Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Facolt di Teologia
Doctoral thesis n. 919
Approval date: 24th September 2015
Believing in God
Roma - 2015
Contents
Abbreviations................................................................................................. v
Introduction...................................................................................................1
Chapter 7: Theological interpretation of the results.......................................7
Chapter 8: Conclusion: a critical appraisal of research procedures and results...101
Bibliography...............................................................................................124
General Index.............................................................................................175
iii
Abbreviations
AFC
CCC
DV
EB
Eurobarometer.
EP
Evolutionary Psychology.
ESS
EVS
FR
JOHN PAUL II, Fides Et Ratio. Encyclical letter of the supreme pontiff John Paul II to the bishops of the catholic church on the relationship between faith and reason. Citt del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 1998.
ISSP
New Testement.
Old Testement.
PN
Positivist Naturalist.
Religious Integration.
SA
Similitude Analysis.
SCT
SIT
Social Representation.
SRT
The abbreviations used to designate the Bible books are taken from the
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition.
vi
Introduction
This research project aims to investigate how the adolesecents who attended the Portuguese catechetical curriculum live, after the end of catechesis, their
faith. What relationship do they have with God? What image of God have they
built? What are the processes involved in the construction of their faith?
These teenagers are a relatively small percentage of all the Portuguese population. But are, probably, the ones that are nearer to the ecclesial proposal.
Investigating theologically their experience of faith has all the scientific justification. But it is also a sign of respect towards those who dared to believe.
Motivation and Theme
The Church in Portugal, since the beginning of the 90s, offers a catechetical project with a ten-year duration (from 6 to 16 years old), culminating in
the sacrament of Confirmation. The original goal of this catechetical project
was to empower the children and adolescents with the proper tools to build an
adult and committed Christian identity.
But the social and religious changes in Portugal, and the possible internal
limitations of the project, led to the presence of signs indicating the possible
failure of those goals: decline of the ecclesial belonging, disarticulation between faith and life, disappointment in many catechists
About this situation, there is a joke circulating in Church environments: a
priest laments with his bishop about the presence of bats in the church attic;
he has already tried all possible solutions: poison, ultrasounds there is no
way to get rid of them. And the bishop offers a solution: Confirm them, they
wont remain in the church for long!
Between the playful and the bitter, this joke underlines a serious problem
in Portuguese Church. There is a serious effort to offer a ten year catechetical
curriculum, during childhood and the first part of adolescence; catechists formation is made with honest commitment; the 60000 catechists do their ministry with generosity and are one of the largest experiences of voluntary work
in Portugal. But this catechetical architecture, culminating in confirmation,
leaves very unsatisfactory results. There are many voices complaining that,
after confirmation and so many years attending catechesis, identification with
the faith and the Church from these young people is very weak. The situation
is annoying, especially as lasts for two decades.
Meanwhile, there is a growing consensus among the experts that adolescence is becoming longer, and that people tend to delay the identity processes.1
Despite some calls from the Bishops Conference,2 Portuguese churches have
not done any relevant proposal to deal with adolescents and youths after 16
years old.
The catechetical process has no standard evaluation mechanisms to measure the success of the proposed objectives. As a result of this absence, we can
only have access to very generic impressions about the success of the catechetical programs, a diffuse awareness that the adolescents needed a longer and
better pastoral support. Above all, we have a deep ignorance about the real
faith experience of the new generations of Christians.
This ignorance about the real religious experiences makes impossible the
existence of a serious debate about faith in God, the contents attributed to
God, the quality of the relationship the adolescents have with Him.
At the center of the Christian experience and of the evangelizing efforts
of the church we have the faith in the Trinitarian God, revealed in the person, words and deeds, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. According
to General Directory for Catechesis (= GDC), it is from such faith that can
grow, with the proper processes of ecclesial insertion and education-initiation,
a Christian identity, adult and autonomous. But, in fact, concerning the adolescents living in Portugal that followed the catechetical curriculum, we know
very little about their faith contents, their quality or relevance.
This need for a better understanding of reality is not only nor mainly
academic: it is an important factor to understand the quality of the actual
pastoral processes; it is an important factor to think, project and implement
alternatives.
Despite this alarming scenario, it is surprising the absence of scientific
knowledge about the actual faith experience of this group of teenagers that
attended all the catechetical curriculum. Often, some Church circles use generic data and interpretations imported from youth sociology. They assume
the presupposition that youth is a coherent and unified reality and apply to
all its segments the same grids. Sociologically, this is a very weak operation. It
ignores the deep fracture lines that run across the youth continent. And ignores
the specifics of the religious education and pastoral action processes that were
FERREIRA Vtor Srgio, A condio juvenil portuguesa na viragem do milnio. Um
retrato longitudinal atravs de fontes estatsticas oficiais: 1990-2005, Lisboa, ICS, 2006.
1
2
CONFERNCIA EPISCOPAL PORTUGUESA, Bases para a pastoral juvenil,
2002.
activated with this group. Or, worst, considers, without further analysis, that
they are irrelevant.
At the same time, many people, with different levels of knowledge and
ecclesial responsibility, do not conform to this situation. They feel it is their
duty to to search for an improved praxis of the Church.
The ignorance about the real faith experience of the adolescents that attended catechesis, the refusal to accept simplistic solutions, and the solidarity towards all those committed to a renewed pastoral effort, led us to start
this research project. Understanding how these adolescents assume the Church
faith, what processes and people are involved in such appropriation, would be
a worthy contribution to all those who try to establish a bridge between the
happy experience of the Gospel and the world of young people.
The scientific ignorance about the religious experience of young people is
staggering. It would be acceptable to investigate the Portuguese adolescents
has a unified group. But, instead, we chose to study only those adolescents that
attended catechesis for the all curriculum. They are a minority group (around
10% or slightly more) within that cohort. But they are an interesting population because they, apparently, are the ones more identified with faith and the
Church. A renewed and qualified youth ministry project should pay attention
to them. Knowing who they are, and how they believe is a mandatory task
for anyone trying to improve the way christians in Portugal minister to young
people.
Method and Articulation
Affirming and living accordingly to the faith in the God revealed in Jesus
Christ is essential to Christian existence and ecclesial praxis. This research
project aims to verify the quality of the reception Portuguese adolescents who
followed the systematic catechesis curriculum offer to the announcement of
the mystery of God. After attending catechesis for ten years, what kind of faith
do these 16-20 years old adolescents have?
This research seeks to reach three objectives. The first is to identify the
images of God elaborated by the adolescents and what relationship they establish with Him. The second is to understand the processes by which those
images and relationships are generated and adopted. And, in the third place,
we will be able to reflect and evaluate, dogmatically and practically, the actual
experience of believing in God.
This research opts for a practical-theological approach. Differently from
human sciences who claim to be value-free towards the object under scruti3
amounts of data about the Portuguese religious reality, but the number of
studies is scares. This will lead us to build some analysis of the available data,
in order to find some meaning in it. In the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels we do not have data generated in Portugal but the amount of international
literature is enormous. This second chapter will not stop in the presentation of
the available investigation but will discuss the merits of its epistemological and
anthropological presuppositions.
The third chapter will present the social representations theory (SRT), its
rationale, epistemological legitimation, and methodologies of choice. It will
also highlight its merits and heuristic relevance in todays socio-cultural complexity. A preliminary comparison between the Christian understanding of
faith in God and social representations might show the existence of a high
degree of isomorphism between the two. And this can make social representations theory a good candidate to frame our empirical research.
The second part will report the empirical procedures used to collect the
data and will present them and analyse them. After the three chapters of part I,
more concerned with the theoretical dimension, it will be time to be challenged
by empirical reality and by the data.
The fourth chapter will describe and justify the research design. Triangulation is a quality-enhancer option and it will be one of our key-options. Our
research design will use mainly data and analysis triangulation. To get a better
understanding of the ecosystem where the adolescents live their faith, we will
collect data from three different levels: the adolescents level, the catechetical
level and the public sphere level.
Fifth chapter will describe the analytical procedures used and the results
of the analysis. Our main tool of analysis will be the Alceste method. Alceste
has a solid theoretical support and allows for a rapid quantitative analysis of
unstructured data. Similitude analysis is a complementary method that can
help making sense of the raw data. Both methods have a solid tradition in the
field of social representation research.
In the third part, the results of the empirical study will be related back to
the initial questions and aims. Here, we will read, interpret and evaluate the
empirical data presented in the second part.
The sixth chapter will determine what social representations were produced by the respondents about each of the three divine persons, what Trinitarian representation can be derived and what configurations were activated to
the objectivation and anchorage processes.
The seventh chapter will do a theological interpretation of the social representations previously identified. We will follow a separate approach to the
dogmatic interpretation and evaluation and to the practical-theological. In the
first moment, the dogmatic interpretation, we will revisit and discuss theologically the social representations identified to each of the divine persons. We will
also evaluate the explicit and implicit faith theologies present in the sample. In
the second moment we will interpret the faith praxis of the respondents. We
will comment on the most relevant experiences contributing to faith, on the
partners that adolescents have found in their faith path and will end commenting on the faith outputs, the personal and ecclesial consequences of the faith
experience.
Thesis extract
This volume fulfils the academic requirements demanding the publication
of a thesis extract. The committee suggested the publication of chapter 7. In
the previous chapters, left behind of this extract, the procedures that led to the
identification of the social representations of God, Jesus, and the Spirit, were
presented. Now each of the representations is theologically evaluated. Dogmatically and practically.
This volume includes also the introductions, the conclusions (formally,
chapter 8) and bibliography. In the Conclusions it is possible to find a summary of the contents proposed in chapters 1 through 6. This can be useful for a
better framing of the contents found in chapter 7.
Chapter 7
Theological interpretation of the results
This seventh, and final, chapter will attempt to make a theological interpretation of the social representations that we have identified. Having collected the data emerging from reality, and envisaging it within a clear human
sciences theory, it is now time to try and understand what the data is telling us.
It is time to answer the initial question of this research: theologically, what is
the experience of faith of the adolescents who attend the catechesis?
It will be a theological interpretation with two distinct approaches: one,
more dogmatic, the other practical. In the first section, we will analyse the
way the respondents see and position themselves in front of each Person of the
Trinity, and how they perceive the Trinity. In the second part, we will see what
practical consequences faith has to the respondents lives and what ecclesial
and communicative processes are involved.
1. A Dogmatic-Theological appraisal
When attempting a theological comprehension or evaluating an author
or document, it is tempting to assess them by comparison to other authors
or documents presenting what is, supposedly, a more normative synthesis of
faith. A true theological appraisal, without dismissing this confrontation with
the normative dimension of faith, must also (and, perhaps, above all) understand the document on its own, through both the documents own internal
logic and theological (but also philosophical and anthropological) assumptions, and also by putting the document in perspective within its own historical
and cultural context. If that does not happen, we fall, easily, in the injustice of
reading and interpreting the document with the uncritical look of the analyst
that identifies, perhaps unconsciously, his own context with the normative
version of faith.
These epistemological precautions must be underlined, especially when
we are studying documents produced outside the theological academia, documents made by a population with serious difficulties in producing texts with a
modicum of articulation.4 It is tempting to identify a set (however minimal) of
4
It is worth mentioning the experience reported by Smith: In our in-depth interview with U.S. teenagers, we also found the vast majority of them to be incredibly
inarticulate about their faith, their religious beliefs and practices, and its meaning on
their place in their lives. SMITH Christian and DENTON Melinda Lundquist, Soul
searching. The religious and spiritual lives of american teenagers, p. 131. In a German
At the same time, other terms occur referring to the quality of the respondents relationship with God. These terms suggest the existence of a good, relevant and positive relationship with God: secure, happy, personal and joyful.
These two lexical descriptions show the existence, in this SR, of a certain
continuity and balance between the fides qua and the fides quae, between the
allocation of characteristics suitable to the divinity and the explicit nature of a
quality relationship with Him.
However, the most typical characteristic of this SR is the simultaneous
presence of both faith and doubt. Faith and doubt about the existence of God,
but also faith and doubt as a relational stance towards God. SRT describes this
coexistence of contradictory positions as cognitive polyphasia. However, this
is a non-surprising result from respondents that were exposed to an intense
Christian education which, at the same time, was overlapped by pressure from
the dominant culture that tries to silence God, and particularly, the specific
characteristics of the Christian God.
Usually, the answer from theology to those who challenge the existence
of God is more philosophical and cultural than strictly theological. More so,
since the critical climate created by the enlightenment, after which the greatest
effort has been devoted to defending the epistemological legitimacy of the very
question of God. O pensamento moderno de matriz iluminista e positivista
estruturou-se sobre a separao e ensinou a oposio entre saber e crer, razo
e f, inteligncia e sensibilidade, fazendo pender o prato da balana para o
primeiro terno dos binmios.6
And even the developments propitiated by Dei Verbums revelation theology tend towards a somewhat static model. Philosophical-theological extrinsecism has been overcome in favour of a dialogic vision of a God that reveals
Himself to mankind, which in turn must answer Him. But it is not common or
easy to leave the normative biblical horizon and build a bridge to real people,
in the context of their personal and social pathways.
In this SR, faith appears as individual adhesion to a truth of supernatural
origin. There is an objective content, hidden from normal cognitive processes,
which only through faith can be accessed and doubt is evidence of the hesitation, insecurity and difficulty in dealing with this form of alternative knowledge. Somehow, the doubt referred by these adolescents can be described with
the words of CCC when it talks of involuntary doubt: Involuntary doubt
refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected
6
TERRA Domingos, A f como dom e resposta da liberdade, in LOURENO Joo
(org), A f da Igreja, Lisboa, Paulus, 2014, 129-180, p. 30.
with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness (CCC 2088). Doubt is not only an
ontological or epistemological question. It is also a practical question: what
should I do? Questions of being, truth and of action should always be seen
in relation to each other.7 This link between ontology and praxis (between
content and relation in the experience of faith) is obvious because the truth of
what is believed influences the action the subject takes. But also as a deterrent
against apathy; when doubt is present, when the contours of what is real become blurred, the very possibility of action seems blocked.
An objectivistic vision of revelation and faith persists that finds credibility in the miracles of Jesus and the Saints, the prophecies, the propagation
and the holiness of the Church.8 God and his revelation is, according to these
respondents, omnipresent. Faith merely consists in recognizing the constant
presence of God, and doubt is incidental to this recognition.
When we think and communicate faith from within our own experience
of faith, in line with the normative documents produced by Scripture, Magisterium and theological reflection, this ideal model, especially when enriched
by the dialogical perspective, seems quite appropriate. However, it tends to be
less effective for those who are just beginning to believe.
As Root underlined, discourse tends to insist on the power and evidence of
Gods revelation, in an obsession with Gods nearness, and in the obligation
(moral, spiritual and logical) of believing in the self-revealing God.9 The objectivistic notion of God as omnipresent is blatantly contradicted by the experience of His absence. This objectivist stance can induce an easy identification
between uncritical religious socialization and true faith.
Cf., following the line of Dei Filius, from Vatican I, CCC 156. Cf. also, CONESA
Francisco, El acto de fe en el Catecismo de la Iglesia Catolica, in Facies Domini, 5
(2013), 13-39, pp. 26-28, about the differences and continuities between CCC and Dei
Verbum. The author defends that in the CCC a truly personal and Christological vision is present. La doctrina del Catecismo en esta seccin sobre la fe ha de ser completada, en primer lugar, con lo que se ha dicho en la seccin primera sobre el ser humano
como capax Dei. () En segundo lugar, esta exposicin ha de ser completada con la
perspectiva sobre Cristo y sobre la Iglesia como signos personales de credibilidad.
8
9
Cf. ROOT Andrew and BERTRAND Blair D., Postscript: Reflecting on method.
Youth ministry as practical theology.
10
GALLO Luis A., Il Dio di Ges. Un Dio per luomo e in cerca delluomo, Leumann, LDC, 1998, p. 80.
10
11
12
TONELLI Riccardo, GALLO Luis A. and POLLO Mario, Narrare per aiutare a
vivere. Narrazione e pastorale giovanile, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 1992, p. 61.
11
This association between faith and trust has a solid biblical background.13
In an unsafe and dangerous world, God reveals Himself as the only stable alternative upon which life can be structured. This experience remains equally
valid in the Old and New Testament as in the existence of an adolescent in the
early 21st century.
There is a consistent theological trend defending a strong continuity between existential trust, religious faith and the faith in Jesus Christ. However,
it is a continuity differentiated from identification. Such continuity is defended
because the faith in the God of Jesus finds an anthropological category able to
sustain it. Iniciamo-nos f crist, iniciando-nos confiana existencial ()
a f declina a densidade humana do reconhecimento grato e da entrega confiada ao dom incondicional que o Pai faz de Si na histria do Seu Filho entre ns
e que continuamente renova no Esprito.14
Without falling into the excesses of Lutheran fideism,15 where faith runs
out in a relationship with a faceless God (or, at the least, a blurred face), the
anthropological category of trust seems to offer a good support structure for
faith in God. Sequeri defends an urgent recovery of the anthropological dignity
of trust. If our capacity to trust each other is not recognized as a defining part
of our identity, any kind of human knowledge (not only religious knowledge)
is ruined.16 This theological project roots the phenomenology of faith in an
anthropology that recognizes the centrality of affective trust in all interactions
and forms of human knowledge.
In this representation, the experience of trust in God is associated with a
strong relational quality. To believe, to trust in God, brings a better quality to
the personal existence, which, traditionally, theology describes as salvation.
The adolescents thematize such salvation using the category of relational quality and anchor it in the vulgata of positive psychology.17
13
This reference to Lutheran fideism should be understood as a reference to popular piety. Cf. CARROLL Thomas D., The traditions of fideism, in Religious Studies,
44 (2008), 1-22.
15
Cf. GALLAGHER Michael Paul, Truth and Trust: Pierangelo Sequeris Theology of Faith, in Irish Theological Quarterly, 73 (2008), 3-31. Cf. also PAWAR Sheila,
Trusting others, trusting God. Concepts of belief, faith and rationality, Farnham - Burlington, Ashgate, 2009, for a less enthusiast view on the relation between faith and trust.
16
17
12
God. These two aspects are not mutually exclusive, however; they are just two
sides of the same coin.18 According to the circumstances or the psychological
physiognomy of the subject, communicative priority can be given to one or the
other. But it is essential to retain the notion that salvation offers the believer a
profound transformation.
Assuming a stance of faith, engaging lovingly in the dialogue started by
God, the believer is saved, that is transformed. And whether or not we privilege the positive or the negative perspective of salvation, it offers a process of
deep transformation for the believer. This salvation must not be understood
as a mere acquisition of goods (material or spiritual), external to the subject,
as salvation transforms the believer internally. And from this comes the link
between faith, salvation and conversion. Conversion, in this context, is more
than a moral choice. Conversion is more than the abandonment of a more or
less immoral life; it is an internal change of the subject, made possible by God,
that opens the door to a new life and new options.19 The moral, behavioural
dimension of salvation, is a corollary of the transforming interaction with the
God that offers abundant life. As Terra puts it: A f crist constitui uma
experincia de salvao, porque quem a pratica conta com a graa divina que
dotada de fora transformadora. auxiliado pelo prprio Deus, que se faz
presente como dom.20
It is obvious that this process is dialogic and happens in a freedom context.
The connection between salvation and faith is not automated. When a positive
answer to the Gift of God is given, the transformation process still happens
within the specificities and constraints of our humanity. This salvation, capable of transforming the believer, is profound and radical but is also slow,
mediated by the circumstances surrounding our surrender to God.
This salvation includes a social dimension. The salvific will of God does transform not only the individual but also societies and their underlying structures.
This description of the articulation between faith and salvation was based
on the biblical information, in a western context, and to be read in an academic environment. So how can such salvation, brought about by faith, be expressed in different existential and cultural horizons? How is the adolescents
vision connected with what we have seen previously about salvation?
14
18
Cf. TONELLI Riccardo, Per la vita e la speranza, Roma, LAS, 1996, pp. 18-23.
19
Cf. EG 164.
20
This question is reminiscent of a previous one: is it legitimate to talk plurally about the one God-given salvation? A careful analysis of Scripture itself
shows how salvation is expressed in different categories, crossing the founding
experience of Gods revelation with the different circumstances of each specific
community. Commenting on the panorama of the New Testament, van der
Watt says: Thus a truly diverse soteriological landscape is birthed as individual situations play a decisive role in how the message of the Christ-event is expressed. The documents address different issues, employing different linguistic
styles, thereby creating different foci.21
There is, in the NT, a plurality of images taken from various contexts: law,
economic, social, political and apocalyptical. However, this plurality of images is functional to the expression of a common soteriological reality. Different and divergent imaginaries are used to describe a shared structure. This
elemental narrative that would be behind the plurality of imaginary departs
from a blocked anthropology. Blocked towards humanity and God. People are
divided among themselves and separated from God. But God allows real possibilities to restore such relationships. How this happens is described in various
ways. But all of them happen through Christ. And His Cross and Resurrection have a decisive role. Mankind must welcome this restored relationship
through the attitudes of faith, obedience and renewed praxis.
