Rome – In his opening address at the Pontifical Urbaniana University on May 12, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke about the doctrine of just war in his contribution to the discussion on contextual theology. “Let’s consider, for example, the doctrine of just war. It is true that this doctrine contains elements that are still relevant today. The problem is that there are now Catholic groups in politics who, encouraged by priests, use this doctrine to justify all wars as forms of ‘legitimate defense.’ Starting from a supposedly urgent need for defense, they relativize or interpret the requirements for a just war very broadly. This demonstrates the need to adapt this doctrine to the current context, to rethink it, and to make it more precise and meaningful,” he explained.
Contextual theology as a space for discernment
Contextual theology can help to rethink classical categories and avoid their instrumental use, thus appearing as an instrument of theological discernment rather than a breeding ground for relativism. The Study Day entitled “Milestones of Contextual Theology Today” following the welcome address by the Rector, Professor Vincenzo Buonomo, primarily used this compelling example to examine the significance of this “fundamentally contextual theology,” to which Pope Francis had explicitly called in his motu proprio “Ad theologiam promovendam.” Professor Steve Bevans, another high-ranking guest at the conference, described it as a “true magisterial turning point.”
To illustrate the topic, Cardinal Fernandez also drew on his personal experience and recalled an important episode. In a 2007 article, he defended the Salvadoran Jesuit priest Jon Sobrino, a figure of liberation theology, against whose writings the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had issued a Notification. The subject was a statement by Sobrino that, in Latin American theological reflection, the poor constitute a theological point of reference that shapes the reflection from the very beginning. The Notification opposed this approach, stating that “the fundamental theological point of reference can only be the faith of the Church,” but concluded, above all, that “other starting points for theological work carry the risk of being arbitrary and ultimately distorting its content.”
In this context, the Cardinal emphasized: “For this reason, I argued in that article that while the faith of the Church is the fundamental starting point, the most important theological point of reference, but this does not preclude other complementary, non-alternative starting points that call into question any reflection ‘from the beginning.’
And in this sense, I proposed speaking of an ‘inevitable immediate context’ that is closely linked to the fundamental starting point, Revelation.”
When the Cardinal was appointed Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in 2010, this article provoked reservations in Rome and delayed the Vatican’s necessary “nihil obstat” for his appointment. Following an exchange with the Dicastery, he published a second text in 2011 in which he reaffirmed his convictions but clarified some passages, adding, among other things: “It is precisely the faith of the Church that provides the most solid and profound basis for seeing the poor as God sees them and for caring for their situation,” and that “no one recognizes attacks on the dignity of the marginalized better than those who are enlightened by the faith of the Church.” He further argued that the mere acceptance of the Church’s tradition could make us indifferent to the history in which God has placed us if we are not simultaneously open to what is happening around us: “That is why I re-proposed the expression ‘unavoidable immediate context,’ explaining that this context is unavoidable because ‘when a theologian reflects, he cannot completely ignore or disregard the painful situation suffered by the majority of God’s people in their place of residence,’ and that the context ‘invites those who receive Revelation to discover further aspects of its inexhaustible richness’.”
The Cardinal concluded his reflections by noting that “theological dialogue with context and every effort at inculturation must proceed from the heart of the Gospel, the kerygma, and not from peripheral truths. This initial proclamation is not found only at the beginning, when the Gospel first encounters a person. It is transversal; it must permeate all catechesis and all theology in all its themes as a central and constant thread . It is proclamation that awakens the experience of encountering the living Christ. From there springs every process of encountering the Gospel in the context of a specific place.”
Contextuality over time
Following Cardinal Fernández, the renowned missiologist Professor Stephen Bevans recalled that November 1, 2023, marked a milestone with the apostolic letter “Ad Theologiam Promovendam.” In it, Pope Francis calls for a paradigm shift toward a theology that is “fundamentally context-based.” Bevans also demonstrated how this orientation is rooted in the long history of theology. From the various biblical voices to the great syntheses of the Church Fathers Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, faith is always conceived based on concrete historical situations. The statement of the Council of Nicaea that the incarnate Word is “of the same substance as the Father” illustrates this dynamic: doctrine was able to incorporate the expressions and forms of thought of contemporary philosophy without betraying the faith. Bevans also sees Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum” as a context-based theology that arose in response to the effects of the Industrial Revolution.
Professor and Father Ambroise Atakpa, for his part, closely linked contextual theology and cultural pluralism. “Contextual theology and cultural pluralism are two sides of the same coin,” he explained; the former is a consequence of the latter. He recalled the 1659 Instruction to missionaries in China and Indochina, which warned: “Nothing is more absurd than wanting to bring France, Spain, Italy, or any other part of Europe to China. It is not all of this that you must bring, but faith—a faith that neither rejects nor offends the way of life nor the customs of any people,” provided they do not contradict the Gospel.
