1118 15 November 2018 Monthly Year 2 The Tyrannical King and Poor Naboth Paul VI and Vatican II .11 O Digital Argonauts The Human Cost of the Syrian War OLUME 2, N 2, OLUME V Building Bridges in Sarajevo: Catholic Theological Ethics 2018 Pino Puglisi: Priest and Martyr The Architecture of Silence and Post-Secularism The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen CONTENTS 1118 BEATUS POPULUS, CUIUS DOMINUS DEUS EIUS Copyright, 2018, Union of Catholic Asian Editor-in-chief News ANTONIO SPADARO, SJ All rights reserved. Except for any fair Editorial Board dealing permitted under the Hong Kong Antonio Spadaro, SJ – Director Copyright Ordinance, no part of this Giancarlo Pani, SJ – Vice-Director publication may be reproduced by any Domenico Ronchitelli, SJ – Senior Editor means without prior permission. Inquiries Giovanni Cucci, SJ, Diego Fares, SJ should be made to the publisher. Francesco Occhetta, SJ, Giovanni Sale, SJ Title: La Civiltà Cattolica, English Edition Emeritus editors Federico Lombardi, SJ ISSN: 2207-2446 Virgilio Fantuzzi, SJ Giandomenico Mucci, SJ ISBN: GianPaolo Salvini, SJ 978988-79271-3-6 (paperback) ​978988-79271-8-1 (ebook) Contributing Editor 978988-79271-9-8 (kindle) Luke Hansen, SJ Published in Hong Kong by Contributors UCAN Services Ltd. Federico Lombardi, SJ (Italy) George Ruyssen, SJ (Belgium) P.O. Box 80488, Cheung Sha Wan, Fernando De la Iglesia, SJ (Spain) Kowloon, Hong Kong Drew Christiansen, SJ (USA) Phone: +852 2727 2018 Andrea Vicini, SJ (USA) Fax: +852 2772 7656 www.ucanews.com David Neuhaus, SJ (Israel) Camilo Ripamonti, SJ (Italy) Publishers: Michael Kelly, SJ and Vladimir Pachkow, SJ (Russia) Robert Barber Arturo Peraza, SJ (Venezuela) Production Manager: Bert Daelemans, SJ (Belgium) Rangsan Panpairee Thomas Reese, SJ (USA) Grithanai Napasrapiwong Paul Soukup, SJ (USA) Friedhelm Mennekes, SJ (Germany) Marcel Uwineza, SJ (Rwanda) Marc Rastoin, SJ (France) Claudio Zonta, SJ (Italy) CONTENTS 1118 15 November 2018 Monthly Year 2 1 The Tyrannical King and Poor Naboth A never-ending story Giancarlo Pani, SJ 14 Paul VI and Vatican II Giovanni Sale, SJ 32 Digital Argonauts The young and the search for meaning Francesco Occhetta, SJ – Paolo Benanti, TOR 44 The Human Cost of the Syrian War GianPaolo Salvini, SJ 56 Building Bridges in Sarajevo An international conference on Catholic Theological Ethics James F. Keenan, SJ 63 Pino Puglisi: Priest and Martyr Giancarlo Pani, SJ 77 The Architecture of Silence and Post-Secularism Luigi Territo, SJ 85 The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen Claudio Zonta, SJ ABSTRACTS ARTICLE 1 THE TYRANNICAL KING AND POOR NABOTH A NEVER-ENDING STORY Giancarlo Pani, SJ “The story of Naboth is an old one, but it is repeated every day.” This is how Ambrose begins the tale of poor Naboth who was killed by King Ahab so that he could take possession of his vineyard. The episode in the First Book of Kings depicts Ahab’s greed: he who owns everything wants more. But Naboth cannot give away his small piece of land because it is his family’s holy heritage, received as a gift from God, hence the rigged trial and the stoning of poor Naboth. Biblical history is a never-ending story, then and now. Ambrose refers to the vast estates around Milan at the end of the fourth century. And the episode has been taken up by Pope Francis. In homilies at Santa Martha and during the annual spiritual exercises for the curia, he has repeatedly suggested re-reading these words of Ambrose. They ring true today. ARTICLE 14 PAUL VI AND VATICAN II Giovanni Sale, SJ The canonization of Blessed Paul VI, the pope who masterfully conducted the Second Vatican Council to its conclusion, gives us the chance, albeit briefly, to retrace some significant moments of the conciliar event at which he was a propeller and tireless mediator in search of consensus and communion among the Council fathers. We examine the most significant moments Paul VI intervened, especially in the third and fourth sessions, both in the general assembly and in the commissions, and the reasons why he did so. These interventions did not undermine the freedom of the Council as he acted in full respect of his prerogatives and his powers. ABSTRACTS ARTICLE 32 DIGITAL ARGONAUTS THE YOUNG AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING Francesco Occhetta, SJ – Paolo Benanti, TOR For digital Argonauts – the generation whose compasses are their smartphones – algorithms and Big Data are sources of authority, blessed with a sacred value as guides to the truth. Can “data-ism” – blind trust in technology and management of one’s own identity – answer young people’s quest for meaning? The challenge of the Church, seen particularly in the 2018 Synod of Bishops, is to accompany young people in their search for faith, and offer a new definition of personal and community belonging that cannot ignore what