The embracing of this narrative in such disparate texts demonstrates how
the message, and not the image, is the priority. To the NT authors, this means
that the expression of the idea (the image they choose to use) must be distinguished from the content (the message). This relativizing of the images and
categories used, suggests that, even today, it is legitimate to recount Gods
salvation in Jesus using plural forms, selecting the more relevant soteriological images for each particular situation. This process, which we, today, call
inculturation, has always happened throughout Church history, and it is not a
specificity of mission territories. It is born from the very nature of culture and
the nature of the Gospel.22
If inculturation and plurality of languages are a possibility, the attempt
to express salvation by faith anchored in positive psychology should not be
immediately rejected. Rather, it should be evaluated according to the double
van der WATT Jan G., Conclusion - Soteriology of the New Testament: some
tentative remarks, in van der WATT Jan G. (Edited by), Salvation in the New Testament. Perspectives on Soteriology, Leiden - Boston, Brill, 2005, 505-522, p. 505.
21
22
Cf. GALLAGHER Michael Paul, Fede e cultura. Un rapporto cruciale e conflittuale, Cinisello Balsamo, San Paolo, 1999, pp. 141-154.
15
Once again, it is important to distinguish the different meanings that positive psychology can assume. In a minimalistic way, PP is just normal psychology researching positive approaches: The future task of positive psychology is to understand
the factors that build strengths, outline the contexts of resilience, ascertain the role
of positive relationships with others. GABLE Shelly L. and HAIDT Jonathan, What
(and why) is positive psychology?, in Review of general psychology, 9 (2005) 2, 103110, p. 108. But a more enriched understanding of PP is possible, where it becomes
prescriptive with all the scientific findings it has produced. And when this enriched
vision of PP falls in the public domain and is popularized by the mainstream media,
becomes an ideological narrative.
24
25
Cf. WIARDA Timothy, Psychology and pastoral ministry, in Church and Society
in Asia Today, 7 (2004) 3, 114-128.
26
28
In pastoral care, sufficient use must be made not only of theological principles,
but also of the findings of the secular sciences, especially of psychology and sociology, so
that the faithful may be brought to a more adequate and mature life of faith. (GS 62)
16
money and happiness. And this is in tune with the Gospel vision relativizing
material goods. A second point of convergence is the importance of thanksgiving either as a therapeutic exercise or as prayerful practice. The importance
given to forgiveness is another point of convergence. The concept of a good
life or a virtuous life also has similarities to the biblical vision; Christianity
and Positive Psychology share the critique of hedonism and defend the merits
of a philanthropic attitude.29 Finally, the supporters of continuity tend to assimilate the benefits of optimism with the theological virtue of hope.30
But Gillespie suggests that there is a risk of conflation: a danger of distinct items from science and religion being used in such a way that their definitions collapse so that their differences are confused and lost.31 Philanthropy
and charity can seem, to an external and superficial observer, similar concepts.
However, their motivational system is quite different. And, with time, also are
the forms of action generated by each one. The use of an innovative mental
framework to express Christian salvation has its risks. However, like the authors of the NT, it should be attempted, without prejudices about the images
that are used to express the mystery. However, the normative narrative of
Christian identity must be respected.
There are four main theological objections to the use of Positive Psychology. First is the uncritical reproduction of the success models and notions of
quality of life dominant in contemporary western consumer culture. Although
it is true that it is possible to trace the genealogy of many contemporary values
to the Gospel, many others have nothing to do with Christianity. And this
lack of critical sense becomes an epistemological problem within the Positive
Psychology field. Many proponents of Positive Psychology limit themselves
to declare some attitudes as more positive than others without conducting an
anthropological and philosophical foundation for those choices. However, we
can acknowledge that such a foundation would always be difficult in the fragmented context of any postmodern axiology.
A second critique has connections to the first and comes from individualism. We have seen in chapter six (4.1.1) how, even when recognizing the
essential role of interpersonal relationships, the individual subject remains the
functional measure of all things. In a European context of Christian education,
29
Cf. ZAGANO Phyllis and GILLESPIE C. Kevin, Ignatian spirituality and positive
psychology, in The way, 45 (2006) 4, 41-58, for another possible comparison.
30
31
GILLESPIE C. Kevin, Patterns of conversations between catholicism and psychology in the United States, in The Catholic Social Science Review, 12 (2007), 173183, p. 180.
17
33
BACHLAND Sarah Caffrey, Living God or cosmic therapist? Implications of the
national survey of youth and religion for christian religious education, in Religious education, 105 (2010) 2, 140-156, p. 143. The fact that the catechists sample (a sample
18
19
BELL Catherine, Ritual. Perspectives and dimensions, Oxford - New York, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 264.
35
36
37
MESSIAS Teresa, A f como experincia existencial, in LOURENO Joo (org),
A f da Igreja, Lisboa, Paulus, 2014, 285-381, p. 334.
20
Christian ritual, liturgy and personal prayer, are distorted when seen as a
merely sociological process, as cultural inertia where subjects have little saying.38 More or less explicitly, Christian ritual gives body, in the concrete existence of the subjects, to the process of faith. Torevell says
it is the task of the liturgical Church to offer the embodied presence of the resurrected Christ to the world, a body once disfigured but
restored to glory, a body of beauty. Such a task demands an imaginative performance of ritual which encourages worshippers to see the self
and the world in a new Christological way, entailing the enactment of
a drama of beauty which enthrals and attracts.39
The old theological axiom lex orandi, lex credendi again finds all its meaning. It is much more than harmony between dogma and cult; it is a circular
process that leads the believer to delve more deeply into the mystery of the
God who reveals Himself. Referring to the sacraments, the Catechism says:
They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish,
strengthen, and express it. (CCC 1123). Faith believed is expressed through
rites and is reinforced. Liturgy and prayer have a strong effect on reinforcing
faith because it is here the community expresses and sets its ultimate identity
before God.
The symbolic strength of the ritual, the communitarian framework,40 acts
as a blocking force against the Promethean and narcissistic temptations of
making God in the image and likeness of the believing subject. One of the
challenges of contemporary sensitivity is the reduction of experience to consumption: o apelo experincia individual, como modo de afirmao livre
de si, lanado no registo crescente da quantidade, do culto da emoo e da
vertigem, da novidade e da originalidade.41 The openness of this third SR of
TOREVELL David, Liturgy and the beauty of the unknown. Another place, Aldershot - Burlington, Ashgate, 2007, p. 1
39
Even in individual prayer, there is always a social horizon in which the subject
appropriates contents and prayer models.
40
41
CORREIA Jos Frazo, A f como forma vital e forma expressiva da existncia
humana, p. 39.
21
God to an explicitly sacral and communitarian dimension allows counteracting this trend to some extent.42
The traditional expression effective signs of grace applied to the sacraments in our subjectivist context, helps us to understand how the ritual dimension of this SR enriches the quality of the faith experience. It opens life to the
normativity of revelation: Il sacramento diventa pertanto il momento di una
fede ritualizzata, che a sua volta ritualizza sia i momenti essenziali della vita
() sai le rinnovate scelte di una esistenza in Cristo.43 This liturgical tension
introduces an itinerant dimension that removes faith from the immediacy of
the moment (that quickly becomes consumerism). There is a before the ritual,
charged with the believers memory and the normative memory of revelation;
there is a during ritual, in which ritual language manifests itself and where
the believer opens himself to the power of revelation in act; and there is also
an after ritual, where believed and celebrated faith is challenged to confront
everyday life.
The presence of this ritual sensibility in the process of building the image
of God brings the added advantage of reducing the tension between credo and
credimus. Liturgical action cannot be reduced to the particular purposes of individual subjects. Liturgy is always an ecclesial experience. In this perspective,
personal prayer is more prone to subjectivism. But it is possible to underline
the social weight, the learned aspect, of personal prayer practices (contents,
materials, procedures, conformation with a social representation of prayer).44
This social dimension of ritual does not convert the individuals into passive
Obviously, the concrete experience of prayer and liturgy can also be infected
by the double Prometaic or narcisistic alienation. It would be necessary to investigate
the real configurations that these adolescents rituals assume. But stands on its own the
notion that lex orandi carries with it a strong centrifugal component, that promotes
the openness to the real God, freeing Him from subjectivism.
42
SODI Manlio, La dimensione liturgica della pastorale nella vita della comunit
cristiana, in ANTHONY Francis-Vincent et al. (Coordinatori dellopera), Pastorale
Giovanile. Sfide, prospettive ed esperienze, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 2003, 123-142, p.135.
43
44
It is always possible to interpret this attention to ritual as a vestige of Trents
pastoral model, supported by a decaying social configuration. But is also possible to
do the opposite interpretation: the option to connect cult and faith as an experience of
innovation. Grace Davies talked about believing without belonging. Hervieu-Lger
talks about dcouplage de la croyance et de la pratique and dsembotement de la
croyance, de lappartenance et de la rfrence identitaire. This phenomenon of ritual
crisis has been detected many years ago. What can be new it the adolescents option
(and it is always an option and not some kind of social automatism) to recover the
bridges between belonging, ritual practice and faith. And this option should be hailed
and recognized as relevant.
22
46
Sesboe identifies the risk of silence and of denial about the possibility of a discourse about God. But seems to forget the risk of idolatry. Cf. SESBO Bernard,
Creer. Invitacin a la fe catlica para las mujeres y los hombres del siglo XXI, pp. 71-83.
23
the believers themselves, the institutions claim to bear witness to the true
faith.47 This logic of expressive individualism encourages everyone to do
their own thing. Applied to the image of God, this leads to inversions of the
Genesis narrative: And man made god in his image, after his likeness.48
This ideological framework worked towards the explosion of Spirituality.49 This concept is highly fluid and difficult to define. Spirituality ()
can easily be understood to refer to whatever inspires someone the vision of
reality from which they derive their zest for life, their sense of meaning and
purpose, their basic worldview and fundamental values.50 The ethic of authenticity, combined with the principle of originality, leads to openness to the
spiritual, to the soul, to the core identity of the person. But this attention of
the subject about himself and his own quality of life, tends to reject all traditions and structures capable, even remotely, of controlling the autonomy.51 In
this spiritual sensitivity, there is no space for a normative revelation, external
to the subject and his momentary needs.
This relativism of individualistic matrix is added to all the other problems, or difficulties, the 20th century had with formulating a discourse about
God. The critiques of the multiple atheisms forced a retraction of the discourse
about God. Even inside the theology and not only in the pastoral action of
the Church, it was no longer possible to talk as strongly about God as before. The usual masters of suspicion and the semantic atheism of the Vienna
HERVIEU-LGER Danile, In search of certainties: the paradoxes of religiosity
in societies of high modernity, in The Hegdehog Review. Critical reflections on contemporary culture, 8 (2006) 1-2, 59-68, p. 60.
47
It became a classic the reference to sheilanism. Bellah reported the case of Sheila Larson, that overcoming the weight of an oppressive family, affirms her individuality, defining her religion as sheilanism, the experience that she makes of the divine,
where she (Sheila) is the source of all normativity.
48
Cf. the debate between Voas & Bruce and Heelas about the real numbers on
spirituality. VOAS David and BRUCE Steve, The spiritual revolution: another false
dawn for the sacred, in FLANAGAN Kieran and JUPP Peter C. (Edited by), A sociology of spirituality, Surrey, Ashgate, 2007, 43-62. HEELAS Paul, Challenging secularization theory: the growth of new age spiritualities of life.
49
51
Cf. SOINTU Eeva and WOODHEAD Linda, Spirituality, gender and expressive
selfhood, in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 47 (2008) 2, 259-276. The
authors start with Taylors concept of expressive individualism but try to go further in
order to determine how this cultural trend is differentiated by gender.
24
Circle forced the resizing of the act of speaking about God both in terms of
content and in terms of communicative placement. It was no longer possible
to propose an image of God subject to the criticism of being socially alienating
(Marx), of being an authoritarian and paternalistic projection (Freud), or of
being a God that restrains the better part of our human condition (Nietzsche).
These critiques were accepted by the Church and theology, not as merely tactical management but as an appeal to the purification of faith and to a return
to revelation sources.
The sharp conflicts between theism and atheism, so typical of the cultural climate of modernity, have led, in this postmodern context, to the desire
to talk about negative theology. This interest in apophatic theology helps us
overcome a double parasitism. Some forms of atheism are obsessed in denying certain caricatures of God, and a theodicy has developed to counter those
forms of atheism. However, both attitudes bring little of use to the debate and
quest for truth.
Beyond the classical references to Pseudo-Dionysius or Eckhart, we find
that even Thomas Aquinas has a more humble and modest discourse than
we could imagine possible.52 Aquinas is quite aware of our limitations when
talking about God. We cannot say what God is, but merely what He is not. The
proofs of Gods existence do not bring understanding about God; the proof is
just the proof of the existence of a mystery. However, this does not condemn
us to aphasia. Thomas defends that we can talk about God in a non-contradictory way, even when we do not grasp the full extent of the words we are
using about Him and assume all language used to describe Him as provisional.
Being aware of the limitations of language, of the constant demand to
fight idolatry that leads us to identify our image of God with the truth of God,
theology and recent magisterium state the radical compatibility between man,
capax Dei, and Gods will to self-communicate throughout history. And thus
is recovered the centrality of revelations documents. It is the Word of God
that makes it rightfully possible, to know and say something meaningful about
God. Recognizing that revelation happens through human words, categories
and contexts, theological reflection states its truth. Revelation as is is capable of telling us something meaningful about Gods reality.
The fourth SR of God assumes this, recognizing that the Word of God
is capable of offering access to the truth of God. Inspired by a biblical background or by the catechetical language, respondents sharing this representa52
Cf. McCABE Herbert, Aquinas on the Trinity, in DAVIES Oliver and TURNER
Denys (Edited by), Silence and the word. Negative theology and incarnation, Cambridge - New York, Cambridge University Press, 2004, 76-93.
25
tion, state that God can be known through revelations sources and that there
are normative contents of faith. The God that reveals Himself is more relevant
than the task of building an image of God by the recipient.
God is described with some attributes specific to the divinity. He is omnipotent, powerful, infinite, glorious, mysterious, and invisible. He is the creator.
These notions have a biblical origin but are quite widely known as possible attributes of an abstract idea of divine (not necessarily associated with Judaeo-Christian theology). But God is also the saviour, kind, patient, compassionate, faithful And these characteristics are much more connected to a biblical idea of
God. These two groups of attributes point to a convergence of fides qua and
fides quae: the image of God has clear attributes and, at the same time, there is
awareness that this God wants to get in relation with us. God is seen as other;
but, at the same time, He is also a near God. This apparent contradiction finds
in Jesus of Nazareth a solution. Even if respondents do not make explicit reference to Jesus in this representation, a legit hypothesis can be put forward: The
life of Jesus of Nazareth emerges as the normative source from which respondents inspired themselves in order to build their own image of God.
1.2. Believing in Jesus
The sixties and the seventies popularized the phrase Christ, yes; Church,
no; God, maybe. The phrase became popular in the climate of crisis and was
supported by the ideas of counter-culture.53 It expressed a certain attitude and
a certain theology. Independently of its theological merits (few), it eventually became a sociological failure. Moreover, the resurgence of strong ecclesial religious expressions seems to be a yes to Church. High percentages of
the population still believe in God. However, Christ, who had such approval,
seems to be in a serious crisis. The idea that someone (even Jesus) can become
a normative instance of faith and humanity is not capable of oppose radical
individualism. But, beyond these ironies, how and in what Jesus Christ do the
respondents believe?
1.2.1 The Christological titles
The first representation of Jesus characterizes Jesus from His identity, using titles. In this representation, Jesus is described by who He is and by what
He does. These descriptions base themselves on ideas commonly found in the
53
Pop culture (JesusChrist superstar, Godspell) seemed to endorse the figure of
Jesus Christ. Or, at least, of certain aspects of Jesus biography.
26
Bible and theological discourse, but sometimes also use more contemporary
categories.
This approach is the most common in the Churchs Christological discourse. Remembering who Jesus was and what He did is the strategy used by
most of the NT writers.
Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour, the Messiah, the King, the Holy
one and the Lord. All these titles have an OT origin. That does not mean that
they are, somehow, out of date, or that they are destitute of Christological
relevance as the OT theological themes themselves have very fluid meanings,
according to the different times and contexts. When the first Christian communities applied them to Jesus, they went through a radical reinterpretation.
Moreover, Jesus Himself was the one to begin using OT categories.
How should we interpret the titles of Jesus in the NT? There is an evolutionary interpretation that presents Christological developments as a logically
backward process. And according to this line of thought, the most primitive
Christology was centred in the parousia and, as needs arose, Christology shifted its centre. Initially towards resurrection, and later to Jesus baptism and His
conception (with genealogies starting with Abraham or Adam); the process
reaches its peak with Johns prologue, where Jesus is presented as pre-existing
creation.54 An alternative to this linear model is multi-local. It defends that different communities (different because of geography and cultural background)
developed, independently, different Christological perspectives.
Recently, another perspective has gained some notoriety. It connects
Christological development to the prayer and salvation experiences of the first
communities. Starting with the Pascal event of Jesus, the first Christians had
an intense salvific experience. It is in function of the communicative use (ad
intra and ad extra) of the reflection made in that context that the first communities elaborate, with the available theological and cultural categories, their
Christological synthesis. Larry Hurtado is one of the main proponents of this
line of thought: I have argued that the devotional practice of early Christians
is the crucial context for assessing the meaning of their verbal expressions of
beliefs about Christ.55
Cf. BROWN Raymond E., The birth of the Messiah. A commentary on the infancy narratives in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, New York, Doubleday, 1993,
pp. 29-32.
54
55
HURTADO Larry W., At the origins of christian worship. The context and character of earliest christian devotion, Grand Rapids - Cambridge, William B. Eerdmans,
1999, p. 2. Cf. also HURTADO Larry W., How on Earth did Jesus become a God?
Historical questions about earliest devotion to Jesus, Grand Rapids - Cambridge,
27
28
interpretation of these statements persists. If we opt for a higher Christology, these titles show Jesus proximity towards our humanity. But in a lower
Christology, they just create a friendly prophet.57
This representation also includes some references to Jesus actions. Mainly
related to the Easter mysteries and, in a lesser degree, His birth. These narratives give substance to the idea of Jesus as saviour. This attention to history
prevents the creation of a Jesus outside time, a Jesus reduced to just a concept
or metaphor.
It is tempting to apply this data to the radical questions of every Christology: what position does it take on the adoptionism-docetism axis? How
does Christ activate His salvation in favour of mankind? It is not easy to give
a precise answer. Not only because of the difficulties in interpreting the data,
but possibly, because of an ambiguity sought by the respondents. Carefully
reading the answers they gave, we get the feeling that they are familiar with
classic Christological formulations, and that there is a certain acceptance of
the central role of Christ in salvation history. But, at the same time, there is a
lot of hesitations and indecisions about the role of Christ.
1.2.2. I like Jesus
This second representation is made of positive feelings and attitudes towards Jesus. It is structurally similar to the representation Trust & Relational
Quality (applied to God), as both present a believer in a strong relationship
with God/Jesus. We can apply here all that we have seen previously in the use
of the relational quality narrative. But, in this case, the object of the relation
is Jesus.
Faith in Jesus is expressed with a very rich set of affectionate expressions.
We have here a real relationship and not only a state of mind. Some of these
expressions are feelings (residents in the subject) but another part is made of
manifestations of interpersonal relationships.
This representation of Jesus is more oriented towards faith as a relationship, and the idea of faith as content is almost absent. This disbalance can
be interpreted in two different ways. The first interpretation is more critical
and underlines the risk of individualism: El acto de fe definido exclusivamente como fides qua, como mero acto de un sujeto solo tiene relacin con la
57
The use of the categories of high and low Christologies is just functional in
order to summarize very complex models. It is important to not identify high and low
Christologies with Christologies from above and from below. Cf. OCOLLINS Gerald, Christology. A biblical, historical and systematic study of Jesus, p. 17.
29
60
Cf. SARTORI Luigi, Fides qua - Fides quae, in Studia patavina, 49 (2002) 1,
109-112.
30
31
In 20th century Christology there is a strain between ontological (or essential) Christologies and functional ones.62 An ontological Christology is
concerned with Jesus ultimate identity; a functional Christology pays more
attention to His redeeming action. CCC proposes an integrative synthesis. As
Caviglia says risultano cos saldate assieme cristologia (aspetto ontologico
o essenziale) e soteriologia (aspetto funzionale), per cui non si pu dare una
cristologia senza una soteriologia, n esserci una soteriologia senza una cristologia.63 So, somehow, the list of attitudes attributed to Jesus in this representation expresses well the balance between identity and salvific action in Jesus:
behind the identified attitudes is a Jesus with a well-defined face, expressing
Himself in gestures and attitudes that will benefit others.
