Abstract
When Pope Francis spoke to the College of Cardinals shortly before the consistory at which he was elected, his reference to the “existential peripheries” was both inspiring and potentially confusing, if not problematic. In particular, the identification of “intellectual currents” as one mark of an existential periphery raises the possibility that intellectual differences with those at the periphery may conflict with a postconciliar understanding of grace that requires greater respect for alternative visions of reality.
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Notes
- 1.
Andrea Riccardi, To the Margins: Pope Francis and the Mission of the Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2018); Pasquale Ferrara, “The Concept of Periphery in Pope Francis’ Discourse: A Religious Alternative to Globalization?” Movement Politics and Policy for Unity at: http://www.mppu.org/en/archive/point-of-view/910-the-concept-of-periphery-in-pope-francis-discourse-a-religious-alternative-to-globalization.html (accessed February 17, 2020) Richard R. Gaillardetz, “The Francis Moment: A New Kairos for Catholic Ecclesiology.” Presidential address, Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America, 69 (2014) at: https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/5509 (accessed February 17, 2020); T. Bilocura, “Pope Francis, Christian Mission, and the Church of St. Francis,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 37, no. 3, (2013) at https://doi.org/10.1177%2F239693931303700309 (accessed February 17, 2020).
- 2.
“Periphery,” in A Pope Francis Lexicon, edited by Joshua J. McElwee and Cindy Wooden (Collegeville, Minn., Liturgical, 2018), 142.
- 3.
https://cathcon.blogspot.com/2013/03/full-text-papacy-winning-speech-of.html (accessed February 17, 2020).
- 4.
The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium on reform of the Roman Curia promises to institutionalize this new set of priorities, in all probability by placing the dicastery for evangelization above that of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The document will be promulgated once the Pope’s team of cardinals are satisfied with final text, probably some time in 2020. See Austin Ivereigh’s account in Commonweal (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/evangelization-first) and a short explanation of the delay in promulgation from Hannah Brockhaus at the Catholic News Agency at: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/release-of-new-curial-constitution-delayed-again-54888 (both accessed February 17, 2020).
- 5.
See for example “Church, Churches and Religions,” in Karl Rahner, Theological Investigations, Volume X, “Writings of 1965-67, 2” (New York: Seabury, 1977), 30–49.
- 6.
Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi, This Economy Kills: Pope Francis on Capitalism and Social Justice (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical, 2015), 150.
- 7.
In a written clarification to an article in Herder Korrespondenz implying the opposite. See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-11/pope-emeritus-benedict-dialogue-with-the-jews-not-mission.html. (accessed February 17, 2020).
- 8.
Entitled, “The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable” at: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/relations-jews-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20151210_ebraismo-nostra-aetate_en.html#6._The_Church%E2%80%99s_mandate_to_evangelize_in_relation_to_Judaism (accessed February 17, 2020). The actual words of the Commission’s explication are worth quoting at length: “It is easy to understand that the so–called ‘mission to the Jews’ is a very delicate and sensitive matter for Jews because, in their eyes, it involves the very existence of the Jewish people. This question also proves to be awkward for Christians, because for them the universal salvific significance of Jesus Christ and consequently the universal mission of the Church are of fundamental importance. The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelisation to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views. In concrete terms this means that the Catholic Church neither conducts nor supports any specific institutional mission work directed towards Jews. While there is a principled rejection of an institutional Jewish mission, Christians are nonetheless called to bear witness to their faith in Jesus Christ also to Jews, although they should do so in a humble and sensitive manner, acknowledging that Jews are bearers of God’s Word, and particularly in view of the great tragedy of the Shoah” (section 40).
- 9.
La Civiltà Cattolica, 26 September 2019, available on-line at: https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/the-sovereignty-of-the-people-of-god-the-pontiff-meets-the-jesuits-of-mozambique-and-madagascar/ (accessed February 17, 2020).
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Lakeland, P. (2021). Problems at the Periphery: A Productive Confusion in “The Speech That Got Pope Francis Elected.”. In: Chapman, M.D., Latinovic, V. (eds) Changing the Church. Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53425-7_40
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