The Pontifical Council for Culture

by Rev. Christoph Haider

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The relationship science/faith “is a fundamental chapter” of the activity of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Council's president Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, told Fides. In fact it would seem truly important in view of proclamation of the Gospel today, not only in the West but throughout the world, to demonstrate the indissoluble connection that exists between science and faith.

A milestone in this question was without a doubt the Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 14 September 1998. In the opening lines of Fides et Ratio John Paul II writes that “ Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves”. Therefore faith and reason together lead man to God. And if faith and reason can lead man to God it is evident that in the mission of the Church understanding and communication to the world of the connection between these two concepts is more than ever urgent.

The Holy Father Benedict XVI has spoken on this theme frequently. He did so admirable in a Lectio Magistralis given in Regensburg (12 September 2006), and in the words pronounced on 28 January 2007 before leading the Angelus prayer with the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square. On that occasion Benedict XVI explained that the harmonious relationship between faith and reason is one of the most important challenges for culture today. Recalling that 28 January was in fact the feast day of the “great doctor of the Church”, Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the Pope said “With his charism as a philosopher and theologian, he offered an effective model of harmony between reason and faith, dimensions of the human spirit that are completely fulfilled in the encounter and dialogue with one another”.

Citing the man considered by many philosophers and theologians Catholicism's most important Catholic theologian, the Pope explained “ human reason, as it were, "breathes": it moves within a vast open horizon in which it can express the best of itself. When, instead, man reduces himself to thinking only of material objects or those that can be proven, he closes himself to the great questions about life, himself and God and is impoverished”. And the Pope continued: “ The relationship between faith and reason is a serious challenge to the currently dominant culture in the Western world”. The Holy Father underlined: “ When Christian faith is authentic, it never diminishes human freedom or reason; so, why should faith and reason fear one another when they express themselves best through encounter and dialogue? Faith presupposes reason and perfects it, and reason, enlightened by faith, finds the strength to rise to knowledge of God and spiritual realities. Human reason loses nothing by opening itself to the content of faith, which, indeed, requires its free and conscious adherence”.

So we understand how important it is for the Church to communicate to the whole world the inseparable bond between faith and reason, a relationship necessary for the communication of the faith in the world. The faith/reason relationship is only one of the many aspects which come under the heading 'culture' . An aspect which is fundamental, especially today, but certainly not alone. Culture is also knowledge of the world and its different traditions, customs and religions. It is knowledge of the different peoples' language and history. Culture is the artistic expression of the diverse genial spirits which have been seen in history. Culture is also “purely Christian culture" or two thousand years of glorious history which must not be dispersed if we want to stop faith from losing itself in today's society. Here, in this series of reasons, lies the importance of a Pontifical Vatican Council totally dedicated to culture.

The history of the Pontifical Council for Culture

The Pontifical Council for Culture dates back to the Second Vatican Council. A whole section of that Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church – Gaudium et Spes – emphasizes the fundamental importance of culture for the full development of the human person, the many ways in which salvation and culture are linked, and the mutual enrichment of the Church and cultures throughout the history of civilisations (Gaudium et Spes, 53-62).

Pope Paul VI wrote in a document which harvested the fruits of the work which went into the Synod of Bishops on evangelisation, held in the autumn of 1974: "The Gospel, and therefore evangelisation, are certainly not identical with culture, and they are independent in regard to all cultures. Nevertheless, the Kingdom which the Gospel proclaims is lived by men who are profoundly linked to a culture, and the building up of the Kingdom cannot avoid borrowing the elements of human culture or cultures. Though independent of cultures, the Gospel and evangelisation are not necessarily incompatible with them; rather they are capable of permeating them all without becoming subject to any one of them" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 20).

Building on the riches inherited from Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council and the Synod of Bishops, John Paul II founded the Pontifical Council for Culture in 1982 (Personal Letter to the Cardinal Secretary of State, 20 May 1982). In his Motu Proprio Apostolic Letter Inde a Pontificatus of 25 March 1993, John Paul II merged the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-Believers (founded in 1965 by Paul VI) with the Pontifical Council for Culture.

The Council’s Aims and Tasks

A. - The Pontifical Council for Culture is that department (Dicastery) of the Roman Curia which assists the Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office for the benefit and service of the universal Church and of particular Churches concerning the encounter between the saving message of the Gospel and cultures, in the study of the weighty phenomena of: the rift between the Gospel and cultures; indifference in matters of religion; unbelief. It is also concerned with relationships between the Church and the Holy See and the world of culture; in particular it promotes dialogue with contemporary cultures, so that human civilisation may become increasingly open to the Gospel, and so that men and women of science, letters and the arts may know that the Church acknowledges their work as a service to truth, goodness and beauty.