This representation resumes the image of the historical Jesus. These attitudes are a summary of the canonical narratives, even if they are interpreted
and filtered according to the contemporary sensibility. The relation between
the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith has generated, throughout the 19th
and 20th centuries, heated debates.64 Kasper made a triptych of theological demands that should be respected in order to articulate faith in the history about
Jesus. The first is the rejection of the idea of myth; Christ and His history are not
a mythical narrative, located in a cycle of eternal return. Jesus existed in very
precise spatial and temporal coordinates, and Jesus introduced in the course of
human history a turning point. The second is the rejection of Docetism. The
revelation of the Word and His salvation happen in the flesh, in the concrete
of the human condition and this leads to a strong identification between the
pre-existing and exalted Christ and the humble carpenter from Nazareth. The
third is the fact that the constant reference to the historical Christ offers a filter
against the enthusiastic projections of the believers. Ultimately, it is a question of the rejection of enthusiasm and a purely contemporary understanding
of salvation. The reference is to the extra nos of salvation as the presumption
of faith. A faith which refers only to the kerygma, becomes, in the end, faith
in the Church as bearer of the kerygma.65
Cf. HURTADO Manuel, Novas cristologias; ontem e hoje. Algumas tarefas da
cristologia contempornea, in Perspectivas Teolgicas, 40 (2008), 315-341.
62
Cf. DUNN James D. G., Jesus remembered, Grand Rapids - Cambridge, Eerdmans, 2003, pp. 25-238 for a very systematic presentation of the state of the art on
this topic.
64
65
32
Apparently, the data from this representation points to the historical action of Jesus Christ. There are no vestiges of the debate on the historicity of
the gospel narratives, or of demythologizing the scriptures or any of the other
strong tensions affecting theology. Should we conclude, hastily, that this representation is rooted in the canonical narratives? Is it not possible that there is
a projection in Jesus of contemporary ethical ideals? To settle the question it
would be important to clarify what made Jesus action.
Historically, it is quite safe to say that Jesus praxis is strongly committed
with the proclamation of the Kingdom. The centrality of the kingdom of
God (basileia tou theou) in Jesus preaching is one of the least disputable, or
disputed, facts about Jesus.66 With this term, Jesus expressed a time and a
place where Gods salvation plan would become victorious. The expression
kingdom of God was a form of talking of God as Lord of the world and
Gods decisive, climactic intervention to liberate sinful and suffering men and
women from the grip of evil and give them a new and final age of salvation.67
Through parables, miracles and the communicative style that Jesus embodied,
we detect that in the person and presence of Jesus, Gods sovereignty was in
action. Using the kingdom category, like the Synoptics, or other categories, all
the NT identifies Jesus action as a saving action.
This saving action of Jesus is structured in order to counter the specific
configuration that evil assumes. Evil, the denial of Gods project, can take the
shape of alienation: alienation towards oneself, towards others, towards the
world, or towards God. It can take the form of death, or of denial of the possibility and the quality of a truly human life. It can take the form of the loss
of meaning and truth. All these experiences can be expressed as sin. Jesus
action consists in fighting sin and evil. His salvation takes the shape of love
offered in the name of God, which returns us value and identity. It is a victory against the strength of death acting in the world. It is a full truth and full
meaning, offered as a credible alternative to an absurd existence.
It is important to underline the notion that the salvation offered by Jesus
in the name of God is totalizing. It is a project that must be activated right
now in the history even if its resolution has an eschatological horizon. It is
personal but also social and affects the most intimate and spiritual dimensions
of persons and groups, but also the economy, politics, power and wealth dis-
66
67
OCOLLINS Gerald, Christology. A biblical, historical and systematic study of
Jesus, p. 55.
33
tribution, and freedom.68 It is the salvation that introduces into the Trinitarian
life while at the same time touching all dimensions of everyday life. It is, in
Jesus and in those that welcome Him, a line of continuity between the love
received from the Father and the human experiences further removed from the
creative and redemptive projects of God.
The list of attitudes that the respondents have made to describe Jesus
echoes some of the characteristics of the salvation that Jesus offers, in Gods
name, to mankind. Jesus is seen as a source of quality of life in His public
ministry and His passion. The attitudes assumed by Jesus are compatible with
the existential and personal sensibility. Jesus saving action works in favour
of those in need of a new quality in their relationships and a more substantial
meaning for their lives.
But the social and political dimensions are missing; the economy, youth
culture and abuse cases, have no references. The explicit continuity that Jesus
affirms between His filial relation to the Father and His service to his brothers
is also absent.
1.3. Spirit representations
In theology and also in the discourse of the church, it has become a commonplace to talk about the neglect (substantive or relative) of the Holy Spirit
in the Western Church. Obviously the magisterium has not abandoned the
dogmatic formulations elaborated during the first four councils. But in spiritual life, the Spirit has been effectively sidelined. He has become, for many
believers, a personification of grace and is no longer a divine person.69
Cf. GALLO Luis A. and MIRANDA ngel, Para que tenham vida. O projecto de
Jesus de Nazar, pp. 13-40.
68
69
Some authors prefer to use the category of pneumatological deficit instead of
forgetfulness of the Spirit. The serious problem we are facing is not the mathematical decrease of references to the Holy Spirit. The issue is the integrity of the theological
vision. A theological text or a faith existence can have a superabundance of references
to the Spirit and still have a serious pneumatogical deficit because the Spirit is not fully
or properly integrated with the theological vision. Cf. HILBERATH BERND Jochen,
Identity through self-transcendence: the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of free persons,
in HINZE Bradford E. and DABNEY D. Lyle (Edited by), Advents of the Spirit. An
introduction to the current study of pneumatology, Milwaukee, Marquette University
Press, 2001, 265-294, pp. 265-268; McDONNEL Kilian, A response to Bernd Jochen
Hilberath, in HINZE Bradford E. and DABNEY D. Lyle (Edited by), Advents of the
Spirit. An introduction to the current study of pneumatology, Milwaukee, Marquette
University Press, 2001, 295-301, p. 295.
34
Only the notion of the Spirit as paraclete, as a defender character, escapes this
tendency. But, in contemporary Portuguese culture, the expression parclito is inevitably esoteric. Cf. LEVISON John R., The pluriform foundation of christian pneumatology, in HINZE Bradford E. and DABNEY D. Lyle (Edited by), Advents of the
Spirit. An introduction to the current study of pneumatology, Milwaukee, Marquette
University Press, 2001, 66-85.
71
Cf. TABBERNEE William, Will the real Paraclete please speak forth!: the
catholic-montanist conflict over pneumatology, in HINZE Bradford E. and DABNEY
D. Lyle (Edited by), Advents of the Spirit. An introduction to the current study of
pneumatology, Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 2001, 97-118.
72
SESBO Bernard, Creer. Invitacin a la fe catlica para las mujeres y los hombres del siglo XXI, p. 454.
73
74
Cf. RADDE-GALWITZ Andrew, The Holy Spirit as Agent, not Activity: Origens Argument with Modalism and its Afterlife in Didymus, Eunomius, and Gregory
of Nazianzus, in Vigiliae Christianae, 65 (2011), 227-248.
35
oneness of God, and the real distinction between the Father, the Son and the
Spirit and the monarchy of the Father. In Patristics, there is a strong continuity
defending that the Spirit is a divine person, closely associated with the Father
and the Son and not just a divine gift or manifestation of His power.75
Some interpreters believe that the relative neglect of the Spirit in the West
came from Augustines Trinitarian theology. Interpreting the Spirit as reciprocal love between the Father and the Son, the Spirit loses his personal character
in the believers perception.76
Another group of authors link the neglect of the Holy Spirits theology to
the use of the filioque in the creed.77
Independent of the exact causes, data from our research, confirms the
forgetfulness of the Spirit in the respondents representations (and even in the
catechists). There are quantitative indicators that prove it: systematically, the
amount of produced answers was smaller about the Holy Spirit. To the point
of making problematic, to those that rarely attended catechesis (cluster 3), the
identification of consistent social representations. But we also have qualitative
indicators: the quality and depth of the answers is quite weak.
However, it is also true that the last decades have witnessed a recovery of
the Holy Spirit. Three things can explain this recovery. The first is the growth
of Christian projects that strongly underline the role of pneumatology.78 A
second cause is the pastoral and theological conversion of the churches; who
are recognising the theological weaknesses that the obscuring of the Spirit
brought.79 The third cause is the cultural shift in the West, which brought
Cf. van OORT Johannes, The Holy Spirit and the early church: doctrine & confession, in HTS Theological Studies, 67 (2011) 3. The author defends also the role of
the early creeds. Both in the East and in the West, they had a three part structure and
suggested a Trinitarian confession.
75
76
Cf. CROSS F. L. and LIVINGSTONE E. A., Filioque, in CROSS F. L. and LIVINGSTONE E. A. (Edited by), The Oxford dictionary of the christian church, Oxford,
Oxford University Press, 2005, 614-615. SIECIENSKI A. Edward, The filioque. History of a doctrinal controversy, Oxford - New York, Oxford University Press, 2010
opposes such thesis.
77
79
In catholic tradition, the role of Congar was decisive. Cf. GROPPE Elizabeth Teresa, Yves Congars theology of the Holy Spirit, New York, Oxford University Press,
36
2004. Krkknen talks about a pneumatological renaissance that can be seen in the appearance of several contextual pneumatologies (liberation, ecological, feminist, African). Cf. KRKINNEN Veli-Matti, Pneumatology: the Holy Spirit in ecumenical,
international and contextual perspective, Grand Rapids, Baker, 2002.
It is curious to detect in the text from Kasper (KASPER Walter, El Dios de Jesucristo, pp. 231-232; original from 1982) the opposite view: Las verdaderas dificultades de comprensin en el tema de la pneumatologia no se encuentran, sin embargo,
primariamente en la tradicin eclesial y teolgica, sino ms bien en la situacin espiritual de la poca y en su ausencia de espritu.
80
81
Cf. LADARIA Luis F., El Dios vivo y verdadero. El misterio de la Trinidad, Salamanca, Secretariado Trinitario, 2005, pp. 339-346, for a presentation of this notion
in the theological tradition.
37
Spirit, between being and action. He performs in a personal way what God is
in His essence.
El Espritu santo expresa, pues, la esencia ntima de Dios, el amor
autocomunicante, de forma que esa intimidad es a la vez lo ms manifiesto: la posibilidad y la realidad de la manifestacin o ser fuera-de-si
de Dios. El Espritu santo es en cierto modo el xtasis de Dios; es Dios
como superabundancia, Dios como efusin de amor y gracia.82
Just as there is continuity in the action of the Spirit ad intra and ad extra,
there is continuity present in the various modes of action of the Spirit. In creation, redemption or eschatology, the Spirit is always gift. The same Holy
Spirit of God who is given to believers in a wholly specific way, namely, so as
to dwell in them (Rom. 5:9; 1 Cor. 3:16), is none other than the Creator of
all life in the whole range of natural occurrence and also in the new creation
of the resurrection of the dead.83 The God in which we believe is not a God
closed in himself. The category of self-transcendence is adequate to describe
the Trinity who reveals itself in the Father who freely created the world, in
the Son who gives himself for the salvation of the world and in the Spirit who
gives space to creation to breathe freely. It is the self-transcendence of the Spirit creator that makes possible the self-transcendence of the human being. The
human self-transcendence is not a mere evolution strategy for survival; in the
light of faith, is an aspiration made possible by the Spirit. And the fact that we
are, by virtue of creation, called self-transcendent does not prevent us from being inconsistent, disloyal, and self-centred. The self-transcendence of the Spirit
in creation is not diminished by human freedom. Our experiences of service,
mutual trust and care for the others must not be seen as a mere psychological
attitude. These things have the hand of the Creator Spirit in their beginnings,
and they are very dense, in a theological sense. The Spirit is present and active
throughout the history of salvation, renewing mankind and enabling us to be
beings of communion and fellowship, leaving behind selfish narcissism.
The prophets who announced the sending of the Spirit (Ez 39, 29; Jl 3,
1-5) are not interested in ecstatic experiences, but instead in a profound transformation of the human heart. In the New Testament, Paul and John, although
using different vocabularies, converge on the idea that the self-transcendence
of God in His Spirit makes possible, whether for the subject or the community,
to transcend oneself and attain the fullness of life. The gospel consists in the
gift of the Spirit which permits that a new life, in accordance with the gift of
KASPER Walter, El Dios de Jesucristo, p. 260. This text is admittedly influenced
by von Balthasar and Congar.
82
83
38
God, be possible and accessible. The tension between the life of the flesh and
life of the Spirit consists in remaining in a self-centred life, one of sin, or in
opening your life to the gift and the love, made possible by the presence of the
Spirit, who is the gift that empowers all gift. A life flowing from the Spirit of
God stands, then, in confrontation with biologically based and (perhaps to a
greater extent) culturally transmitted patterns of behaviour, which are often
labelled typically human and insuperable.84
By this logic, idea Peace & Love representation can be the carrier of
an interesting theological density. More than commonplaces or the search for
individual well-being, the idea of associating a harmonious life, peace, and
quality relationships with the Spirit could be quite sensible. These respondents
seem aware that the Spirit of God challenges to self-transcendence in order to
overcome the selfish behaviours that deny our condition of creatures made
through love and towards love. And it is the Spirit that is the possibility for
this new lifestyle.
It is important to underline the fact that this representation does not contain a consciousness of the role of the Spirit in relation to self-transcendence.
The respondents limited themselves to merely describing a set of attitudes.
This inarticulation of ideas can always be interpreted as a pneumatological
weakness, or a depersonalization of the Spirit in favour of a spiritual force,
or ethical values. alternatively, it could be interpreted in the opposite way:
despite the difficulties in articulating a pneumatology (that is spread through
all ecclesial structure), the respondents have the capacity to assume an essential
element of faith: the Spirit is real and perceptible through a series of attitudes
that typify a new existence.85
Even in this second interpretation, it is important to note that the auto
transcendence horizon associated with the Spirit is limited to inter-personal relations. It made a step in the right direction in order to overcome the association between the Spirit and intra-individual religious experience. However, the
absence of a social, economic, ecological and political impact, that an intense
awareness of the Spirit could have, remains absent.
85
Cf. RABENS Volker, Power from in relation: the relational experience of the
Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts in Pauls churches, in MARSHALL Howard I, BENNEMA Cornelis and RABENS Volker (Editor), The Spirit and Christ in the New Testament and christian theology: essays in honour of Max Turner, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2012, 138-155.
39
86
88
Levison, specially on the Holy Spirit: our comprehension of early Christian
pneumatology will be diminished if we fail to recognize the varieties of conceptions
which coalesced in first century writings. LEVISON John R., The pluriform foundation of christian pneumatology, p. 83.
40
persons: One does not baptize people in the name of a divine person, a holy
creature, and an impersonal divine force.89
Since early on, Trinitarian thought had to debate with two contradictory tendencies. Christian thinking cannot denounce monotheism, because of
the strong Jewish background and because of the strong Greek philosophical trends that ridiculed Greco-Roman polytheism. This absolute principle,
which Plato and Aristotle defended, had little to do with the God of Israel,
but, for the Christian communities of the first centuries, monotheism became
impossible to renounce. Hence, to avoid the danger of tritheism, they strongly
affirmed the unity of God. This unity of God can be sustained by reducing
the differences between the Father, Son and Spirit, who become represented
merely as different modes of the same unique divine being. This did not negate
the difference between the three divine persons, but, considering that the Son
and the Spirit cannot be God in the same way as the Father, a hierarchy was
introduced. So, inheriting this Greek idea of degradative emanation, the Son is
considered inferior to the Father, the Spirit inferior to the Son.
Despite the conceptual difficulties in dealing with these problems, the
church resisted the temptation to change its founding intuitions for easy adaptations to the dominant culture. The following text that the Eastern Bishops
wrote to Pope Damascus expresses the challenge in avoiding these risks.
La profesin de fe bautismal nos ensea a creer en una sola divinidad y potencia y esencia del Padre, del Hijo y del Espritu Santo,
en su igual honor y eterno poder real, en las tres hipstasis perfectas o
en tres personas perfectas. As no se da lugar a la peste de Sabelio, que
confunde las hipstasis y elimina las propiedades, y no se da fuerza a
la blasfemia de los eunomianos, arrianos y pneumatmacos, que divide a esencia, la naturaleza y la divinidad, e introduce en la Trinidad
increada, consustancial (homoousios) y coeterna una naturaleza posterior, creada o de outra esencia.90
The main worry of the theological debate over the Trinity was essentially
soteriological, () el qucio de la arguentacin patrstica es sempre el inters
soteriolgico. No se arguye en nombre de la correccin matafsica, sino en
nombre de la experiencia de Salud que define la fe y hermana a los creyentes
en la Iglesia.91
89
MEIER John P., Matthew, Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 1980, pp. 371-372.
According to the translation from LADARIA Luis F., El Dios vivo y verdadero.
El misterio de la Trinidad, pp. 232-233.
90
91
GONZLEZ FAUS Jos Ignacio, La humanidad nueva. Ensayo de cristologia,
p. 436.
41
More than just an odd question, understanding who God is and how
monotheism should be understood after the revelation of Jesus and the gift of
the Spirit, had a dramatic impact on our human condition. The intensity of the
debate was born of the conscience that the doctrinal error would take away
the possibility of a renewed existence. The doctrinal correction, orthodoxy, is
functional to salvation. This generated, on the churchs part, a great pastoral
effort to show orthodox Trinitarian formulations. This included the sign of
the cross, the greeting at the beginning of Mass, the gloria Patri, the gloria in
excelsis, and the creed. However, this ritual proliferation of Trinitarian formulations cannot necessarily be translated into a conscience of salvation and the
existential question of the Trinity.
The respondents who adhere to this representation limit themselves to
repeat a learned formula. They do not detect the impact of a Trinitarian faith.
Probably the adhesion to a formula, doctrinally correct, is understood as a
strange sort of arithmetic (accepted within a horizon of faith in which they
believe but badly understand).
This negative interpretation is founded on the absence of connections between the believer and the believed Trinity. The strict parallels between the
three divine persons ensure doctrinal correction, but it does not guarantee its
saving impact.
1.3.3. Pentecost & Church
This representation is relatively complex and includes biblical metaphors
that have become traditional within Christian discourse such as, the light, the
dove and the fire. The Pentecost, where the Spirit is manifested in the form of
tongues of fire, is also referred explicitly. However, the respondents did not
limit themselves to objectifying the Spirit; they associated the Spirit to the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. The more abstract notions of purification, renovation, and white also are strongly associated with baptism,
coupled with God and Jesus and the Trinity. The Spirit is also described
as shapeless, or as a thing.
The reference to symbols of the Holy Spirit is not surprising. Traditional
spirituality incorporates these images, and the formulation of the CCC (CCC
694-701) influences contemporary preaching in this aspect. Today, when we
conceptualise the Spirit with one of these symbols, we are mixing various ideas
and representations from paintings, illustrations, sculptures in temples, the
cultural industry, and biblical texts (either read individually or liturgically proclaimed). The expression of the Spirit (and of the Trinity) through visual art is
42
never a linear translation. We cannot hope for an isomorphism between a biblical text (and its interpretation in teaching and theology) and the visual arts.
Theological language primarily distinguishes and differentiates,
whereas artistic creations correlate, integrate and interrelate. Art
thrives on multiple hermeneutical and heuristic dimensions. The encounter with mystery or with inexhaustible intelligibility stimulates the
rich insights of artists and their beauty-full creations.92
So, it is important not to exaggerate the difference between a visual and
verbal discourse about God. Today, with a broad education and the facilities
to access all types of information, both the visual and the verbal intermingle
with each other. When we read the account of Pentecost, our imagination
(which associates images to written text) is already influenced by the iconic
representations that we have witnessed in the past. Likewise, when we see an
iconic image associated with the Holy Spirit, our comprehension of it is always
influenced by the theological teachings to which we have had access.
Somehow, Christian artworks in agreement with the fundamental axiom
of Rahner, which states that there is an equivalence between the economic
Trinity and the immanent Trinity.93 There is a real relation between the interior life of God, as a unity in plurality, and his saving actions in human history.
