FeBiC (Day 4): The Call for a Change of Mentality

Another day full of provocations marked the work of FeBiC. Last Wednesday, April 19, two key themes were touched on: the biblical formation of seminarians and religious and the conception of the Church that still characterizes the people of God in different parts of the world. Two themes linked by a common thread: a paradigm change is urgently needed,and the necessary change of mentality. The Word of God, when truly welcomed, deepened and lived, cannot but lead to this.

The first change concerns the formation of future “pastors” and “pastoral agents”, a theme addressed by Dr. Nina Sophie Heereman, of the United States of America: many young people (men and women) are still recipients of a biblical formation too rationalist, too detached from the dynamism of the Spirit and the challenges of today.

The second change concerns the biblical formation of our Christian communities, a theme addressed by the President of the Episcopal Conference of the Philippines Msgr. Pablo Virgilio David: it is necessary to leave the model “pastor (who teaches and guides) – flock (who listens and does)”, to return to the ecclesial model of the origins, where the Pastor is the Lord, in the Word and in the Eucharist, and all are “missionaries of the Word” attentive to the signs of the times.

Two speeches that animated the debate in the classroom and outside. In the meantime, among the Associate Members present at the Plenary, three Institutions emerge as particularly dedicated to the Pastoral Care of the Word, gathering the gratitude of various Episcopal Conferences and of different ecclesial realities represented here: the Society of the Divine Word, the Claretians and the Pauline Family, in its dual expression in the Society of Saint Paul and in the Daughters of Saint Paul. The gratitude that we feel around us is a strong encouragement to renew our dedication to the Word, embracing the challenges that today’s relationships have so well highlighted. We particularly recommend the report of Mgr. Pablo Virgilio David that you find from minute 45 onwards of the attached video (very interesting also the next debate!).