In the context of the Jubilee of Artists and Culture, on Monday 17 February, the Vatican hosted “Artisans of Hope,” a meeting of representatives from Catholic cultural centers. Around forty delegates from around the world, representing universities, dioceses, and religious congregations, participated. The Dicastery for Culture and Education organized the meeting and Cardinal De Mendonça, the prefect, explained, “We value working in community.”
By Fabio Colagrande & Thaddeus Jones
Participants at the meeting on “Artisans of Hope” presented a variety of perspectives showing how Catholic cultural centers around the world are engaged in supporting and promoting culture. The Dicastery for Culture and Education organized the meeting that took place at the Vatican for the occasion of the Jubilee of Artists and Culture.
The representatives heard how in India, the challenge is interreligious dialogue. In Hungary, the “night of open churches” marks a success. In Venezuela, enrollment in courses on pastoral work in the field of culture are on the rise. In Malta, the local Church set up a pavilion/workshop for contemporary art, while in Brazil, the focus is on film and sports. In Milan, Italy, promoting religious faith is viewed as response to the weakening of culture. In Lisbon, Portugal, the “Capela do Rato” has promoted the culture of democracy since the 1970s. And in the USA, efforts are underway to widen the horizons of Catholics to give them a richer sense of global perspectives and cultures.
All acknowledged similar and urgent challenges they face today that regard re-establishing the dialogue between faith and culture or, as Pope Francis puts it, “rooting hope in culture.” This is especially true at a time when the new generations, as more than one speaker reminded everyone, are searching for answers that the world does not offer.
The poster for the “Artisans of Hope” meeting
Inculturating the Gospel
“What is the purpose of cultural centers? And why does the Church need them? Why is it necessary, even in our time, to inculturate the Gospel?” Cardinal José Tolentino De Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, introduced the “synodal listening” session among the representatives of Catholic cultural centers. The declared goal of the event – which included delegates from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania – was to “understand the initiatives, challenges, and perspectives” of these centers. “We call you ‘artisans’,” the Prefect explained, “because, unlike the industrial, mechanical, and mass production system, the artisan works the threads of the Gospel into the fabric of daily life.”
A moment from the “Artisans of Hope” meeting
Reviving a network
“We want to revive a very important network for us, which is the network of cultural centers,” Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture, and moderator of the meeting, explained, holding a stopwatch to ensure that everyone had the chance to speak. “We want to be a sort of ‘hub’ that facilitates communication among them. Each Catholic cultural center carries out different activities because these depend largely on the cultural and sociopolitical context, as well as the history of the institution,” he added. “We want to understand what they do, what challenges they face, and how we can help them.” “The dialogue between faith and culture requires the ability to take risks, both from our side and from the artists and cultural figures. But for us, it is fundamental.”
From the Council to today
The “Catholic Cultural Centers” as they are known became “institutionalized” in ways with the Second Vatican Council. According to section 53 of Gaudium et Spes, the human person “comes to a true and full humanity only through culture…through the cultivation of the goods and values of nature.” In 1982, with the creation of the Pontifical Council for Culture, efforts began to institute and coordinate these centers, which culminated in the first global meeting in Paris in 1993.
Places of listening, respect, and tolerance
“Pope Paul VI, in 1975 with Evangelii Nuntiandi, introduced the concept of the evangelization of culture to respond to the fracture, already evident at the time, between culture and faith,” Cardinal De Mendonça recalled during the meeting. In 1995, Pope John Paul II, in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, stated that Catholic cultural centers “offer to the Church the possibility of presence and action in the field of cultural change.” “We also live in a time of constant change,” the Prefect reminded everyone. “Pope John Paul II called them places of listening, respect, and tolerance,” he added. “And we are here to establish a dialogue, open to the diversity that exists in the Church.”
Cardinal José Tolentino De Mendonça opens the “Artisans of Hope” meeting
“We believe in community”
“In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis stated that ‘a culture where each person wants to be bearer of his or her own subjective truth, it becomes difficult for citizens to devise a common plan which transcends individual gain and personal ambitions.’” “Catholic cultural centers,” the Cardinal remarked, “exist precisely because the Church believes in the value of community. We want a project that goes beyond individual advantages and desires. This ability to dream, to think together about cultural work, is something that is truly dear to us.”
Another moment from the “Artisans of Hope” meeting
Sharing faith through culture
Among the participants, Claudio Mario Betti, Director of the Australian Catholic University Rome campus, emphasised how important it is today to “understand that culture is at the root of transmission of the Catholic faith” and “how we can transmit the faith that we are living” through our own cultures. “We need to redefine what culture is, and we need to do it without fear of facing a world that is rapidly changing.” He recalled how Pope Francis also said “the world needs creators of culture” and culture can be a building block on which “we build our presence in the world.”
Optimism in engaging culture
Tomas Landy, Director of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics, and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA), spoke about how in the United States so many are adopting dystopian views of society. This excessive pessimism is giving rise to “turning away from sources of hope” and “often being manipulated as they do that.” He underscored that “any focus on culture for the Church is really an optimistic point of view” as the Gospel is expressed and experienced through different cultures that should be appreciated as “a gift from God” that enriches all of us.