The imagination of artists tries to express, through external actions (economy)
the interior life of the Trinity. The success of the visual arts in the history
of the Church is a demonstration of the fact that they can express the ineffable with more balance and likelihood than mere verbal formations. Applying
Rahners Grundaxiom to the Holy Spirit, Hilberath identifies six statements:
1) We proceed from specific experiences of the Spirit. 2) We experience these as given from the Spirit of God himself. 3) We remain
conscious that we cannot comprehend the essence or the person
of the Holy Spirit. 4) Nevertheless we can discern this essence or person
in the experience of the self-giving Spirit. 5) We check the adequacy of
our concept of person. 6) And at the same time we allow our concepts,
especially that of person, to be corrected on the basis of our experiences of the Spirit.94
LABRIOLA Albert C. and WORGUL George S., The Holy Spirit in art: the theological bearing of visual representation, in CTSA Proceedings, 51 (1996), 143-162, p.
145.
92
Cf. CONGAR Yves M. J., I believe in the Holy Spirit, New York - London, Seabury Press - Geoffrey Chapman, 1983, pp. 11-18.
93
94
HILBERATH BERND Jochen, Identity through self-transcendence: the Holy
Spirit and the fellowship of free persons, p. 278.
43
96
97
Benedict XV has declared that only the iconographies of the dove and the fire
(dependent on Scripture) were allowed. Cf. GNOCCHI M., Spirito Santi, in CASTELFRANCHI Liana and CRIPPA Maria Antonietta (Diretto da), Iconografia e arte cri-
44
BEELEY Christopher A., Gregory of Nazianzus on the Trinity and the knowledge of God. In your light we shall see light, New York, Oxford University Press,
2008, p. 154.
99
100
Pasierbek is one of the few paying attention to the Trinitarian specificity of
Christian faith, in an empirical perspective. Cf. PASIERBECK Wit, What God do
young people in Poland believe in?.
45
is such a task possible? () It appears to remain one of the outstanding challenges for contemporary scholarship.101
In this study, we opted for a low profile strategy in relation to the Trinity. We asked about God, Jesus, and the Spirit and consciously omitted questions about the Trinity. We tried to follow the enunciation proposed by the
CCC in its first synthesis (CCC 150-152). However, the omission of explicit
questions about the Trinity brought about some empirical concerns. Accepting
the hypotheses that respondents had serious difficulties at the theological level,
it would be expected that an elevated number of respondents would refuse to
respond or respond with a non-personal discourse, giving the answers they
thought the interviewer wanted to hear. But it is evident that the omission
had a cost. Specifically, the fact that it is not easy to understand what the respondents actually think about the Trinity. However, in the body of answers
produced, it is possible to detect some patterns about the understanding they
have of the Trinity, even if they are just latent.
1.4.1. A frail notion of the Trinity
The first idea that we can detect with respect to the Trinity is its fragility.
Even among the respondents of cluster 1, there is a significant percentage that
says nothing about the Holy Spirit.102 And, even between those who respond,
the dimension of the responses is substantially smaller than in other cases. The
same applies to the second wave. This forgetfulness of the Spirit inevitably
distorts the understanding of the Trinity. In sound theology, this amputation
of the Trinity is extremely traumatic. However, when we understand that the
protagonists of this discourse are still in the process of growing, both as persons and as Christians (even if they have exhausted the official Church proposals to their formation), we might be tempted to consider this as an optional
nuance. In the end, we could settle for an affirmation of monotheism, leaving
out the Trinity.103 At a formal level, never has the magisterium, or theoloCARTLEDGE Mark J., Empirical-theological models of the trinity: exploring
the beliefs of theology students in the United Kingdom, in Journal of empirical theology, 19 (2006) 2, 137-162, p. 137.
101
These affirmations are related to the data coming from God representations.
Wave 1, Chapter 5: 1.4. Cf. Table 46: Descriptive statistics on String Size Q8, Q6 and
Q4. Gods representations. Wave 1.
102
103
Cf. the description made by Moltmann: Many people view the theological doctrine of the Trinity as a speculation for theological specialists, which has nothing to do
with real life () Whether God is one or triune evidently makes as little difference to
the doctrine of faith as it does to ethics. MOLTMANN Jurgen, The Trinity and the
Kingdom. The doctrine of God, Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1993, p. 1.
46
gy tried to make an optional Trinity. However, the fact remains that in the
West, theology, spirituality, and dominant pastoral models were marked by a
non-Trinitarian generic monotheism. The balanced summary of the situation
made by Gevaert must be mentioned here. He defends the distinction between
post-biblical dogmatic precisions and the core of faith. Certamente nel primo
annuncio di Ges Cristo fuori luogo lintroduzione di distinzioni sottili e difficili che si trovano nel trattato teologico sul Dio uno e trino.104 But already
in the first announcement, and in the catechism the Trinity is indispensable.
The weakness of Trinitarian monotheism is not just noticed because of
forgetfulness, on behalf of many, of the Holy Spirit. The responses given about
God and Jesus also omit the Trinity and its relations. The respondents can
speak about God, the Father of Jesus,105 without referring Him to Jesus. Jesus
is, in some representations, the Son of God. But in the majority of representations Jesus is represented a se, without references to either the Father or the
Spirit. On the contrary, in the representations of the Spirit, more references to
the Trinity and its relation to God and Jesus are found.
1.4.2. An implicit Trinitarian theology
Whether using the Alceste analysis or alternative qualitative analyses, it
was not possible to detect an explicit Trinitarian theory. However, the researcher would suggest the existence of an implicit Trinitarian theology, although badly articulated, whose merits consist in trying to ensure the functionality of the faith relation, in its two valences of fides qua and fides quae.
The image of God the Father is very much influenced by the characteristics of
Jesus. He is an accessible God, with a positive and saving relationship with the
believer. Jesus is presented in a strong relationship with God, and at the same
time, in a quality relationship with the believer. Just like what happens in the
relationship to the Father, the relationship with Jesus is associated with salvific
experiences. The Spirit, for those who dared to answer, is also described as a
source of salvation, and sometimes occurs in relation with the Father and with
Jesus.
GEVAERT Joseph, La proposta del Vangelo a chi on conosce il Cristo. Finalit,
destinatari, contenuti, modalit di presenza, Leumann, Elledici, 2001, p. 158.
104
105
In the questionnaires we have always used the expression Deus (God) to refer
the first person of the Trinity, the Father of Jesus. In this option, we have followed
CCC as well Rahners thesis (in the NT, Theos and Pater are interchangeable). But
after a careful reading of the data, we must accept the hypothesis that, at least for
some respondents, Deus designates the totality of God; Deus is a synonym of
the Trinity. Or we can be dealing with a radical monotheism, without space to Jesus
nor to the Spirit.
47
Duque argues that the Trinity is the possibility condition of the Christian
faith. Whether at an ontological-transcendental level or at a historical-phenomenological one. la relacin intratrinitaria se nos presenta como fundamento ltimo y condicin originaria de posibilidad de la relacin entre el ser
humano y Dios.106 It is this relationship that we call faith. However, we do
not find any traces of a consciousness of this transcendental condition in the
respondents. That being said, we also do not find the opposite opinion, which
would reduce faith to a human projection.
The transcendental nature of faith presents itself also as a condition of
its historical or categorical realisation. Faith is historically possible because
Jesus, the Son, assured the historically-objective conditions, and the Spirit secured the historically-subjective conditions, through which the human subject
receives, objectively and subjectively, the Father (the original condition of the
whole process). It is the Spirit who subjectively opens our eyes to faith. But
our availability to believe needs the content offered by the historical revelation of Jesus. We welcome the revelation brought by the Son. However, the
understanding of the role of the Spirit, as a light through which we can see
the revelation, is not so clear. The Spirit is Who allows us to come close to the
self-revelation of God. However, if we are not aware of the Spirit and its role,
what does it mean to believe in the God that Jesus reveals? We could believe
in Jesus because he would confirm what we already know about our salvation.
Jesus would be right because he says the same as the ideology of positive psychology. However, in this case, the experience of faith would be nothing more
than a ritual of legitimisation of a dominant or popular ideology. One might,
in another way, believe in Jesus while dismissing a subjective involvement. The
connection to Jesus would be done only through a historic route. The faithful
transmission of the memoria Jesu, accepted today by the believer, would welcome Gods revelation. 107
1.4.3 Trinity, faith and action
A Trinitarian framework also permits thinking about faith in action. The
essence of God, one and triune, is His perichoretic relatedness, the movement
by which the differences are source of relation and being, excluding subordination and nullification. Christian faith is obedience to the Lord on whom we
depend on. But this relationship works, just like the relationship between each
person of the Trinity, without subordination or dependence. The relationship
106
107
Obviously, this posture is unable to cope with the challenges posed by a critic
historiography and leads quickly to apostasy or literalist fundamentalism.
48
between God and man cannot be univocal; it cannot lead to the identification
between Creator and creature. This would always lead to narcissist idolatry.
But can neither be equivocal, placing the human and the divine in incommunicable spheres.108 We identified one group (chapter 5: 2.4) that tends to deny
the Trinity, in what seems to be a sort of nominalist monotheism. God, Jesus
and the Holy Spirit are, to these respondents, different names for the same
reality. However, it does not make much sense to try and apply the categories
used in the theological debate of the first centuries AD to a still maturing population with notable difficulties with vocabulary.
Traditionally, the wrong interpretations of the mystery of God oscillated between modalism and tritheism (with innumerable nuances between extremes). Here, however, the problem is over: God is one, independent of the
names assumed. The respondents do not seem to grasp the seriousness of the
problem of the Trinity. This is not to say that they are following a radical
monotheism, however. Probably, for them, God is a poor and a generic idea,
resulting from the addition of the characteristics traditionally attributed by
Christian tradition to Jesus or the Holy Spirit.
The relation between God and man must be thought of in analogical terms
because it is a relation between different realities. It is this analogy that allows
the possibility of a relation between different realities, mutually irreducible. It
is in this perspective that creation and human identity must be understood: as
the possibility of freedom, autonomy and responsibility. However, this perspective does not appear in the replies.
This relational analogy also extends to the area of inter-human relatedness. It is seen as participation in inter-divine love. Esa determinacin de la fe
se realiza, concretamente, en la acogida el ser como donacin de otro (relacin
a la alteridad como origen o memoria), en la modalidad del ser con el otro
(relacin a la alteridad como camino o presente) y en la donacin del ser a otro
(relacin a la alteridad como meta o esperanza).109 It was possible to detect
the reception of these ideas in the past and the present, and less obviously, in
the future. The relation with God is felt as a source of personal salvation, offering the believer a redefinition of their identity and the resources for a more
communal relationship with the others. The dimension of hope, of projectual
salvation, appears less clearly.
108
109
50
that are more critical and find more obstacles in the relation between reason
and faith. This can make us think that the relation between reason and faith
only arises as preambula fidei, as a relevant topic for the first proclamation of
faith. But this would be a mistake. The respondents from cluster 1 omitted this
issue not because they outgrew it, but because, probably, they live in a system
of cognitive polyphasia. For the respondents from cluster 1, this theme is not
more problematic because the experience of faith is not sufficiently shared, or
challenged.
A third topic that stands out for its absence amongst the respondents is
the dynamic character of faith. In the magisterium and theology there is a
consensus that faith is an analogic reality that assumes different values and
configurations throughout time; faith can grow or change throughout time.
However, in practice faith is treated as a discreet reality that assumes just
two values: existent or non-existent. Even during adolescence, a time marked
by change and development, the catechisms are silent about the dynamic nature of faith. It is then, no wonder that the texts produced by the respondents
omit the dynamic character of faith. However, some respondents identified a
passage from non-faith to faith, which made them happy; others remember the
jump from an inconsequential faith to a more committed faith. However, even
this response is marginal.
2. Practical-theological analysis
The design of our questionnaires allowed the recovering of much information about the practical processes involved in the transmission and appropriation of faith.
The questionnaire God representations. Wave 1 collected data about
the processes that potentially influenced the faith of the respondents: what
are the relevant experiences on the journey of faith? What people and sources
of information are important to the faith? And what are the consequences of
faith? These three perspectives will structure the second part of this chapter.
2.1. Relevant faith experiences
Referring the important experiences, the respondents with the most time
spent in catechesis111 identified the pastoral proposals of the Church (47,02%),
relevant persons (18,1%),112 salvation and life quality (9,9%), faith sourcAlso in here we can detect that catechesis attendance is a major variable. The
other two clusters offer very different experiences. Cf. chapter 5, 1.6.
111
112
To almost a fifth of the respondents the most important experience in their faith
51
experience is the contact with relevant and credible people, overlapping to the answers
of the influential people in the faith process.
Each year of the catechetical curriculum proposes a rite inspired in the traditio
reditio schema or initiates in a sacrament. These feasts have a liturgical, familiar and
social impact.
113
115
34,41% of cluster 2 refers this set of experiences and the same do 17,16% of
cluster 3.
52
not be understood as the suggestion that the Churchs different proposals for
youth ministry constitute an articulated package (Table 107).
Locally, some of the proposals could be available and others absents.
When some of them coexist, it is usual that the pastoral projects are distinct
or incompatible. Within each one of them, even locally, the difference in the
pastoral and educational quality can be enormous.
TOTALS:
Youth Ministry
Catechism Feasts
and rites
Experiences of
Service
Scouts
EMRC
Catechism Student
Table 107: Co-occurrence of pastoral proposals of the church codes within important experiences to the faith. Data from God representations. Wave 1
Catechism Student
0,12
0,03
0,08
0,24
EMRC
0,01
0,01
Scouts
0,12
0,01 0
0,02
0,07
0,22
Experiences of Service
0,02
0,02
0,03
0,02
0,03
0,08
Youth Ministry
0,08
0,07
0,02
0,03
0,2
2.1.2. People
The second most referenced group of experiences is that of the people.
These respondents consider that the experiences most relevant to their faith
were the contact with friends, romantic partner, family, priests and nuns.
There are also generic references to people of the Church and the processes
of socialization and tradition. The biggest slice of this comes from the family.
There is a second subgroup of peers (friends and romantic relationships) and
a third, ecclesiastical subgroup, which is relatively under-represented. The
consistency of this group of experiences is especially relevant when there is another question especially about influential people. Curiously, the values given
for this group of experiences remains almost consistent in the three clusters
(swinging between 15% and 20%).
This relevance of short-range socialization can be sociologically interpreted as a persistence of old solidarity or as a reaction to the growing individualisation of contemporary society. A theological interpretation would opt to see
53
Bible
Creation
TOTALS:
Baptism
Eucharist
0,02
0,02
Reconciliation
The Sacraments
54
118
The referenced percentages of this group stayed quite constant in the three clusters (moving between 9.9% and 12.22%) But they must bring up the question whether
or not to follow the same interpretation throughout the clusters. It is possible that the
magical and efficientist explanation is more relevant in clusters 2 and 3.
55
will of the subject. This second approach can indict a self-sufficient anthropology, where Gods precedence in the process of faith is forgotten. The occurrence of this response is inversely proportional to the attendance of catechism.
The least religiously socialized respondents are the ones investing more in this
kind of personal experiences.
2.1.7. Media
The remaining groups of relevant experiences are quite small. Expressions
of faith rejection have only 1,39% of the references within cluster 1 but rise to
19,53% in cluster 3. Forms of alternative religiosity are also inversely proportional to catechism attendance but only vary between 0,15% in cluster 1 and
2,37% in cluster 3. Finally, explicit adherence to a new age worldview is rare.
The levels of importance ascribed to the media are surprisingly low. In
the respondents opinion, the media were not crucial to their faith experience.
Though it would be foolhardy to believe naively in this picture, this research
project was not designed to test for the level of the medias influence. The notion of the media as omnipotent and omnipresent has become an integral part
of the dominant thought. The possibility that, in this sample, the respondents
have had a reduced exposure to the media seems to be contradictory to deeply
rooted sociological and pastoral convictions. However, some recent research
challenges these convictions.
In the media itself, there is an omnipresence of religious imagery
and the supernatural in large-scale film productions such as THE PASSION (Mel Gibson, USA 2004) or the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy
(Jackson, New Zealand/USA 2001/2002/2003), in various TV series,
such as GILMORE GIRLS (Amy Sherman, USA 2000ongoing) as well
as in minor and local productions (e.g. references to the Last SuPositive
Psychology er in Germanys current BIG BROTHER production). In
both US and European book bestseller lists, books with a title borrowed from a religious tradition or dealing with religious and spiritual
issues are a constant feature.119
There are no comprehensive studies on the relationship the media has with
religion in Portugal.120 Marujo refers to the example of Lusa (a news agency)
KNAUSS Stefanie and ORNELLA Alexander Darius, Introduction, in KNAUSS
Stefanie and ORNELLA Alexander D. (Edited by), Reconfigurations. Interdisciplinary
perspectives on religion in a post-secular society, Wien, LIT, 2007, 7-18, p. 8.
119
120
Rego tried to do an historical description of the relation between Church and
media. Cf. REGO Antnio, A Igreja e a comunicao social em Portugal. His conclusions seem excessively optimistic. His text has the merit of being written by someone
that tried intensely to change the reality. But he overlaps his wishes with an objective
analysis of the reality.
57
that fills 0.7% of its production with religious themes.121 The analysis we have
done (chapter 5: 5.2) of the films shown in Portugal also points in the same
direction. The supposed change of the post-secular paradigm, which would
allow a renewed visibility of religion in the world of media, is not happening
in Portugal. As far as can be detected, the Portuguese media continue to ignore
or silence the religious topic and, specifically, the Christian worldview.
If we cannot confirm a change in the paradigm about the recuperation of
the visibility of religion, maybe we can look at the level of power attributed
to the media. Adorno and Fiske are some of the authors that theorized and
popularized the idea that the media correspond to a concentration of power
that controls the impotent masses.122 And this notion, although touted by the
left wing and some neo-Marxists, echoes quite a lot in the Catholic pastoral
discourse. The Church is the underdog trying to spread the Gospel against
the might of powerful secular corporations. There is a very linear scheme in
which the control of the media would lead to the growth of dominant ideas
in a society. As the Church does not have access to these powerful means of
social communication, the people tend to lose the religious references passive-
Cf. MARUJO Antnio Porque (no) h espao nos media para o religioso in
http://www.clubedejornalistas.pt/uploads/jj38/JJ38_16_mediareligiao.pdf, . Capucho,
Torres and Burnay underline that even that small percentage can come from exceptional events (a Pope visit to Portugal). They stress the low quality of the produced
communication: Apenas se vislumbra a notoriedade social ou poltica, e a motivao
religiosa tnue ou, mais grave, indiciadora de ignorncia. A presena tributria de
esquemas de uma cultura light . O discurso traz ento consigo a enunciao de lugares
comuns irrelevantes (em matria religiosa) ou, aparentemente, despropositados ao fim
em vista. Aqui se evidencia, pois, a fragilidade do dispositivo televisivo comunicacional a que antes nos referimos, mas justificado pelo tributo sociedade do espectculo
em que o meio labora com frequncia. CAPUCHO Carlos, TORRES Eduardo Cintra
and BURNAY Catarina Duff, A construo da festa electrnica na visita de Bento XVI
a Portugal, in Comunicao & Cultura, 11 (2011), 95-114, p. 99.
121
122
Cf. FISKE John, Introduction to communication studies, London, Routledge,
1990. FISKE John and HARTLEY John, Reading television, London - New York,
Routledge. WALDAN Diane, Critical theory and film: Adorno and the cultural industry revisited, in New German Critique, 12 (1977), 39-60. As an example: El control
dominante sobre el sistema educativo es total y directo. () Adems ejerce un control
indirecto ideolgico sobre todos los ciudadanos. () Como soporte de la ideologa y
de la cultura, la clase dominante tiene casi todos los mass media: prensa, radio, televisin, as como escuelas de periodismo, capacidad financiera y tecnologas-punta.
FRANCIA Alfonso et al. Anlisis de la realidad, Madrid, Editorial CCS, 1993, p. 119.
58
Cf. FREIRE Paulo, Education for critical consciousness, London - New York,
Continuum, 2005.
124
125
126
Cf., for the first approach, POLLO Mario, IL gruppo come luogo di comunicazione educativa, Leumann, LDC, 1996. For the second approach, cf. TRENTI Zelindo, Educare alla fede. Saggio di pedagogia religiosa, Leumann, LDC, 2000. The youth
project proposed by the Spanish Salesians, in the 90s, aimed to build a hermeneutical
Christian, and be seen as an attempt to integrate both approaches. Nuestro Proyecto e Itinerario de Educacin en la fe tiene en el horizonte un creyente, que podamos
llamar intrprete o hermeneuta: aquel que se acerca a la propia persona y al ambiente
en que vive de forma crtica, y sabe leerlos e interpretarlos desde el Evangelio. CENTRO NACIONAL SALESIANO DE PASTORAL JUVENIL, Itinerario de educacin
en la fe. Gua del animador, Madrid, Editorial CCS, 1994, p. 29.
59
127
GIULIETTI Paolo, I giovani e la ricerca di senso. Domanda religiosa e scelta di
fede, in TRIANI Pierpaolo and VALENTINI Natalino (A cura), Larte di educare nella
fede, Padova, Messaggero di SantAntonio, 2008, 70-90, pp. 77-78.
