Canadian Cardinal makes waves in Rimini
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Primate of the Catholic Church in Canada and Archbishop of Quebec, gave a keynote address on August 25 at the 25th edition of the MEETING in Rimini, Italy. He was introduced by Dr John Zucchi, professor of history at McGill University. The MEETING is an annual event, sponsored by the Communion and Liberation ecclesial movement, dedicated to the cultural expression of faith. Ouellet spoke about the religious sense in western civilization and within this subject he wove the path of his own intellectual and spiritual development.
Ouellet began his talk by citing St Paul: ,…I am striving towards the goal…and the theme of the 2004 Meeting;….our progress does not consist in presuming we have arrived but in continually striving towards the goal… He noted the declining state of the Church in Europe, excluded even from mention in the new European constitution, and the secularised condition of modern Canadian society where relativism and subjectivism are dominant. The recent crisis in the Church whose beginning was most notably evident in the 60's, was, however, also the occasion for real renewal in the Church, as desired by the second Vatican Council, and still being carried out by Pope John Paul II.
Ouellet was ordained a priest in 1968, the same year that Marxist upheaval descended on university life in much of the western world. Ouellet noted that the subsequent nihilism has had a dramatic effect on the young most notably manifest in suicide and the decline in the vocation to marriage.
Ouellet,s own desire for the Infinite spurred on his own spiritual trajectory and vocation; from ordination to the priesthood, to seminary professor, to ecumenist and now as Bishop to a secularised diocese. Ouellet asked how we can propose a real experience of Christian liberty now that the ambient culture is of no help. How can we have a real dialogue with contemporary society that has no interest in the Church? Citing Scripture, St Thomas Aquinas and luigi Giussani, Oullet noted that we do indeed share a religious sense with even the most secularised of men and women. The search for answers to the most fundamental questions in the human heart, the need for meaning, the amazement at the beauty in the world, are all occasions for a new religious dialogue that must not be reduced to or confused with a purely ethical discussion. Human experience and reason, are indeed starting points for the new evangelisation that Ouellet proposes. Christ and the Church do offer a new life that corresponds to the needs of the human heart. Despite his own formidable intellectual interests ranging from Scripture to Augustine, Aquinas, Balthasar and Giussani, Ouellet observed that what the Church needs most now are visible witnesses to the Trinitarian love of God. We need to study at the school of saints more than in books. Only in this way can the Church propose human love as a gift of self in which fulfilment can be found, in spite of our weaknesses.
Ouellet discussed how the need and desire for the infinite-God can be transformed into service to God in the image of the Trinity. Indeed for Ouellet, the Trinitarian foundations of the Christian mission allow for both community and diversity.
Reflecting on his ecumenical commitment, Ouellet, raised the question as to how one can propose belief in the loving God who allowed the Shoah- the deliberate destruction of 6 million Jews during the second World War. Saints Edith Stein and Maximillian Kolbe, both concentration camp martyrs, are persons whose real sacrifice, made out of love for God and their fellow sufferers, can help us in this regard. They also help make the Church resolute in refusing all forms of anti-Semitism, according to Ouellet.
The crisis in marriage and the family and the threatened redefinition of marriage (to include homosexual couples,) are of serious danger to society. Ouellet noted that the Church proposes a biblical image of man and women, different, but joined together in marriage by love; in the image of the Holy Trinity.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet concluded his presentation urging those present to pursue the new evangelisation by making a gift in daily life of what they had been given freely, the love and unity found in Christ and the Trinity. He noted that the MEETING was one such occasion
What is the MEETING for the friendship among peoples? During one week, every August, hundreds of thousands of young people of all ages descend on the ancient Roman city of Rimini, just across the Rubicon, birthplace of Frederico Fellini and now a modern seaside resort. The largest cultural fair in Europe, open to all, the MEETING is organized by the Catholic ecclesial movement , Communion and Liberation, and is dedicated to the cultural expression of faith. Highlights of this year's events included a concert by tenor Jose Carreras and a brilliant talk by 2004 Templeton prize winner and astrophysicist, Dr. George Ellis, on the relationship between science and religion. The MEETING invites politicians, artists, journalists, scientists and religious figures from all over the world. Both Israel and Palestine sent their foreign ministers this year. Sports, prayer, games for children and good food, not to mention an endless sandy beach, and are all on the agenda. Most important, however is the presence of ordinary people who share the religious sense and live their Christian experience in a friendship, manifest publicly.