Furthermore, the Pontifical Council for Culture oversees and co-ordinates the activities of the Pontifical Academies, and co-operates on a regular basis with the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

B. - The Council has been given the following tasks:

• - To promote the encounter between the saving message of the Gospel and the cultures of our time, often marked by unbelief or religious indifference, in order that they may be increasingly open to the Christian faith, which creates culture and is an inspirational source of science, literature and the arts (Cf. the Motu Proprio "Inde a Pontificatus", Art. 1).
• - To manifest the Church’s pastoral concern in the face of the serious phenomena of the rift between the Gospel and cultures. It therefore promotes the study of the problem of unbelief and religious indifference found in various forms in different cultural milieus, inquiring into their causes and the consequences for Christian faith, in order to offer adequate support to the Church’s pastoral activity in evangelising cultures and inculturating the Gospel (Cf. ibid., Art. 2).
• 3. To foster the Church’s and the Holy See’s relations with the world of culture, by undertaking appropriate initiatives concerning the dialogue between faith and cultures, and intercultural dialogue. The Council oversees initiatives undertaken by the Church’s various institutions and offers its co-operation to the corresponding organs of Bishops’ Conferences (Cf. ibid., Art. 3).
• - To establish dialogue with those who do not believe in God or who profess no religion, provided they are open to genuine co-operation. The Council organises and participates in study congresses in this field by means of experts (Cf. ibid., Art. 4).
• - To oversee and co-ordinate the activities of the Pontifical Academies (Cf. ibid., II and the 1982 letter of foundation), while respecting the autonomy of their respective research programmes, so as to promote multidisciplinary research and to make the work of the Academies more widely known (Norms for the renewal of the Pontifical Academies, 7).
• - To be involved in the cultural concerns encountered by the departments of the Holy See in the course of their work, and to work on projects organised together with some of them, in such a way as to facilitate their tasks in the evangelisation of cultures, and to ensure co-ordination between the Holy See’s cultural institutions (Cf. 1982 letter of foundation).
• - To enter into dialogue with Bishops’ Conferences, and with Conferences of Major Religious Superiors, in order to allow the whole Church to benefit from research programmes and other initiatives, achievements and productions which allow local Churches to take an active part in their own cultural environment (Cf. ibid.).
• - To co-operate with Catholic universities and international organisations of a historical, philosophical, theological, scientific, artistic or intellectual nature, and to promote co-operation amongst them.
• - To keep up with the activities of international bodies like UNESCO and the Council of Europe, which are concerned with culture, the philosophy of science and human sciences, and to ensure the effective participation of the Holy See in international congresses concerned with science, culture and education (Cf. ibid.).
• - To keep up with the cultural policies and activities of governments throughout the world (Cf. ibid.).
• - To facilitate Church-culture dialogue at the level of universities and research centres, organisations of artists and specialists, researchers and scholars, and to promote meetings of note in and through these sectors of culture (Cf. ibid.).
• - To welcome to Rome representatives of culture interested in a better understanding of the Church’s activities in this field, and in ways of allowing the Holy See to benefit from their rich experience, by offering them a place in Rome where they can meet and dialogue.

The structure of the Council

The Pontifical Council for Culture has two sections: 1. Faith and Culture, 2. Dialogue with Cultures.

• Day-to-day work is entrusted to the permanent staff resident in Rome, viz.:
• President, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi (Italy)
• Secretary, Father Bernard Ardura, O. Praem. (France)
• Under-secretary, Mons. Melchor Sánchez de Toca y Alameda (Spain),
• Head of Office, Mons. Gergely Kovács (Romania),
• Officials, 6 priests and 1 laic who are responsible for geographical areas and the various fields in which the Council works (science, Catholic cultural centres, art and artists, communications media, Pontifical Academies, sects and so on)
• 7 other administrative and technical assistants.
• The Council has a Plenary Assembly at least once every three years. Its purpose is to evaluate and plan the department’s programmes, and to pool experiences and reflections on the variety of cultural situations in contemporary societies. All of this is done in the context of evangelisation and the Church’s dialogue with cultures. Those who are invited are the Members of the Council, cardinals and bishops appointed by the Holy Father for five-year terms. At present the council's members are 21 cardinals and 14 archbishops and bishops from various parts of the world.
• The Council also relies on Consultors for the study of particularly important questions. These, too, are appointed by the Holy Father for five-year terms. There are currently 23 of them: they come from all over the world, and are specialists in the field of culture or in dialogue with non-believers. They assist the Council by their research and the information and opinions they provide.

3. Activities of the Council

The Council’s many and varied activities can be condensed into 5 points:

• Welcoming visitors. There are meetings with bishops who come to Rome for their five-yearly Ad limina visits, and with other groups of visitors (priests, religious, directors of cultural centres and so on). Many people representing the world of culture also visit the Council.
• Conferences. The Council organises seminars, study days and various other kinds of meetings. It is frequently involved in meetings run by other bodies at regional, national and international levels.
• Contacts. The Council is in contact with the other departments (Dicasteries) of the Holy See, with bishops’ conferences and local Churches, with the Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, with the Holy See’s diplomatic representatives to other states, with UNESCO and other international non-government organisations.
• Publications. The Council publishes a quarterly review entitled Culture e Fede – Cultures et Foi – Cultures and Faith – Culturas y Fe, which has articles and new items in English, French, Italian and Spanish. There are, in addition, books and booklets on the many aspects of the encounter between the Gospel and cultures, and on intercultural dialogue. The Council publishes the proceedings of the more important conferences it organises.
• Day-to-day work consists of the various types of tasks entrusted to the staff: taking care of correspondence with the universal Church and the world of culture, preparing observations on reports concerning the state of dioceses, preparing instructions for Papal Nuncios, etc.