60
128
TONELLI Riccardo, Gruppi giovanili e esperienza di Chiesa, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 1992, pp. 68-69.
61
mood and risky behaviour,129 the family should be losing relevance. Beside
this, careful analysis of the sensitive nature of the more social and cultural
aspects recognises the loss of importance given to the family in the process of
education and the transmission of faith.130
It is because of this that many youth ministry projects ignore the family dimension.131 Happily, however, it is beginning to be a turnaround in this aspect:
Sublinha-se, no entanto, a importncia da famlia como espao de vida e educao para os valores, e da escola pelo seu relevante papel, no presente e para
o futuro dos jovens.132 a que as comunidades e as famlias so chamadas
a desempenhar a sua misso. O despertar para a vida e para a f, num mesmo
movimento, comea desde a infncia. Os pais so chamados a comunicar o
seu gosto de viver, a sua maravilha perante a vida e a transmitir uma arte de
viver em referncia ao Evangelho.133 This attention to the family seems to be
placed at the level of objectives instead of findings. It persists an image of the
family that does not evangelize the younger generations but has a tremendous
potential at the level, which should be activated. A text by Gonalves is paradigmatic. In a recent PhD, done in 2010 at the Lateranensis, he states:
Ao longo dos tempos, o papel das famlias foi fundamental na
transmisso e no crescimento da f () a instituio familiar entrou em
crise () convivemos com as vrias tipologias de famlia e muitos pais
ou vivem afastados da Igreja ou tm uma iniciao crist deficitria. A
grande questo que se nos coloca como evangelizar os pais para que
estes evangelizem, sobretudo, os seus filhos.134
The situation outlined in Wave 1 is very different: the respondents recognize the decisive and positive role that the family had in their journey of
faith. The mothers are referred more than the fathers,135 but grandparents,
Cf. ARNETT Jeffrey Jensen and JENSEN Lene Arnett, A congregation of one:
individualized religious beliefs among emerging adults.
129
Cf. BOCCI Valerio, Comunicare la fede ai ragazzi 2.0. Una proposta di catechesi comunic-attiva, Leumann, LDC, 2012, pp. 91-103.
130
132
133
GONALVES Vasco A. da Cruz, Catequese de adultos. Para repensar a pastoral da Igreja em Portugal, p. 245.
134
135
Traditionally, en Portugal, the transmission of religious heritage is made through female lineage. Cf. CABRAL Manuel Villaverde, Prtica religiosa e atitudes sociais
62
siblings, uncles, and aunties are also referred. At least for a certain percentage
of the population, the family, or part of it, remains as an important ecclesial
mediation. The features identified by Bissoli can be advanced as an interpretive framework for our data.136 These families are acting as ecclesial spaces, as
domestic churches,137 where life according to faith can be lived, proposed and
accepted. The family being the first social space, it becomes an environment
that enables the possibility to live in a style of life inspired by the Gospel. The
process of proposal and choosing of faith happens, but as a witnessing rather
than through teaching. Family interactions are inspired by the relational model proposed by Jesus and transmit an elevated quality of life, which generates
identification.138
The initiation of faith happens by osmosis and not by a systematic approach. Finally, the educational capacity of the family provides an education
of faith in action.
In Wave 2, the family continues to be of importance. However, they make
up 21.11% of the partners in dialogue on the theme of God, which is substantially less. Asking, in Wave 1, for the most influential people are, and, in Wave,
for partners in dialogue, is not formally the same. But it would be hoped for,
logically, that the values were comparable. However, regarding the family it
does not appear to be so.
2.2.2. Church ministers in action
The data we have found shows there is a dense network of pastoral operators that assume a role in shaping the faith of new generations.
138
Here, we should introduce the topic of the effective quality of family life. The
recent pastoral zeal with family and the strength it could bring to catechesis, overlaps
potential and reality. It is not family, as a sociological reality, that per se can share and
witness the Gospel. Empirically, family is a very plural reality. Plural in its organic
configuration but, mainly, in the life quality it offers. We get the feeling that Church
leaders and practical theologians proposing family as a mandatory path, capable to solve
all our problems, forget that real families face severe problems of domestic violence, lack
of communication, self-indulgence, educative disorientation. Cf. DIAS Isabel, Violncia
na famlia. Uma abordagem sociolgica, Porto, Edies Afrontamento, 2004.
63
Catechism teachers and priests lead the list. Then come references to youth
ministry (scouts, animators, group) and other references less frequent to other ecclesial experiences (such as religious people, choir, spiritual director...).
The recognition of the role of the catechist is not surprising. They are
around 60000 volunteers,139 with a good school curriculum (secondary education and superior education), predominantly women.140 It is one of the solidest
sectors of the Church in Portugal. There is a tradition of qualified people at the
head of the national secretary and diocesan departments. There is consistent
practice throughout initial and on-going training of the laity. It is through the
Catholic publishers or the Internet that there is access to material, proposals
and interaction. That said, one should not assume that the average quality of
the catechist is perfect. But the idea of the catechists reported by the respondents will not necessarily be the average.
Accepting the empirical limitations that we have in describing the Portuguese catechists, we can identify some of the traits desired in a potential catechist by the Church. This image could be useful in as much as it could inspire
training, recruitment policy, and motivational systems. Carvalho underlines
the relevance of maturity as the starting point for the personality of a believer,
in which the life of faith configures the totality of identity. The theoretical and
practical skills are functional to the task of educating the life and faith of those
catechized.141 Apparently, the suggestions offered by Morante, are echoed in
Portugal.142
When we study the experience of faith of the catechists (chapter 5: 4) we
can verify that the task of sharing their faith is taken very seriously. The most
frequently referred form of sharing faith was through a Christian lifestyle; to
be a catechist and to witness personal faith (even outside of the institutional
space of the catechesis) were also very consistent values.
Which, in a country like Portugal, with traditionally low levels of social volunteering, is notable.
139
141
142
Cf. MORANTE Giuseppe, I catechisti: identit e formazione, in ISTITUTO DI
CATECHETICA Andata e insegnate. Manuale di catechetica, Leumann, LDC, 2002,
334-342, p. 342.
64
But, all in all, how do we explain the success of these catechists that
leads them to be recognised as so influential? The GDC defines a mediating
role for the catechist:
O catequista , intrinsecamente, um mediador que facilita a comunicao entre as pessoas e o mistrio de Deus, e dos sujeitos entre si e com a comunidade. () Enfim, de substancial importncia
a relao pessoal do catequista com o destinatrio da catequese. Tal
relao se nutre de paixo educativa, de engenhosa criatividade, de
adaptao e, ao mesmo tempo, de mximo respeito pela liberdade e
amadurecimento da pessoa.143
This ideal proposed by the GDC seems viable, at least for the relation established between the respondents and their catechists. Pollo lists a number of
traces that make up the pastoral relationship model. If these elements (or, at
least some of them) are activated by the catechists of these adolescents, it will
be possible to explain their success.144 Another possibility (not exclusive to the
previous) relates to the decisive role of unconditional love. Si percepisce di
vivere anche se non si la vita, perch qualcuno ci ama di un amore incondizionato che ci fa vivere, nonostante le esperienze di morte che attraversano la
nostra esistenza. Queste presenze di amore incondizionato sono decisive per la
maturazione dellesperienza religiosa.145 The catechists are possibly the only
adults outside the family who freely give their lives, and use their time with
the adolescents. They become credible witnesses to the message they spread, in
their interaction with the adolescents.
It was a relative surprise the frequent reference to the role of priests. The
idea that the priests are very occupied with sacramental tasks or that they are
not prepared for the catechism is very frequent.146 However, the elevated occurrence with which the adolescents identified specific priests as having been
especially relevant for the trajectory of their faith was contrary to the preconceptions. At least, for this segment of the population. GDC 224 remembers
that the priests are the educators of faith. However, GDC 225, when listing
the tasks of the priests, sees them more as making up the rear guard, so to
143
GDC 156. The English version omits the last two paragraphs of this number.
Cf. POLLO Mario, Modello di relazione pastorale, in ANTHONY Francis-Vincent et al. (Coordinatori dellopera), Pastorale Giovanile. Sfide, prospettive ed esperienze, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 2003, 335-350.
144
145
146
The curriculum of theology in the Portuguese Catholic University does not include catechetics. In Braga, in the PhD program, there is a course on models and
practices of the cathechism.
65
148
149
Cf. MARTINS Jos Manuel Sevivas, Enquadramento histrico/legal do ensino
religioso nas escolas pblicas, in SECRETARIADO NACIONAL DA EDUCAO
66
However, the EMRC teachers do not appear to be especially relevant for the
faith of the respondents.
One explanation for this fact could be that the respondents interpreted
the question in an exclusive sense. Which people most influenced could
have been interpreted as calling for just one response. And even if the EMRC
teachers were seen as relevant, they would be excluded from the response because they were less influential than others (families, catechists). In this case,
the absence of reference to religion teachers should not be seen as an absence
of influence. This interpretation has no support. The formulation used must
be understood as allowing more than one answer. Many respondents did understand it so and submitted long lists of those who had influenced their faith.
Another hypothesis explains the absence of EMRC teachers with a distortion of the sample. A great part of the questions of the questionnaire focus
on the parochial catechism and not on religious education in the schools. This
would induce the respondents to underrate their interaction with the EMRC
teachers. It is a possible interpretation, but it leaves without explanation the
weight the family references have in the sample.
Probably, we will have to accept the legitimate possibility that the EMRC
teachers are not influential in the defining of the faith of the respondents.
However, this questionnaire was not concerned with the EMRC, and was not
designed to confirm anything in this sense. But the disproportionate gap between effort and results, makes this a legitimate question.
Myself is the answer to between 1,11% (cluster 1) and 8,06% (cluster
3) of the references. This appears as quite narcissistic. These values could be
interpreted as coming from the desire for personal affirmation but also, as
coming from the strong individualist culture in which the respondents live.
The fact that these values are inversely proportional to catechesis attendance
is expectable. A more prosocial (and less narcissistic) posture can become an
informal prerequisite to attend catechesis often; or can be a consequence of
such catechesis attendance.
68
To these 10,14% we should add 1,05% (from cluster 1) that declare faith as irrelevant, without any impact on their lives. As expected, in cluster 3 this stance reaches
30% (21,39% of non-answers and 10,32% faith irrelevance). In God representations. Wave 2 the option of no gesture associated with faith gets 2%.
151
152
PAIS Jos Machado, Ganchos, tachos e biscates. Jovens, trabalho e futuro, Porto, mbar, 2001, p. 10.
69
153
155
And this fact is especially interesting when we see that the catechetical curriculum
does a lot of effort to present the commandments as expressions of life. os catequizandos so desafiados a compreender e a viver as questes da vida moral, segundo uma
proposta de felicidade. As questes morais abordadas centram-se no valor dos mandamentos e das bem-aventuranas como proposta de vida, como rumo para uma experincia de vida nova e feliz, fundamentada no amor a Deus, aos outros, no amor vida e na
vivncia madura da sexualidade. SNEC, O desafio de viver. Guia do catequista, p. 14.
70
GALLO Luis A., La questione globale: quale spiritualit, in ANTHONY Francis-Vincent et al. (Coordinatori dellopera), Pastorale Giovanile. Sfide, prospettive ed
esperienze, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 2003, 301-311, p. 304.
157
Cf. POLLO Mario, Manuale di pedagogia generale. Fondamenti di una pedagogia culturale dellanima, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2008, pp. 171-178.
158
159
Cf. TONELLI Riccardo, Qualit della vita, in ANTHONY Francis-Vincent et
al. (Coordinatori dellopera), Pastorale Giovanile. Sfide, prospettive ed esperienze,
Leumann, ElleDiCi, 2003, 251-264, pp. 257-260.
71
spheres. Despite the recommendations of GDC 133 and 175, Churchs social
doctrine is not being proposed nor assimilated by these respondents.
But besides these references to the new quality of interpersonal relationships, there are also references to Christian morals, and the values and necessity to fulfil the commandments. This group of references makes up for 4,62%
of the total of the references detected in cluster 1 and does not fluctuate much
in the other clusters. Sex and association variables also did not introduce any
oscillation in these values.160
Some respondents talk about general values, which some classify as
Christian and refer to Christ as the source of revelation, while others list
some of these values (justice, solidarity, good...). The generic use of the expression values includes the whole area of morality. Inside and outside the
Church, this terminology has found strong acceptance. There is no risk to
mistake values with an imposed or casuistic morality. Values in general,
or explicitly Christian values, mean a lifestyle inspired by the teachings and
example of Jesus. Probably, it is this will to adhere to the entirety of the contents of the Christian morals that takes the place of an explicit presence of a
socio-political component.
There are also explicit references to the fulfilling of commandments. Which
is unusual language, even within the Church. This was evidenced by the tacit
denial we observed in the questionnaire God representations. Wave 2. It is
not easy to understand if this use expresses a true sense of obedience or if it is
conformity to a pre-constituted moral code.
2.3.2. Faith sharing
One of the normative consequences of faith is the urgency to share it. If
faith transforms, qualifying the existence, nothing is more natural than the
believer feeling motivated to express its enthusiasm with such experience and
wanting to invite others to make a similar experience.
Information about the practice of faith sharing can be found in several
places. In God representations. Wave 1, we have questions Q14 (acts or attitudes related to God), and Q16 (Has your faith influenced other people?). And
in God representations. Wave 2 we have Q20 (who do you talk about God),
Q 21 (how often) and Q23 and Q24 (multiple choice of acts related to faith).
Asked about attitudes related to faith sharing, 2,19% from cluster 1 report some kind of public affirmation of faith. Some respondents simply talk
160
72
freely with their friends about their faith. And others assume a more proactive
stand and engage actively in some kind of evangelism. The need to overcome
misconceptions about God and faith is commonly identified.
When explicitly questioned about the practices of faith sharing, 13.04%
of the respondents from cluster 1 did not answer. This percentage rises to 26%
in clusters 2 and 3. Still in cluster 1,86% say that they have not, 6.52% say
they do not know what answer to give, and 30.27% respond, candidly, that
they do not share faith. The aggregation of these results attests to an absence
of faith sharing, in cluster 1, of 51.69%. This percentage of those who do not
share their faith rises to 70% in clusters 2 and 3. It is undeniable that the levels
of catechism attendance is a discriminating factor for the sharing of faith, but
the fact that more than half of the respondents that attended catechesis is not
capable of sharing their faith raises serious questions.
Among those who gave any type of positive answer there is a massive fragmentation. 42 different types of code were identified. This plurality, associated
with an elevated frequency of negative responses, strongly suggests the absence
of shared ideas (social representations) about the necessity to share faith and
the ways of doing it.
The answers were grouped into five groups (difficulty of action, strategy, influence as something negative, personal difficulties in influence, recipients).161 The most frequent of these is Strategies, with 53.69% of cluster 1.
Other groups have residual values between 0.37% and 2.83%.
Seven different approaches were identified within the group of strategies
identified. The first presupposes a strong self, without fear to proclaim the
truth of the Gospel to outsiders. The second underlines the sharing of personal
experiences. The third focuses on joint dialogue. The fourth calls attention
to the pastoral proposals given by the Church. The fifth calls attention to the
place of experiences of serving. And the sixth has to do with the role of particular ministries and the seventh with persuasive arguments.162
Each of these approaches has its theological-practical legitimacy. Some are
complementary to others, and some are radically incompatible. It is tempting
161
Not including the codes referring to the absence of the sharing of faith.
162
These different strategies cover the three different communication modes of Social Representations: diffusion, propagation and propaganda. It is clear the plurality
of ways how the relation we/others is understood. And this fragmentation could
be a clue suggesting that the processes of fait sharing do not belong to the social representations of the faith.
73
to make a mould of active pastoral actions today and in the recent past163
and try to fit these in each of the seven approaches. But this would just make
sense if we ignored the non-systematic and popular character of the texts and
opinions produced by the respondents. So it seems preferable to use a more
inductive approach and try to understand what are the factors of convergence
and distinction between these seven groups of strategies.
We can imagine that each one of the groups of strategies is placed in a
series of concentric circles, identified by different subjects. In the first place, in
the inner circle, is the respondent. We focus here on the first group of strategies, centred on a strong and assertive subject. We can find similarities between
some of the affirmations produced and the militant Catholicism of the 20th
century. This group of strategies appears as an alternative to the mainstream.
It recovers the combat again human respect. It contradicts a certain aphasia
that traditionally marks Portuguese Catholicism. But we can anticipate some
limitations in this group of strategies. The affirmation of a strong self does
not work with the fragility of the postmodern sensibility and can be seen as
oppressive and rigid. The absence of attention to the others could also lead to
an auto-referential discourse.
The seventh group of strategies, appealing to the force of argument, could
also be placed in this innermost circle. It is used as much by atheists (in cluster
3), as by believers, and both share the assumption that rationality would be the
condition sine qua non to change the point of view of the other.
In the second layer of concentric circles is the you, the partner in dialogue with whom we want to share our faith. The second group of strategies
(witnessing and experience sharing) has the subject as their protagonist.
Many of the texts classified within this group of strategies have the form I
do this or I do that. But this second group of strategies has a fundamental
difference to the first: it implicitly recognises the existence of another that you
want to influence. Even when the linguistic formulation just refers to I, the
other is present as a horizon that gives a reason to my action and testimony. In addition to the merit of recognizing, at least implicitly, the role of the
other, this group of strategies offers some guarantee of verifiability (even
indirectly) of the proposed message of faith.
Clearly placed in the second circle is the third group of strategies (dialogue). Explicitly, these respondents assume that the dialogue is the best
strategy for sharing faith. The dialogue is a category that, in much pastoral
163
Cf. MIDALI Mario, Teologia pratica. 2. Attuali modelli e percorsi contestuali di
evangelizzazione, Roma, Las, 2000.
74
166
Quando samos do nvel local, quando subimos no organograma eclesial, falar
de PJ, falar das actividades que se fazem. () Os rgos e plataformas de convergncia da PJ entendem-se a si mesmos como organizadores de actividades. No como
dinamizadores de verdadeiros projectos. AZEVEDO ngela S, Ser ou no ser... O
jovem de hoje sabe responder, p. 84.
75
76
168
Strictly speaking, the data provided by our survey does not permit to elaborate analytic strategies. But the two complementary hypotheses offered by
Polfliet are very suggestive. The author invites to see the liturgy as having a
special expressive capacity. Con il suo linguaggio, i suoi riti, la liturgia a
volte ben pi parlante dei discorsi, quando sia questione devocare liniziativa e la presenza di Dio, desprimere il suo desiderio dentrare in comunione
con gli uomini.169 Recovering the old intuition of lex orandi, lex crendendi, it
understands that the liturgy has an essential role in the transmission of faith,
through its symbolic dimension and by the capacity of making present the celebrated faith to those present in the celebration. At the same time, the author
recognises that the liturgy demands an extra effort to initiate into Christian
faith and identity. The liturgy is not today, in current culture, easy reading.
Initiation is necessary, and it is struggling with the risk of indifference. But
liturgy always happens inside the Church. It presupposes and requires a community that welcomes, accompanies and celebrates.
This vision, described by Polfliet is fundamentally compatible with the
theory of social representations. The liturgy and especially the Eucharist in
which the respondents participate so assiduously, acts as a space of construction, ritualization and feedback of shared knowledge. Here, the expression
knowledge is more than just cognitive. It includes experiences and ideas. All
this takes place in a context of strong interactions, where you can elaborate a
vision of a life alternative to the hegemonic view of society. But this process
only gets a positive outcome when there is continuity between the languages
of the liturgy and the participants languages (in SRT terms we could recover
the notions of objectivation and anchorage) and when there is an ecclesiastical community (in SRT, we could talk about a group) that presents itself as a
credible and welcoming space of belonging.170
Another question that is not possible to resolve in this investigation is the
relationship between the liturgy as a source and the liturgy as the endpoint.
Some authors underline the evangelising potential of the liturgy; it acts as a
CARLOTTI Paolo and MARITANO Mario (A cura di), LEucaristia nel vissuto dei
giovani, Roma, LAS, 2002, 263-277.
POLFLIET Joris, La liturgia, luogo diniziazione alla fede, in DERROITTE Henri (A cura di), Catechesi e iniziazione cristiana, Leumann, LDC, 2006, 97-106, p. 99.
169
170
Cordeiro supports this decisive role of the group and of the social context in liturgy: O campo semntico do termo smbolo estendeu-se a todos os elementos (objeto, palavra, gesto, pessoa), quando permutado no seio de um grupo. Como qualquer
grupo, a Igreja identifica-se atravs dos seus smbolos CORDEIRO Jos Manuel,
Coraes ao alto. Introduo liturgia da Igreja, Lisboa, Paulus, 2014, p. 46.
