A new theology symposium aimed at young Catholics was launched this past Saturday in Maynooth as part of the Year of Faith.YouTheol is aimed at introducing 18-30-year-old Catholics to theology through the writings of the theologian, Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
The director of the new initiative is Fr D. Vincent Twomey, SVD, a former doctoral student of the Pope’s and a member of his Schuelerkreis, an annual forum for his one-time students.
YouTheol will be guided by a number of young theologians who have studied Joseph Ratzinger’s “rich theology.”
Speaking to ciNews, Fr Twomey, a retired professor of moral theology at Maynooth, said he felt the Year of Faith is, “going to be a great grace for the whole Church,” and that there would be a lot of things happening as part of it.
He said there are, “so many young Catholics who have found the faith,” and warned that if they didn’t get an introduction to theology and experience something of the excitement of theology, “there is a great danger that their faith will be swallowed up in the fog that is Irish Catholic culture today.”
Discussing the situation in Ireland in relation to theology, he told ciNews, “The malaise in the Irish Church is really due to the fact that existentially, theology is meaningless in Ireland; there is no sense of the need of theology.”
Despite this downbeat assessment, he said is delighted to see a, “new generation of superb young scholars,” emerge on the Irish theological scene, a number of whom have done their post-doctoral research on Ratzinger’s theology.
He explained that theology is about getting to know the thoughts of theologians and he suggested, “Ratzinger is a relatively easy theologian to read,” due to his, “great clarity and depth.”
“I want to introduce young people who have the faith to his theology so as to excite them about theology and they can, perhaps, then go on and study it further. We have faculties who are crying out for students,” he commented.
According to Fr Twomey, “Renewal of the Church will not come from the change of the structures; that will come at the end. It will come from the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of people, priests, laity in the parishes, and in the orders.”
Referring to the theologian Joseph Ratzinger’s statement that theology is not an optional extra and that it arises out of the very nature of faith awakened by revealed truth, Fr Twomey told ciNews that the Pope wants the Year of Faith to, “rekindle the excitement and expectation we had at the time of the Second Vatican Council.”
“I do believe that the best introduction to theology is through Ratzinger because he is contemporary and he is clear,” he said.
He explained that the talks are aimed at everybody and do not require a theological background.
“The thing about theology is the more you know, the more you don’t know and you always want to learn more.”