For further discussion of Lonergan's work, see the anthology Communication and Lonergan: Common Ground for Forging the New Age, edited by Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup (Sheed & Ward, 1993; now distributed by Rowman and Littlefield).
Now, in addition, Czerny and Barone say, "Thus, Gaudium et Spes presents divine Revelation as above all an event of dialogue, as intrinsically an encounter and interchange. The revealed Truth, counting on the truth built into human consciousness, appeals to this innate predisposition [to truth built into human consciousness] to guide each one to welcome the mystery of God. The 'pastoral' essence or nature [of the Church] is defined [in Vatican II's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World] as the desire to accompany men and women in the course of their life, through the 'joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties' (GS 1) that they experience, aware of the difficulties and challenges posed by the continuous changes and evolution of the realities in which they are immersed (GS 91)" (pp. 10-11).
Now, taking a hint from the title of Czerny and Barone's Chapter Two: "After the Council, Two Approaches to Social Questions Emerge," I would say that they see Pope Francis as taking what they describe as the inductive approach to discussing social questions. By contrast, Pope John-Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI tended not to take what Czerny and Barone describe as the inductive approach to social questions as decisively as Pope Francis does.
In Czerny and Barone's Chapter Three: "Criteria for Discernment: Reading the 'Signs of the Times,'" they discuss Pope Francis' 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Latin for "The Joy of the Gospel") rather extensively. The authors say that for Pope Francis "The real challenge for the Church of our time is responding to people who 'thirst for God' (EG 89; 165). The question to be addressed [by the Church] is no longer that of atheism, as it was for [Vatican II's] Gaudium et Spes, which declared it to be an unoriginal phenomenon (GS 19), but [the question to be addressed by the Church] shifts to what is proper (proprium) or essential to God to human beings. It is no longer a question of how to talk about God to the non-believer, but how to mediate God to those living in subhuman conditions" (p. 56).
In Czerny and Barone's Chapter Four: "Reflections on the Problems, Analyzing the Causes (Fratelli Tutti, ch. 1)," they begin their detailed discussion of Pope Francis' 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti - which they will continue in Chapters Five, Six, Seven, and Eight. They say the following:
"In the second part of this book, we endeavor to highlight how Fratelli Tutti has taken the inductive method proposed in [Vatican II's] Gaudium et Spes. Fratelli Tutti's structure and way of treating the themes it addresses fully reflect the intention to 'scrutinize, interpret, and respond' (cf. GS 4). The introductory section of the encyclical (ch. 1) is a careful analysis of the problems that current event pose to humanity as a challenge and as an obstacle to our all being siblings and enjoying social friendship. The encyclical then investigates our present time in the light of the Word of God (ch. 2), and [the encyclical] discerns the good that today bears as a promise of change and openness to the dynamism of grace (chs. 3-4). Then the path and the means with which to act toward building a better and open world are identified (chs. 5-7). Finally, as if to complete the reflection, the themes already dealt with converge in the appeal which the Pope addresses to Christians and to the other religions to work together responsibly for the peace and unity of the human family (ch. 8)" (p. 68).
In the subsequent subsections of Chapter Four, Czerny and Barone regularly capitalize the term Tradition - as in the expression "sacred Tradition" in Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum 10 (p. 69). However, the term Tradition does not appear as a main entry or as a sub-entry in the "Index."
In any event, Czerny and Barone say that "the pope expresses his intention unequivocally right from the opening lines of the encyclical: to look at our all being siblings as a dynamic and open reality constitutes a path of proclaiming and transmitting the Gospel for the Church today. . . . [E]vangelizing today involves the posture and attitudes of believers in relation to the world and their fellow human beings. It is a question of a relational style" - that is, a personal style of relating "the truths of faith concerning the living God" is "no longer convincing [others] as a simply 'informative' effort" but an effort "to share the deposit of the faith through the life and quality of the relationships that the baptized establish daily with those they encounter in their daily lives" (pp. 70-71; their italics).
