Expression of Gratitude to Massimo Faggioli

Kildare Ministries Conference

Massimo, two images spring to mind. The first is a Pentecost wherein you have ignited numerous flames of hope for us. Alternatively, we could return to the river image where, not only are we considering which bank we are standing on and what are the questions from the other side, but in fact you have taken us on a journey down the river on the barge of Francis and indeed we have met a few rapids along the way, one of which for me is that Laudato Si is about power!

Amongst many other things that have encouraged me in your presentations is the insight that Francis actually sees the world through the eyes of the poor. You have also shown us how he straddles the bridge between prophecy and pragmatism and that compromise for the sake of the poor is possible

The ministry of our three Community Works springs to mind with Francis’ insistence that we be a Church of accompaniment – out on the streets as it were, embracing all the poor, not just Catholics.

And what challenges lie within our educational centres with their 8,000 plus young people? Our schools as you suggest need to humanize before they evangelize. What better way to empower them than with the belief that they are living ‘holy’ lives as they go about their daily business confronting the ‘prosperity gospel’, rejecting the ‘technocratic paradigm’ that requires all things to be measured in order to assess their value, whilst nurturing a heart for outreach, compassion and inclusion.

I really appreciated the way in which you contextualized so much of Francis’ teaching in the complexity and multi-layered context of events and movements of history and of contemporary times. The intersection of the politics, economics and the many other shapers of human behaviour are not unrelated to church teaching. The fact that all are interconnected on this one and only home planet Earth bears witness to the reality that each action has its impact on ever widening circles of influence.

So what for Kildare ministries as a lay led ecclesial body? Can we claim our authority as a voice in the church and in the world? Can we follow in Francis footsteps to be ‘politically incorrect’? Can we engage in the process of inversion and conversion to new Spirit led ways?

It is time to embrace Francis’s deep conviction that we are an integral part of the one community of life on planet Earth, our common home. We are seeking to hear the cry of poor humanity visible and invisible and now we must also respond to the new call to model and practice the belief that there is no other option than to listen to mother Earth ‘amongst the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor’ and weave a future that embraces the whole Earth community in this evolutionary understanding of the living gospel.  

Thank you Massimo for a refreshing, insightful and integrated analysis of Francis’ teaching. Thank you for placing before us innumerable challenges at the heart of which is the liberation and empowerment of ourselves as lay people in the church and in the world.

Anne Boyd csb

Members Council