the new Argonauts experience online and also stretch beyond it. This is the mission of the educating Church: “to draw out” resources, projects and values from the lives of young people and accompany them on their journey toward maturity. FOCUS 44 THE HUMAN COST OF THE SYRIAN WAR GianPaolo Salvini, SJ Beyond the daily news that tries to explain the war in Syria and its contradictory and tragic aspects, this article focuses on the civilian victims of seven years of a merciless war fought in a once flourishing and stable country. The Syrian population is exhausted, with approximately 500,000 killed (mostly civilians) and millions of refugees and displaced people who have left their homes and belongings. This article highlights the most dramatic aspects of the war, focusing on the groups that are most at risk, especially women and children, in a situation that seems to have escaped all measures of control, without a definitive solution still in sight. ABSTRACTS CHURCH LIFE 56 BUILDING BRIDGES IN SARAJEVO AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL ETHICS James F. Keenan, SJ Sixteen years ago a global network of Catholic ethicists was founded. More than 1,500 scholars participate today. Since its founding, four international conferences have been organized. The first three were held in Padua (2006), Trento (2010) and Bogotà (2016). The most recent, which is discussed in this article, was held in Sarajevo, July 26-29, 2018. Participants included 422 ethicists from 78 countries. Those present represented the multiple voices of the Church around the world, wherever one finds an ethicist, as well as their diverse challenges and hopes. The presentations, posters and panel discussions focused on three themes: climate change, its impact on migration, and the deprivation of civil rights by nationalist political leaders. The author is a professor of Theological Ethics at Boston College, Massachusetts (USA). PROFILE 63 PINO PUGLISI: PRIEST AND MARTYR Giancarlo Pani, SJ “The Gospel, the Mafia, the frontiers”: these few words sum up the biography of Fr. Pino Puglisi, the parish priest of Brancaccio, who was murdered on September 15, 1993. Fr. Pino was not only a man of faith, an educator of the young and a reference point for families, but also a priest on the frontier, faithful to the Gospel to the point of extreme sacrifice, in a district dominated by the Mafia and the culture of death. On May 25, 2013, the Church recognized him as a martyr and proclaimed him blessed. Pope Francis went to Brancaccio to remember this holy parish priest 25 years after his death, a death that marked the fate of the homicidal Mafia. This was his true, incomparable miracle. ABSTRACTS ART, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT 77 THE ARCHITECTURE OF SILENCE AND POST-SECULARISM Luigi Territo, SJ Secularization has produced not only fragmentation and a weakening of religious practice, but also innovation and emancipation of the sacred from traditional religions. A new wave of religious interests and practices, especially in the Western world, would seem to definitively dismiss the secular age and see it replaced by a post-secular age. An evident effect of this emancipation can be felt in the spread of inter- confessional “chapels,” dedicated to meditation and silence. It is a matter of convenient places where people of different beliefs can converge and meet. The author is an expert in the conservation of cultural heritage. ART, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT 85 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Claudio Zonta, SJ Many important biblical themes are present in the vast discography of American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. In fact, much of his work tries to capture the mystery of the complexity of existence using biblical criteria, such as the exit from the earth (Highway 29, Across the Border), the relationship with one’s father and with the Father (Adam Raised a Cain, My Father’s House), the fragility of a couple’s relationship (Two Faces), the drama and the question of evil (Into the Fire), the small and insignificant stories of the humble and the lowest (I’ll Work for Your Love). In a recent publication, Il Vangelo secondo Bruce Springsteen (The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen), Luca Miele traces how the poetics of “The Boss” contain evocations of biblical stories that the famous singer restates in a personal and creative way. The author is a student of biblical theology at the Pontifical Theology Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples. LCC 1218: DECEMBER TABLE OF CONTENTS • Confidence in the Progress of the Church in China • The History of relations between the Holy See and China Annual Digital Subscription • Europe in an exercise of social $79 imagination • Justice in the Global Annual Print Subscription Economy: