecclesial Communities have contributed directly to a renovation of our political cultureboththroughparticipationandthroughsocial relations of reciprocity.

Cem anos de Yves Marie-Joseph Congar

O artigo trata do centenário de nascimento de um dos maiores teólogos da Igreja do século XX: Yves Marie-Joseph Congar. Este teólogo e algumas de suas obras são interpretados do ponto de vista de uma teóloga leiga, das Comunidades Eclesiais de Base. Expressa a admiração, não só do laicato, mas de vários membros da Igreja, e busca revelar algo da personalidade e vida do autor, bem como suas contribuições mais específicas à teologia e à vida da Igreja, como: sua eclesiologia de comunhão, seu trabalho e pensamento ecumênicos, sua teologia do laicato e as bases teológicas de sua eclesiologia. A intenção da autora é render uma humilde homenagem a este homem, por seu brilhantismo epistemológico e sua mística frente ao sofrimento.Abastract: The article deals with the centenary of the birth of Yves Marie-Joseph Congar, one of the leading theologians in the 20th Century Church. The theologian and some of his works are interpreted from the perspective of a lay female theologian from the Basic Ecclesial Communities. She expresses the admiration that both the laity and various other Church members held for Congar, and tries to reveal something about the great theologian’s personality and day-to-day life as well as some of his more specific contributions to theology and to Church life, such as his ecclesiology of communion, his ecumenical work and thought, his theology of the laity and the theological bases of his ecclesiology. The Author’s intention is to pay homage to this man for his epistemological brilliance and his religious fervour in the face of suffering.

A profecia das CEBs no Ano do Laicato

Um ano depois do XIV Encontro Intereclesial de CEBs, ocorrido em Londrina, em janeiro de 2018, é importante perguntar pela importância desse tipo de encontro e mesmo das CEBs para o conjunto da Igreja católica e de outras Igrejas. Esse artigo se propõe aprofundar a Eclesiologia que transparece nas CEBs e nos encontros intereclesiais, assim como a vocação laical da “Igreja em saída”, que só pode ser concretizada a partir de uma concepção de Igreja como comunidade local que testemunha o projeto divino no mundo. Abstract: One year after the 14th Inter-Church Meeting of CEBs, held in Londrina in January 2018, it is important to ask about the importance of this type of meeting and even of CEBs for the whole Catholic Church and other Churches. This article proposes to deepen the ecclesiology that transpires in the CEBs and inter-church meetings, as well as the lay vocation of the “Church in the way”, which can only be realized from a conception of the Church as a local community that witnesses the divine project in the world.Keywords: Basic Ecclesial Communities; Ecclesiality; Ecclesiology; Laicity and the urban world.

Anselm Prior OFM and the shift to the Lumko Model for the Church after Vatican II

In the creative turmoil after the Second Vatican Council, the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) set up a five-month renewal course at Nemi for their members. Noting that one key issue was the changing concept and practice of the Catholic Church from a universal, clerical pyramid to a communion of local communities, and that this conciliar theological vision demanded particular pastoral skills and training, the then director of the Nemi Renewal Course invited Anselm Prior to conduct a workshop presenting the Lumko training method of building Small Christian Communities. In this paper the author contrasts the Basic Ecclesial Communities that were birthed in Latin America over against the hierarchical church, with the Small Christian Communities that originated in Africa that were planned by the bishops themselves to bring the church closer to the people and their culture. This African model was promoted globally by the Lumko Pastoral Institute, and so became a vital part of the pastoral skill training conducted by Anselm Prior during some 15 annual courses at Nemi.

Post Modern Public Administration in the Land of Promise: The Basic Ecclesial Community Movement of Mindanao

Recent discussions of sustainable development have come to see the dominant neoliberal development paradigm receive criticism for creating environmental degradation coupled with increased inequality of wealth and power. In the developing world, sustainable development has increasingly come to be sought by postmodern public administration, which consists of efforts undertaken by the poor themselves to improve their conditions in life without changing power relations in society. This paper discuss the efforts undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church's Basic Ecclesial Communities, on the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, to improve the conditions of the poor without changing power relations in society. The paper discusses the emergence of the Basic Ecclesial Communities, the programs they provide for their members, the successes, and failures of these programs in providing participatory sustainable development, and the outlook for the future.