Capítulos de libros
“The theology of the end of the world” : rethinking theological ethics from the existential peripheries
Date
2018Registration in:
9781626982741
ISBN 9781608337408 (e-book)
Author
Blanco González, Pablo A.
Institutions
Abstract
There are many who miss emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’stheological wisdom, but
is Bergoglio less of a theologian than Ratzinger? Is histheology shallower? What kind
of dialogue does histheology holdwith reality?
Forinstance,whenFrancisreferstomercy, he talks aboutthe confessional;
whendescribinghowgraceshouldreacheverybody,hetalksabout“customs”;
and when he refers to the wounds of the world, he talks about the church as a
“field hospital.”Theseexampleslead ustotheanalysis and identification ofthe
originalaspects ofFrancis’stheologicalthinkingthatIcall“thetheologyofthe
end of the world.”
It is appropriate to clarify that the reference to a theology of the end of the
world is not made in an eschatologicalsense like parousia, that is, the end time,
but rather in a political–geographical–cultural–historical sense, associated with a
way of thinking and acting originating in the world’s peripheries, using Pope Francis’sown words on the dayhe was elected: “You know that it wasthe duty ofthe
ConclavetogiveRomeaBishop.ItseemsthatmybrotherCardinalshavegoneto
the ends of the earth to get one.”1
What is more, this aspect of the theology of the end of the world implies
a particular hermeneutics that is essentially pastoral: it is not about theology
becomingpraxis,butaboutthepossibilityoffindingpraxisintheologicalcategories and keys.So,to say“theologyofthe end oftheworld” is notjust to point to a
geographical place (which could be well expressed by using the preposition from); it
refers also to an original understanding, it remarks upon these theological novelties,
and it namesits own theological identity.
Thisnewtheologicalreading ofrealitychallengestheological ethicstogo
beyond mere theories,toward a fundamental aspect ofincarnation derived from
the theology of the end of the world set out by Pope Francis...