In connection with the Second Vatican Council, he highlighted the text of the International Theological Commission, “The Unity of Faith and Theological Pluralism” . One of its theses states that “unity and plurality in the expression of faith find their ultimate ground in the mystery of Christ himself,” which “transcends the expressive possibilities of any historical epoch.” Another thesis states that “because of the universal and missionary nature of the Christian faith, the events and words revealed by God must be constantly reconsidered, reformulated, and lived out in every human culture,” while the Gospel leads each culture “to its fullness” and simultaneously subjects it to “creative critique.”
Five Continents in dialogue
The second part of the study day illustrated these perspectives with concrete examples through lectures by theologians from the institutes affiliated with the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Oceania, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In Oceania, theology is literally emerging from the rising sea level. Faced with the threat to islands like Kiribati and Tuvalu, “many live in fear of losing their fonua , which is so closely tied to their identity and sense of belonging,” explained Father Toutaiolepo, who had undertaken a twenty-hour flight to attend the conference. In this context, he emphasized, “theology becomes a prophetic voice that denounces injustice and advocates for environmental protection,” very much in the spirit of “Gaudium et Spes” and “Laudato Si’.”
In Latin America, Juan Antonio Prado recalled that liberation theology arose from the interplay of poverty and neoliberal politics. Ignacio Ellacuría spoke of the “poor of the earth” as the place where the truth of the Gospel is decided. Gustavo Gutiérrez stressed that “progress in liberation theology will not be possible unless the poor themselves do not find their hope,” starting from their own world and in their own terms.” From this perspective, the poor are not merely the object, but the subject of theological reflection.
However, Europe faces a different kind of crisis, observed Professor Giuseppe Busani. The Jesuit Christoph Theobald describes a “spiritual emptiness” in a context where, according to Busani, “an intense search for spirituality” is manifest, but one that is “uncertain and disoriented.” There is “a feeling without words, a premonition without concepts”: God is not denied, but rather “considered indifferently.” Echoing Elmar Salmann, Busani emphasizes that we have moved from an era in which “the spirit triumphed over the body, unity over diversity” to a world where diversity, the body, historicity, and emotion prevail, without anyone knowing “what to do with them theologically.” Hence the idea of no longer presenting Christianity as an “ideological truth” but as an “inviting motif,” where the mysteries of faith are more like “spaces and paths” than obstacles to be erected.
Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha recalled that in Asia, mission—in accordance with the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences—is understood as a “threefold dialogue” with the poor, with cultures, and with religions. Referring to the Anubhava-Vichāra-ācāra method, he cited Michael Amaladoss: “In the East, experience takes center stage. Practice is more important than theory; practice nourishes theory and sometimes challenges it.” He pointed out how Asian theologies strive for an inclusive language in which “reality is dialogical, holistic, and harmonious,” and in which they prefer to speak of the Absolute as “an Absolute within the Relative.”
Finally, in Africa, Father Michel Wenceslas Tiendrebéogo retraced the path of a “theology in a sub-Saharan context”: from “adaptation” to “incarnation,” then to liberation and reconstruction. African theologians sought in their own cultures images that could express Christ—“Ancestor,” “Elder brother,” “Master of Initiation,” “Healer,” “Leader”—and the option of the “Church as the family of God,” promoted by John Paul II, is, in his view, “the effective fruit of the dialogue between African theology and its context.”
A Theological Catholicity
In conclusion, the study day at the Pontifical Urbaniana University outlined a theological openness in which local theologies enter into a critical and fruitful dialogue. In his inaugural address, Cardinal Fernández warned against an intellectual blockage centered on “classical Roman theology” and “Northern European” theology: “Sometimes it takes a madman, someone who loves his country and his people with all his heart, and who can distinguish the Gospel from certain cultural layers that have settled there, without, however, identifying an essential part of its message. He must then reread it in light of the experiences of his people. The aim is to initiate something that we would describe not only as a ‘spiritual event’ but also as a ‘cultural and linguistic event’ that enables people to fully rediscover themselves in the message of the Gospel,” he explained.
Steve Bevans also recalled that, while contextual theologies are an imperative, they are only one stage in a process whose next phase could be a “new theological catholicity,” in which local theologies enter into critical and fruitful dialogue with one another to mutually enrich one another. “Theology can flourish only if it is in contact with the peoples of the whole world, with the whole Church,” he stated. “I believe that the more open we are to others, the more our contextual theologies will flourish in their specificity. Theologies should never isolate themselves from one another. Theologies can always learn from one another.”
This long walk through contextual theology is crucial because it shows that reflection on mission and inculturation cannot be satisfied with empty phrases and slogans. Engaging with situations and contexts, which by no means leads to relativism or the sacralization of cultures, on the contrary, offers a more refined approach to the complexity of reality and the intelligence of faith – at the service of the mission.
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