78
process and place where faith grows.171 Others have underlined that participation in the liturgy is an act derived from faith.
A final issue that is relevant for the understanding of the Eucharistic experience of the adolescents is born in the form of the liturgical supply. When
a young person decides to participate in the liturgy (and we are always talking
about choices), what kind of liturgy is offered? We have seen earlier that their
experience is strongly configured by their attitude to and their experience of
faith. However, their personal experience does not happen in a vacuum. What
liturgical choices does the celebrating community make? Obviously, there are
no empirical studies about the liturgy in Portugal. A recent message from the
Bishops proposes dar a todas as aes litrgicas a dignidade que lhes devida.172 The phrase implies an evaluation where problems arise in terms of the
lack of dignity. This lack of dignity is an ambiguous expression. The bettering of the liturgical offering would mean for some a greater formalism of the
liturgy; a greater fidelity to the letter and to the spirit of the liturgical norms. It
would be urgent to contest the excesses of liturgical renewal:
Derrubados os diques da intangibilidade e do imobilismo, foi
impossvel deter o mpeto das guas e passou-se do extremo de uma
liturgia regulada por normas rgidas e aparentemente intocveis a celebraes inventadas, construdas, manipuladas, mutiladas em que, por
vezes, se tornou irreconhecvel, quando no ausente, o ncleo irrenuncivel da Liturgia: o mysterium fidei.173
A different sensibility insists that the liturgy must respect a double fidelity
(both the message of God and man). 174
Cf. LANZA Sergio, La parrocchia in un mondo che cambia, Roma, Edizioni
OCD, 2003, pp. 125-126.
171
174
Esta sensibilidade existencial uma das grandes caractersticas da liturgia do
Vaticano II. essa nfase existencial que possibilitar releituras da liturgia dentro de
contextos especficos como, por exemplo, a cultura afro-brasileira (missa dos quilom-
79
However, beyond these two theoretical sensibilities, I suggest the hypothesis that, in practice, the liturgy performed in Portugal and offered to the respondents is positioned between the two poles. The first valorises sacramental
efficacy and presupposes a faithful adult community. It underlines the transforming force of the liturgy which tends to leave in the shadow the possible
cultural discrepancies between the forms of the liturgy and the culture of the
population. The second pole valorises the adaptation to the condition of the
receivers. It is willing to sacrifice essential elements of the liturgy and the celebrated faith, in the name of a badly understood adhesion and enthusiasm of
the participants. This describes two polar opposites, which are rarely found in
a pure state. However, what is easily found, is the absence of communication,
the difficulty of those who want a liturgy rich with meaning and, at the same
time, capable of being significant to the cultural and spiritual sensibility of
those that, today, celebrate the mysteries of faith.
2.3.4. Ritual: personal prayer
After having interpreted the role of the Eucharist, we will now move on
the role of personal prayer. The frequency of personal prayer is even more
intense than mass attendance, as happens in most sociological surveys.175 In
cluster 1 (God representations. Wave 1), 42.94% pray once or more per day
and 32.91% pray once a week. In God representations. Wave 2 58% report
daily prayer and 25% weekly. Reinforcing the importance that the respondents give their prayer is the fact that 27% choose praying as an important
expression associated with God and just 6% consider it of little importance.
Of the gestures associated with faith, praying is agreed on by 67% of the
respondents. Just 10% include it in the list of gestures less connected to faith.
These numbers confirm, even for the most uncommitted respondents, the essential role of prayer.
However, the design of the questionnaire does not permit to know what
are the practices that the respondents associate with prayer.
bos), a questo indgena (missa da terra sem males). Estas releituras s foram possveis
por causa da mudana operada no conceito de liturgia. Mudana que permitiu ver
todo o povo cristo como celebrante do culto e que fez da vida cotidiana a matria-prima a partir da qual se celebra a pscoa de Cristo. COSTA Luiz Antnio Reis, A
virada litrgica do Vaticano II: mutao conceitual e prxis institucional, in Anais dos
Simpsios da ABHR, 13 (2012).
175
Samples like the one found by Gibson in Scotland, where a large majority of
the respondents reports absence of prayer are outliers. Cf. GIBSON Harry M., Adolescents attitudes to prayer, in British Journal of Religious Education, 17 (1995) 3,
140-147.
80
The practice of prayer in Christianity is connatural to faith. But it has always assumed a plurality of forms and roles.176 This plurality, when we speak
of prayer, results from its theological richness and complexity. Besides the different Trinitarian perspectives the prayer of the believers assumes, it also varies
with the believers posture in relation to the mystery of God and in function
of the specific techniques used.177 The empirical tradition also has difficulties
in dealing with this plurality. Much investigation has recognised this richness
but frequently, it all boils down to the question of the frequency of prayer.178
Sociologists and psychologists of religion tend to use a not discussed definition of prayer in order to create their models.179 Even when they discuss the
theoretical definition of prayer, they do it from common sense or in the sense
accepted by the scientific community and not from the theological framework
that acts on the subject. 180
Some investigators from the area of practical theology have tried to fight
these limitations by giving a voice to the effective experiences of faith of the
respondents: To investigate contemporary praying we should not rely on
pre-structured questionnaires but instead apply open-ended questions.181 But
this attention to concrete experience makes it impossible to extrapolate the
conclusions obtained in a context and a population for other contexts and
populations.
Cf. ZEVINI Giorgio, Educare alla preghiera in Spirito e verit, in GARCA Jess
Manuel (a cura di), Accompagnare i giovani nello Spirito, Roma, LAS, 1998, 141-163.
176
Cf. HRING Bernhard, Orao, in FIORES Stefano de and GOFFI Tullo (Organizadores), Dicionrio de espiritualidade, So Paulo, Edies Paulinas, 1989, 841848.
177
Cf. LADD Kevin L. and SPILKA Bernard, Inward, outward, and upward: cognitive aspects of prayer, in Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41 (2002) 3,
475-484, pp. 475-477.
178
Cf. DEIN Simon and LITTLEWOOD Roland, The psychology of prayer and
the development of the prayer experience questionnaire, in Mental health, religion &
culture, 11 (2008) 1, 39-52.
179
Cf. GIORDAN Giuseppe, Toward a sociology of prayer, in GIORDAN Giuseppe and SWATOS Jr William H. (Editors), Religion, spirituality and everyday practice, New York, Springer, 2011, 77-88, pp. 78-81.
180
181
BNZINGER Sarah, JANSSEN Jacques and SCHEEPERS Peer, Praying in a
secularized society: an empirical study of praying practices and varieties, in International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 18 (2008), 256-265, p. 257. Cf., also
KNIPPENBERG Tjeu van, The structure and variety of prayer, in Journal of empirical
theology, 13 (2000) 2, 55-67.
81
With only the data collected, a deep interpretation of the adolescents praying experience is not possible. We must limit ourselves to surveying relevant
questions.
The first is whether these elevated levels of prayer refer to an encounter
with God or an encounter with themselves? The search for your own self is
a powerful force in the culture of expressive individualism in which we find
ourselves.182 Also strong is the urgency of the young to construct their own
identity.183 There is ample empirical evidence from various contexts that in the
word prayer several narcissistic practices and ideas are housed. These interpretations of prayer reduce it to self-centred processes, in which the focus is
on personal well-being.184 Pollo describes this in the Italian context of the 90s:
Tra le varie forme di rapporto esaminate molte erano centrate
sulla soggettivit, ovvero sul rapporto personale, esclusivo non condiviso del soggetto con Dio, senza quindi, alcuna verifica se questo fosse
realmente un rapporto verso lAlto o solamente un rapporto con se
stesso, con la propria interiorit.185
Both spiritual theology and religious psychology confirm that prayer is
associated with a bettering of personal well-being.186 Especially in adolescence,
prayer helps the believer clarify his image of himself and find resources for
growth. So, it is not easy to distinguish phenomenologically a prayer that is
communion with God from a prayer that is nothing more than intrapersonal stabilization.
A second question concerns the balance between prayer as dialogue and as
obedience. When we analysed the Portuguese catechisms, we identified a class
(Chapter 5: 3, class 5) very much marked by the proposals of prayer. The proCf. ZONDAG Hessel J., I want to pray and i dont want to pray: expressive
individualism and prayer for the possible relations between expressive individualism
and personal prayer.
182
Early researchers () argued that meditation is simply an effective technology religious practices could be used to construct and maintain a secular self and
intensify the therapy process. NELSON James M., Psychology, religion, and spirituality, p. 468.
184
185
186
Cf. WHITTINGTON Brandon L. and SCHER Stefen J., Prayer and subjective
well-being: an examination of six different types of prayer, in International Journal for
the Psychology of Religion, 20 (2010), 59-68.
82
posals of prayer are presented under the guise of dialogue. An open dialogue,
confident, but asymmetric. The God with whom we can talk to, is not in the
same plane as us. He can bring to our life an abundance of meaning and love
that is unobtainable with our own forces. This loving relationship with God
has, in prayer as in faith, God as its origin. It is Him that always takes the initiative. Hence Christian prayer is understood, just like faith, as listening and
acceptance of an offer. However, the respondents, in pouncing their relationship with God from their own experience of interpersonal dialogue, can leave
out this important aspect of the obedient nature of prayer.
In adolescent culture, dialogue is appreciated. The requirement to see your
own voice respected is conditio sine qua non for a healthy relationship. There
is a risk, evidenced by some formulations recovered from the respondents,
of assuming a practice of praying in which the specificity of the roles of the
believer and God is dissolved. Admitting that this process could be occurring,
how can we interpret and valorise it? A more objective way to see it would
highlight the discrepancy between the practice of young people and the normative ideal of the Church. It would look for the causes of this in the current
cultural climate and in the incapacity of catechetical offers to create a practice that conforms to normative ideas. A pedagogical line can suggest that
the age of the respondents has a role to play in this more horizontal practice
of prayer. A reductionist vision of prayer as dialogue would not result from
a radically wrong understanding of the mystery of God and the relation to
which He has invited us, but, instead, from the difficulties adolescents have in
appreciating healthy non-symmetrical relationships. This second interpretation recommends agreeing provisionally with the status quo and introducing
stimuli that favour the relational maturity of the adolescent, opening him to
the possibility of an asymmetric and free gift.
A third issue relates to the forgetting of the Holy Spirit. If, as we saw before, the Holy Spirit is forgotten or ignored, is it possible to pray? And this socalled prayer, what is it worth without the presence of the Spirit? The problem is theologically serious and has substantial impacts in the evaluation of the
practice of praying. It is by the Spirit that God is made present and that we can
be present before God. Without the Spirit, what relationship can we have with
God, even if God revealed himself fully in Jesus? A teenager sits to pray, to
enter in dialogue with God, to enter in communion with him. But if the Spirit
is not present, God remains exceedingly far away. Prayer becomes a cry into
the void. Which easily turns into a monologue that the subject establishes with
himself, as God does not appear. The distance between the prayerful and God
can be reduced when the praying adolescent has a good historical memory
83
and accepts the revelation that God made in the past (Jesus of Nazareth). But
this is insufficient. Even if the young person praying overcomes all historical
criticism, the memory of what God did is not a comparable experience to actual contact with the mystery of God. Again, two interpretative ideas appear.
The first underlines the radically deficient nature of a prayer based on a distorted Trinity. The second, a little more elaborate, suggest that the practice of
prayer can overcome the gaps in Trinitarian theology of the respondents. We
have already seen how the great majority ignores the Holy Spirit or empties
Him of His specific traces. But prayer can introduce in the believer the exigency and the possibility of a relation with God in which He can be found and
touched, here and now. Even without explicit faith in the Holy Spirit, prayer
induces in the prayerful the notion that God is not distant and could be close
to concrete existence. Functionally, prayer acts as a practice through which the
truth of God is most respected; God is not just an abstract notion or an object
of vague desire. Even without recognising the specificity of the Spirit, people
praying welcome its role of putting them in communion with God.
2.3.5. Ritual: Sacramental Confession
After reflecting the practices of Eucharist and personal prayer, it is time
to investigate the form in which the respondents articulate the sacrament of
confession. Usually, sociological inquiries do not include questions about the
practice of confession. It is supposed, probably correctly, that the information
retrieved will be consistent with the other indicators of religious practice, even
with extremely low values. The sociologists also arrived at the common sense
conclusion that the sacrament of confession is in crisis.187
The data from the questionnaire about religious identity in Portugal
agrees with the data recovered in our project: the practice of confession is reduced in all religious segments of the population.188
The reading of Table 109 gives some insight to the situation. Catechism
attendance is a relevant factor for determining the frequency of confession.
But in any case, the values, even in cluster 1, are very small. Little more than
half (54,8%) confess more than once a year. Probably, around Christmas and
Cf. FERRARI Luca, Il sacramento della riconciliazione: nuove istanze e prospettive teologico-liturgiche a partire dalla giornata mondiale della giovent del giubileo
2000, Reggio Emilia, 2004, pp. 5-6, for the bibliography about the crisis in confession,
sociological and theological perspectives.
187
188
TEIXEIRA Alfredo, Identidades religiosas em Portugal: Representaes, valores
e prticas, Questo P23. 48,8% never confesses; 25% does it less than once a year;
15,7% does it once or twice a year; 5,2% does it three to six times a year.
84
Easter. 37.7% say that they confess less than once a year or never. The more
frequent attendees of this sacrament sum only 7,4%.
Table 109: Frequency of confession cross-referenced with catechesis attendance cluster. God
representations. Wave 1
Cluster 1
Cluster 2 Cluster 3
Total
Count
% within
Cluster
0,0%
0,0%
1,2%
0,2%
324
127
138
589
37,7%
54,3%
79,8%
46,5%
Count
471
96
28
595
% within
Cluster
54,8%
41,0%
16,2%
47,0%
Count
50
62
% within
Cluster
5,8%
3,4%
2,3%
4,9%
Count
14
18
% within
Cluster
1,6%
1,3%
0,6%
1,4%
Count
859
234
173
1266
% within
Cluster
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
Never, or Count
less than
% within
once a
Cluster
year
Frequency of
Confession
More
than
once
a year
Once a
month
Once a
week
Total
100,0%
lution and alienation from a penitential journey.189 This text covered the same
ground as the synthesis proposed by John Paul II in 1984.190
To understand the reasons for the crisis of this sacrament, specifically in
the target population of this study, we need to delve deeper.
Adolescence, with all of its uncertainties and internal contradictions,
brings an added difficulty for the establishment of a moral conscience. Eisenberg & Morris defend that adolescence brings an increase in moral capacity
and pro-social behaviours.191 But this view could be erring on the side of optimism. Smith suggests that adolescents are very much marked by a hedonistic
morality and are dependent on expressive individualism.192 Gatti underlines
the difficult articulation between contextual complexity and relaxation in
moral life: () il carattere non drammatico del vissuto morale dei giovani,
nonostante le contraddizioni che anchessi, come ogni altra persona umana,
sperimentano vivendo unesperienza in cui si rivelano fortemente i limiti della
condizione umana, il senso della propria colpa e della propria impotenza.193
The sacramental reconciliation demands a moral clarity on behalf of the adolescent that he still cannot give, immersed as he is in trying to make sense of so
many voices and moral proposals surrounding it.
A second difficulty connected to adolescence has to do with the difficulty of
being intimately open with an adult. There is no agreement on a comprehensive
interpretation of the relationship between adults and young people. The generation gap was a favourite topic in the 60s that offered an explanation about
Cf. CONFERNCIA EPISCOPAL PORTUGUESA, Instruo pastoral O ministrio da reconciliao, in CONFERNCIA EPISCOPAL PORTUGUESA, Documentos Pastorais. 1996-2001,V Lisboa, Secretariado Geral da Conferncia Episcopal
Portuguesa, 2002, 234-249, pp. 237-238.
189
Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia. Post-synodal apostolic exhortation of John Paul II to the bishops clergy and faithful on reconciliation and penance
in the mission of the church today. Citt del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
1984, n. 28.
190
Cf. EISENBERG Nancy and MORRIS Amanda Sheffield, Moral cognitions and
prosocial responding adolescents.
191
193
GATTI Guido, Esperienza religiosa ed esperienza morale, in MIDALI Mario
and TONELLI Riccardo (a cura di), Lesperienza religiosa dei giovani. Approfondimenti,2/3 Leumann, LDC, 1996, 167-188, p. 188.
86
the emergence of counter culture. And today there are still those who defend this
perspective. However, not in the way it was presented in the 60s; many authors
suggest that there are serious problems of communication between different generations Molte inchieste sui giovani rivelano linsignificanza degli adulti per la
maggioranza dei giovani. Per questi giovani gli adulti, infatti, non sono modelli
n da imitare n da rifiutare, non sono n occasione di incontro n occasione di
scontro, sono solo semplicemente insignificanti.194 The generational conflict of
the 60s opposed the authoritarian style of the parents and the libertarian and
progressive tendencies of the young ones. Today, this conflict was substituted
for a regime of hyper protection, typical in families self-defined by affections.195
The digital divide in the last decade has reinforced the lack of communication between young people and adults.196 And, at the same time, other
investigators defend the opposite idea: relationships between different generations are currently good and the idea of the generation gap does not have
any empirical evidence in its favour.197 Fontana & Tnolo defend that relations with adults are positive and modelled on the relationships adolescents
have with their parents.198 Independently of which hypothesis is more credible,
it is not easy for an adolescent to appear before an adult with whom they are
not familiar, and share with him his sin or inner world. Certainly, there are
examples where this is overcome, but this does not eliminate this generational
distance as one of the strong factors for the crises of this sacrament.
A third difficulty comes from the divestment of confession by the Portuguese catechism. From 13 to 16 years of age, there is only one lesson about this
sacrament.199 In the doctrinal introduction of this lesson, we have the usual di194
Cf. BOCCI Valerio, Comunicare la fede ai ragazzi 2.0. Una proposta di catechesi
comunic-attiva, pp. 94-100.
195
Cf. BOLIN Gran and SKOGERB Eli, Age, generation and the media, in Northern Lights, 11 (2013), 3-14.
196
() uma parte aprecivel da populao portuguesa ser uma fortssima defensora das solidariedades familiares intergeracionais (em sentido ascendente e descendente). VASCONCELOS Pedro, Vida familiar, p. 371.
197
199
Cf. SNEC, A alegria de crer. Guia do catequista, pp. 295-314. This catechesis,
developed in two weekly meetings, is about the two healing sacraments: reconciliation
and anointing of the sick.
87
200
202
JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Ineunte. Apostolic letter of his holiness pope
John Paul II to the bishops clergy and lay faithful at the close of the great jubilee of the
year 2000. Citt del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001, 37.
88
After this journey through the possible causes for the crises of this sacrament, it is worthwhile questioning the meaning that this crisis has. Habitually,
the ecclesiastical discourse speaks of the crisis of frequency or the crisis of
appreciation. But, differently from what happens in the Eucharist or personal
prayer, there is no sociological tradition of investigating this theme. The expression crisis makes sense when the comparison between the actual data
and the projected ideal is found deficient. The difficulty emerges from the fact
that it is not explicit what the practice of this sacrament should be. We have
the old indications of the Fourth Lateran Council, which imposes the obligation of annual confession. We have the obligation to resort to confession in
all situations of serious sin. But these indications were always understood as
minimum criteria. What is the normal recommended praxis, either in terms
of frequency of confession or motivation? The question about the recommended praxis is not answered just by magisterium or by the discipline proposed
by pastors. There are a series of pastoral instances that give a response to this
question. Some, making proposals, and others choosing silence.
The pastoral instructions O ministrio da reconciliao proposes a
structured set of proposals and qualifying options. The Portuguese Bishops
underlined that all and any pastoral renewal of this sacrament can only happen within a global process of evangelization, in which the believer is confronted with the alliance offered by God. The renovation requires a catequese
slida, atenta a todas as dimenses da vida (6) that ensures a true initiation
to the knowledge and the practice of the Christian life. In addition to this option in favour of the quality of Christian life, the Bishops identified yet three
more options. The first is the valorisation of the penitential itinerary of Lent.
The second is increasing the offer of penitential celebrations. The third is the
zelo pastoral quotidiano que faz referncias oportunas a este sacramento.
Later (11), the Bishops give some clues to understand this pastoral zeal:
improving the quality of the personal encounter between the penitent and the
confessor, the appreciation, on the behalf of priest,s of this sacrament as an
important part of the ministry, and a proactive and creative attitude to forming consciences, and the offer of non-sacramental penitential ceremonies.203
The pastoral-theological synthesis offered by this pastoral instruction is well
structured and offers an adequate response to the challenges of the social and cultural situation in the Churches of Portugal. It is understood more as a contribution to the overall pastoral project in Portugal than as a mere response to a crisis.
203
Cf. CONFERNCIA EPISCOPAL PORTUGUESA, Instruo pastoral O ministrio da reconciliao.