INTERVIEW with Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Archbishop Ravasi, the relationship between faith and science has returned as a leit-motiv in the Magisterium of Benedict XVI. You have said more than once that this is one of the themes on which the Pontifical Council for Culture intends to work. How do you envisage this work? What will be its principal fields of action?

The relationship between science and faith is a fundamental chapter of our commitment. A chapter to develop not in solitude, only with our own internal forces, but instead with a network which is being organised to include all seven Pontifical Universities in Rome as well as certain universities in the United States of America, the principal one being Notre Dame University in Indiana -, and a few European universities, and, with the role of “supervisor” the STOQ Project focused on science, theology and ontological research. This is a choral operation to tackle vivacious and intense questions in this field. It is fundamental to keep in mind at least two areas in which to develop the project. The first is the area of biological evolution starting from the Darwin centenary. In this sense we intend to plan an itinerary to culminate with an important international conference on science, theology and philosophy, and a series of various work-shops in Italy, the Vatican and the United States. And this in order to demonstrate that attention for this area is far from sporadic.

The second area is that of science and faith broadly speaking, taking our cue from the Year of Astronomy being celebrated to mark the fourth centenary of Galileo's revelations with the telescope. This will include a more widely advertised meeting (not purely scientific like the one mentioned above) This will help - as requested by Benedict XVI - to keep attention on this duplicity which rather than dialectic we would like to be in counterpoint: faith on the one side and reason on the other. This calls for an internationalisation of projects in the spirit of our Vatican Council for Culture. We plan to have the results communicated at both the didactic and the catechetical level.

Every Holy See department is open to the world. How can the Pontifical Council for Culture play its part in the Church's difficult missionary task in the world?

Besides the science and faith relationship, another important area of our activity is that of the new cultures. By new cultures I mean opening on at least three horizons. The first and most important of these being the Asia horizon. Although for our Pontifical Council this horizon is new, I am aware that it is far from new for the Church. It is an area which has a growing, incisive impact on the international scene. Think for example of what countries like India, China, Japan represent. In this sense, recently we organised a meeting in Kathmandu.

The second horizon is that of Africa. Africa is the object of interest with two distinct elements organised this year: the first, to be held in Tanzania at the end of July, will involve Africa's English and French speaking Bishops' Conferences: an involvement on themes of culture, read by the Bishops who belong to this world, read and, in way, oriented by them. The second element is a meeting organised in Burkina Faso. Instead of leading Church members it will involve the church roots, that is Cultural Centres, cultural organisations connected with the world of culture in order to see what exists in those places and what people in those places. All this keeping the complexity of culture in mind and striving to understand how this culture can be stimulated and intensified.

The third horizon is that of Latin America, an area renowned for its vivacity. In Latin America we wish to work observing activity at the roots and at the same time at some major Catholic universities, taking part, with them, in the construction of the Mexican School of Cinema: “Filming the Ineffable”, a school under our patronage which has attracted the interest of the New York Film Academy. We have opened another parallel school at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles. These technical courses train film directors and cinema technicians with a precise purpose, to prepare high quality filmography, technically connected with major anthropological questions. Our docents also give lectures which are theoretic and symbolic. Today genres prevail, but we intend to strive for something similar to what was proposed by Bergman, Dreyer, or is proposed by Olmi, Tarkovskij (viene il figlio, viene la moglie)… in the United States theya re anxious to see how this works out, because these themes draw the interest of the general public. The courses will be held in Los Angeles and in New York.

Adorno used to say that whenever he went to the cinema he returned home a bit more stupid. Whereas it suffices to mention the names just cited to realise this is not true. Bergman, for example, makes you dig in profundity, like many magnificent novels.

Let's speak of the Church's language. Being involved in culture entails also learning the right language to communicate what we consider important. In your opinion is it important for the Church to reflect on the language she uses? If culture and communication are inseparable, what language is the most suitable?

As the theme for our Council's next Plenary Assembly, we have chosen Language. We intend to devote ourselves systematically to the theme involving also the cardinal and bishop members of our Council. Substantially I would move the theme language on two fronts: that of religious communication taking into account specificity while avoiding anything self-referential; that of the fact to be kept in mind that in a globalised world although a linguistic standard exists, at the same time there is an emerging necessity for specificity. We need to coin the term “glocalisation”: we are all equals, but this equality cannot be imposed by Babylon: one language. Instead beauty is found in comprehensible multiplicity. Hence the interest for reflection on proper expressive modalities, for example those of the African world. Diversities must be safeguarded.

Dossier by P.R. - Fides News Service 31 May 2008; Editor Luca de Mata

© Agenzia Fides

This item 8226 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org