Friday, October 25, 2013

Bauman: “With Francis the Church and humanity have a chance”

The philosopher Zygmunt BaumanZygmunt Bauman the Polish-born philosopher who wrote about “fluid modernity” said this in an interview with Vatican newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano.”

“I am in awe at everything Francis is doing: I believe his pontificate gives not just the Catholic Church but the entire humanity a chance.” This is according to Polish-born sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who coined the phrase “liquid modernity”.
 
In an interview with Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Bauman said “Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s rejection of legalism and the ability he has to touch people’s hearts are reminiscent of John XXIII.” 

“The current Pope has shown a fearless attitude: I’m thinking of what he did in Lampedusa and what he said about the outcasts of our globalised world,” Bauman said.
 
“Francis speaks to the spirituality of our times: followers of the “personal God” are not particularly interested in the moral prescriptions given by representatives of religious institutions but want to find a meaning to their fragmented individual existences. They are still awaiting for the Evangel, the original term for “good news””.
 
“I am personally very hopeful and anxious to see the future developments of this pontificate,” Bauman said. “I have been struck by the emphasis Bergoglio places on dialogue: a real dialogue, not just the kind you get by speaking to people whop think more or less like you. It’s when you compare ideas with individuals who see things from a completely different point of view that dialogue becomes interesting; in this case, the different sides may very well be driven to change their personal opinions.”
 
“This is the kind of exchange we are in urgent need of today, because we are called to deal with problems that have far-reaching consequences, so we don’t have any ready-made solutions: just think of the divide between the rich and a vast part of the world’s population that still lives in poverty; or of the need to put an end to the indiscriminate exploitation of the planet’s resources and to find an alternative to a clearly unsustainable development model.”