89
205
206
207
Representative by the mediatic pressure generated inside the Church, by the
enthusiastic adherence of some ecclesial forces; not necessarily by its effective use or
impact upon youth condition.
90
the credibility, strength, and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus. But, at the same
time, it is the church that is at the origin of faith. It is from the ecclesial mediation (Scripture, community, liturgy, people) that each believer begins his or her
journey of faith. We already saw (2.1.1 and 2.1.2) how, for the respondents,
the ecclesial experience works as a cause of faith.208 And now we are going
to verify how one of the faiths consequences is a greater feeling of adhesion to
the Church. But before we do, we need to confront a pertinent question: how
can we detect, or measure, adherence to the church?209
Many sociological questionnaires include items about belonging to particular churches or religions. Our questionnaire was not organised this way,210
so the question can only be measured indirectly. The most explicit question in
This circularity between faith and the church presents a strong isomorphism
with the SRT. Cf. JOVCHELOVITCH Sandra, Vivendo a vida com os outros: intersubjetividade, espao pblico e representaes sociais, in GUARESCHI Pedrinho A.
and JOVCHELOVITCH Sandra (Orgs.), Textos em representaes sociais, Petrpolis,
Editora Vozes, 1994, 63-85.
208
210
The option to leave out this type of questions results from a deep ambiguity.
When 80% of Portuguese people declare themselves catholic, they are converging on
an identical response, with different signification. Either in sociological or theological
terms. Esta desvinculao [towards the catholic Church], em graus e modalidades
diversificadas, afeta globalmente o pluriverso dos que se autorrepresentam como catlicos. Enquanto cultura, o catolicismo continua muitos presente () No entanto,
a estratificao da populao catlica, a partir da prtica dominical e do seu eprfil
de inscrio nas comunidades, permitiu descobrir uma eclesiosfera onde graus diferentes de implicao na Igreja catlica se afirmam. Entre os catlicos nucleares e as
pertenas mais perifricas, desdobram-se planos diversos de uma identidade catlica
descompactada. TEIXEIRA Alfredo, A eclesiosfera catlica: pertena diferenciada, in
Didaskalia, XLIII (2013) 1.2, 115-205, p. 205.
91
this field asks the respondents if they belong to any type of group or religious
association (Table 110).
Table 110: Associationism cross-referenced with Catechesis attendance. God representations.
Wave 1
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Total
163
136
122
421
% within
19,0%
Cluster
58,1%
70,5%
33,3%
Count
98
51
845
% within
81,0%
Cluster
41,9%
29,5%
66,7%
Count
234
173
1266
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
Count
No
Association
Sim
Total
696
859
% within
100,0%
Cluster
We can observe a strong relationship between religious association (Spearmans rho=0,446) and catechism attendance. Among the respondents of cluster 1, the participation in religiously inspired groups exceeds four-fifths. It is
probable that this sample is over-representing this group.
The religious associationism variable permits the verification of an active
participation but leaves out the multiplicity of other forms of belonging to the
Church. What other data can help us say something about the relationship
between the respondents and the Church?
Previously, we have studied the relevant experiences that lead to faith.
Some of them, like the pastoral proposals of the Church (the most common in
cluster 1) can also be understood as a signal of belonging to the Church. When
an adolescent or young person participates in these pastoral proposals, he does
it because he feels part of the Church. These proposals are made to those
within. These pastoral proposals work inside the circular system that we
have previously identified. Who opts to belong to the church, participates in
these activities, which reinforce and deepen their faith and their feeling of Ecclesial belonging. In the list of important experiences some respondents shared
the following examples: sources of faith (with 9,98%), intense moments
(with 8,58%) and people (with 18,1%). Most of these people are kin
(with a serious religious belonging) or are involved in some Church ministry.
The same happens about influential people. Previously, we have analysed this influence as a unidirectional process from the social network to the
92
subject. The family and the Church (including the whole gamut of ministries
and platforms) were most invoked by the respondents of cluster 1 (more than
95%) and recognising these partners as relevant, allows the subject to feel as
part of the Church.
When questioned about their acts and attitudes related to the experience
of faith, an elevated percentage of reported acts have a strong ecclesial connotation. Piety, with 38,65% of the expressed answers is always an ecclesial
experience. It is followed by Participation in Church proposals (with 9%)
and a role assumed in several Church ministries (with 6,08%).
Another information collected was the quality of the relation with the
catechist (Table 111).
As expected, the quality of the relationship between the catechist and the
student in cluster 1 is very good and deteriorates in the other clusters. The
most realistic interpretation suggests a causality between the quality of the
relationship and the frequency of attendance. When the relationship with the
catechist is good, continued attendance tends to be the case. Independently of
these interpretations, it should be retained that, for the adolescents of cluster 3
there is the possibility of a free, reliable and appreciated relationship with an
adult who appears in the name of the church and offers frequent interactions.
How can we interpret this data? What does it say about the ecclesial identity of the respondents?
The group of belonging/group of reference binomial can give us some
clues. In a group of belonging, the subjects have direct relationships with other elements of the group. Groups of reference are those in which the subject,
without direct interactions, reviews his opinions, values and goal. A group
or collective that individuals use as a standard or frame of reference when
selecting and appraising their abilities, attitudes, or beliefs; includes groups
that individuals identify with and admire and categories of non-interacting individuals.211 This binomial is most used in the theory of group dynamics produced in the South of Europe212 while Anglo-Saxon theorists prefer to speak of
groups of reference and primary and secondary groups.213
211
212
213
Cf. LEVINE John M. and MORELAND Richard L., Small groups: an overview,
in LEVINE John M. and MORELAND Richard L. (Edited by), Small groups. Key
readings, New York - Hove, Psychology Press, 2006, 1-10.
93
Table 111: Cross-reference of relation with the catechist and Clusters. God representations.
Wave 1
2
Relation with
catechist
3
Total
Cluster 1 Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Total
Count
30
66
90
186
% within
Cluster_
catequese
3,5%
28,6%
53,3%
14,8%
Count
25
% within
Cluster_
catequese
0,9%
3,5%
5,3%
2,0%
Count
% within
Cluster_
catequese
0,5%
1,3%
0,0%
0,6%
Count
65
22
16
103
% within
Cluster_
catequese
7,6%
9,5%
9,5%
8,2%
Count
304
76
28
408
% within
Cluster_
catequese
35,6%
32,9%
16,6%
32,6%
Count
442
56
26
524
% within
Cluster_
catequese
51,8%
24,2%
15,4%
41,8%
Count
853
231
169
1253
% within
Cluster_
catequese
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
Using this binomial, the Church works for the respondents as a group of
belonging and not just as a group of reference. Besides values and ideas, the
Church is experienced in face-to-face interactions, with a reasonably structured network of people. This attention to the role of closeness in ecclesial
experiences and the feeling of belonging214 has gained relevance in recent years
214
94
Cf. STROOPE Samuel, How culture shapes community Bible belief, theolog-
Cf. LEWIS Valerie A., MacGREGOR Carol Ann and PUTNAM Robert D., Religion, networks, and neighborliness: the impact of religious social networks on civic
engagement, in Social Science research, 42 (2013), 331-346.
216
STROOPE Samuel and BAKER Joseph O., Structural and cultural sources of
community in American congregations, in Social Science research, 45 (2014), 1-17,
p. 6.
217
218
Cf. GALLO Luis A., Una pastorale per la salvezza, in ANTHONY Francis-Vincent et al. (Coordinatori dellopera), Pastorale Giovanile. Sfide, prospettive ed esperienze, Leumann, ElleDiCi, 2003, 87-96.
95
inside, the objective is to guarantee the loyalty and spiritual benefit of the
frequency of the sacraments.
Vatican II consecrated the second model, the church as communion, mainly in Lumen Gentium. This model, very careful with the existential and personalistic sensibility, understands the church as an experience of communion,
born from the Trinity, which is communion and offers everyone a broad experience of communion. Salvation is communion. With God and others. The
pastoral action associated with this model is more complex. For the exterior,
efforts are made to ecumenical commitment and the conversion of peoples still
not evangelised. Internally, it privileges the effort to increase the communion
between members of the Church in all dimensions of existence.
The third model emphasizes the social-economic dimension of salvation.
Inspired by Gaudium et Spes, the documents of Medellin and Puebla, as well as
the Churchs social doctrine. The Church is at the service of a salvation project
that is worried about the totality of the human condition, which does not leave
aside social dimensions, politics and economics. Obviously, this presentation
is schematic. It does not aim to compare different ecclesiologies systematically.
But this schematization is useful because it makes it easier to distinguish popular perceptions of different church models.
That said, it seems clear that the most widespread ecclesiastical model is
the communional model. The concern with relationships, the anchoring of values in positive psychology, the attention given to the existential and personal
sensibility makes it easy to arrive at this conclusion. But, on the negative side,
we have the absence of missionary zeal, the fragile indicators of the sharing of
faith, and the omission of the socio-economic dimension.
We also find some manifestations that could be echoes of the old Noahs
Ark model. When the sharing of faith of some respondents consists in invitations (some more successful than others) and participation in cult acts.
2.3.7. Intrapersonal effects
Some of the effects of faith happen within the self of the respondent. When
asked about acts and attitudes related to their faith, a group of respondents
(Chapter 5, 1.8 fourth group) underlined the intrapersonal impact of the faith
experience. They referred to different topics but shared the link between a
strong, assertive self and the faith experience. In God representations. Wave
2, when asked to identify gestures in connection to their faith 41% chose
Hope and Optimism (with 16% of rejection).
96
The presence of a strong and optimist self is probably connected with the
idea that God is love. We saw, when analysing the data from God representations. Wave 2 under the perspective of the central core theory, that
love was always present in the central core of the three persons of the Trinity.
Besides love, several relational dimensions are present in the central core. This
suggests that between the desire of a relational fulfilment (the dream of the
existential and personalist sensibility) and the dominant image of God, there is
an essential convergence. The respondents feel God as Someone who offers an
elevated relational quality.
There is, in the human sciences, a large bibliography that positively correlates indicators of quality of life and religious experience. But Schweitzer
proposes an explicitly religious reading for this type of phenomenon. Reflecting on the challenges that postmodern culture puts to adolescents and those
with whom they want to do religious education, he realises the impossibility
of the usual approaches to arrive at a healthy identity. He defends that true
identity is grounded in the relationship to God. () it is, in fact, a relationship
[with God] that constitutes this identity at its most basic level.219
It is important, overall, not to make too many conclusions specifically at
the interpersonal level. Explicit references to the intrapersonal impact of faith
are rare.
3. Conclusive remarks
At the end of this seventh chapter of theological evaluation, it is possible
to make a balance.
About each of the persons of the Trinity, there are several different social
representations. They are not divergent or incompatible theologies, but the
differences are real. Each representation uses a combination of objectification
and anchorage that makes it different. We saw the merits and limitations of
each of the representations. We verified the presence of some forms of cognitive polyphasia. We could also confirm the widespread poverty of the representations of the Holy Spirit. Weak is also the underlying Trinitarian theology of the identified representations.
After this reading done from the perspective of dogmatic theology, we
tried one approach more concerned with the practical theology. We started
by doing a survey of the faith experiences considered most important by respondents. The accomplished picture does not present many surprises, giving
219
SCHWEITZER Friedrich, The postmodern life cycle. Challenges for the Church
and Theology, St Louis, Chalice Press, 2004, p. 61.
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prominence to the usual pastoral proposals of the Church and the family and
ecclesial socialization network. We were surprised by the small weight given to
the media. Next, we identified the partners of faith, the people and ministries
that, according to the self-report of respondents, most influenced their faith.
The family and the usual ministries in the parish network take the lead. We
also found that the experience of faith has consequences. The idea that faith
creates or inspires a renewed moral conduct is very strong. Associated with this
behavior are the weekly attendance to Mass, personal prayer, and the sense
of ecclesial belonging. The glaring absences are the responses associated with
sharing of faith and the sacrament of confession. In many Western countries,
this sacrament is in a profound crisis, recognized by all ecclesial agents. However, surprising is the almost total omission of references to sharing of faith.
Globally, some remarks have to be made. The first is that these adolescents developed a theology different from the one passed to them by the catechism and the catechists. The way the respondents articulate their faith has
some weaknesses when compared to the normative framework of the Christian faith. A simplistic explanation attributes this to weaknesses in the processes of faith education. The fact that both the respondents theology and
that made by the adults and Church leaders have weaknesses, especially about
pneumatology and Trinity, suggests that we should be seeking for more inclusive explanations.
It is possible that the adolescents are doing, with their reduced resources,
what the Church has always done: inculturation. The faithful try to express
the received faith in accordance to the relevant categories, available in the
cultural and existential context. We have seen the fragility of the expressions
used by the respondents. We have identified the ambiguity of several of the anchorages used. But that does not mean that we are dealing with an unsolvable
dogmatic problem. It is legitimate the hypothesis suggesting that the Trinitarian christocentrims is substantially respected, even if the actual expressions
used are feeble.
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Chapter 8
Conclusion: a critical appraisal of research procedures and
results
At the end of this long journey, it is time to make a status report, draw
up a list of possible and relevant conclusions. To what extent the objectives of
this project were achieved? What answers can we give to the chosen research
questions?
1. Faith Theology
We have started asking about the meaning of believing in God. This expression gives title to this research project. It is a well-known expression, part
of the commonly used vocabulary, inside and outside of the Church. However,
soon in Chapter I, we realized that, at the theological level, the expression has
a denser meaning. Behind such a simple expression, much is going on.
Based on the biblical data, we found the pillars of what should be a theology of faith. Faith is trust, surrender and obedience to the God, who reveals
Himself in history. This confidence makes sense because God is able to support
such trust. Faith always has a double dimension of entrusted relationship and
assent to the true image of God. NT introduces an explicitly Christological
tone. Jesus of Nazareth is an essential point of reference about the contents to
be believed in faith and also about His faith. The way He gives himself boldly
to the Father becomes normative for the church.
The richness and plurality of understandings and practices contained in
Scripture led to serious debates in Church history. Cardinal Dulles has identified seven models, still valid, to understand faith. They are not mutually
exclusive but express different accents: the doctrinal correctness, the priority
of God granting the gift of faith, the trust of the individual believer, the role of
experience and affection, obedience to God who reveals himself, the praxis of
the subject molded by faith, its personal dimension.
CCC does a presentation of faith that has become consensual. It integrates the biblical references, the theological tradition and, especially, the Dei
Verbum synthesis. The two human subjects of the faith structure the CCCs
presentation: credo and credimus. The text begins with the individual subject.
It underlines the intense cooperation and contemporaneity of fides qua and
fides quae.
The distinct marks of the Christian God are able to legitimize the superlative degree of confidence in the faith. Faith is an experience of trust as any
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other, but the presence of the one God as a partner in this relationship brings
to faith a particular and unique colouring. Also, because it is Him who is at the
origin of this relationship. Revealing Himself, He invites us into intimacy with
Him. Moreover, He is the one sustaining the very possibility of faith.
Another specific mark of the Christian faith (too often ignored) is its Trinitarian character. Faith consists in believing in the triune God who revealed
Himself fully in Jesus through the Spirit. But also the relational dimension of
faith takes place in a Trinitarian horizon. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us
sons in the Son and puts us in communion with the Father. It is always the
triune God who has the priority in the faith process.
Faith is always a gift. But the human response is a real answer, which actively involves all of our capabilities. And so faith becomes also a human task.
This dignity attributed to human action helps to understand the link between human intelligence and rationality, with the revealed faith. There is little
room for the concept of a blind faith. The God of Jesus does not ask the
obedience of decapitated men, of men deprived of their intelligence. He asks
loving surrender of live and whole men who want to see God (paraphrasing
Irenaeus of Lion). In this perspective, our intelligence, motivations, and mediations for faith, have their place and dignity.
All this helps to understand the link between faith and salvation. Salvation
is more than some loose gifts that God would offer to those that obey Him,
reducing the faith to a commercial transaction. Being faith the entrance in
the Trinitarian communion, it brings with it a transformation of thought and
action of the believing subject. It brings a qualitative leap in the capabilities of
those trusting God. And this is salvation. That although only in the eschatological horizon would be resolved, is real right now.
Faith also has an ecclesial subject. Being our contemporary culture so
intensely marked by individualism, this communitarian aspect may seem unintuitive. The Church is the place of personal faith. It is through the Church and
its mediations that, factually, each subject can get to know something about
Gods revelation. It is also in the community that we can learn, purify and
increase the attitude of trust in God.
This faith that is lived and learned in the concrete Church is expressed differently in different ecclesial situations. This pluriformity should not be confused with relativism. Faith is also plural to the extent that is dynamic, that is
educable. Ideally, every believer should reach a mature adult faith.
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larger and simpler than theological speculation. This theological option was
decisive when choosing the instruments to observe and analyze the empirical
reality.
It has become a commonplace among theologians the wailing about the
attention deficit surrounding the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. These are two
distinct deficits, but they share some causes. Theological reflection has been
trying to bridge the gaps. However, persists, in much pastoral practice, a generic idea of God, where the Trinity is a true but useless and irrelevant dogma.
2. The contributions from the empirical research produced by human
sciences
At the end of chapter I, we got a theoretical idea of how faith should be,
its contents and processes. We have identified some limitations, but the global
picture seemed rather coherent. We have decided to place those faith notions
on hold, and moved our attention to what empirical research has been saying
about God and the faith in Him.
There is, in many geographical and cultural contexts, a large scientific production about the question of God. However, rarely the investigated object
coincides with what we saw in Chapter I. There is also no great consistency
between the different studies at the epistemological level.
We have opted to present the status quaestionis using four analytic levels:
ideological-cultural, societal, interpersonal and intrapersonal.
The ideological-cultural level does not have, in the Portuguese reality,
many empirically grounded studies. The relevant insights for our research are
taken from history. We suggest that the political regimes of the last century
have left, on the question of God, ideological and cultural traces in our society.
The First Republic (1910-1926) left the mark of an intense conflict between
the elites (political, cultural, economical) and the question of God. More than
the traditional anti-clericalism, centuries old in Portugal, the Republicans conducted an atheistic policy, linking the modernization of country and society to
the abandonment of religious ideas and experiences (connoted with underdevelopment). The Estado Novo (1926-1974) sought to correct the dysfunctions of the previous regime. It is part of a wider European political movement
of authoritarian populism. Establishes good relations with the Church and
conveys an authoritarian image of God, functional to the smooth functioning
of society. The democratic regime (1974- ...) maintains good relations with the
Church and introduces a pluralistic culture. Pluralism allows to overcome the
authoritarian image of God but leads to a certain tinge of relativism. Tolerance
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sum of its parts. The attempt to interpret complex phenomena like religion
by atomization is naive. Even more than the previous level, the cultural and
religious variability is neglected.
Upon reaching the end of this very long chapter, we wondered about the
findings. And they seem few and minor after so many pages written. We chose
to use a very broad criterion when deciding to make this status quaestionis.
Somewhat contrary to the efforts made in Chapter I (which sought to determine with greater theological precision what the faith was and who was the
God in whom we believe), in this second chapter, we lowered the threshold
and included research that relates, even minimally, to the theme of God.
This has highlighted the ambiguity of many human science investigations.
Within the various scientific communities (because, in this case, as in quite a
few other, we find that the scientific production tends to be very insular) the
God object is investigated from various perspectives, but there are different
understandings of the same object. The discrepancy sharpens up when there is
a divergence, or even an incompatibility between the ideological assumptions
of the investigator and the convictions of the subjects under investigation. This
remark does not intend to devalue all the research done. Even if this immense
body of research does not assign to the God object the same contents and
meanings that the CCC does, it has its own legitimacy. But it is evident, in
much of the scientific production, a serious shortcoming in the epistemology.
On the positive side, we found some good practices. There are scientific projects that respect the dignity of individuals and recognize their capacity for
agency. There are lines of inquiry respecting the priority of the populations
under study and refusing to impose a pre-established agenda by the researcher.
Suffice it to mention the project of the cultural psychology of religion of Belsen, or in a wider line, the NSYR led by Smith.
We believe it would be possible, using the scientific assumptions from
those two examples and the methodologies they suggest, to achieve the objectives of our research respecting, at the same time, the normative instance of
faith, which was made explicit in Chapter I. But even so, we have chosen to
follow a different road.
3. The option for Social Representations Theory
SRT appears like a good idea to investigate the faith experience of Portuguese adolescents. There are some difficulties. There is no tradition of using
SRT with religious topics. The great variety and methodological pluralism that
makes SRT so proud, can be interpreted as fragmentation and inconsistency.