Czerny and Barone's expression that we human beings today should "look at our all being siblings as a dynamic and open reality constitutes a path of proclaiming and transmitting the Gospel for the Church today" calls to mind the American Jesuit literary scholar Walter J. Ong's use of systems terminology in his eloquent essay "Voice and the Opening of Closed Systems" in his 1977 book Interfaces of the Word: Studies in the Evolution of Consciousness and Culture (Cornell University Press, pp. 305-341).
Now, in Czerny and Barone's Chapter Five: "Scrutinizing the Present: Letting the Word of God Enlighten Us (Fratelli Tutti, ch. 2)," they discuss Pope Francis' discussion of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) in Chapter Two of his 2020 encyclical. They say, "In this [the pope's] way of proceeding, we recognize a concrete example of the inductive method [proposed in Vatican II's Gaudium et Spes]: observe reality, discern the facts in the light of the Word of God, and acting in a way that brings faith and life together" (p. 89n.1).
Under the subheading "A parable of 'perception': Converting how we look and see" (p. 92), Czerny and Barone say the following:
"The Holy Father's interpretation of the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan differs from the practically 'classical' exegesis of the passage, which has tended to highlight the exemplary attitude of the Samaritan and then encourage the hearers to identify with him [and follow his example]. In fact, such an interpretation - centered on the verse 'he saw him and had compassion on him' (Luke 10:33) - encourages the reader or listener to be inspired by the figure of the Samaritan and to act by imitating his feelings of pity and his care" (p. 92).
Czerny and Barone say, "Transferring the category of 'neighbor' from the victim of the robbers to the Samaritan allows Jesus to show us how the encounter with someone who is suffering has a transforming effect on those who allow themselves to be touched by the sufferer's personal drama and get involved. In this light, perceiving the other person as a sibling is never the consequence of a willfulness or 'voluntarism' that is self-imposed by imitation and that 'from the outside' induces us to act a certain way, but always happens 'from the inside,' that is, by virtue of the love of God that disposes us to truly be siblings and not only act as such" (p. 93).
Now, In Czerny and Barone's Chapter Six: "Generating an Open World: Discerning and Judging (Fratelli Tutti, chs. 3-4)," they discuss Pope Francis' discussion in the third and fourth chapters of Fratelli Tutti. Under the subheading "The dynamism of grace: The love of Christ that unites us to the neighbor" (p. 100), they say, "The grace of Christ is always 'relational' because it fosters 'openness and union with others' (FT 9). It is charity, love, that God infuses for the fulfilment or perfection of human nature - already willed and created by God as being ontologically disposed to the divine 'You' - so that human beings can employ, through the exercise of their freedom, all the potential for good that they have been made to receive. Love is what achieves passing from potential to the actuality of being. Therefore, love makes us exist and subsist. At the same time, love is what permits creating the authenticity of 'we' from self-centeredness, because love makes it possible to recognize the other as the 'You' that completes and gives meaning" (p. 101).
In Czerny and Barone's footnote 4 on page 101, they say, "Love is the only dynamic able to expand the meaning of life. Love is an exodus that allows one to go out of oneself and be liberated from the tyranny of one's own selfish needs; love is an ecstasy that leads to 'a fuller existence' (FT 88) in relationships." I like the way that they evoke the ancient Hebrews' archetypal exodus from their slavery in Egypt here - and thereby align their slavery in Egypt under the Pharoah's tyranny with "the tyranny of one's own selfish needs" - thereby shifting the archetypal story of outer tyranny to the inner personal subjective tyranny of "one's own selfish needs." Nicely done, Czerny and Barone!
Under the subheading "A heart open to the whole world: Immigration as an opportunity for enrichment and interchange" (p. 109), Czerny and Barone say in note 15 on page 110, "[Pope] Francis admires the thought of Romano Guardini and his [book] L'opposizione polare is one of the significant texts of the pope's formative years. Pope Francis has made the art of holding opposing realities, experiences, and sensibilities together in creative tension a distinctive feature of his personal and pastoral reflection. Our co-authors then provide us with three references to publications in Italian. However, I would point out that the lay Italian Catholic Massimo Borghesi's intellectual biography of Pope Francis has been translated into English as The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio's Intellectual Journey, translated from the Italian by Barry Hudock (Liturgical Press Academic, 2018; orig. Italian ed., 2017).
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