Pope Francis says "Today the world is going through a profound anthropological crisis...Before our eyes is consumed once again the immense tragedy of war..." to Psychology Institute
Message of the Holy Father Francis
to the participants in the International Conference “Adam, where are you”?
The anthropological question today on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation
of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University
Dear brothers and sisters!
You gathered today in the Pontifical Gregorian University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Psychology. To all of you I warmly address my greetings and, wishing a fruitful meeting, I express my deep gratitude to all who were the initiators and architects of this academic undertaking.
The Institute of Psychology was born on the wave of the ecclesial updating initiated by the Second Vatican Council, which exhorted: "In pastoral care, not only the principles of theology, but also the discoveries of the secular sciences, should be sufficiently known and used. place of psychology and sociology, so that the faithful are led to a purer and more mature life of faith "(Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 62). In the past half century you have accepted this challenge, courageously pursuing the interdisciplinary approach in the pastoral care of the faithful, both in the field of research and numerous publications, and in pastoral and formative practice. Following the Ignatian principle of cura personalis, you have prepared specialists capable of integrating spirituality and psychology into apostolic and educational activities, in different geographical and cultural contexts of the Church. As an academic unit of the Gregorian University you have already trained more than half a thousand men and women in the science and art of personal care, coming from multiple cultures on different continents. They, in turn, in collaboration with your Institute, in recent decades have given rise to about fifteen specialized centers for formators, in various regions of Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe.
However, today's conference does not aim to contemplate the past, but, by receiving its precious inheritance, is aimed at facing the challenges of the future. The question posed by the theme: "Adam, where are you?" (cf. Gen 3: 9), in the current situation of the world it resounds with great force, questions us, shakes us and invites us to a serious examination of conscience and conversion. Today the world is going through a profound anthropological crisis (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 55), a crisis of meaning to which the Church has the duty to respond adequately and effectively. Before our eyes is consumed once again the immense tragedy of war, which is the worst consequence of human, individual and systemic destructiveness, which is not taken seriously enough and is not properly treated and eradicated at the root. Thus, faced with the imperative of learning to say no to evil, of relieving those who are wounded or offended in their dignity and the urgent need to train people capable in turn of forging formators with a solid anthropological preparation, the Church continues to expect, from your Institute, a quality service based on the knowledge of psychology with the contributions of theology and philosophy. Your mission is at the service of the promotion of the human person and of the ongoing process of evangelization, which is achieved by translating the supreme gift of the Redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ into the concrete of human existence.
I therefore hope that the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University will renew in you the commitment to research, teaching and caring for people. Thus you are at the service of the Church going out to the existential peripheries of today's men and women, in the diversity of their cultures but united by the need for support and enthusiasm to face the hardships and challenges of life. I thank you for your contribution, which corresponds to the mission proper to the Pontifical Gregorian University, at the service of the mission of the Church. The Lord bless you and Our Lady protect you.
Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, May 14, 2022
FRANCIS
to the participants in the International Conference “Adam, where are you”?
The anthropological question today on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation
of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University
Dear brothers and sisters!
You gathered today in the Pontifical Gregorian University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Psychology. To all of you I warmly address my greetings and, wishing a fruitful meeting, I express my deep gratitude to all who were the initiators and architects of this academic undertaking.
The Institute of Psychology was born on the wave of the ecclesial updating initiated by the Second Vatican Council, which exhorted: "In pastoral care, not only the principles of theology, but also the discoveries of the secular sciences, should be sufficiently known and used. place of psychology and sociology, so that the faithful are led to a purer and more mature life of faith "(Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 62). In the past half century you have accepted this challenge, courageously pursuing the interdisciplinary approach in the pastoral care of the faithful, both in the field of research and numerous publications, and in pastoral and formative practice. Following the Ignatian principle of cura personalis, you have prepared specialists capable of integrating spirituality and psychology into apostolic and educational activities, in different geographical and cultural contexts of the Church. As an academic unit of the Gregorian University you have already trained more than half a thousand men and women in the science and art of personal care, coming from multiple cultures on different continents. They, in turn, in collaboration with your Institute, in recent decades have given rise to about fifteen specialized centers for formators, in various regions of Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe.
However, today's conference does not aim to contemplate the past, but, by receiving its precious inheritance, is aimed at facing the challenges of the future. The question posed by the theme: "Adam, where are you?" (cf. Gen 3: 9), in the current situation of the world it resounds with great force, questions us, shakes us and invites us to a serious examination of conscience and conversion. Today the world is going through a profound anthropological crisis (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 55), a crisis of meaning to which the Church has the duty to respond adequately and effectively. Before our eyes is consumed once again the immense tragedy of war, which is the worst consequence of human, individual and systemic destructiveness, which is not taken seriously enough and is not properly treated and eradicated at the root. Thus, faced with the imperative of learning to say no to evil, of relieving those who are wounded or offended in their dignity and the urgent need to train people capable in turn of forging formators with a solid anthropological preparation, the Church continues to expect, from your Institute, a quality service based on the knowledge of psychology with the contributions of theology and philosophy. Your mission is at the service of the promotion of the human person and of the ongoing process of evangelization, which is achieved by translating the supreme gift of the Redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ into the concrete of human existence.
I therefore hope that the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University will renew in you the commitment to research, teaching and caring for people. Thus you are at the service of the Church going out to the existential peripheries of today's men and women, in the diversity of their cultures but united by the need for support and enthusiasm to face the hardships and challenges of life. I thank you for your contribution, which corresponds to the mission proper to the Pontifical Gregorian University, at the service of the mission of the Church. The Lord bless you and Our Lady protect you.
Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, May 14, 2022
FRANCIS
Source: Vatican.va
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