Rome, 14 September 2013: ‘After centuries of debate over the existence and nature
of truth, and not a little war-weariness among those on all sides of the debate, “There
is indeed a [search underway] for a common ground,” one that is based on, “this intuition
that truth needs to be thought, not in individualistic terms,” but in terms of its
ability to unite, to bring nations, societies, peoples together’, said Fr. Philipp
Renczes, SJ, a Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He was speaking to Vatican Radio on the issue of Truth deliberated by Pope Francis
in his open letter published in the Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica. Pope
Francis wrote the letter in response to a series of questions posed to him by the
noted journalist Eugenio Scalfari. About the issue of Truth, the Pontiff’s remarks
centered on: whether there is truth in an absolute sense; whether, and if so, how
we can know it; what are the consequences of answering one way or another? The answers,
or ways toward answers, which Pope Francis charted were often surprising and challenging.
According to Fr. Philipp Renczes, SJ, Pope Francis is really concerned to
refocus our attention on an understanding of truth as essentially relational – the
claims of some sensational headlines notwithstanding. “[H]uman rationality,” explained
Fr. Renczes SJ, “indeed always involves a relative character,” in the sense that the
activity of reason, “always [involves] a capacity to relate: [to relate] truth to
meaning, to personal existence.”
Fr. Renczes SJ considers that, despite some
stylistic differences, there is a profound continuity between the way Pope Benedict
XVI approached the question, and the way that Pope Francis is now approaching it.
“What Pope Francis is trying to do is bring people together,” he said, adding, “it’s
like an invitation that he is sending out.” He went on to say, “Pope Benedict was
almost warning [us] that, if the invitation is not [welcomed], then we are facing
big problems – and so the message is very similar.” Source: VR Eng