Investigating mainly the processes of representation played by the social sub104
jects, SRT can be accused of social constructionism and denying the ontological truth to the objects under scrutiny (God, in our case). There is the suspicion
that SRT does not fulfill the requirements of true science. If we identify or
reduce science to the assumptions of the positivist-naturalist paradigm, this
objection is quite serious. There is another more subjective difficulty. It comes
from the complex nature of social representations. It is not easy to build, from
SRT, a linear narrative, easily discernible. SRT accepts the complexity of the
contemporary world and presents the contents of social representations, the
social and communicative processes involved in their production and dissemination. It is tempting to search for a theory that provides a more basic description, more marketable.
Despite all these difficulties, this third chapter offered us a synthesis where
the merits of SRT are patent. As a useful category within social psychology
and as a tool to analyze the faith experience, SRT proved to be a praiseworthy option. The SRT has gained credibility as a theoretical tool able to frame
a series of social phenomena. Its expansion on several continents has brought
with it an increase in the quantity and quality of scientific production. It is
now an established tradition that can overcome some of the epistemological
and methodological aporias of other competing models.
When we begin to consider the possibility of using the SRT to study the
empirical experience of faith, the strong isomorphism between the architecture of social representations and the theological understanding of faith stands
out. The SRT aims to study the formation process of common sense and not
of scientific knowledge. The faith lived by the believers, the sensus fidei fidelium, are conceptually nearer to common sense than to the scientific rigour of
academic theology. SRT defends that representations are socially generated.
And the same idea is conveyed by faith theology when defends the notion that
the ecclesial community is a necessary mediation to faith. At the same time,
the communicational praxis of the Church, inaugurated by Jesus Himself, expresses the faith contents with processes similar to those of objectivation (in its
different shapes) and anchorage.
These merits make legitimate the use of SRT. However, that is not the
same as an obligatory option. What lead us to choose SRT was the ecclesial
and social context surrounding the adolescents. They live in a complex and
plural society. Where faith is a choice among many other life choices. Where
what is learned in a Church context is denied in other contexts. SRT offers the
possibility to cope with this multivocality and with the different configurations
that the Church can assume. Church, in these adolescents context, is not the
Pope leading a billion Catholics. It is the family in all its interactions. It is the
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Sunday school and the youth group. SRT has the advantage of offering a theoretical frame capable of integrating all this plurality and richness.
At the end of these three chapters, we have a clear notion of what we want
to investigate. We know theologically what faith is, and we have a scientific
theory that will help us to observe that faith.
4. Making choices about the research design
Having defined the two theoretical landmarks that guide our investigation,
it was necessary to do some choices about research design. Making choices is
always required. The alternative is the loss of clearness in the objectives. Some
of these choices were motivated (not to say, forced) by the context.
The grid suggested by van der Ven, about the research purposes, forces
any research done in Portugal to be exploratory. There is not enough data to
seriously try some kind of hypothesis testing. It was necessary to make some
ground work, giving voice to the subjects, let emerge their experiences, vocabulary and even contradictions. The possibility of starting from pre-existing theoretical assumptions was not acceptable. Those theoretical assumptions were
generated in different social, cultural, and religious contexts. To use them as
a starting point would, apodictically, impose on reality a previously prepared
grid without any legitimacy. The SRT can work quite well in the exploratory
option although it could also have been used to test hypotheses.
The choice of an exploratory-explanatory design would always be more
expensive, but it was successful. We opted for an exploratory-explanatory design because it seemed capable to generate some hypothesis (though not to test
them).
Starting with this exploratory-explanatory option, it was possible to narrow the research aims to four research questions. We tried and managed to
find answers to these four questions. It was possible to see what were the different social representations of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, what were the
respective contents and the cognitive processes involved in their production
and what is its structure. It was possible to identify which social contexts (in
this case, ecclesial) were involved. It was possible to detect and interpret some
cases of cognitive polyphasia, and we were able to make a theological interpretation of these representations.
One important option when designing this research was the choice of triangulation. There is a broad consensus on the merits of using triangulation.
Ideally, the more levels of triangulation, more qualified will be the data and
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more consistent its interpretation. But this desire is confronted with economic
constraints: space, financial costs, time management.
We activated triangulation with data and analysis. On the data level, we
used several triangulation layers. We gathered data from the adolescents, from
the catechetical process (through the catechisms and the catechists SRs), and
from the public sphere. With the adolescents, we have used two distinct and
complementary instruments. With Gods representations. Wave 1 we tried
to include respondents with a different catechetical profile from the one of our
target audience. We have created two subsamples with respondents that never
attended catechesis and attended half of the curriculum.
For the analysis, we used mainly the Alceste method, complemented by
Similitude Analysis. These are some of the available tools when trying to do a
quantitative analysis of non-structured data. It is an emerging field but not sufficiently stabilized. It is obvious that some big enterprises are investing strongly in this area, but they use methods and algorithms not accessible to the public
nor to the scientific community. In the field of quantitative analysis of structured data (mainstream statistic) we have a set of standards and good practices
commonly accepted. In the quantitative analysis of non-structured data, we
have not achieved such maturity. The option of using Alceste and SA was easy.
They have, in their fields, a consolidated reputation. These two methods responded quite well to the available data. The cases where this did not happen
could be explained by the absence of specifically social representations.
We also used , in addition, other methods: qualitative analysis on specific
issues and specific methods to determine the internal structure of SRs.
5. The available data
Now we will summarize the conclusions about the data and its consistency. We will talk about the contents later.
Our main questionnaire was God representations. Wave 1. It is the longest, with many questions. And it was also the largest, with 1266 valid answers. Initially, we pointed out to respondents between 16 and 20 years. However, the groups that we got in touch with often included some young people
with 15 and 21 years. A preliminary analysis showed that this departure from
the originally planned age was not significantly changing the results, and we
have decided to include them as well. This helped increase the sample size.
From the contacts made, we detected that not all respondents corresponded to the profile (completed the catechetical curriculum). As data collection
went on, we subjected the sample to a cluster analysis that offered us the distri107
bution into three distinct clusters, based on the attendance years in catechesis.
The actual distribution into three groups did not result from predetermined
criteria but was a mere statistical analysis. When we saw that the three clusters
had an appropriate size, we decided that it would not be necessary to search
for respondents with a particular profile regarding catechesis attendance. Since
we are not in a hypothesis testing design, the two smaller clusters should not
be seen as control groups. They are only useful groups to detect if some processes are specific to the intensive attendance or if they are transverse.
Statistical analysis of the usual measures of religious practice has shown
that cluster 1 (those attending catechesis for ten years) is quite different from
the picture drawn by the large international surveys. And it also showed that
there are differences between the three clusters. The identification of correlations produced some significant combinations but with relatively small absolute values.
About God and Jesus the analysis of the three clusters with Alceste and SA presented no difficulty. About the Holy Spirit, the quantity of
texts produced was smaller. In cluster 3 the quantity of texts produced was
remarkably smaller. And that forced some data-tweaking in order to achieve
functional Alceste analysis.
The questions surrounding the faith process and the contents about God
were qualitatively analysed with Atlas.ti.
The second questionnaire administered to adolescents (God representations. Wave 2) was configured using data generated in the previous survey.
Only with this iteration was possible to use some new analysis techniques. As
far as content and relationship established with the three divine persons there
was continuity with the previous questionnaire. The lower production about
the Holy Spirit remained. It was possible by analyzing the J curve to detect
the internal structure of representations. Again, the data concerning the Holy
Spirit, expressed some deficiencies. And this absence suggests the hypothesis
that, at least for some groups of respondents, there is no social representation
of the Holy Spirit.
Research about the catechetical level was made studying the catechism
and through a questionnaire administered to the catechists. This questionnaire
was very similar to the one proposed to the adolescents. The analysis made
to this questionnaire (Gods representations. Catechists) was not thorough.
We limited ourselves to obtain the necessary and sufficient elements to have a
point of comparison with the adolescents.
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About the Holy Spirit, we have identified three representations. The Spirit
is represented as Peace & Love and other positive virtues. It is not entirely
clear (for us and probably neither for the respondents) if the Spirit is seen as
a source of these healthy attitudes and experiences or is just a metaphor for
them. A second representation expresses the Spirit in relation to the Trinity.
And the third representation presents the Spirit in relation to Pentecost &
Church. He is associated with some sacraments and with the highly visual
phenomena of Pentecost.
Several of the objectivation processes were identified, namely metaphorization and personification. Several theories were used to anchorage the
representations: the individualistic positive psychology ideology, the old link
between religion and rituals, the secularization and atheism, the notion of the
divine as separated from the realms of men and, finally, what we have called
the flat land paradigm, the notion that all religions are basically the same.
We have also identified propagation as the most common communication
mode used by the respondents.
Accordingly to the research design we have chosen, it was not possible to
associate the representations to particular respondents. Alceste generated the
classes from the corpus, creating by the sum of the respondents texts. It would
be abusive to assign a specific class (or SR) to an individual respondent.
7. A theological reading of the social representations
Once we have determined the existing SRs, we proceeded in the last chapter to two levels of theological interpretation: one more dogmatic and the
other more practical.
The dogmatic interpretation tried to understand the merits and limitations
of the experience of faith made by adolescents as compared to the normative
framework set out in Chapter I. We started by evaluating the four representations of God.
Belief & Doubt presents the tension between faith and doubt, simultaneously as fides qua and fides quae. Doubt is not just a cognitive difficultly;
it is always connected to action. This double aspect of doubt is present in
this representation. The doubt expressed by the respondents is involuntary
doubt (according to CCC terminology). There seems to be some difficulty
in thinking theologically about doubt. The dialogical model proposed by Dei
Verbum shapes most of the revelation and faith contemporary theologies. It
tends to be somewhat static. Describes, with a proper biblical and anthropological basis, an ideal situation but is inattentive to the processes that lead to
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faith. Especially for those who are in a phase of profound psychological and
social transitions. A serious shortcoming of this representation is the absence
of references, express or implied, revealing the role of Jesus of Nazareth.
Trust & Relational quality is in tune with the biblical tradition by emphasizing the role of trust in God, and faith as a source of salvation. This
representation emphasizes the trusted relationship you have with God and describes the positive impact it has on personal existence. The relational quality
that these respondents value may seem too narrow to describe the salvation
offered by God. But if we accept a pedagogical perspective, the use of relational quality as a category to express God-given salvation can be seen as a step
in the right direction. This SR is strongly anchored in the ideology of positive
psychology. It is an ambiguous anchor. There are risks of individualism and
pelagianism.
The representation Relations & Ritual shares with Trust & Relational
quality the attention given to the relational quality but enriches it with the
ritual practices. This link between faith and ritual is common in our society.
Somehow, retrieves the old adage lex orandi, lex credendi, the circular connection between believed faith and celebrated-prayed faith. At the same time, this
representation allows a better binding between the personal and communal
dimensions of faith, between credo and credimus.
The fourth representation of God, The otherness of God, shares with
Relational Trust & Quality the quality of relationship with God but recognizes a fundamental asymmetry between God and the believer. This allows
overcoming some spiritual narcissism. In this representation, more than in all
others, the normative role of biblical revelation is recognized.
In the end of Chapter I, providing a summary of the contents of Christian faith, we found that we can only speak legitimately of God assuming Jesus Christ as a normative reference. But in these four representations of God,
references to Jesus are scarce. It is legitimate, but not demonstrated, the hypothesis according to which the detected representations of God incorporate a
Christological coloring, even if not explicitly.
Faith in Jesus is expressed with three different representations. The first,
The Christological titles, retrieves a long church tradition that describes
Jesus from a relevant set of titles. The titles chosen by the respondents have
a strong theological connotation and are not likely to reduce Jesus to an idol
of popular culture. Some of the titles are not part of the biblical tradition but
express, in contemporary relational categories, the Jesus action style, as described in the Gospels.
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faith brings, intense spiritual moments. With low reference levels are Myself
and the media. This absence of the media may seem strange. This absence
collides with the widespread belief that the media are omnipotent in shaping
attitudes. We saw, analyzing the public sphere, as they propose an image of
God very different from the one proposed by the Church. In a sense, the message of the media is conspicuous by its absence on the subject of faith in God.
Respondents are choosing other forms of legitimizing their SRs, dismissing the
media. But how is this done? The research design chosen does not give a clear
answer.
A second important topic is the faith partners. What people are seen as relevant to the identity of faith? The data are very clear and show a dense social
network. The family, in its various settings and ecclesial ministries (catechesis,
priests, youth ministry) appear as the most mentioned.
The third topic has to do with the consequences of faith. It is a complicated issue. More than 10% do not answer to this issue. The available answers turn around the moral conduct inspired by faith, the sharing of the faith,
the ritual actions (Sunday Mass, confession quite irregular, frequent personal
prayer), and sense of belonging to the Church. Special attention deserves the
issue of sharing of faith. In the ecclesial discourse of the last decades, the task
of sharing the faith is something innate to faith and not something reserved for
particular ministries. The data show that for more than 50% of respondents,
the sharing of faith is not felt as a relevant component of faith. When we add
to this scenario the predominance of the propagation mode in the communication of the SRs, we have a group with little interest or ability to communicate
the faith outside the short range relations.
8. Global questions
After summarizing the work done in this research project, it is time to deal
with some global questions.
8.1. The contemporary synthesis of the faith: advantages and limits
There is continuity between the revelation theology present in Dei Verbum
and the synthesis offered by the CCC. Faith is the human response to Gods
revelation of Himself. Revelation and Faith take place in a relational horizon.
To believe is to respond with trust and obedience to God, who fully revealed
Himself in Christ.
This view alows for a convenient articulation between the contents of faith
with the act of believing, personal experience of faith with his church-com114
munity context. The synthesis offered by DV and CCC has become widely
accepted today in the Church. The only difficulty we encountered was its static
and non-procedural nature. This model describes an ideal situation and presents it as normative. But has some difficulties explaining how to evolve from
a situation of non-faith, or initial faith, to the described ideal. In the current
situation, we have ecclesial appeals to move towards adult faith and the faith
itineraries terminology is widespread. But this more itinerant dimension of
faith is not thought theologically. We get the feeling that dogmatic theologians
expect that the catechists will solve it by a mere didactical operation. Another
difficulty is the contemporary presence of faith and doubt.
Coming across expressions and faith experiences that do not coincide with
the proposed ideal, we become aware that there is no theological evaluation
capacity. And we realize that pastoral agents, catechisms, and catechists, are
silent about specific paths to follow in order to reach the adult faith.
8.2. The use of Social Representations Theory: advantages and limits
This paper chose the theory of social representations as the theoretical
instrument from which to make the observation of the faith experience done
by the adolescents. At the end of the path, is a matter of honesty, try an evaluation of the merits of this option.
Theology is always the study of faith documents: biblical, magisterial, legal, historical, contemporary To study them, theology has always had the
humility and wisdom to ally with other knowledge to achieve, in a faith horizon, a more meaningful understanding of the documents. In each subject and
each context, theology makes partnerships with other scientific theories to
achieve its goal. What other knowledge may be useful for theology in its effort
of reading the documents? In principle, the answer should be that all sciences
and theories can partner with theology. In fact, a little caution is essential. The
use of non-falsifiable theories is not particularly useful as it allows (or induces)
theology to become an ideological discourse. The use of ideologically loaded
theories brings with it the risk of colonizing theology with their ideologies,
making theology a host for a parasitic ideology. More positively, there are
some characteristics that theology should value in its partnerships. The first
is respect and the adequacy between the chosen documents and the internal
dynamics of the theory. Trying to measure a colored object with a range of
gray filters is always possible but is problematic. The second feature is to value
the structural compatibility between theory and faith.
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We can conclude that SRT avoids the identified risks and offers good credentials in the characteristics that recommend a theory as a partner for theology. There is a degree of isomorphism between the experience of faith and
the internal architecture of the SRs. SRT respects the principle of agency of the
subjects and articulates well the role of individuals and groups in the development and sharing of representations. It offers an analytic framework capable
to respect the role of minority views in pluralistic societies.
Is SRT a perfect theory? Obviously, not. But for the purpose of this research project, SRT appeared as appropriate. The greatest difficulty comes
from SRTs methodological pluralism. The achieved results are falsifiable, but
the consensus about the quality levels is still very fluid.
8.3. The unsolved questions
It is a duty of intellectual honesty to recognize that the work done leaves
some issues unresolved. But these unsolved issues should be seen as new areas
for further research.
8.3.1. The role of the families
We have opted for a triangulation strategy in the phase of data gathering.
But we have left out the family influence. The respondents claim that family is
one of the strongest realities influencing their faith identity. But the research
design we have used, did not investigate the family contributions.
8.3.2. Between explicit and implicit statements
A second group of questions has to do with the theological interpretations.
About several topics (representations of the divine persons, about the Trinity, about the relation fides qua fides quae) we had difficulties in choosing
the correct interpretation. A stricter interpretation, based solely on the ideas
explicitly presented, describes the experience of faith of the respondents as seriously deficient in several of those aspects. But given the semantic difficulties
of the population, their theological illiteracy, a more inclusive interpretation
appeared as legitimate. In this second line of interpretation, we can recover
ideas and contents only implicitly expressed, and the theological evaluation
is not so negative. The issue is serious, and sympathy or political correctness
should not make the choice between the two interpretations. The reasons for
the hypothesis of a more inclusive interpretation are valid. But it would be
important to get a more accurate picture of reality. To know precisely if what
we called the implicit contents are really there. Another not pursued possibility
116
117
Developing a theological discourse (whether as a scientific reflection, either as faith proposal) without knowing the reality in which we are operating
is an idle effort and a betrayal of the evangelizing mission.
In a complex, fragmented and contradictory context as we live in the West,
an articulate and consistent understanding of reality is essential for evangelization. The world of adolescent believers, so little known, so subject to hasty
and serving interpretations, requires an increased commitment to knowledge.
In Part I of this project we realized the gaps that exist in Portugal in the areas
related to the topics that interest us. This further reinforces the need for convergence between theological reading and empirical research. It was possible
to make an empirical investigation seriously and not manipulated. And this
is confirmed by the use that can be given to the data and their interpretation
by other sciences and other ideological assumptions. It was possible to use a
sound theology to parameterize correctly what was under investigation and to
interpret the obtained data.
An approach such as the one followed in this work is not the only possibility for empirical theology. However, empirical theology offered an empirical
and theological reading that we could not have gotten otherwise.
From here, from this happy relationship between serious empirical knowledge and theological reading (or from other similar and, hopefully, more
skilled efforts), a proper understanding of the faith experience of adolescents
who attended catechesis is possible. Only from here it is possible to can talk,
think, and operate a renewed praxis in order to more effective and efficient
evangelization.
9. The day after
As van der Ven suggests, the empirical approach is concerned with describing and explaiming hermeneutic-communicative praxis as it occurs in reality. However, it is also concerned with examining and modifying this praxis
with a view to transcending its limits and moving towards and eschatological
perspective220 The parameters we set to this research project were focused
on the empirical description and theological interpretation. We felt that a
transformative research would be excessive. But, at the end of the work, it is
possible to list some challenges to the Church praxis in Portugal.
The unsolved questions that we have identified in 8.3 are already a challenge for the future. But now it is important to broaden our horizons to the
ecclesial practice that is not restricted to scientific research.
220
118
van der VEN Johannes A., Practical Theology: an empirical approach, p. 77.
221
The decalogue for inculturation suggested by Anthony in the 1990s is still valid
for the Portuguese context. Cf. ANTHONY Francis-Vincent, Ecclesial praxis of inculturation. Toward an empirical-theological theory of inculturizing faith, pp. 291-292.
120
121
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General Index
Acknowledgements.................................................................................ii
Summary of contents.............................................................................iii
List of tables.......................................................................................... iv
List of figures........................................................................................ vii
List of tables Appendix A......................................................................ix
List of tables Appendix B........................................................................x
List of Tables Appendix C......................................................................x
List of figures Appendix A.....................................................................xi
List of Figures Appendix B.....................................................................xi
List of Figures Appendix C...................................................................xii
Abbreviations...................................................................................... xiv
Introduction.................................................................................................16
Motivation and Theme...........................................................................1
Method and Articulation........................................................................3
Part I: Believing in God: Theoretical Perspective............................................7
Chapter 1: Theological Approaches to Faith..................................................9
1. Faith in God: A biblical perspective........................................................9
1.1. Faith in the Old Testament............................................................10
1.1.1. Isaiah, the theologian of the faith...........................................11
1.1.2. Abraham: father of all believers..............................................11
1.1.3. Moses and the Exodus as a constitutive memory....................12
1.1.4. The challenges of the Exile.....................................................12
1.1.5. Faith and the wisdom seekers.................................................13
1.1.6. Key points on Old Testament theology of faith......................13
1.2. Faith in the New Testament..........................................................14
1.2.1. The synoptic gospels...............................................................14
1.2.2. The post-paschal community of the Acts................................15
1.2.3. Paul........................................................................................15
1.2.4. Johannine tradition................................................................17
1.2.5. Other authors from the New Testament.................................18
1.3. For a synthesis...............................................................................20
173
184
185